Noel has lost her ear tag. She's also harassing poor old Brie who is in season again. Noel is really a bitch.
Brie has come into season for the third time this breeding season. She was bred by a young bull at Susie's place and twice by Huck, 21 days apart. I've written to the Susie who is really busy now trying to find out if there is something I can do to improve the chances of her finally getting bred.
I saw Brie bred by Huck but she may also have been bred by my little black bull. I saw him mount her but I'm not sure he ejaculated. However, he may have bred her when I wasn't watching. Depending on the color I may have to butcher the baby or use her as unregistered stock. Dang. My fault for not castrating the young bull. Who would have thought that at 7 months of age he'd be sexually active. I will have to think about how to castrate him and teach him to lead. I might also wean him. It's definitely time.
I have lapsed into slothdom. The time change each spring and fall is hard on my poor body and what with a trip to a conference, hurting my arm and general SAD from the decreased daylight, I've been sleeping and vegging out for the past week. So if you don't hear from me don't assume there's something wrong. I'm just being slothful.
Wendy was adopted into the herd with very few problems when I moved her in yesterday which is one of the reasons why I like to keep new animals in that first stall/pasture for a few days. Being side by side gives the other animals a chance to sniff and get acquainted without a lot of crazy behavior and running around. The transfer into the larger pasture with the Herefords was not chaotic as it can be with everyone trying to get close to the new animal to decide where she fits in the hierarchy.
Wendy actually started eating the local grass hay with enthusiasm Friday once she discovered how good it is. She's got her nose in the round bale feeder and seems to like the taste of this hay. So all is well. She was just used to eating alfalfa and had to transition to local grass hay.
Chas and I discovered that we could save our backs (and arms) by driving up to the round bale feeder and carefully lifting one of the round bales up with the forks we attach to our tractor bucket and keeping the forks level as we lifted the bale. When we got high enough we just tipped the tines down and off the bale fell right into the feeder. (We'd removed the wrapping before we moved it out of the cow barn. Sooooo much easier than having to lift that dang round bale feeder up and then try to get it down without killing one of the animals.
I need to move the round bale feeder to another spot when they're done with this bale since the ground has been beaten to a mush. Or, if I'm really lucky and I get the collapsible round bale feeder delivered I can start putting round bales into the cow barn. No more mud. No more trashed pasture.
I've been thinking about the rather large size of my (formerly) show Herefords. They must be a frame 5 or 6. I'd have to measure Myrtle at the hip bone to determine how large she actually is. I really want smaller cows. Not as small as the Dexters but smaller.
I was reading my Stockman Grass Farmer newsletter and discovered a gent in CO who is raising along with some of his neighbors a much smaller framed animal. The frame sizes seem to range from 2-4 as opposed to my 5-6 cows. What does this mean? It means that there's about a 6 inch height differential - less leg and a smaller frame with the smaller-framed animals weighing about 1100 lb as opposed to 1500 lb plus. This means I can raise more animals with a bigger weaning percentage on the smaller cows. (i.e., larger cows wean fewer pounds of baby calf at 6 months of age than the smaller cows). The smaller cows eat less: 25 lb per day as opposed to 35 lb per day for the big cows.
His cows and bulls are raised solely on grass which means they are adapted to grass. They gain weight on grass. I like his animals a lot. The males look like real bulls with the neck hump and all.
The best thing is that based on your needs and money, he will pick out a bull for you (sight unseen program) and will deliver it. The delivery details are still sketchy but I've asked him to give me additional details. So, next spring I will order a new bull for my herd. Very exciting.
I finished typing up the letter to the attorney in response to a letter from Central Fuel's lawyer and dropped it off. Mary and I had quite a visit. I also visited Mike in his shop to see all the wonderful new trash they picked up in the past week or so.
I also downloaded many publications from http://attra.ncat.org/publication.html. The site has many really good publications including some on pasture raised poultry and pasture management plus other topics of potential interest to small farmers. Now to find the time to read them.
I also got carried away and did some book buying on pasture management and on using a dehydrator at the EatWild.com site. I comparison shopped and where the publications were cheaper at the EatWild.com Web site than on Amazon, I purchased those books on EatWild and put the others into a "wish list" at Amazon. I bought "Food Dryng with an Attitude," "Grassfed to finish," "Pasture Profits with Stocker Cattle," and "Quality Pasture." The latter two are by Allan Nation. He's the editor of the Stockman Grass Farmer.
11/09/2008 Sunday: Rainy in the morning and overcast in the afternoon.
Chas wished me Happy B'Day today even though my birthday isn't until Tuesday. He's lost track of time as I often do. Being retired means not having to pay too much attention to time.
I disconnected two polywires that provide electricity to the north side of the paddocks and checked to make sure the wires at the gate end were connected to the binding twine and not to the power loops. That way I could isolate the shorting out caused by the top wire that came apart at the join. My charger shot up to 7.3 mvt from 4.3. Big leap.
The cows really wanted to come with me so that they could graze but the grass hasn't grown very much since the weather has been under 55 degrees F, the temperature at which the grass does grow so I kept them out. The rest of the road pasture is beginning to look almost graze-able. I may let them in periodically to graze starting after November 15. Dunno why I picked that date but it seemed reasonable.
After I knew the charge was as high as it could go I let Wendy out. I had to take the 16 foot stock panel and put it across the opening between the barn and the gate into the Dexter's pen and then ease her out. It took a couple of tries but she finally moved into the road pasture with the other Herefords.
The bull was quite interested in her but she doesn't seem to be in season.
My right arm is aching today. Must be part of the repair process. The large bump does not appear to have gone down much.
Brie is coming into heat again. Huck is sticking to her side and Noel is trying to mount her. She was last bred Oct 20 and will be coming into standing heat tomorrow. Bit of a bummer if she doesn't get bred. I sent an email to Susie asking her if there was something I could do to improve the chances of her getting bred. She was born March 15, 2007 so she's basically still pretty young.
11/08/2008 Saturday: Lots of hard rain today.
Today was another lethargic day for me. I guess I must be really sensitive to the lack of light. Also turning the clock back one hour always makes me tired.
I put a bunch of hay in the manger in the barn. I wanted it out of the way so that my helpers could get down some bales for me for the green barn. I fed Wendy and watered her. She's still very suspicious. I think that will change over time.
Enrique and Juan showed up at 7:30 am to work. I had them move a large round bale into the Hereford's round bale feeder and then toss down 6 square bales and put it on the tractor forks to bring over to the green barn. It was lovely having someone do those two chores for me. My arm hurts a little today which made having someone else do the work especially nice.
Then I had Enrique and Juan cut down the 15 foot high hazelnut trees in the "shade" garden near the north-south fence that runs from the Tack Room to the edge of our property. This area is part of the cottage garden. I also had them pick up the sticks I'd already cut down and take the new cuttings and the old ones to the burn pile that Chas burned last week. I asked Enrique to cut one tree to the ground pretty much and to leave the other about a foot high. I know both of them will send out shoots this spring but I'll be better able to keep them under control now that they will be a more manageable size.
I think next week I will have them take out the cascara tree but leave a bit of a stump so that it will coppice.
Then I took them through the center corridor to the south-west pasture where most the formerly upright trees near the wild rose patch are horizontal and need cutting up. There's a lot of work that needs doing back there. I had them cut out and stack what wood was large enough to burn and had them put brush and branches in the new burn pile I had them make on the south side of the ditch.
The water was flowing through the ditch at a fairly fast clip so the ditch was definitely working. The area that was previously wet in former winters is still wet because the ditch needs to be about four inches deeper at the east end of the wetland. Once Chas digs that out with the tractor the whole area ought to drain properly. It would be nice not to have ankle deep water to wade through when I go back there and even nicer if we could start phasing out the reed canary grass for good grass.
Speaking of grass, the seed we spread has taken root and is up about 1.5-2 inches. It's pretty sparse but will likely fill in over time. I don't see any clover coming up even though the mix we used had clover in it and despite our adding clover seed to the pasture mix. I expect it will grow closer to the summer.
I learned through my reading that pastures with thistles and dock are rich pastures so I should be ok. I expect I need to add lime and I will likely do that pasture by pasture. Lime adds calcium and other minerals to the soil. The more neutral the soil is the better the clover will grow.
Around noon I had Chas take out a couple of sandwiches each plus water plus a pop out to the guys. It gave him a chance to see the water flowing in his ditch and the growth in the grass we seeded.
As I walked back I noticed that the top strand on the west side of the north-south corridor fence had come apart. The crimp didn't hold and we'd forgotten to bend the wire so that it wouldn't come apart. That explains the low reading I'm getting on my charger. I wondered where the problem was since nothing seemed to be sparking near the barn. One nice day I'll take my fencing equipment back there and I'll fix it so that it stays together. The charge is enough that the animals respect it but it isn't working properly. Actually I could probably just unhook the gate hook on the north side of the fence near the road pasture and that would probably solve the problem, at least temporarily.
After the guys were done for the day I filled the ATV's tank. It needed gas but it hadn't run out of gas yet.
Dinner was bangers and mash as we had turkey sandwiches for lunch.
After dinner I spent some time online. I investigated the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
11/07/2008 Friday: Overcast but no real rain. It was 60 degrees F outside. Too hot for a vest under the coat.
I did nothing of value today except hang up the hoses and feed the fish. And sleep.
I did roast a turkey for dinner. We had stuffing, kasha and Chas made his zucchini medley. It was a terrific dinner. I rubbed the turkey with olive oil and sage. Delicious.
Wendy is doing fine. She's still skittish when I come out to feed her but I will let her in with the other cows Sunday since she seems to have settled down.
My two Mexican workers are coming tomorrow. I think I will have them work in the far pasture.
11/06/2008 Thursday: Overcast and dripping but no real rain.
I went out to the end of the hay pasture along the corridor and attached the two gate handles to the hay wire I'd put there for just such a purpose. On the way back I removed the wire that I'd been using to make a temporary gate about 1/3 of the way into the pasture. The wire was pretty much covered with long grass so it was a bear to get out.
I'll need to replace the wire with polywire, two strands. Then I can let the cows in to graze along the corridor. I still have large pasture that they can graze, too. I kept the Herefords out of that area partially because of the two bulls who would be just across the electric fence from each other and partially because I was saving it for the Dexters.
I'm not exactly sure why I'm getting such a low reading on the charger. I will have to walk the entire fenceline to see if I can figure out where the problem is.
Chas went out mushroom hunting after he picked all the large Hubbard squash and, after hosing them down, carried them to the area in front of the kitchen. It looks as if we have nine squash to share with our neighbors and cook and freeze for the coming winter. Yum. Hubbard squash is quite tasty.
Mary and Mike came over with the white, quite large, arch. I think I'll scrub it up come this spring and will paint it blue. I gave Mary a large Hubbard squash. I also gave a squash to Sherry when she finished cleaning for me. She brought me some Pear Butter. Says it's good on oatmeal.
With any luck Danette and Joe will be bringing by Wendy sometime after lunch. Yup. Danette and Joe and their driver showed up around 2:30 pm. They had some trouble loading the cow and then had trouble getting out of the pasture - too much water. Joe tried cleaning up the blood in the pasture and just drenched it. They got here eventually.
We opened the gate into the third stall (it swings to the right), opened up the trailer door which swung to the left and Wendy hopped out right into the stall. Unfortunately the eves trough got clobbered as the trailer driver was leaving. It will need to be replaced with a plastic trough. This is fine with me since I didn't really like the metal trough anyway.
Naturally all the cows had to come see her and talk about her. Huck was particularly interested and wanted to get to her really badly to see what her breeding condition was.
I'll keep Wendy in by herself until she learns about electric fences.
I gave her fresh water and some hay. She turned up her nose at the local grass hay but she'll get over that when she discovers that unlike her last home, this home provides only local grass hay and protein blocks.
11/05/2008 Wednesday: Overcast but not much rain.
I managed somehow to pull a muscle on my right hand back. It's pretty sore but it will eventually get better. Everything seems to be attacking my right side these days.
Chas tried burning the large pile of brush that had been stacked near the kitchen, behind the woodshed. It took him two hours to get it started. The brush was still green and wet from the rain we've been having. Still, he did get it started and it burned to the ground. That means I can have Juan and Edwardo stack the new brush there, too, when they come Saturday. It helps when the brush is burned because Juan and Edwardo/Enrique are generating a lot of brush.
Chas and I moved a round bale into the Dexter feeder today in the afternoon.
I slept most of the morning. For some reason the fall time change screws up my body a lot more than the spring change.
Dinner was leftover chicken, corn on the cob and synthetic noodles from a box. Tasty but not as healthy as regular noodles. I'm unthawing a turkey which I may cook up tomorrow night.
Dropped a note to Susie H. She's way busy.
Tomorrow Danette and her husband will be coming by to drop off Wendi, my new Hereford. I'll be putting her in the middle stall as she needs to get used to the electric fence. That means that I've got to go and disconnect the two wires that make the back pasture gate and reattach them to the binding twine. They're shorting out the fence. I should also open up the pasture corridor to the Dexters so that they can graze that area down.
11/04/2008 Tuesday: Election Day!!!! I hope everyone who could vote got out and voted. Since I am still a Canadian citizen I cannot vote but I am paying attention to this year's election. It will make a huge difference in our lives if Obama is elected and an even worse difference if McCain is elected.
Chas and I moved a round bale out to the Herefords who were pretty happy to see it appear. I had to beat them off so that I could put the ring down. Things will be so much easier when I get the round bale feeder in the barn. I'm really hoping it will get delivered this week so that I can install it. It's so mucky out in the field it's getting hard to get the tractor into the field.
It may be a month or two to get the two fenceline feeders in since they cost so dang much (>$342. each). I have to wait till I get more money ahead.
Barack Obama was elected President of the USA and Joe Biden as his VP. I'm thrilled that America recognized that Obama could think and would likely be able to find a way out of the various messes that the US is in, and its people.
11/03/2008 Monday: Rain off and on all day.
Chas and I went into town so that I could have my haematoma on my arm checked. I must say service at Providence when you're in need of emergency service is good but the followup care sucks. I had to finally threaten to leave before a doctor would glance at my arm and say, yup, haematoma. Then he muttered something about handouts and took off never to be seen again. I walked out finally as I threatened to do.
Chas and I went to get some bread at Franz's, get two checks cashed and do our weekly grocery and feed shopping.
I was so tired I had to take a nap.
Dinner was chicken, succotash and squash.
11/02/2008 Sunday: Rain off and on all day, sometimes with the most beautiful rainbows.
I took an ATV trailer load of hay from the goat barn out to the Herefords after doing chores and because it's so muddy in the road pasture I got stuck. I went in to ask Chas to help me get it out with the tractor but decided that we should put a round bale in the Herefords' feeder.
I was feeling pretty weak today for some reason (perhaps because of the time change) and had trouble lifting the round bale feeder. I got it up on edge and rolled it away from the mucky area. Then I let Chas into the field. He put down the bale and I finished unwrapping it. Because I was so weak I couldn't drop the ring over the bale but instead dropped it on the edge of the bale where it hung up.
Instead of doing the smart thing and lifting the ring up and repositioning it I had Chas come and help me push it over the ring. In the process of pushing it into position the ring dropped on my right arm hurting it big time.
By 11:30am I was hurting even more even with elevating it and putting ice on the arm. I asked Chas to take me to the emergency room at Group Health in Olympia. He suggested that I go to Providence Emergency Room in Centralia. I agreed and we headed off.
I was lucky in that the staff got me in to see some of their professionals right away. The staff took x-rays because by that time my arm was three times its normal size. I thought for sure that I had cracked either the fibula or tibula.
I got a Percodan tablet for the pain. Even more painful was the automatic blood pressure reader. I just cannot stand the pain of having my blood pressure taken when I'm under stress. My blood pressure goes sky high (237/131) which of course concerned the hospital staff.
They finally took a manual reading and got a lower systolic reading by the end of the visit. I turns out that I broke a vein in my arm. They wrapped me in an ace bandage and sent me home. We stopped to get the prescription filled at Halls in Centralia. Chas picked up some ice for me just in case I needed it.
The pain is still there but greatly reduced. I've been icing the arm and trying to elevate it. The arm looks badly swollen and my fingers from the ace bandage are like sausages.
I fell asleep in my chair after lunch and slept till 4pm. Chas did evening chores for me. I didn't even know he'd left the room.
I was able to make dinner though - Masaman curry. Ever since dinner I've been feeling really sick to my stomach.
It looks as if I'm going to be bruised from my elbow to my finger tips. I'm so happy I hadn't broken my arm, or cracked any bones.
11/01/2008 Saturday: Rain on and off most of the day.
Enrique and Juan (Enrique's uncle) came to work with me today. I had three things I needed help with. I needed help putting another round bale in the Dexter's feeder. I took off the gate keeping the animals out of the barn. Juan forked out the waste hay while Enrique and I wrestled with the round bale. We took the last bale (of the 6 we stacked earlier this year) and while I unwrapped it, Enrique got the tractor. Then together we picked up the bale using the forks. There was a lot of plastic sheeting in the last bale Chas put into the Dexter round bale feeder.
It was nice to have the feeder cleaned out for me.
Then Juan, Enrique and I (me supervising) took apart the middle manger in the cow barn. Enrique and I brought in a 12 foot gate that I will use to keep the cows out of the barn (I hope). I believe the posts must be 12 foot on center. We removed most of the pieces that held the manger up including the 2x4 wood footings but with the mangers on both sides intact the gate is just a little bit too big.
I'm thinking of taking down the mangers on both sides and replacing them with fenceline feeders until such time as I can get Mike to weld me up some head-lock stanchions. The fenceline feeders are less than $300 each, I believe.
I found that the Farm Store has the 12 foot panels I want available - or at least they're a dealer for them. These panels are 66 inches high and made out of 14 gauge 2 inch wide pipe. The manufacturer is Behlen Country. I would need to get brackets to fasten the panels to the support posts.
Chas and I went to Bolars Meats to pick up our pork and while we were there we also picked up the Orcutts, Margie Carr's and Clay Jackson. We delivered the Orcutt's meat but still need to get a check from them. We had to run off before they could write the check for them. Later on Clay stopped by and picked up his meat. Just before I started cooking dinner Margie (Dena's sister) came by to get her meat. She also paid.
While we were on the way home from the Orcutts we stopped to talk to Mike and Mary who were scrapping on Hatchery Rd a little ways past the old hatchery. While we were there we got introduced to Marvin who owned the barn that was being scrapped (well, the contents were, anyway). He wanted us to raise a whole pig for him. We agreed. He's going to do the butchering himself which is fine with me.
I'll have him do his pig first and then have Bolar come out to do the additional pigs. Since Clay and Margie both want halves I probably will get three pigs to raise.
While I was away I had Enrique and Juan use the tractor to make a more compact brush pile, actually for both piles that need burning. Then they continued to brush out the area along the creek. They actually got quite a long way into that part of our property.
Anyhow when we got back around 12:15pm I made sandwiches for the guys and for Chas and myself.
After doing chores I started dinner which was "breakfast for dinner". I cooked wonderful cornmeal pancakes which we ate without syrup, bacon from our last pig and eggs. It was a great dinner but it made me very thirsty.
Chas and I did some of the laundry today since Chas had no shirts left.
It was a busy day even if we didn't do all the work.
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