Category: Our Farm Animals

Snow Handling with a Tractor

It’s two degrees above freezing outside right now, gone after 5:30 PM. This winter has been pretty warm. The snow on the ground seems wet, and we keep getting puddles then ice skating rinks all around. I plow the dog walking path, and the top has a new finish on it by morning when the flat snow has melted during the day, then iced over during the night. It’s not the safest environment to walk in. Then again, we have had worse. But as winter seasons go, this is not a cold one, for sure.

So far this year we keep getting little bits of snow. We put in the footprints, then within a few days they are gone. It snowed maybe an inch and a half last night! It was just enough to want to clear it, but not enough to change the world or end the drought. But who knows what the cumulative effect of all this snow will be? We just need it to keep coming!

I am not entirely sure that the tractor would handle a single heavy snowfall. If I had a proper snow pusher or plow blade, then yeah, I think it would do amazing things. But with a loader bucket and a box blade, it has limits to what it can move in each pass.

All the snow clearing burns fuel. The cost of fuel is not very low this year, as you know. And as it keeps falling in these little bits at a time, I get to burn plenty of fuel to keep the place clear.

Between all this, I am trying to establish a snow strategy. Where are the best places to pile it up? How much should hit the ground before I clear it up? What areas should I clear off, and what should I leave? It’s great to have a cab and be able to work any time of day or night and stay warm.

One of the things that has really paid off with the tractor though is the ability to walk around outside without being forced into little foot-made paths that weave around almost randomly. I have full walkways and plenty of room to drive vehicles around without getting stuck.

Feeding has been so much easier this year! I put a bale in the bucket and take it around to where the llamas and horse is and deliver a couple of flakes per animal. By the time I am done with the paddocks with one or two animals in each, I have a final one with three that I can just dump the rest of the hay into. It is dead easy. It means I only end up out of the tractor three times after I have loaded the hay into the bucket. And those three times are very short, and don’t really require a coat. Makes a lovely winter chore list! There are other times I am out of the tractor for longer, but for feeding the goats, and for loading firewood into the bucket to take to the house. The bucket can carry a full load for a 24-hour burn. That never takes too long, so I have hardly been cold this winter compared to previous years!

There is a lot to get doing soon. When my workbench shows up in the next week or two, and I get it set up, I expect it to increase my opportunities to work in the shop. All I need to depend on is being able to warm it in there and being able to find some wood to work with! I can sure imagine a few things to build on it! I can also image being able to clear up and do some more candles.

That’s what is on my mind right now. All that and a bag of popcorn. I think I’ll go get that popping!

Taking Steps Forward, and to the Side

The farrier came by this morning and give the horse a bit of a trim. We are trying to recover her hooves from a bit of neglect on our part, and she needs to be done in increments. The guy I hired has been willing to come twice on a single appointment, so I paid him more than he asked me for. He said he did not want to charge me till he had done the job right, and he felt that he was unable to the first time. Well, that was not his fault! He is going to come by again in three weeks to work her over again, which will be on a different appointment than these last visits, which were the original appointment. Anyway, the mare’s hooves are coming down, and I am glad it is not all at once, not just to let her be less tender under the hoof, but also so she can adjust her stance back to a more upright position.

After the farrier left, I had some things to take care of for Missus, then I went to town to get a new gas lid for the truck, and new coolant reservoir lid for the car as it just broke on Tuesday, and some electrical supplies to hardwire in a heater for Missus’ little cottage out back. I was almost done with that just after the sun had gone down when all the girls came into the cottage with Bandit, our half border collie, half Alsatian.

The dog had blood on him which turned out to be from his roommate, the Billy goat. The goat is rutting, and acting like a real jerk, and won himself a good bit on the ear. But then, that is not the goat’s fault. Anyway, the dog found himself a way out of the pen and took his leave from the goat in order to get some peace. I knew right away where he had done it, so I finished the wiring, put on the heater, and went after the fence.

The fence repair was one of the easiest I have done on the farm, day or night. In this case, it was night. But I picked up the roll of fencing and brought it over on the pallet forks of the tractor, measured off a piece as if I were measuring off some paper towel, and then used the lights on the tractor to illuminate my work! The light was coming from behind me, so the goat and I cast shadows, which I watched to make sure the goat was not charging me the way he has been the dog. I finished fixing the fence, and am secure the goat isn’t getting out, and I put the dog elsewhere for the night. I will have to get some fence supplies tomorrow and build a new pen, I think. It’s time that goat got his own place again and stopped pestering the poor dog. They were okay together for a while, but the goat’s tongue has been hanging out and flapping. He is in a mood.

Tomorrow I would like to put the new heater into my shop, too. I have what I need to do it. If I don’t quite get to the new pen, I am okay with that as I have an auger on the way, and would like to set posts with it, since the ground is already frozen up to a degree here. The auger should be here on Monday or Tuesday. It would be good for it to arrive first, so I can not only get into the ground as necessary, but also get in deep enough to set the posts in properly. All of my posts up till now are set to shallow as I cannot get the manual post hole diggers to clasp any dirt beyond about two and a half feet down. The handles won’t spread enough, and I don’t want to dig the hole any wider so the earth around the hole is undisturbed and firm. The auger ought to make a big difference in getting deep enough, keeping the surrounding ground firm, and just plain being easier. It should also help me to reset several fences around here and set in the new paddocks whenever the canal company buries the canal. I will probably set in small shelters with it, too. Oh, and I could use a couple of woodsheds.

Everything is under control on the farm again, for now. Slowly, we are improving things, too. It’s good to feel the progress!

We Lost a Calf

I had a farrier by last night to look at the hooves of our mare, which have not been done for far too long. just before he arrived, I noticed that one of the calves was lying about looking like he wanted to die. With the gent on his way, I could not address it then, and had to get prepare the horse for her appointment. Once the farrier finished with her, I went right back over to where the calf was and took to dealing with him. There was nothing I could do. I went in to tell Missus that the calf looked like he was on his way out, and by the time I got back, he was gone. I have no idea what did it. I expected one to die before we got them raised. That is just my luck and skill with them. But I did not really expect it to be this one, and so soon.

That was bad news.

The good news was having the tractor to deal with it. I chained his leg and pulled him down the alleyway to the main part of the pen, and then bucket loaded him and carried him across to the field and let him out near the swale at the bottom. He is far from anyone and will no doubt decay in the springtime. It was a snap do sort it out, and I really enjoyed having the cab on to keep warm while at it. It also helped to partition me from the gruesome factor.

That was the good news.

I picked up the cutting edge for the bucket, and the bracket to put on the SMV sign at the rear of the tractor. I am finally legal! I mounted that on tonight and feel a lot better about getting on the road with the machine. Mind, I don’t have to drive it far to get to the pasture. But it’d be my luck I would get the attention of the police in that little stretch. And now I don’t have to remember to put on the hazard lights every time, though I probably still will.

Our forecast for the next week is cold, but dry. Perhaps I can get some things done! I have the pallet forks on so I can take things out of the granary, and put some other things back in. It’s not that I can reach in with them, but I don’t have to carry things across the yard.

I have been getting the parts needed to put in the outlet for the welder on my panel in the garage. There is a bit more to it than there would be with a regular breaker. It has been unexpected, as I have not done this type before. So, I am learning. I think I have everything I need to finish it maybe tomorrow.

A Storm Blows Through the Farm

I woke up this morning around 2:45 and noticed the ghostly sound of children screaming. Turned out it was just the wind. I was out doing chores last night and noticed the tarp had blown off the hay pile. Well, that will never do. That is one of those fixes that has got to be handled immediately when the forecast suggests rain. I put the tarp back on and fastened it down as best I could with all the bungee cords I could find. The big tarp is not in great shape, and the grommets are not all in place. So, fastening it down was not straightforward. After waking up this morning, I found myself lay in bed listening to the wind and theorizing on the best way to fasten a tarp so that the wind does not catch it and flap it to pieces. The conclusion I came to was ropes pulled taught, not tight, and one on every grommet to prevent any flapping. No metal to prevent any tearing of the tarp too. But it’s too late for the tarp we have at the moment.

I finally got up and dressed, then went out to give it a look when I realized I had nothing else to do but worry about the hay. Our whole winter’s supply is in one stack, and if it gets wet, rots, then generates heat and catches on fire, then we lose everything all at one. That is not acceptable at all. I need to do something about that.

When I went out, I took the tractor along, and it provided lots of light and the loader provided a step to help me up onto the pile of hay to try to get a handle on the bit that I found flapping lose. That is very destructive to a tarp! It also left the two new big bales exposed. The grommets were gone along that edge, so I did what I could do, which was to grab the trailer for the lawn mower and put it on top of the tarp on the hay pile. Naturally, the lovely loader on the tractor did all the lifting! I should go out and buy a new tarp in the morning and put it on before the weather takes a turn for the worse. Saying that, it was nearly 60F out when I was out messing about with the tarp!

In other news on the farm, the electrician came to do the job of installing panels in our two outbuildings yesterday. I am at ease with the work that needs to be done from the panel to each light and outlet. But putting in a proper installation from the service to the panes was not something I was comfortable with. We put in an underground cable, and it required a splice to come to the two buildings, and that was also something I worried about. But having seen it now, I think I could do the same work to some sort of smaller scale if needed in the future. But I foresee only a single breaker from the cottage out to the chicken coop in my future. They could use light and some heat for their water. I also would love to see some lights on the exterior of the barn to help illuminate against the wild animals that come visiting.

In addition to electrifying the cottage, I also will be able to give the shop a proper installation of electrical outlets and lighting. I have been working off of an extension cord thus far, which is ridiculous and unsafe. It also meant leaving a gap in a window on the front porch for the cord to lead out of. I’ll be able to close that up and see how warm we can actually get it out there in the near future. Furthermore, I will be able to install things like my welder in the shop and run enough power to install dust collection and proper power tools and such. I would also like to arrange easy access for a fridge to sell eggs from the front of the shop, near the road. I would also like very much to get a bandsaw in the shop that will allow me to make some flat stock, do some resawing, and make some blanks for the lathe. This is all very exciting stuff! Let’s hope Home Depot has got the breakers I need in stock when I go later in the day!

Progress is always a wonderful thing!

Late Summer Projects Update

I have finished most of the fencing for the old llama pens in the side yard next to the house. These pens are conveniently located and make life easy daily, but especially in winter, for feeding and caring for the animals. I have two goats in the pen I am looking at keeping the calves in for their winter feedings, and I have let the calves out into the pen, too. The gates are in where I want them, finally allowing access to those pens for things like the lawn mower, and hopefully one day a tractor large enough to lift out anything that dies in the pens. It happens. Best to make it manageable. The only bit of fencing left to do there is along the east side of one of the pens where there is electric fencing at the moment.

The new driveway is serviceable to some degree now! It is rough and could really use a smoothing out. I have been hoping for years to get a tractor to do this sort of thing, but one never comes. The resources to do so may come soon, finally. If so, I would like to level it out and push a little out to grade and give it a smooth transition out to the road, rather than through the shallow end of the borrow pit, as is there now.

I have all the hay stacked in one place now, rather than sitting in a trailer. I need a lot more hay for over winter. I’ll have to have help loading it all, as there is too much for me to do on my own. I have about 75 bales now and need a total of around 300. So that’s an ongoing project. I also want to get a feeder to help keep the hay off the ground in the pen, though I have seen one farmer who successfully feeds on the ground in a field all winter. It is an opportunity to get one, and I probably should, though. It will serve more than just these cows.

Firewood had had a moment of pause as I have worked on the fencing and focused a little on getting hay. I have a decent pile in the Service Yard that I brought home in spring. It needs to be cut to length and split and stacked before I will really know how far I am from having enough for this winter. I do need a bit more, I am sure. With the summer being quite as hot as it has been, and the heat knocking out a good portion of working hours, I don’t think I am ready yet, at all, though I am close, and I would really love to be ahead or next year.

As I write this, we had one day of reasonable temperatures. There are more autumnal temps coming, too. Now is the time to act! It is time to boot the projects that need to be worked around the weather forward. Those include hay gathering, wood gathering, and things like getting up in the attic and running an electrical wire that needs putting in for the outlet I installed in an awkward corner of my den. The high temps are forecast now for two mid 80’s and the rest to explore the whole of the 70’s for the next ten days. There is also rain in the forecast, which would be a very welcomed relief from the dry summer we have had. Although, when I checked my weather records on our station, it was surprising to find this year was actually not the driest recorded. Quite the opposite! The summer months have recorded quite a lot more rain than in previous years. August pulled in 3.44 inches, while previous years have hovered closer to less than one inch, for example.

There are other projects to tackle in the cooler weather, as well. I can get back to the shop, where I can work on the lathe, and candle making. It needs a little clean up in there. I’d also like a proper workbench for wood working. In addition to all this, there is the apparently annual cleaning of the barn that is required before the snowy season starts. The granary has some things stored in it that should not be there. I want my cast iron out! The woodstove will need a servicing before the burning season begins, as well as the chimney cleaning out. I also have some firewood that wants splitting to use in the woodshop. There will be a period when the autumn is too cold, and the shop will be too, and it will want a little heat to keep it, till the winter sets in properly, and makes it all too cold to do anything in for more than a few minutes. That will be the time when I will have to transition any light work into my den, and I can make candles and do leather working in there. All of that must be arranged for.

So that’s where things are as of September 10th, 2022. Let’s see how much we can get done before the end of the month!

Projects Right Now

This calf gets called Brownie. It is one of our calves we are feeding out.
Our four calves in a temporary pen while I get the bigger one ready for their winter over on hay feed.
A sampling of the old fencing that is being replaced with new like in the next photo.
New Fencing installed on the east end of the pen I intend to keep the calves in while they start out on hay over winter. It will be easier to feed them on this side of the street.
The Truck and Trailer with 57 bales of hay onboard.

We have a lot more going on here than usual right now, and in spite of the heat, though I do have to take it easy in the midday sun. We have started piling up hay for winter, finally. I have the firewood coming along, and we are bottle feeding four calves that will be sold, or butchered, or both, depending on the situation come the end their time being raised up. The kids are in school on top of all this, and I am their home liaison, or teacher, depending on the child. Meanwhile, Missus is trying to set up a home-based business and see how it goes. She is doing that while holding down a full-time job, as you do.

I was working on the fence in the south pen on this side of the street when the dogs out back started barking. Turns out the goat and dog that live together had got out again. That turned our priority yesterday into replacing the fence that kept the older dog safely in. That dog lives with a goat; long story.

We got the fence on the dog run replaced by the end of the day and put the Odd Couple back into it. This morning I put in an N-brace in the end of the pens that I had started working on yesterday. I am setting those pens up to have large gates at their west end, so I can get things in and out, like the lawnmower, eventually a tractor, and haul out anything that dies in them. It is a practical move.

A real question I am kicking around right now is if I should let the Odd Couple continue on like they are and eliminate the goat’s old pen, making more room for another firewood bunk, or should I put it back together and keep them separate? I could use the space!

On the far west end of the property, where the gates will let out from the pens, I am building in an access driveway. I could put firewood along that, or I could line it with some poplar trees. I think I like poplar trees to shade the animals in the pens in the afternoons and to shade a place to park the truck. Just another thing I am kicking around. The drive is meant to make it easier to access the back with a trailer in tow and allow me to not have to back it. I have no troubles backing trailers, but I don’t trust there won’t be someone there at some point. I don’t want to run someone down.

Oh, and today I am watering the orchard trees, as one of them appears to have died. That’s not good.

Today’s Calf Report

The Holstiens did great today. Both feedings went well. They were eager to eat, and all of them got through their bottles fairly quickly. I dropped in a bit of hay to see how they might take to it. But as I recall, I need to feed them out on the bottles till the six-week mark because their digestive systems are not made to handle hay only right now. I’d not want to feed them and them starve to death.

Speaking of hay, I am figuring on the need for 300 or so bales of hay over winter. I started collecting that today. I went to the dealer I used to buy from before our neighbor started to deliver large bales. But he took the year off, so the old guy it is. He has an honor system with a mailbox for the money to go into, and the hay out in the open (under a shelter) to pick up.

I picked up 57 bales today. I am not fit to pick up 57 bales. Holy crap! I thought I was going to die while lifting them, I thought I was going to die after I got home with them. I napped twice and rested the whole day till after that second nap. Can I have my tractor now? The hay is, of course, still on the rig out in the yard. The new fencing is not up yet, and the firewood pile that needs to be stacked only grew after I got to feeling better this evening. So, I have got a chores list waiting for me tomorrow.

A Cow Update & Etc…

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.

Masks: A Cautionary Tale

I have always been the one who has not masked up for a bit of sanding, cleaning with bleach, or running the leaf blower. Who can be bothered? Besides, it does not bother me that much. But now, I actually do own a decent quality mask, and when I went to clean out the chicken coop two days ago, I brought it along with, and I put it on. Then I went crazy with the leaf blower and cleared out loads of loose feathers and lots of dust and debris. After a session of that, I took off my mask when everything had settled and cleaned up some of the larger things in the adjacent tool shed. More dust! I ran the leaf blower again for a short bit and did not bother to put on the mask.

I was barely out of that end of the barn before I knew I had given myself a sinus infection. I could feel it on the right side, and soon my eye felt that corresponding irritation that comes along with. I gave it that night and the next day to see if it would feel any better, and it did. But now that the overlying sinus infection pain has settled a day on from that, I feel pain that resembles that sharp hurt one gets with a sore throat. Only it is above my throat, and below the sinuses.

Lesson learned; wear the mask! Always wear the mask! I watched my stepdad nearly die when I was younger because of a sinus infection that exploded into his brain cavity. It is not something I want to replicate. And now, with kids of my own, I don’t want them to have to see their father go through something like that, either.

It’s early in the morning on that third day from the cleaning. It is abundantly clear I could have avoided this situation. It is also abundantly clear to me that I am not young and impervious to the things I once was. I also have little people looking up to me to set them a good example, and to treat things like masks as though they are serious, not silly.

Beef Cows

Yesterday I went just up the canyon and bought off a guy four Holstien beef steers that he had listed on the local online classifieds. They turned out to be on average three weeks old, so they should wean around the first day of autumn. We have fed them once now, and I think it is fair to say which one I think is going to die before we get to raise it. He is a brown and white cow, and he has as much interest in his feed as a Jersey. He fell over a couple of times while trying to eat, too. It could be that he was not interested in the change of feed, as the dairyman I bought them from said he has been feeding the cows milk every day from his herd. I have milk replacer, and I don’t think it would be near as good, from what I can tell of it.

The next real trick is going to be getting enough hay to last them the winter. Along with the llamas and goats, there is going to be a real need for it around here. Lucky enough, the llamas and goats are all grown up and won’t require more than they eat now. But the cows will grow and will want more in the early spring than they do at Thanksgiving. On the other hand, come late spring they will be able to go on the back pasture, and hopefully finish out on that, which will be good for both the cows and the pasture.

On another note, my hand is itching where it was stung by a wasp the other day. The swelling was not near as bad as it could have been, based on previous stings. I sure don’t blame the wasp for it, as it had me dead to rights when I went to move that log and put my hand right on it. I think I’d have done the same.

I need to pick up some animal feed today and work out how I am going ot get the hay I need over winter. It’s going to be an expensive year with the extra mouths to feed, and the high cost of hay. I think though that those costs will be passed on to consumers come next year, when they are being absorbed into meat prices. So, I don’t think it is a bad move to have these little guys starting to get ready for the freezer this year. I expect some of their cost to get picked up by others in the family that have expressed an interest in having meat, too. Maybe they will help with the cost or the work in bringing home hay?