September and Porter

Introducing

Aprils heifer September

And

Ruby's steer Porter.

The calves were born September first and September second.

In the beginning September was much more energetic and curious while Porter was content to hang out with his mom and the other steers.

When the calves were about 2 weeks old we moved them to clean out a neighbors flower field.

Of course September had to check the fence in several places.

Yes it is shocking.

Not for the Squeamish!

We had a bull calf born Easter Morning.  The problem with bull calf’s is if you do not want a bull you need to castrate it.  There are lots of reasons not to want a bull; their meat is supposed to be tougher, bulls are more aggressive than steers or cows, and if you do not want to pass on your bull calf’s genes he better get fixed.  The time frame to castrate calves is up to 6 months old, or beyond.  Information we find varies.  We have been procrastinating doing his.  Everytime I mention Egg’s needing to be castrated Darling Husband changes the subject.  My son had a friend who had offered to help but again procrastination has been how we have spent our summer. 

I decided I would try to catch Egg and take care of him me and the kids.  Egg doesn’t let us get close to him so I figured it would take a few days to catch him.  I started feeding the cattle and had the rope with me.  I threw out 2 flakes of hay and one bucket of fodder and Egg decided to eat next to me.  I dangled the rope and somehow the loop went over Eggs head and I had caught Egg!

There I am in the middle of the pasture with Egg on one end of the rope and me holding the other.  This is the closest I have been to Egg in months so I am not letting go.  The rest of the cattle are angy that I have stopped feeding them so they are circling me mooing.  None of the kids were up yet. 

 So there I stood…..

Waiting….. 

Every once in a while Egg would get mad and start running and I would try to keep up with him.  A Dexter 4 month old calf is much smaller than a full size calf so it’s probably only about 150lbs but it isn’t easy.  Try holding a large dog.  Not Easy!

Waiting

The rest of the cattle were making sure I knew I had not finished feeding them. 

Finally Pre Teen Daughter arrived, she has a broken collar bone so I do not want her helping with the cattle BUT she was able to wake up her brothers.  The boys finished feeding the cattle for me then they came out to help me Teen Son herded Egg to a big branch and we tied him there.  Then I sat with Egg while Teen Son ate breakfast and made sure Egg didn’t strangle himself.  Then I went and bought the elasterator (remember I thought it would take days to catch him) and bands.

 When I came home we tried to put Egg on his side so we could castrate him using two more ropes.  As I tried to put the rope around Eggs legs he jumped over the log and he and I got tangled in the rope around his neck I ended up falling on the log with my side and Egg fell on top of me.  We called College Daughter to help us and while we were waiting for her Teen Son and I got Egg into position. 

Finally we are in position and I put the band on the elaserator and try to put it over his balls.  They are too big!  I couldn’t get the bands over them.  We let Egg go.

I am beat up, I have no skin on 5 inches of my arms.  My fingers, hip, ribs, and back are bruised, and I have nothing to show for it!  Next time it will take days for me to catch Egg.  

Loving Spring

This week has been exceptionally warm.  The fodder sprouting beautifully, when we had the cold weather it was slow to sprout.  The turkeys love the fodder. 

The baby chickens are getting along wonderfully we have taken out the screen that divides them.  We have put the cage that holds the chickens inside the chicken coop that has the roosters in it.  Hopefully all the chickens will get used to each other and be able to be in one pen.

The cattle are in a pasture with a lot of grass in it right now but I am still giving them some fodder and hay to help the pasture last longer.  All the cattle except Onyx, our old Lowline Angus girl have been eating the fodder for weeks.  This week even in a pasture with a lot of grass Onyx started eating the fodder. 

The sheep are in an area with lush green grass and they don’t eat the hay or fodder we give them at night when we put them in their coyote proof enclosure. 

Life is beautiful in our corner of the world.  

I need to remember to reflect and be thankful. 

Happy Birthday!

Our son turned 15 Yay!  For his birthday celebration he wanted to have a few friends spend the night then have a bunch of friends come for the day and then have kayak races and run around the property with a February birthday often we have to be inside but I like his positive attitude.  Let’s try it!

We need to move the sheep and cattle into different areas.  The cattle we moved into a pasture with our neighbors horses to eat what the horses wouldn’t eat for just a couple days and somehow that turned into over a week with us not getting around to moving them.  One of the horses liked the fodder so much he chased the cows away from it. 

The morning of the sleep over, while I am making breakfast for all the boys, Birthday Boy informs me he made arrangements for the horse he is taking care of to get its feet trimmed.  Ok, so now while his friends are over we need to try to catch a horse that sometimes is an angel and you can put your arms around it and sometimes you can spend hours chasing it to catch it.  Great what fun!  While Darling Husband is eating his breakfast I remind him we need to move the sheep but think with all the kids here we can let them free range for the day.  Darling Husband says, “You are adding chaos onto chaos!”

We finish breakfast and go out to take care of the animals.  I walk up to get the fodder while Birthday Boy walks his FFA Lamb.  Then we let all the sheep loose and feed the cattle and try to catch Magic.  Magic doesn’t want to be caught.  Every once in a while one of Birthday Boy’s friends walks towards the sheep as if he will pet them but they run away from him.  We ask Stick Boy to keep an eye on the sheep.  After 30 minutes of almost getting a rope around Magic’s neck we ask Stick Boy where the sheep are “What Sheep MOM?”  So 8 of us start looking for the sheep, who had decided to go visit a neighbor.  We get them back on the property and they start eating happily.  Darling Husband turns to me “I told you this was a bad idea.  I thought I was clear I didn’t want the sheep out today”.  I said “You said I was adding chaos onto chaos.  I thought that was just our life.” 

We get back to the business of catching Magic with only 10 minutes until the Ferrier arrives.  Magic runs from me with hay in my hand.  Magic runs from Birthday Boy then stops and stands still.  Birthday Boy walks up and puts his arms around the horse’s neck, I walk over and we gently put a rope around his neck and then get the halter on.  Magic gets his hoofs trimmed and everything finishes up just as more boys arrive for the party. 

Mother Nature gave us a beautiful hot day!  The boys had kayak races, played bumper kayaks, jumped off the rope swing into the pond.  The sheep would wander over and check out the boys every once in a while and didn’t go visiting any neighbors.  Fillet that naughty steer found ways to get out 2 times.

All the boys were supposed to leave at 5:pm and I let them know any that stayed late would help us move the sheep fence.  At 5:20 we still had 3 boys so they helped move the sheep fence and set up the solar charger.  By 6: all the animals were where they belonged and fed.  We still need to move the cattle but tomorrow is another day.

It was a great day!  Happy Birthday to my son!

Fodder Part 3

The yellow is from when I had them stacked on top of each other.    

We bought a plastic shelf and a grow lamp to put in the shower until we get the cargo container for the fodder.  In the reading I have done light isn’t supposed to be a big deal for the fodder BUT since adding the light everything seems to be growing faster.  

The seeds and roots seem to be a little thick using 3 cups of seeds so we have cut it down to  2 ½ cups in each tray – I have trouble getting the seeds even with just 2 ½ cups of seed but I will get better.  Also growing for 9 days instead of 8 seems to work better for us but we will see how having the light changes things. 

Christmas Eve we gave the animals the fodder for the first time.  3 of the sheep just turned their noses at it but Blackwell wolfed it down as fast as she could.  Magic was not interested in it but our neighbor’s horse who shares a pasture with Magic LOVED it, the second day we gave it to Magic he ate it after his hay was gone.  

  The cattle prefer their hay but when the hay is gone they eat the fodder.  We only are doing 1, 11 x 20 inch tray every day so the sheep are getting a handful, Magic gets a handful, and the cattle get most of it.  As soon as we have the cargo container and shelving in it I will start doing 3 trays a day and see how it goes.  

Corner Pasture

We finished the fencing.  The next step was to put the cattle in a trailer and back the trailer as far across the bridge as we could.  Open the trailer and pray the cattle continue across the bridge into the new pasture without spooking.  Sounds so simple.  Except the Dexter Cattle had not been easy to get in the trailer when we bought them so the day before we moved them we gave them ½ the hay we had been normally feeding them.  As the sun came up Darling Husband took the solar charger off of their electric fence and set it up at the new pasture.  Then I grabbed a flake of hay and walked through the pasture and into the trailer.  Our cattle may be small but imagine walking with 6; 200 to 800 lb hungry dogs chasing you.  All the cattle followed me into the trailer without any problems.  Well one problem; I had given Stick Boy my phone to take pictures then wanted Darling Husband to take pictures of me and the cattle in the trailer but DH just told me to get out of the trailer.  He didn't like his wife and 6 cattle in a 3 horse trailer – I thought it would make a great picture – He doesn't understand my need for pictures of our craziness.   

Darling husband backed up the trailer to the bridge with the idea being he would back part way across except as he was backing up we realized he made the bridge 6 inches to narrow.  AAK.  So we open the doors and hope the cattle will see the fresh food and come out easily and happily - and they did.  

Onyx our Lowline Angus had to be the first to come out.

Happy cows enjoying the new pasture.

These pictures make the pasture look bigger than it is.

Thanksgiving

We can’t let the sheep free range any more until we finish fencing the property.  They keep visiting the neighbors.  It isn't safe for the sheep.  I don’t mind them eating my roses since they do such a good job trimming everything up but my neighbors may not feel the same, and I am amazed how fast they wander now.  The day before Thanksgiving we moved the sheep’s daytime area.  The youngest 3 and I moved 200 feet of their fencing in 1 hour.  I think that’s a record for us.  Yay Team!!!

Thanksgiving morning I got up thinking I would take care of the animals and let everyone sleep in.  Gave the cattle hay no problem.  Then I went to take care of the sheep.  They have 5 feet to walk between the new daytime area and their bedroom.  If I hold the door open in one hand and the gate open with the other hand and stand between them.  The sheep have about 1 foot of free space so I SHOULD be able to do this on my own.  So I stood their holding the gate and door and Blackwell looks at me confused.  I’m blocking the way to their daytime area!  So she pushes right past me and runs to the area that they used to be fenced in at.  The other 3 run following her.  I try a few times to catch them but they are having a great time enjoying their freedom.  Now instead of giving the rest of the family a relaxing morning it’s “Wake up, Get dressed, Help me CATCH THE SHEEP!” For the next 45 minutes, Darling Husband, the kids, and I chase sheep. 

After breakfast we started working went back to working on the fencing on the bottom of the property to give the cattle a new pasture.  Darling Husband and Teen Son worked on cutting some big dead limbs out of an ancient oak tree.  Pre Teen Daughter helped me work with the Hi Tinsel Wire; pulling the wire, crimping the ends, and cutting the ends.  Stick Boy helped hammer all the staples into the posts after I got them started.  We worked this way until we were due to be at Thanksgiving Dinner in 2 hours then we rushed to make the food we were taking, brushed the sticks out of our hair, changed into acceptable clothes, and left to enjoy the rest of our day with amazing friends.

Anniversary and a Waterfall

My husband and I celebrated our 20^th wedding anniversary the day after the election.  It was a rough morning, I had trouble getting up.  My youngest 2 wanted me to pay for not seeing them at all the day before.  Stick Boy wanted to snuggle in bed and gave me a lot of attitude about getting up.  Pre-Teen was mad, just mad but didn’t want to talk about it.  I had bought hay the day before the election but D-something Husband said he would do it later.  So there I am ready to feed the cattle and what do I discover when I pull back the tarp? NO HAY! 

Stick Boy and I move DH’s truck to the spot we keep the hay in and my 50 pound son starts helping me move and lift hay bales that are as heavy as he is.  Pre-Teen Daughter decided we were not doing things the way we should so she yelled a few choice words at us and ran away from us.  Stick Boy and I stacked 3 bales of hay, moved the sheep to their daytime area, and finished getting ready for school, and Daughter comes back I hand her a bagel and we leave. 

My gift to Darling Husband was to call him and let him know how helpful Stick Boy was and not to scream about not unloading the hay for me.

Darling Husband and I have been having a dispute.  9 years ago, when we moved here one of the first fun improvements we did was to put a waterfall where we pump water into the pond.  It was wonderful having the waterfall sound going into the pond when we are filling it.  Over the years the rocks and pipes making the waterfall have sunk.  Darling Husband wants the water in the pond higher than the pipes going into the pond.  If we are paying to pump the water into the pond I want to be able to hear it falling into the pond.  Also it helps aerate the water if it gathers oxygen as it falls into the pond – so clearly I am right! 

Darling Wonderful Husband decided to redo the waterfall so it sounds wonderful as we fill the pond.  We still are arguing about how high the pond should be, now, I want the kids to be able to paddle under the bridge without lying down in the boat but that new dispute will be settled at a later date.  

The new pipe water will flow through.

Setting rocks so we do not see the ugly pipe.

Now that's my beautiful waterfall!

The Bridge

Life has been crazy.  Our community has it’s houses far apart and so our community does a lot of activities for Halloween.  Instead of “Trick or Treating” we “Trunk or Treat”.  When you “Trunk or Treat” you park your cars in a circle and some of us decorate your cars or trucks just like some houses are more decorated.  The kids put on their costumes and go to the cars and say “Trunk or Treat” and we hand them candy.  Unlike towns that have Trick or Treating on Halloween, we seem to need to have Cub Scout Trunk or Treating, Girl Scout Trunk or Treating, Community Church Trunk or Treating, and so on.  We also have our schools largest fundraiser the Halloween Carnival; band, Boy Scouts, individual classes, and Girl Scouts all hope for volunteers.  It’s a crazy busy time of year.  So what does Darling Husband decide we need to do?  Build a bridge! 

The cattle have eaten all the grass in the pasture we made for them and we need to fence in another area of the property.  We have 2 more areas that will make nice pastures.  One is along the top of our property, we have 5 different neighbors up there with lots of different fencing most not in good condition, one neighbor with a beautiful expensive fence who will let us attach our electric fence to his, and the other neighbor will not allow us (or other neighbors) to touch their fencing.  We will need to install several gates up there.  The other section in a triangle shaped  area that we have never used and rarely even been on it is cut off from the rest of the property by a ditch that becomes a raging river when it rains, the bottom is along the street, and the other side is a neighbors fence that looks in good condition.  We decided this will be the easiest area to prepare for the cattle. 

Darling Husband decided building a bridge and taking the cattle across it will be better than putting a gate at the street.  He found an I beam and cut it in half and welded it so the bridge will be about 10 feet wide, 16 feet long, and strong enough to drive a Mack truck across.

Teen Boy is putting nuts on the bolts while DH drills the holes through the wood.  Then I pound the bolt through the hole.  

My Posers checking out the bridge!  

  Then he got a lot of reclaimed 4 x 6’s and 4 x 12’s and we bought a few also.  Then we use ½ inch bolts and drilled through the wood and beams and metal straps.   This bridge is massive. 

We also moved the sheep’s day time area up around a few of the citrus trees and oaks and ficus tree type trees that all need to be trimmed.  We will let the sheep trim the bottoms and fertilize the plants for a few weeks.  

When I am home we let the sheep roam around and mow the lawn and eat other weeds around the house and where ever they want.  This worked great at first!  They were afraid to come close to the house, now they are eating my flowers out of the planters around the house.  I may have to rethink things – letting the sheep roam, or what I plant hmmm.  

I asked Stick Boy to walk the dog and he comes back an hour later with a skate board and 10 sticks.  

Catchin' Up

It has been a crazy time at our house.  We were in charge of the Boy Scout Garage Sale.  It was a great success but we didn’t get anything done around the property.  The ponds aerator is working wonderfully.  We have had some warm weather and we have a lot less algae than I think we would have had without it.  We have about 10 Mallard Ducks, one Snowy Egret, and one Great Blue Heron that are living here. The ducks really are enjoying our cleaner water it is amazing watching them dive.  One morning I spent about 5 minutes watching a heron fishing then I realized it was moss hanging from a tree in the shape of a heron. 

We finally got the solar charger hooked up to the electric fence but it has not been long enough to see how well or even if it works.  We are starting to be able to pet Hope and the steers while they are eating.  She still is skittish but she is getting friendlier. We have plans to put in more fencing: new pastures and finally get the property fenced.  We have an area of the property that is about an acre, it is cut off from the rest of the property by a drainage ditch that becomes a raging creek when it rains.  I think our next big project will be to build a bridge to that area and turn it into a pasture.  

We need to move the sheep’s daytime area but have been too busy and I am not sure where we are going to move them that isn't in a coyote runway that I can set up the temporary fencing around and has a lot of things for them to eat.  We have been letting the sheep roam between the house and the pond when we are home.  The cats have a wonderful time stalking the sheep.