The first two evenings we fed the cows, there was one during each feed that gave us troubles and did not eat. Aside from those two evenings, they have all eaten just fine. I don’t know if it was the stress of the move, but we have had the last two feedings, and indeed all others, go very, very well. We have three cages that we put the bottles into on the fence, and they all do a great job of keeping to their bottles and clearing them out. The fourth bottle gets held by our youngest daughter, and she does just fine with it. I need to go look for a fourth cage, to ease her efforts, as she has had enough time to get at least a rudimentary understanding of how strong a calf is, and the way it ‘bumps’ for more when it is out, or when the bottle nipple is not flowing fast enough for it.
The day before yesterday I went out to buy a roll of four-foot horse fencing, and the shop I went to had them marked at $199.99. I asked for one, and the lady at the till said they were in the computer at $209.99. It was clear they intended to raise the price, and they had not yet been marked on the actual fencing. She said she would sell it to me at the price marked. So, I asked her if she would sell me two? “Yes,” she said. So that is how I came to have two 100-foot rolls of horse fencing in the back of my truck. The plan is to measure out and use it for the original intended fence repairs to the dog and goat runs, and then sort out one of the llama pens for the calves to stay the winter in, then move the goats to that pen come spring, when the calves get moved to the pasture for summer grazing.
I kind of wish I could have blown another $200 on more fencing to put up on the property line and keep the over-all place in order. That fence is old, and of mixed type, and could really do with being replaced with something new that will hold in any animals that escape from their pens and into the main yard. There are plenty of places they can escape! In addition, it would make it painful for stray dogs and the like to get into the place.
Once I get that fencing up on the llama pen, I think I may allow the calves out of the hospital pen they are in together now and let them go around in the bigger pen for their benefit. I could turn some goats loose in there to rake down the weeds first, and to that end, it’s best I see how everyone is doing, and how I feel about it when the fence job is done. But if the goats will take to the weeds, that ought to save me a few bales of hay.
To do this fence update, I have to take down some electric fencing first. I will surely put up a wire at the top to keep penned animals from stressing the fence. Nobody likes the grass on their own side, especially among cows.
So, hay. That is going to be expensive this year. I will be paying $10 a bale, which is still $9 cheaper than the most expensive hay I have seen since coming back to America 12 years ago. There was a shop in Nevada that was selling them at $19 a bale, and that was back in the first year since we arrived. So, $10 does not entirely intimidate me. Besides, I may be able to talk the seller into a lower price if I am buying a hell of a lot of hay from him, which I will be, if he has it. I will be starting today, so maybe he will. But then again, with gas prices so high, I’ll understand if he doesn’t.
I’d go with another seller, and buy big bales, if I could. But I have no way of unloading them from the truck and trailer. That brings me to the tractor. I have none. I want one. I thought about buying a cheap one for the field, but I would still need one with a loader to do things like unloading the hay. So why blow an extra $3-grand? It gets hard when deciding priorities like a cab, which would benefit for long stretches of the year when the weather is bad. And after a recent sinus infection, that was a good reminder that protection around me from even little things blowing in the wind are worth the extra cost. I have picked up an infection before from just handing alfalfa hay. Conversely, that is a little more expensive than adding a backhoe to the tractor, which would help me get pipes for the water supply to places such as the garden, and the animal pens, rather than having to deal with long hoses that freeze in the winters. Sure, I could rent for that, but there are so many other jobs to do, too. I need a septic system installed, and I need to dig out old stumps, and sort out some of the waterways here. There is also the use in stirring compost, though to be fair, I could probably look at another way, using the loader, and should probably do that. Perhaps that is the crux of it. Otherwise, in a short amount of time, it would probably be cheaper to own than to rent.
I split more firewood last night. Looking at what I have got, I could probably make it through the winter with what is done and what is still on the ground. It won’t take long till the stuff that is cut is through the log-splitter, and I can get the last of the long branches into the mown clearing and cut them down to go through. At this point, I think anything I bring home from the wood-yard is ready to go towards next year’s burning. Then that wood will be properly seasoned! The miracle of being ahead! If I could just do that every year! Honestly, I am torn between getting firewood later today, or getting hay. But hay is in seriously limited supply if I don’t get it now and get a lot. So, it is probably best I do that. I have till about November to get the wood. And I still have permits to go into the mountains to get some maple, too! Hopefully that will come soon. I need the help of one of the older kids to do that. With no cellphone service up there, a person wants the help of someone who can drive to a hospital.
So, this turned out to be more than a cow update. It is just gone 4:00AM, and these are the thoughts that get to me at night. Now it is time to see if I can get some sleep, since loading hay is probably on the agenda for today.
