This is a big GATOR!

Kenneth's calling a few of the gator guys, so if he's working on yours he should be calling you soon. Click on the title link for more photos from Cordray's Taxidermy.

With friends like this...

A group of friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck.
"Where's Henry?"
"Henry had a spell of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail."
"You left Henry laying out there and carried the deer back!?!"
"A tough call," nodded the hunter, "but I figured no one is going to steal Henry."

from http://www.butlerwebs.com/hunting/humor.htm

'Natural patterns' of farming touted in documentary - USATODAY.com

This is a terrific article about sustainable farming! Our new chicken flock is the beginning, we hope, of this same kind of cycle to help add nutrients to our pastures. I'm not so sure I want to venture into the pigs, though!
Click here or the title bar for the USA Today article.

Three sons...

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly Mother.

The first said, "I built a big house for our Mother." The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third smiled and said, "I've got you both beat. You remember how Mom enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can't see very well any more. I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took Elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He's one of a kind. Mama just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot recites it."

Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks: "Milton," she wrote one son, "the house you built is so huge. I live in only one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

"Gerald," she wrote to another, "I am too old to travel any more. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. I stay most of the time at home, so I rarely use the Mercedes. And the driver is so rude!"

"Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "you have the good sense to know what your Mother likes. The chicken was delicious!"
From www.jokesplace.com

Look for the Cordray Farms Beef List email!

We're almost ready! As many of you know, we sell individual cuts of our farm raised all natural beef during deer season. Then in the off season, we sell beef by the side or in shares. We've all been waiting for the class of 2009 and they will be coming very soon. The shares may vary just a little, but we try to divide a whole steer into 8 equal parts.
Each share is about 50 to 55 lbs and consists of:
TBone/Porterhouse steaks - 4
Ribeye steaks - 3
Rump roast or sirloin tip roast - 1
Boneless stew - 1 pack about 1 lb.
Stirfry - 1 pack
Round Steak - 3 packs
Cube steak - 1 to 2 packs
Shoulder roast or chuck roasts - 2 or 1 of each
Flat Iron or Mock tender steak - 1
Sirloin steak - 1
Ground beef - 18 to 22 lbs. in 1 1/3 lb packs
Everything comes vacuum sealed and frozen. It will fill a medium size cooler. If you'd like to be added to the email list to be notified when the Cordray Farms beef shares are ready, contact us at michael@cordrays.com.

Hailstorm!

We just had snow in April! Hail about as big as a nickel covered the ground in just a few seconds. Keep an eye to the skies, it may be heading your way!

Follow the tracks...

One day, three friends go hunting. Only one is very good, so the second two plan to watch him and learn from what he does.

They arrive at the hunting cabin, and get all set up. The next day, the first hunter goes out. He returns with a big deer. The second two guys ask him how he did that. They can't believe how big the deer is.

"It was easy. Found the tracks, followed the tracks, BAM! Shot the deer."

The next day, the second hunter goes out, and comes back with an even bigger deer. The third guy's eyes bug out when he sees it, and he asks him how he did it.

"Same thing the first guy did. Found the tracks, followed the tracks, BAM! Shot the deer."

So on the third day, the last guy goes out to hunt. He doesn't come back for a very long time. When he staggers into the cabin, rifle gone, all beat up and bruised, with only one boot, the other two are very surprised.

They ask him what happened.

"Well, I found the tracks, followed the tracks and BAM! Got run over by a train."
From http://www.jokesplace.com

Status report

The chickens have become free range! They are out scrounging for dinner looking for tasty bugs. When they find one, they have a frantic game of keep-away! Two have mysteriously disappeared, probably to the hawks circling overhead. They've got plenty of shelter to dive into, but not much time for practice! Sad, but it's the food chain in action. I was out there when one flew over and they sure are getting the idea that a red-tailed hawk means business!

Bear with me...

I'm trying some new things with the blog. I guess you noticed. Our stats show that we are still having about 1000 unique visitors a month even in the off-season, so you are still there! I'm going to use the blog to show you around Cordray Farms. When you buy Cordray Farms beef, I think it will be cool to know what all goes into the whole process. So bear with me. Sometimes my first grade teacher past is oh, so apparent, but I since I give you dead deer pictures on demand in the season, surely I can share some baby birds?
I'm also adding some advertisers. We tried this once before, but weren't happy having Google send us questionable ads from off. Our ads will be from people or products we know and use. Most are fellow deer customers, and dear customers! If you're interested, let me know (claudia@cordrays.com) and I'll send you more info on stats and prices.
Claudia

Want to know how long you have to wait?

Scroll on down to the bottom of this blog any time you want to check on exactly how long until the opening minute of the opening day of the 2009 Deer Season in the Lowcountry of SC!

Ever have a day like this?

Rachel's learning to graze. She still takes 2 bottles a day, but we tie her out for a few hours by whatever tasty patch of clover is nearby. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of maximizing her freedom. By the way, if we let her loose, she follows us in the house!

Moonrise

Take a few minutes to howl at the moon tonight. Just 4 more until deer season begins!

Keeping our fingers crossed!

We are hoping that last night's frost didn't kill off the pasture grass. Michael's still feeding hay to all the cows, but they are beginning to have some green pasture. If the frost didn't get it, our estimated date for Cordray Farms Beef is still on track, hopefully just a few more weeks! If you'd like notification for when it's available, visit our beef page and sign up for the email list. Don't worry! I don't have time to send out a bunch of spam, so we'll just contact you to let you know when beef sides or shares are available.

Processing Wild Hogs?

Are you hunting wild hogs during springtime? If you get one, we can process the meat for you. We don't have a skinning crew on hand, but if you can skin and clean them, we'll process them into pork chops, ribs, sausage - whatever you like! Be sure to call (843.766.7922) to arrange to have someone here to meet you when you check in. Taxidermy on wild hogs is also available.

A bucket of chicken?

I left the chicks at their new endeavor, scratching for corn scraps, just a little late one day last week. The warm spring day slid into a cool evening and the chicks found a feed dish. Facing the cold winds? Hunker down with a few of your friends!

They've got feathers!

The baby chicks are still growing and growing. They jump up and flap like crazy!

Apply for the 2009 Alligator Season

The online registration for SCDNR's drawhunt for alligators starts May 1 and ends June 15th. Alligator season will be Sept. 12 to Oct. 10th. Send in some of your pictures from last year's season and I'll share them here!

Rachel is about a month old.

She's an orphan calf that we've been trying to introduce to a bottle for about a week. After much slobber and sore toes, it worked!

Meet Rachel!

Rachel's finally learned to drink from a bottle!

Cows love ground corn!

We make our own feed from locally grown corn and hay we bale on Wadmalaw Island.