Some one asked me how Donald and I got into farming the other day. I have been thinking about how to answer that. I suppose the short answer is that we had some horses that needed good quality hay, so we decided that we would have to grow our own to get what we wanted. We ended up selling the surplus and people were so happy with our hay the word spread and the demand increased.
The longer version would involve the building of a barn, a lawsuit, and general frustration with the food produced and sold to us in this country (including that from other countries as well). As I stated in an original post, we intended to run a show barn and breeding facility. We designed a barn and the property layout for this purpose. The barn included a breeding barn attached to the main raised center aisle barn with tack, utility, and feed rooms. The interior was wood paneled with various niceties for ease of use and practicality. We signed a contract in 2004 with Arizona MD Barn Company to have the barn built. We subcontracted the concrete with the company recommended by the owner of Arizona MD Barn Company, as they had worked together through the years. And the process was to begin.
We had some trouble getting the concrete guy to commit to a date, and the barn materials were ready for delivery. The barn guy said they would go ahead and deliver, they did it all the time, and the concrete would be done soon anyway. Remember he was in communication with the concrete guy on a regular basis. The materials were delivered in July 2005. There were many redrawings of the barn plan. The owner hand-drew the plans everytime there was a correction to be made. He would then make another error that would require a new drawing. It was rather comical at the time. What we didn't realize was that all these copies would end up getting intermixed, so the accurate drawing was never drawn. There were further code changes that year, so the engineering was slow as well.
Just after the delivery of the materials, Donald realized that we had extra parts (obviously large items that were identifiable like palpation chutes), and missing parts (feeders, doors, and other identifiable parts). He sent me an email, as I was in Oregon with the girls until September, telling me of this fact and that he would contact AZ MD Barns to let them know we needed to do an inventory of the materials. When the materials were delivered they were unloaded from a couple trucks and no bill of lading or other document was signed or received. We had know idea whether we had the essential parts or not. Of course not being in the barn building business, we had no idea what some of the parts were anyway.
The owner was in Texas and said it wasn't a problem that the barn we ordered would be built. We felt reassured and continued to finalize the concrete installation. We finally got Wimer Concrete out in October of 2005. Needless to say we were irritated with both companies as they were in cahoots and were putting us off. In the meantime, the ranch was hit with a microburst. That's a mini-tornado in the desert. We had 90 mph winds that threw barn parts all over the desert. The wind was so powerful it ripped a mare motel out of the ground and blew it a half mile north of us. It looked like a dead spider with all its legs crumpled. Donald called the owner of AZ MD Barns and was once again reassured that we would get our barn.
The moment the concrete was complete, it started cracking. They tried to tell me that it was normal. It was terrible. I had videotaped the pouring of the concrete for Donald for he was away for work and couldn't be there. If you know anything about concrete you know it can't be too wet and you don't throw dirt into it as you are pouring it. The job was too big for this crew and they couldn't keep up and the temperatures were working against them too. As it turned out they had not put the metal mesh in the concrete, but had opted for a fiber material. They didn't order the concrete with that either. It was a disaster.
After researching our options, we had an inspector come out and he told us that the concrete was not acceptable. We filed a claim with the Register of Contractors and Donald had to go to the hearing without an attorney. They twisted everything around and decided that we had blocked access to Wimer Concrete to come on the property to do repairs. Repairs? We had to tear out the entire pour and have it disposed of in truck loads. We didn't pay Wimer a dime, thank goodness. We were still out the expense of the removal, and still didn't have our barn.
We had a friend in Oregon that poured concrete and asked his advise. He wanted to come down and spend some time in Arizona and visit family and get out of the cold for a bit, and said he'd come help us out. So he and his son stayed with us on the ranch and we got the concrete poured. It was perfect. Not a single crack. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done. We have the concrete to prove it.
In the meantime, the barn guy finally came out to the property. We really wanted an inventory of the materials. We just didn't want to have something crucial missing. There were parts that he had directed his workers to come and take with out notifying us. We were panicked that someone was stealing the materials. When we called him he told us that they had taken them. At this point we had no idea what was left of our materials or as it turned out some materials that others had ordered and were unloaded on our property.
When he looked over the materials after the storm, he told us that boxes of fasteners were missing. Now these would be 12" square boxes filled with nuts and bolts and such, not something the wind could blow but a few feet. We had no idea what he was talking about. We had never seen such boxes.
He suggested that they were stolen. Donald asked who would want to steal such a box? He immediately retorted that maybe we had taken them. How absurd? Why would we want to delay the construction of the barn, and what would we do with them? Is there a blackmarket for barn parts? Unless they worked in a field building barns there wouldn't be any use for these. Perhaps one of his guys would have stolen them? I suggested this in a later phone call, when he again suggested that we had taken the boxes!
He later sent us a bill to replace the missing parts, in order to construct the barn. We told him we were not inclined to pay for them again since we didn't know if they ever arrived on the property. We had no inventory. He had decided to charge us for the parts again.
It was now the spring of 2006 and the second concrete pour was completed. After the first pour we had contacted the barn guy and told him we weren't sure about the concrete and asked if he would advise us. He never responded. After we rejected the first pour, we got a threatening letter from an attorney stating that a lien on the property would be put into effect by Arizona MD Barns. We were confused, as we had been actively preparing for the barn installation and expected to have the installation as we had contracted. Everything had been paid as the contract dictated.
Arizona MD Barn Company was refusing to build the barn now. They claimed that they didn't trust that we would pay in the last payment. Everything had been paid on time through the process. He had gotten enough money to cover the cost of the materials with a big profit. The remaining cost would be for the labor to construct the barn. He wouldn't lose a thing at this point if he just refused to build.
We met with an attorney to be advised. He suggested we hire a third party to construct the barn to find out what was missing, since we had no idea. And we would file a breach of contract claim against Arizona MD Barn Company.
Barn construction companies aren't a dime a dozen. This was a large complicated barn, so it took some searching to find someone willing to take the job. In my research, I some how got the address of the owner of the MD Barn Enterprises. I wrote him a letter in desperation explaining the situation and our feelings of helplessness regarding any progress with the owner of Arizona MD Barn Company in resolving this issue.
We hired another barn construction company to determine what was missing and what was damaged through the construction of the barn. Remember the materials had been lying in the desert since July 2005. It was now January 2007. Weather and termites had had some damaging effect on the wood panels for the interior of the barn. Donald and I were wandering the property looking at the mess when we discovered a pile of wall panels. The cardboard that separated the panels had deteriorated to the point that we could see in between the panels just barely. What we discovered was the top panel was a solid wall, but underneath were the panels that had the openings for the stall doors, so there was a space under the top panel. Low and behold, the missing fasteners that the barn guy was trying to make us pay for again! We notified him immediately, but he would not acknowledge us. We were told by his attorney that he would not construct the barn.
By the time the third party finished the barn, the owner of the MD Enterprises had contacted our barn guy and told him to get the missing parts to us. We had UPS, DHL and FedEx trucks coming non-stop with more barn materials. We had to pay the third party to erect the barn, knowing that it was possible that they may be missing something crucial that would not enable them to finish. They were able to get the barn up, but it was such a disappointment.
The termite and water damage was terrible. The owner of the MD Enterprises contacted me to make sure we were happy with the barn. I was honest and sent him pictures. He immediately contacted the head of manufacturing out of California and sent someone to evaluate the damages. When he arrived he took a look at the barn and made a list of parts that needed to be replaced. The list was longer than ours. He then ordered the CA crew to bring the missing parts and replace them at no cost.
It was the summer of 2007 when the barn was completed. We loved and still love the barn. It is a beautiful building. But what the owner of Arizona MD Barns had done was wrong. So we continued with our suit against him.
The legal system is a fiasco. We did our depositions and we all decided to have an arbitration hearing for the decision. The arbitrator found in our favor. The barn guy appealed. We were to have a jury trial. When we arrived, the court had not selected a jury and wanted to know if we could have the judge decide. At this point, we all just wanted to get it over with. We went through the trial.
The judge took almost five months to make her decision. It was not in our favor. So we appealed. That's where we are now in 2011.
I have skipped over some of the details, because it is really more of a book than a blog post. Needless to say, circumstances caused us to rethink our objectives. Farming was underway, so we expanded, adding more fields and tried other grass hays. We decided to add some livestock, poultry and garden produce. That is the long version of how we got into farming.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Already Mid-June
I am feeling thankful for a very mild introduction to our summer this season. June is supposed to be the hottest month and we have been very fortunate to have had what I would describe as reasonable temperatures for the desert. I am not sure if it is the mild temperatures or my new mosquito management program that is responsible for the minimal pest population this year. But whatever it is I am very happy to have had the relief so far.
I have been diligent, if not a little frugal, with the distribution of the larvaecide Altosid. I have spent hours next to the ditch sprinkling the granules into the irrigation water. I feel like I have been holding my breath waiting for the onslaught, but with the exception of one short-lived outbreak last month, we have been been rather comfortable. The granules are supposed to be spread across irrigated land prior to flooding. I tried using a fertilizer spreader, that I spent a great deal of time on the phone trying to crack the settings code to determine the best setting for the tiny granules, only to discover in the end that the settings would not go low enough to distribute appropriately. After that I spent time putting the product into the water, which is not the recommendation. I aborted that plan when I realized the product could be ending up on the bottom of the ditch caught in the silt and debris and not flowing onto the field. I then took to the Gator. I had pre-measured baggies to be distributed per acre. I then would mark out my target area and throw scoop fulls out into the field driving along in the Gator prior to irrigating. This got the product out, but my distribution was probably a little spotty, and my trapezius muscle has started to bulge with spasms as a result.
I finally ordered the backpack blower, the Maruyama Blower. It will come in next week sometime, along with some more of the granules. So I will be ready for the next distribution. I only have to spread the granules every 21 days. So we should be set until into July. I have dropped the briquet products into the neighbor's standing water in their ill-maintained ditches. Those last for 90 days.
Donald and I were feeding horses in the barn last night, and he reminded me that it has been a very long time since we have not had mosquitoes in the barn at this time of the year. I am still not ready to be convinced that there is another explanation yet, but I am hoping it is my treatment.
I irrigated this past Tuesday and ended up with standing water on the horse pasture 1B. The ground has become so compacted that even .6 of an acre foot of water is not being absorbed like it should be. This will be a real test of the mosquito infestation. I am guessing there will be mosquitoes present by this weekend. The field was treated, but I have never had such poor absorption on a field. I question whether the product will be effective in this situation. Time will tell.
The horses are all in the barn, as the pasture 1A has been plowed and disked in preparation for re-seeding of the Bermuda. This is the side that we planted the winter pasture and the condition of this field is very nice for growing. The 1B side will need to be cultivated and re-seeded eventually. Because I irrigated 1B, the horses don't have a pasture to graze in at this point. We will level 1A ourselves prior to planting. We are able to do a level field, but not one with a slope with our laser equipment.
The 4A and 4B fields have been plowed and disked and we just negotiated a trade with our neighbor to have him laser a slope onto those fields. We will pay the diesel and we will lend him a piece of equipment that he wants to borrow. I feel like it's a little in our favor, but I may give him some turkey poults to make me feel better, if he is interested.
We have enough seed to do the pasture, but we will have to order seed for the fourth fields. The price was ridiculous this winter for Bermuda. We are hoping to find a better price now that some of the seed farmers have started getting some seed off this year's fields. We will have to hire a guy to seed with a Brillion. Bermuda seed is extremely small and broadcast seeding does not work. The Brillion drags a little trench, pushes the seed into the trench, and covers it up at a specified depth. The depth is something like a quarter inch and this really makes a difference in your growth success. We will put some phosphate to stimulate the initial growth of the field.
We have had a lot of diversions with the start of the hay season, preventing us from getting the railing on the arena finished. But the fields have to be done as the season dictates, so once we are done with those, we will return to the arena in between cuttings and deliveries.
Our first cutting this year was a disappointment. The temperatures have been fantastic for humans and animals, but the Bermuda really needs those miserably hot nights to thrive. We have had evening temperatures in the 50s even into June this year. So the growth rate was slow and uneven. 3A grew better, so we only sold the hay from that field. 3B was too short to make nice flakes in the bales, so we set those aside for our own use. The yield was low on 3B, so at least I don't have too many of the bales that fall apart. I just put them in the big cart, so all the hay is in the cart when I open a bale that doesn't hold its flakes well. The horses sure weren't complaining, so I guess I'll make it through until I can put up some more manageable bales for ourselves.
I got some information regarding some hay we sold last year to a client through another client. Apparently, her horses would not eat the hay. She ended up selling it to another woman (also a client), but didn't tell us about it. This was last fall, so we couldn't piece together any information as to what field, if it was fertilized, or watered in some different way....So we don't know what went wrong with that batch of hay. The other woman's horses ate it without any problem, so the gal didn't say anything to us. On the other hand, we got a call regarding this year's hay from another client that said the hay was fantastic and her horses don't leave a single blade. She wanted to make sure we put her on the list for the next cutting. We don't really don't have enough hay to supply the demand this year. People really are having trouble getting hay. I suppose the shipping over-seas and to Texas is really limiting what is available locally this year.
I should mention our rather extroverted Kingsnake has obviously become more comfortable with our presence this year. He or she has been known to follow Erin around the horse barn while she is feeding horses. I have watched him nose into mouse holes around and in the poultry barn, coming out the other end into some of the stalls at times. Yesterday while feeding the latest clutch of chicks and poults, I discovered the Kingsnake in their stall eating mice. He finished both while I was standing in the stall with him. I have to admit, I was surprised at my calm state, and patience as he finished his meal. When I saw him shrink his body small enough to fit through the 1" metal fencing hole, I decided maybe a smaller screen needs to be applied for the stall housing the smallest chicks or poults. I will have to add this to the list of things to do.
There are lots of positive things happening with our family and progress is forward with the ranch, even if it goes slowly sometimes. If we are successful in managing the mosquitoes this year, I will feel like there is a future for me here in the desert.
I have been diligent, if not a little frugal, with the distribution of the larvaecide Altosid. I have spent hours next to the ditch sprinkling the granules into the irrigation water. I feel like I have been holding my breath waiting for the onslaught, but with the exception of one short-lived outbreak last month, we have been been rather comfortable. The granules are supposed to be spread across irrigated land prior to flooding. I tried using a fertilizer spreader, that I spent a great deal of time on the phone trying to crack the settings code to determine the best setting for the tiny granules, only to discover in the end that the settings would not go low enough to distribute appropriately. After that I spent time putting the product into the water, which is not the recommendation. I aborted that plan when I realized the product could be ending up on the bottom of the ditch caught in the silt and debris and not flowing onto the field. I then took to the Gator. I had pre-measured baggies to be distributed per acre. I then would mark out my target area and throw scoop fulls out into the field driving along in the Gator prior to irrigating. This got the product out, but my distribution was probably a little spotty, and my trapezius muscle has started to bulge with spasms as a result.
I finally ordered the backpack blower, the Maruyama Blower. It will come in next week sometime, along with some more of the granules. So I will be ready for the next distribution. I only have to spread the granules every 21 days. So we should be set until into July. I have dropped the briquet products into the neighbor's standing water in their ill-maintained ditches. Those last for 90 days.
Donald and I were feeding horses in the barn last night, and he reminded me that it has been a very long time since we have not had mosquitoes in the barn at this time of the year. I am still not ready to be convinced that there is another explanation yet, but I am hoping it is my treatment.
I irrigated this past Tuesday and ended up with standing water on the horse pasture 1B. The ground has become so compacted that even .6 of an acre foot of water is not being absorbed like it should be. This will be a real test of the mosquito infestation. I am guessing there will be mosquitoes present by this weekend. The field was treated, but I have never had such poor absorption on a field. I question whether the product will be effective in this situation. Time will tell.
The horses are all in the barn, as the pasture 1A has been plowed and disked in preparation for re-seeding of the Bermuda. This is the side that we planted the winter pasture and the condition of this field is very nice for growing. The 1B side will need to be cultivated and re-seeded eventually. Because I irrigated 1B, the horses don't have a pasture to graze in at this point. We will level 1A ourselves prior to planting. We are able to do a level field, but not one with a slope with our laser equipment.
The 4A and 4B fields have been plowed and disked and we just negotiated a trade with our neighbor to have him laser a slope onto those fields. We will pay the diesel and we will lend him a piece of equipment that he wants to borrow. I feel like it's a little in our favor, but I may give him some turkey poults to make me feel better, if he is interested.
We have enough seed to do the pasture, but we will have to order seed for the fourth fields. The price was ridiculous this winter for Bermuda. We are hoping to find a better price now that some of the seed farmers have started getting some seed off this year's fields. We will have to hire a guy to seed with a Brillion. Bermuda seed is extremely small and broadcast seeding does not work. The Brillion drags a little trench, pushes the seed into the trench, and covers it up at a specified depth. The depth is something like a quarter inch and this really makes a difference in your growth success. We will put some phosphate to stimulate the initial growth of the field.
We have had a lot of diversions with the start of the hay season, preventing us from getting the railing on the arena finished. But the fields have to be done as the season dictates, so once we are done with those, we will return to the arena in between cuttings and deliveries.
Our first cutting this year was a disappointment. The temperatures have been fantastic for humans and animals, but the Bermuda really needs those miserably hot nights to thrive. We have had evening temperatures in the 50s even into June this year. So the growth rate was slow and uneven. 3A grew better, so we only sold the hay from that field. 3B was too short to make nice flakes in the bales, so we set those aside for our own use. The yield was low on 3B, so at least I don't have too many of the bales that fall apart. I just put them in the big cart, so all the hay is in the cart when I open a bale that doesn't hold its flakes well. The horses sure weren't complaining, so I guess I'll make it through until I can put up some more manageable bales for ourselves.
I got some information regarding some hay we sold last year to a client through another client. Apparently, her horses would not eat the hay. She ended up selling it to another woman (also a client), but didn't tell us about it. This was last fall, so we couldn't piece together any information as to what field, if it was fertilized, or watered in some different way....So we don't know what went wrong with that batch of hay. The other woman's horses ate it without any problem, so the gal didn't say anything to us. On the other hand, we got a call regarding this year's hay from another client that said the hay was fantastic and her horses don't leave a single blade. She wanted to make sure we put her on the list for the next cutting. We don't really don't have enough hay to supply the demand this year. People really are having trouble getting hay. I suppose the shipping over-seas and to Texas is really limiting what is available locally this year.
I should mention our rather extroverted Kingsnake has obviously become more comfortable with our presence this year. He or she has been known to follow Erin around the horse barn while she is feeding horses. I have watched him nose into mouse holes around and in the poultry barn, coming out the other end into some of the stalls at times. Yesterday while feeding the latest clutch of chicks and poults, I discovered the Kingsnake in their stall eating mice. He finished both while I was standing in the stall with him. I have to admit, I was surprised at my calm state, and patience as he finished his meal. When I saw him shrink his body small enough to fit through the 1" metal fencing hole, I decided maybe a smaller screen needs to be applied for the stall housing the smallest chicks or poults. I will have to add this to the list of things to do.
There are lots of positive things happening with our family and progress is forward with the ranch, even if it goes slowly sometimes. If we are successful in managing the mosquitoes this year, I will feel like there is a future for me here in the desert.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Being Stalked by a Coyote
We have lost three of our Bourbon Red Turkeys to a coyote. We have been stalked by him and he has figured out when the dogs are all fed and has made his move. So we adaptted and rotated the feedings, so there was always a dog on duty. The coyote has been patient. We had to lock up the turkeys with the intention of removing the predator before they would be allowed out again. I gave in Sunday evening and decided to let them out for a hour before dusk. We were working nearby so we could keep an eye on things. When we went to lock them up, one hen was missing. We knew she hadn't been nabbed, but had probably found a spot to hunker down for the night. We searched into the darkness for her hiding spot. We couldn't find her, but we knew she was still around. The next morning Donald went out to do a quick recovery and get her back in the pen for the day, and found the coyote with her freshly killed carcass next to the irrigation ditch. The coyote had gotten her moments before.
I was so mad at myself for letting them out. And Donald was so mad at himself for missing his shot. He had cleaned his gun and taken the scope off and had not re-sighted it. He still hasn't made it to the range to make adjustments and two mornings in a row the coyote has been back. The dogs tell us it's here and we scramble. Sometimes it's someone driving on a distant road or a neighbor's dog visiting, but we have had so many coyote visits, we aren't ignoring any warning barks. Bear just isn't enthusiastic about a big chase these days. He goes out to a certain imaginery line and then turns back once the coyote starts to trot away. Donald says "Bear has retired." We have to figure out a way to put one of the Pyrenese out to do Bear's job.
The problem is Zeus could probably do the job, but he'll probably kill Bear if we don't isolate him from Zeus. Titan gets along better with Bear, but we're not sure he wouldn't wander off. So much talent, but so many traits to neutralize their value! What's a soft-hearted rancher to do?
The horses have been doing great on the pasture. They are all looking much fuller and have shed the winter coats, so they have a shine these days. So far they aren't being bothered by any bugs, specifically mosquitoes, so life is good for them.
We are going to have to irrigate one more time before cutting the hay fields. We were hoping to cut this week, but there just isn't enough growth to make good flakes in the bales. We will irrigate the next couple days and we should be able to cut at the end of the month. It always seems to be the end of May for our first cutting. I just hoped it would be a little early this year.
We have had a lot of maintenance and repairs to do around the ranch. Just recently we had to dig up the drainage pipe for the washrack on the barn to put in some clean-outs. The muck had built up in the pipe, so that the washrack was not draining to the trees anymore and there was standing water in the wash rack. That was completed, but now we have to re-plumb the cut water lines to the trees on the perimeter for the lines were in the way of the work we needed to do for the clean-outs. The intersection where we put the clean outs is directly in front of the round pen gate. There will be boxes when we are finished that will house the clean outs for access. We will have to switch a couple panels to relocate the gate to the round pen. We don't want to have the horse traffic over the boxes for safety reasons. It is yet another job that requires a couple people.
The first batch of chicks and turkeys will be moved out to the pasture in the chicken tractor today. The visiting coyote makes me nervous, but the tractor is pretty secure. We have another clutch due to hatch this week. We have some people interested in buying chicks and poults, so I have put extra into the incubator. My fear is that they will change their minds and I will have a lot more chicks than I want at a time. I am anticipating the butchering process and I know my limitations. I am not an endurance butcher :)
As I spend so much time in the barns, the house is progressively getting dustier and more cluttered. I tell myself that the extreme heat will be here soon and will chase me inside again. I will take care of the interior when the heat drives me inside. In the meantime, I can barely stand to be in the messy house.
Time to go back outside and avoid the nagging irritation of the dusty piano and television!
I was so mad at myself for letting them out. And Donald was so mad at himself for missing his shot. He had cleaned his gun and taken the scope off and had not re-sighted it. He still hasn't made it to the range to make adjustments and two mornings in a row the coyote has been back. The dogs tell us it's here and we scramble. Sometimes it's someone driving on a distant road or a neighbor's dog visiting, but we have had so many coyote visits, we aren't ignoring any warning barks. Bear just isn't enthusiastic about a big chase these days. He goes out to a certain imaginery line and then turns back once the coyote starts to trot away. Donald says "Bear has retired." We have to figure out a way to put one of the Pyrenese out to do Bear's job.
The problem is Zeus could probably do the job, but he'll probably kill Bear if we don't isolate him from Zeus. Titan gets along better with Bear, but we're not sure he wouldn't wander off. So much talent, but so many traits to neutralize their value! What's a soft-hearted rancher to do?
The horses have been doing great on the pasture. They are all looking much fuller and have shed the winter coats, so they have a shine these days. So far they aren't being bothered by any bugs, specifically mosquitoes, so life is good for them.
We are going to have to irrigate one more time before cutting the hay fields. We were hoping to cut this week, but there just isn't enough growth to make good flakes in the bales. We will irrigate the next couple days and we should be able to cut at the end of the month. It always seems to be the end of May for our first cutting. I just hoped it would be a little early this year.
We have had a lot of maintenance and repairs to do around the ranch. Just recently we had to dig up the drainage pipe for the washrack on the barn to put in some clean-outs. The muck had built up in the pipe, so that the washrack was not draining to the trees anymore and there was standing water in the wash rack. That was completed, but now we have to re-plumb the cut water lines to the trees on the perimeter for the lines were in the way of the work we needed to do for the clean-outs. The intersection where we put the clean outs is directly in front of the round pen gate. There will be boxes when we are finished that will house the clean outs for access. We will have to switch a couple panels to relocate the gate to the round pen. We don't want to have the horse traffic over the boxes for safety reasons. It is yet another job that requires a couple people.
The first batch of chicks and turkeys will be moved out to the pasture in the chicken tractor today. The visiting coyote makes me nervous, but the tractor is pretty secure. We have another clutch due to hatch this week. We have some people interested in buying chicks and poults, so I have put extra into the incubator. My fear is that they will change their minds and I will have a lot more chicks than I want at a time. I am anticipating the butchering process and I know my limitations. I am not an endurance butcher :)
As I spend so much time in the barns, the house is progressively getting dustier and more cluttered. I tell myself that the extreme heat will be here soon and will chase me inside again. I will take care of the interior when the heat drives me inside. In the meantime, I can barely stand to be in the messy house.
Time to go back outside and avoid the nagging irritation of the dusty piano and television!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Fantastic Springtime
I love this time of year! The temperatures are so wonderful, there are no mosquitoes yet, and everything is greening up. I am happy to have discovered that all of the grapes that lived through last summer, survived the winter. Alas, the blackberries planted last spring did not survive the summer, and this spring's blackberries didn't last but a few weeks. Even with the fencing around the blackberries, there was yet a smaller rodent that got in and devoured all the leaves on both plants. The grapes were pruned in February, so they should train well to cover the fence around the chicken yard through the summer. We may even get some grapes this year.
Last year's pine and mulberries that survived the summer also made it through the winter. These are planted along the eastern side of the property. I am still debating as to whether I will replace them so that they maintain the every other pattern, or take the cottonwoods that have sprung up in the orchard area and transplant them. We did have one casualty this winter; the lemon tree. It just couldn't take the freezing temperatures, even with a cover. The pomegranate survived with one branch greening up in the last few weeks. I am thankful.
The Bermuda grass is coming in like gang-busters. The first cutting will probably be the first weekend of May if things continue as they are. We have had more calls from people desperate for hay this winter and spring than ever before. I am even running low this spring. I will be relieved to get a few stacks in the barn.
We have had two horses arrive at the ranch. They were obviously used by drug runners to pack drugs in from Mexico. As soon as they are done with their trip, they cut the horses loose to fend for themselves. Fortunately, for these two it is early enough that they were not dying of thirst like the ones in the heat of the summer. Those horses try to get water from the irrigation canals and fall in unable to get back out and are swept away to their death. We have helped pull both live and dead ones out of the canal. These current two horses are healing their backs and rehydrating. They both had bloodied backs from ill-fitted, overloaded packs. One has had severe damage to his right eye, leaving him blinded and with a disfunctional eye lid. The actual eye ball is very damaged and withering in the eye socket. They are both very broke and gentle. We are having a difficult time finding someone to take them. The blind one depends on the other, using him as a guide, keeping his good eye on him as he travels.
The arena posts are all in the ground. We will put the top rail on and order truck loads of bedding sand next. Of course, that is after we deal with the latest crisis with the well. The pressure tanks have split so badly they are unable to maintain pressure. The motor was switching on and off constantly, until the switch finally quit on us. In the meantime, I have had to run back and forth from the horse's water trough and the well to manually re-pressurize the tanks to get through watering the animals.
We are also in an on-going state of having to repair plumbing leaks all over the property. Every leak is at a plastic fitting. Plastic is such a ineffective product when it comes to the extreme temperatures of our desert. The difficulty is actually finding the fittings in brass or some type of metal. Plastic is a source of replacement part income for companies, so why stock something that will last that they can't make money on. We are in the process of redesigning some of the plumbing to eliminate as much plastic as possible.
This weekend is Easter. We have 8 new Call ducklings in the brooder and clutches of Americaunas, Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Red turkeys due to hatch Sunday just in time for Easter. We had a power outage in the course of the incubation, so we are not sure that we will have a good hatch rate this time around. A new clutch of Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Reds went into the incubator yesterday.
We had a terrible loss this spring. The temperatures hit over 100 degrees one day and of the second breeding set of Freedom Rangers, all but two died. They had been temporarily moved to an aviary, because the plumbing burst in their stall and the ground was drying out. I was so devastated. The remaining two were moved in with the other breeding set. It is a little crowded and they haven't been accepted very well, but they are able to jump up on the roost and get away. They other hens and the very aggressive rooster are unable to get up to the roost, so the two have a getaway. I am concerned that these heavy-bodied birds may have difficulty surviving our summer heat.
I had a perfect irrigation of the 3A field yesterday. That means that the water traveled all the way to the end of the field without pooling. I didn't have the same luck with the 1A horse pasture. We leveled that pasture flat, since it is a short field. The water traveled 3/4 of the way down the pasture, and I switched the water to the next field. In the past we have had a slight slope on this pasture and it would have continued down to cover the entire field. This time it stopped right where I switched it off and the water soaked in. So I shortchanged the pasture. I will have to go back and rewater it, so I don't lose the grass at the northern end. I will irrigate 3B tomorrow.
I will have to go to town today to purchase the pressure tanks. We had to clear all the tools and supplies out of the pick up that we have been using for the fencing in order to make space to haul the tanks. By having all the tools and materials in the pickup bed, it allows us to transport all of the tools to and from the work site, parking under cover in the evening in case of rain. Putting everything back in will take away time from actually working on a project. With our limited time, those little time consumers become a real nuisance.
Spring here is terrific. The evenings are gorgeous. I really should take up star gazing, because we have a magnificent sky at night. It is dark enough out here, you can really see a lot more stars than when you're in the city. I will enjoy the climate knowing the heat of the summer and all that comes with it, is just around the corner.
Last year's pine and mulberries that survived the summer also made it through the winter. These are planted along the eastern side of the property. I am still debating as to whether I will replace them so that they maintain the every other pattern, or take the cottonwoods that have sprung up in the orchard area and transplant them. We did have one casualty this winter; the lemon tree. It just couldn't take the freezing temperatures, even with a cover. The pomegranate survived with one branch greening up in the last few weeks. I am thankful.
The Bermuda grass is coming in like gang-busters. The first cutting will probably be the first weekend of May if things continue as they are. We have had more calls from people desperate for hay this winter and spring than ever before. I am even running low this spring. I will be relieved to get a few stacks in the barn.
We have had two horses arrive at the ranch. They were obviously used by drug runners to pack drugs in from Mexico. As soon as they are done with their trip, they cut the horses loose to fend for themselves. Fortunately, for these two it is early enough that they were not dying of thirst like the ones in the heat of the summer. Those horses try to get water from the irrigation canals and fall in unable to get back out and are swept away to their death. We have helped pull both live and dead ones out of the canal. These current two horses are healing their backs and rehydrating. They both had bloodied backs from ill-fitted, overloaded packs. One has had severe damage to his right eye, leaving him blinded and with a disfunctional eye lid. The actual eye ball is very damaged and withering in the eye socket. They are both very broke and gentle. We are having a difficult time finding someone to take them. The blind one depends on the other, using him as a guide, keeping his good eye on him as he travels.
The arena posts are all in the ground. We will put the top rail on and order truck loads of bedding sand next. Of course, that is after we deal with the latest crisis with the well. The pressure tanks have split so badly they are unable to maintain pressure. The motor was switching on and off constantly, until the switch finally quit on us. In the meantime, I have had to run back and forth from the horse's water trough and the well to manually re-pressurize the tanks to get through watering the animals.
We are also in an on-going state of having to repair plumbing leaks all over the property. Every leak is at a plastic fitting. Plastic is such a ineffective product when it comes to the extreme temperatures of our desert. The difficulty is actually finding the fittings in brass or some type of metal. Plastic is a source of replacement part income for companies, so why stock something that will last that they can't make money on. We are in the process of redesigning some of the plumbing to eliminate as much plastic as possible.
This weekend is Easter. We have 8 new Call ducklings in the brooder and clutches of Americaunas, Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Red turkeys due to hatch Sunday just in time for Easter. We had a power outage in the course of the incubation, so we are not sure that we will have a good hatch rate this time around. A new clutch of Freedom Rangers and Bourbon Reds went into the incubator yesterday.
We had a terrible loss this spring. The temperatures hit over 100 degrees one day and of the second breeding set of Freedom Rangers, all but two died. They had been temporarily moved to an aviary, because the plumbing burst in their stall and the ground was drying out. I was so devastated. The remaining two were moved in with the other breeding set. It is a little crowded and they haven't been accepted very well, but they are able to jump up on the roost and get away. They other hens and the very aggressive rooster are unable to get up to the roost, so the two have a getaway. I am concerned that these heavy-bodied birds may have difficulty surviving our summer heat.
I had a perfect irrigation of the 3A field yesterday. That means that the water traveled all the way to the end of the field without pooling. I didn't have the same luck with the 1A horse pasture. We leveled that pasture flat, since it is a short field. The water traveled 3/4 of the way down the pasture, and I switched the water to the next field. In the past we have had a slight slope on this pasture and it would have continued down to cover the entire field. This time it stopped right where I switched it off and the water soaked in. So I shortchanged the pasture. I will have to go back and rewater it, so I don't lose the grass at the northern end. I will irrigate 3B tomorrow.
I will have to go to town today to purchase the pressure tanks. We had to clear all the tools and supplies out of the pick up that we have been using for the fencing in order to make space to haul the tanks. By having all the tools and materials in the pickup bed, it allows us to transport all of the tools to and from the work site, parking under cover in the evening in case of rain. Putting everything back in will take away time from actually working on a project. With our limited time, those little time consumers become a real nuisance.
Spring here is terrific. The evenings are gorgeous. I really should take up star gazing, because we have a magnificent sky at night. It is dark enough out here, you can really see a lot more stars than when you're in the city. I will enjoy the climate knowing the heat of the summer and all that comes with it, is just around the corner.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Chickens and Horses
I have been delinquent in my documentation of the activities here on the ranch. As I am waiting for the horses in the barn to finish their hay and supplements, I will do an update.
The warmer temperatures, upper 70's to lower 90's, have arrived. It is still wonderful at night with temperatures in the 50's, so morning chores are done in comfort. The chore routine has been altered lately, as the horses are rotated on pasture and within the barn, and we have had some poultry relocations due to flooding and new arrivals.
The stored hay is getting low. We intended on having both sides of the horse pasture planted, but only one was completed. As a result the horses had to have more hay than projected. I will double what I put up for them this fall season, to prevent this anxiety next spring. Erin has started showing a couple of the horses, and insists on having them in the barn at night and feeding hay. And the stack dwindles. From what I have heard, hay is pretty scarce around here right now. I have gotten several calls from people looking for grass and alfalfa hay. I may have to find some for ourselves soon, if the Bermuda doesn't start growing a little faster in the 1B pasture. The winter pasture is finally starting to grow faster now that the temperatures have warmed.
In the poultry barn, we had a fitting break on one of the automatic waterers and I found a breeding set of 6 Freedom Rangers submerged to the neck one morning recently. Fortunately, the two that were suffering the most were able to make a speedy recovery in the warmth of the sunshine. After several buckets full of syphoning, I realized that I was going to need the sump pump to get the water out of the contained stall. With the extension cords strung across the implement depot, and a lot of clearing of shavings from the bottom of the pump, the majority of the water was removed. The stall has been drying out for about a week now and still is not close.
In the meantime, the Freedom Rangers were moved into the duck aviary and she was kicked out to fend for herself with the chickens in the yard. They are getting along famously, and I actually discovered that the duck started laying in the main coop with the chickens yesterday. The challenge is to get the duck to eat her special diet before the chickens devour it.
Emma was able to sell 8 Orpington cockerel bantams and the "ugly" Polish rooster. That was a great relief to "Fred" the old rooster in the main yard flock. He is getting older and had some run-ins with the younger Polish cock. He gave his fair share on those occasions, but was not going to be able to sustain. With the sale of the cockerels, we were able to move the breeding set of 5 Americaunas into the Orpingtion's old stall, The Hyatt. This shift freed up the Disneyland Resort stall for the brooder with the first clutch of call ducklings. Erin has labeled all the poultry stalls with 5 star hotel names. Emma has a couple more clutches of call duck eggs in the incubator that will eventually move into the outdoor brooder. She keeps them in a smaller indoor brooder for a couple days after they hatch, to make sure they are eating, drinking and thriving, before being moved out. They are very messy and smelly after a few days.
A small clutch of Bourbon Red turkey eggs are already in the incubator. Chicken eggs are being saved now for incubation from the Freedom Rangers and Americaunas. Their hatch date will be towards the end of April. The meat chickens will be raised for approximately 10 weeks, making an early July processing date. I will process the turkeys a little sooner than the last batch. I want to put up some dressed birds for family meals that can be on the smaller side. The Americaunas will be raised as layers and will replenish the flock. I will start a rotation of incubating eggs, so that I stagger the processing dates. I have learned that having a large number of birds all at once is difficult for me to complete with my scheduling conflicts and more pressing, my lack of stamina!
The arena fence posts should all be done this weekend, barring any more difficulties or obstacles. Once the posts are done, the top rail will be welded on. While that process is being done, I will laser level the arena and we will then order truckloads of sand. We will not be using the same sand that we put in the roundpen, as it compacts too easily and requires too much maintenance. The lower rail will then be welded.
The Bermuda fields were all burned. We intended on just burning the outer edges where the tumbleweed persists, but the wind made quick work of the fields. No loss (other than some organic matter). We are hopeful that the fields green up early this year, considering my low supply of hay.
Many projects continue to be slowed or delayed with ongoing repairs and maintenance requirements. I am hopeful that the barn wood oiling project will re-commence soon. Erin has been doing a lot of the barn chores, for which I am very grateful. She has been spending a lot of time working horses and cleaning the barn in general. It's nice to have her helping out.
The warmer temperatures, upper 70's to lower 90's, have arrived. It is still wonderful at night with temperatures in the 50's, so morning chores are done in comfort. The chore routine has been altered lately, as the horses are rotated on pasture and within the barn, and we have had some poultry relocations due to flooding and new arrivals.
The stored hay is getting low. We intended on having both sides of the horse pasture planted, but only one was completed. As a result the horses had to have more hay than projected. I will double what I put up for them this fall season, to prevent this anxiety next spring. Erin has started showing a couple of the horses, and insists on having them in the barn at night and feeding hay. And the stack dwindles. From what I have heard, hay is pretty scarce around here right now. I have gotten several calls from people looking for grass and alfalfa hay. I may have to find some for ourselves soon, if the Bermuda doesn't start growing a little faster in the 1B pasture. The winter pasture is finally starting to grow faster now that the temperatures have warmed.
In the poultry barn, we had a fitting break on one of the automatic waterers and I found a breeding set of 6 Freedom Rangers submerged to the neck one morning recently. Fortunately, the two that were suffering the most were able to make a speedy recovery in the warmth of the sunshine. After several buckets full of syphoning, I realized that I was going to need the sump pump to get the water out of the contained stall. With the extension cords strung across the implement depot, and a lot of clearing of shavings from the bottom of the pump, the majority of the water was removed. The stall has been drying out for about a week now and still is not close.
In the meantime, the Freedom Rangers were moved into the duck aviary and she was kicked out to fend for herself with the chickens in the yard. They are getting along famously, and I actually discovered that the duck started laying in the main coop with the chickens yesterday. The challenge is to get the duck to eat her special diet before the chickens devour it.
Emma was able to sell 8 Orpington cockerel bantams and the "ugly" Polish rooster. That was a great relief to "Fred" the old rooster in the main yard flock. He is getting older and had some run-ins with the younger Polish cock. He gave his fair share on those occasions, but was not going to be able to sustain. With the sale of the cockerels, we were able to move the breeding set of 5 Americaunas into the Orpingtion's old stall, The Hyatt. This shift freed up the Disneyland Resort stall for the brooder with the first clutch of call ducklings. Erin has labeled all the poultry stalls with 5 star hotel names. Emma has a couple more clutches of call duck eggs in the incubator that will eventually move into the outdoor brooder. She keeps them in a smaller indoor brooder for a couple days after they hatch, to make sure they are eating, drinking and thriving, before being moved out. They are very messy and smelly after a few days.
A small clutch of Bourbon Red turkey eggs are already in the incubator. Chicken eggs are being saved now for incubation from the Freedom Rangers and Americaunas. Their hatch date will be towards the end of April. The meat chickens will be raised for approximately 10 weeks, making an early July processing date. I will process the turkeys a little sooner than the last batch. I want to put up some dressed birds for family meals that can be on the smaller side. The Americaunas will be raised as layers and will replenish the flock. I will start a rotation of incubating eggs, so that I stagger the processing dates. I have learned that having a large number of birds all at once is difficult for me to complete with my scheduling conflicts and more pressing, my lack of stamina!
The arena fence posts should all be done this weekend, barring any more difficulties or obstacles. Once the posts are done, the top rail will be welded on. While that process is being done, I will laser level the arena and we will then order truckloads of sand. We will not be using the same sand that we put in the roundpen, as it compacts too easily and requires too much maintenance. The lower rail will then be welded.
The Bermuda fields were all burned. We intended on just burning the outer edges where the tumbleweed persists, but the wind made quick work of the fields. No loss (other than some organic matter). We are hopeful that the fields green up early this year, considering my low supply of hay.
Many projects continue to be slowed or delayed with ongoing repairs and maintenance requirements. I am hopeful that the barn wood oiling project will re-commence soon. Erin has been doing a lot of the barn chores, for which I am very grateful. She has been spending a lot of time working horses and cleaning the barn in general. It's nice to have her helping out.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Little House in the Desert
Moving into the little house that was on the property when we started up the ranch, was supposed to be temporary. We intended to get the horse barn up and then move onto the building of a house. Without going into all of the still unresolved issues with the construction of the barn (still in litigation), the process delayed any other progress indeterminately. We had three bedroom and four people with Donald working from a home office. We put the little girls together in one room, another was the office, and a master bedroom. The little girls grew and we separated them using the office for a bedroom, and put in an office trailer on the northeast side of the property. As the girls have grown, the house and its deficiencies have been a trial, but its "cozy."
You see we are in the middle of the desert and with the desert there are special little creatures that survive by adaptation and instinct. Bear the ranch dog is one of them, and he has contributed to several home repairs as a result of his desert survival instincts. One summer he found the ductwork under the house. Apparently, a little varmit (most likely a rabbit) found the coolness refreshing and slid under the ductwork. Bear in his enthusiasm for flushing out the critter, ripped and shredded the flexible ductwork allowing for a fuller flow to blast forth under the house. In the meantime, the little house was growing warmer and warmer, with the AC fan running non-stop. Bear was rarely coming out from under the house, and why should he? He had an air conditioned cave to enjoy. Unfortunately, Donald had to crawl under the crawl space to investigate and eventually do the repair. Did I mention scorpions and rattlesnakes like to rest in cool dark places during the day? Yes, it is on Donald's list of top ten things to avoid.
The other enticement under this little house is the water. And because we are one of the only consistent sources of water, creatures usually find us. That includes bugs and rodents. The rodents come is a variety of sizes and colors. But when they die under your house wedged somewhere between the insulation and wiring, they all smell pretty much the same. One summer, Donald had to go under the house over six times to cut out sections of plastic water lines that the mice/rats/gophers had chewed pin-sized holes in to get to the drink. The spray would be heard in the wee hours of the morning hitting the floor boards of the house alerting us to yet another repair that would need to be done. Donald would stagger out, half asleep, to the valve to shut the water off till we could get to it. One of these holes was directed away from the floor, so that it was undetected for some time. But as the floor in front of the kitchen sink was beginning to swell, we figured we had better check it out.
The insulation in this house is placed between the floor joists under the house and has a plastic liner that is stapled to the wood itself. The effect is a sealed plastic cover over the insulation that is flush with the bottom of the joists. But when the mouse snipped into the water line under the kitchen sink, it continued to spray, filling the compartment between the joists, absorbing into the insulation, being sealed in with the plastic, until it could hold no more and began to drip onto the earth below the house. It is important to note that the electrical wires are also run between the joists with the water lines. Another note; mice apparently have no discrimination in chewing plastic wire insulation or plastic water lines. It is all the same to them.
The other wonderful survival skill that these particular little rodents have is stock piling goodies for the winter or snacking during the daytime. Nest are particularly cozy when made in the insulation as well. So when Donald did his comanche crawl under the house, he saw the bulging plastic for the insulation with the water dripping from it and realized he would have to slice it open to get to the repair. There was no way to avoid being soaked, but what he hadn't planned on was the rodent's collection of food and extras washing down around him as well.
Most of you are not aware of this, but mice/rats/gophers find dried dog poop especially appealing. I suppose there are a lot of nutrients that go through the dog that the mice find valuable. This rodent had collected a huge quantity of this and it had been rehydrated in the water leak for quite some time. Donald found himself surrounded by this mess, along with half of our compost pile from the garden. As he cleared the way to the leak, he discovered exposed electrical wires and immediately yelled for me to shut down the electric, as he was lying in a large puddle of water and dog poop.
We have taken measures to try to seal up the underside of the house, but we still get mice under there from time to time. We have found some rather large, dead rats that the big white dogs have caught and killed, so we are aware that they are still prowling around.
Another malfunction that occurred with the heater in the house, allowed two of the heating elements to cross and arc so that the heat would not turn off. Fortunately, I was home and aware of the build up of heat around the heater and when the thermostat was unable to shut the elements off, I shut the electric off to the house until we could get it repaired. The potential disaster is unthinkable.
So the other morning when Donald and I both sat bolt upright in bed at 5:00 am to a horrible burning odor, we both dashed to the heater thinking the problem had occurred again. But the elements were fine. The smell was throughout the house, not just at the heater. It was putrid. Donald noticed the blob of grease from greasing bearings in the fan compartment of the heater, but realized there were no bearings to grease in this particular fan. Suddenly he realized that it was not grease, but flesh. Upon further investigation, hair, bones, a tail and feet were discovered within the motor. During the night while the fan was not running this smart little mouse found a warm little compartment to crawl into for a nap. But when the thermostat registered to switch the motor on to run the fan, the little devil was sliced and diced and then.....roasted. The smell of roasted mouse filled the house. Donald disassembled the unit to take outside to wash with the hose. But the freezing temperatures had frozen the pump for the well and we were without water and of course with out heat.
We ended up having to replace the motor on the heater and eventually the remains were cleaned from the rest of the unit. Unfortunately, the mouse didn't live to tell his tale and spread the word to stay out from under our house. It is likely some other critter will find the underside of our house and try to move in and we will just have to continue to deal with the trespassers.
I'm not sure many can say they have been awakened to the smell of roasted mouse. I am not sure that I really want to be able to say so, but I can. This house offers a variety of challenges; cabin fever, bickering teen-agers, storage stacked in corners, doors that can be opened seasonally, electric bills to awe the reader, critters and their destruction. Maybe some day we will get back to a new house plan on the list, but we will just perservere for now.
You see we are in the middle of the desert and with the desert there are special little creatures that survive by adaptation and instinct. Bear the ranch dog is one of them, and he has contributed to several home repairs as a result of his desert survival instincts. One summer he found the ductwork under the house. Apparently, a little varmit (most likely a rabbit) found the coolness refreshing and slid under the ductwork. Bear in his enthusiasm for flushing out the critter, ripped and shredded the flexible ductwork allowing for a fuller flow to blast forth under the house. In the meantime, the little house was growing warmer and warmer, with the AC fan running non-stop. Bear was rarely coming out from under the house, and why should he? He had an air conditioned cave to enjoy. Unfortunately, Donald had to crawl under the crawl space to investigate and eventually do the repair. Did I mention scorpions and rattlesnakes like to rest in cool dark places during the day? Yes, it is on Donald's list of top ten things to avoid.
The other enticement under this little house is the water. And because we are one of the only consistent sources of water, creatures usually find us. That includes bugs and rodents. The rodents come is a variety of sizes and colors. But when they die under your house wedged somewhere between the insulation and wiring, they all smell pretty much the same. One summer, Donald had to go under the house over six times to cut out sections of plastic water lines that the mice/rats/gophers had chewed pin-sized holes in to get to the drink. The spray would be heard in the wee hours of the morning hitting the floor boards of the house alerting us to yet another repair that would need to be done. Donald would stagger out, half asleep, to the valve to shut the water off till we could get to it. One of these holes was directed away from the floor, so that it was undetected for some time. But as the floor in front of the kitchen sink was beginning to swell, we figured we had better check it out.
The insulation in this house is placed between the floor joists under the house and has a plastic liner that is stapled to the wood itself. The effect is a sealed plastic cover over the insulation that is flush with the bottom of the joists. But when the mouse snipped into the water line under the kitchen sink, it continued to spray, filling the compartment between the joists, absorbing into the insulation, being sealed in with the plastic, until it could hold no more and began to drip onto the earth below the house. It is important to note that the electrical wires are also run between the joists with the water lines. Another note; mice apparently have no discrimination in chewing plastic wire insulation or plastic water lines. It is all the same to them.
The other wonderful survival skill that these particular little rodents have is stock piling goodies for the winter or snacking during the daytime. Nest are particularly cozy when made in the insulation as well. So when Donald did his comanche crawl under the house, he saw the bulging plastic for the insulation with the water dripping from it and realized he would have to slice it open to get to the repair. There was no way to avoid being soaked, but what he hadn't planned on was the rodent's collection of food and extras washing down around him as well.
Most of you are not aware of this, but mice/rats/gophers find dried dog poop especially appealing. I suppose there are a lot of nutrients that go through the dog that the mice find valuable. This rodent had collected a huge quantity of this and it had been rehydrated in the water leak for quite some time. Donald found himself surrounded by this mess, along with half of our compost pile from the garden. As he cleared the way to the leak, he discovered exposed electrical wires and immediately yelled for me to shut down the electric, as he was lying in a large puddle of water and dog poop.
We have taken measures to try to seal up the underside of the house, but we still get mice under there from time to time. We have found some rather large, dead rats that the big white dogs have caught and killed, so we are aware that they are still prowling around.
Another malfunction that occurred with the heater in the house, allowed two of the heating elements to cross and arc so that the heat would not turn off. Fortunately, I was home and aware of the build up of heat around the heater and when the thermostat was unable to shut the elements off, I shut the electric off to the house until we could get it repaired. The potential disaster is unthinkable.
So the other morning when Donald and I both sat bolt upright in bed at 5:00 am to a horrible burning odor, we both dashed to the heater thinking the problem had occurred again. But the elements were fine. The smell was throughout the house, not just at the heater. It was putrid. Donald noticed the blob of grease from greasing bearings in the fan compartment of the heater, but realized there were no bearings to grease in this particular fan. Suddenly he realized that it was not grease, but flesh. Upon further investigation, hair, bones, a tail and feet were discovered within the motor. During the night while the fan was not running this smart little mouse found a warm little compartment to crawl into for a nap. But when the thermostat registered to switch the motor on to run the fan, the little devil was sliced and diced and then.....roasted. The smell of roasted mouse filled the house. Donald disassembled the unit to take outside to wash with the hose. But the freezing temperatures had frozen the pump for the well and we were without water and of course with out heat.
We ended up having to replace the motor on the heater and eventually the remains were cleaned from the rest of the unit. Unfortunately, the mouse didn't live to tell his tale and spread the word to stay out from under our house. It is likely some other critter will find the underside of our house and try to move in and we will just have to continue to deal with the trespassers.
I'm not sure many can say they have been awakened to the smell of roasted mouse. I am not sure that I really want to be able to say so, but I can. This house offers a variety of challenges; cabin fever, bickering teen-agers, storage stacked in corners, doors that can be opened seasonally, electric bills to awe the reader, critters and their destruction. Maybe some day we will get back to a new house plan on the list, but we will just perservere for now.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
February Begins
Progress on the post holes has been very frustrating. We will be trying a Bobcat this weekend. The auger bit on the tractor is just not cutting into the ground well enough and we'll be at this till winter at the rate we're going. We need to be able to just cut through so we can move on to the process of concreting the posts into the holes. In the meantime, we ride around where the arena will eventually be....wishful thinking.
Two horses, Anya and Jeepers, have been having trouble keeping their weight on this winter. All of the horses have had their teeth checked so I know that isn't the problem. I have been giving them supplements to try and fatten them up. Rice bran has helped in the past for these two, so I am hopeful it will work again. Jeepers has the tendency to bolt his food, meaning he gobbles it up and then he chokes on the accumulation in his throat. There is a little dip at the end of the neck, where the esophagus intersects with the stomach. The food gets balled up at that dip and creates a blockage. We have had to have him tubed to draw it back out once, and don't want to go through that again. I have large rocks in the bottom of his feeder so that he has to root around a bit to get to the pellets, preventing him from getting large mouthfuls at a time. The horses are being rotated on the pastures, one with winter pasture and one without. So the grass is helping with the nutritional needs, especially for our two skinny ones.
The Freedom Rangers chickens that were held back as breeders are doing well overall. The pullets started laying recently. They are unique for us, as they have been laying double and even triple yolkers consistently. I am waiting until this levels off before saving eggs for incubation. Two roosters were saved with ten hens. I had hoped to be able to keep them all together, but it did not work out. I heard a horrible screaming from their pen one day and found one rooster on top of the other, fighting very violently. I got the loser out from under the other, but his foot was injured in the process of being smashed into the ground. I separated him, hoping that it would heal up as most do. I gave him his own set of five hens. Unfortunately, he really has not healed well and I am not sure his job requirements will be fulfilled. I will have to check the eggs for fertility in the next week or so. If they are not fertile, I will have a decision to make.
We are very happy to have the majority of the hens laying more regularly now. So far today we have already gotten a dozen eggs and several more should be found later in the day. It is nice to not be wanting for eggs and we have started giving some to our chicken-less neighbors. I will take a nicely arranged rainbow colored carton to mom and dad today.
We are supposed to have a pretty chilly week this week, with freeze warnings starting tonight. I intend on shutting all the waterers off this evening to prevent any bib bursting in the morning. All the animal waterers will have to be filled tonight, because the hoses will be frozen most of the morning.
We finally had the diesel tank filled, so that I don't have to run into town and buy fuel at a commercial price in five gallon cans. It will seem like a luxury. We just got the farm/pink diesel to run in the tractors and farm implements.
Ongoing repairs and maintenance seem to have eaten up a lot of our free time lately. But this is the season for greasing and attending to all the vehicles and accessories. The summer heat and use of the equipment in the hay season makes it difficult to have to do any of these chores at that time.
We are thankful we are here as we hear about all the snow storms across the country. I will try to remember this when summer is in full swing.
Two horses, Anya and Jeepers, have been having trouble keeping their weight on this winter. All of the horses have had their teeth checked so I know that isn't the problem. I have been giving them supplements to try and fatten them up. Rice bran has helped in the past for these two, so I am hopeful it will work again. Jeepers has the tendency to bolt his food, meaning he gobbles it up and then he chokes on the accumulation in his throat. There is a little dip at the end of the neck, where the esophagus intersects with the stomach. The food gets balled up at that dip and creates a blockage. We have had to have him tubed to draw it back out once, and don't want to go through that again. I have large rocks in the bottom of his feeder so that he has to root around a bit to get to the pellets, preventing him from getting large mouthfuls at a time. The horses are being rotated on the pastures, one with winter pasture and one without. So the grass is helping with the nutritional needs, especially for our two skinny ones.
The Freedom Rangers chickens that were held back as breeders are doing well overall. The pullets started laying recently. They are unique for us, as they have been laying double and even triple yolkers consistently. I am waiting until this levels off before saving eggs for incubation. Two roosters were saved with ten hens. I had hoped to be able to keep them all together, but it did not work out. I heard a horrible screaming from their pen one day and found one rooster on top of the other, fighting very violently. I got the loser out from under the other, but his foot was injured in the process of being smashed into the ground. I separated him, hoping that it would heal up as most do. I gave him his own set of five hens. Unfortunately, he really has not healed well and I am not sure his job requirements will be fulfilled. I will have to check the eggs for fertility in the next week or so. If they are not fertile, I will have a decision to make.
We are very happy to have the majority of the hens laying more regularly now. So far today we have already gotten a dozen eggs and several more should be found later in the day. It is nice to not be wanting for eggs and we have started giving some to our chicken-less neighbors. I will take a nicely arranged rainbow colored carton to mom and dad today.
We are supposed to have a pretty chilly week this week, with freeze warnings starting tonight. I intend on shutting all the waterers off this evening to prevent any bib bursting in the morning. All the animal waterers will have to be filled tonight, because the hoses will be frozen most of the morning.
We finally had the diesel tank filled, so that I don't have to run into town and buy fuel at a commercial price in five gallon cans. It will seem like a luxury. We just got the farm/pink diesel to run in the tractors and farm implements.
Ongoing repairs and maintenance seem to have eaten up a lot of our free time lately. But this is the season for greasing and attending to all the vehicles and accessories. The summer heat and use of the equipment in the hay season makes it difficult to have to do any of these chores at that time.
We are thankful we are here as we hear about all the snow storms across the country. I will try to remember this when summer is in full swing.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Prime Climate Time
While the rest of the country is powdered in snow, we are in the prime time of our wonderful climate here in Arizona. We have been taking advantage of the comfortable temperatures to do our outdoor projects. I have set the timer to remind me not to linger on this quick update, for I have more projects that I want to get to before my chauffering duties are required.
We have been trying to drill through the soil for fence posts since before Christmas. The soil is so hard using the auger bit on the tractor, we could only penetrate the surface between 4-10". We would fill the holes with water after drilling and scooping out any remaining loose dirt. The water would soak overnight and we would return for another mere skimming of the hole innards and repeat the process. Donald started looking into replacing the digging teeth on the auger. We started considering that we may need an auger that would dig through rock, but the expense was not something we were ready to commit to yet. Donald took some bent concrete form rods and snipped the tips and welded them onto the auger's teeth, creating a rather nasty looking weapon. It reminds me of a weapon or torture implement of days gone by. We tested it and we made progress. He welded more on and made some more progress. It is still slow going, but we have now drilled all of the holes for the southern end of the arena. It is only 11 holes and the remaining 50 or so feel overwhelming as a whole. I will categorize the process by sides of the arena to feel like there is hope.
By happenstance, we ran into a fellow that did some dirt moving for us years ago. We had wanted to ask his opinion on sources of good bedding sand and AB (for the parking area and under the hay barn). It was nice to run into him because he is a nice guy, but we really wanted his expert opinion on the quarries here locally. We will need to haul in sand for the arena once we get the surface leveled and fencing up. We decided not to do the drainage runs in the arena as we did with the round pen. We can always use the round pen if rains have flooded the arena.
The chicken and turkey processing sessions have concluded for the time being. The breeding set of Freedom Rangers are just starting to lay. The Bourbon Red turkeys will get some nesting boxes in the near future as they typically start laying in February.
We have done a lot of cleaning and clearing around the property. Erin has taken on "decorating" the chicken yard. She has color coordinated the feed bins with fancy labeling. She will be labeling the stalls of the poultry barn with hotel names, and installing a homemade black board with the feed requirements for the different birds. I really appreciate an accomplice in adding a little accent around the ranch. We have had fun the last couple weeks working together.
I will be repainting the trail course poles today. Any unprotected wood around here is vulnerable to the termites. This weekend we should be ready to concrete some posts on the south end of the arena. Yea!
We have been trying to drill through the soil for fence posts since before Christmas. The soil is so hard using the auger bit on the tractor, we could only penetrate the surface between 4-10". We would fill the holes with water after drilling and scooping out any remaining loose dirt. The water would soak overnight and we would return for another mere skimming of the hole innards and repeat the process. Donald started looking into replacing the digging teeth on the auger. We started considering that we may need an auger that would dig through rock, but the expense was not something we were ready to commit to yet. Donald took some bent concrete form rods and snipped the tips and welded them onto the auger's teeth, creating a rather nasty looking weapon. It reminds me of a weapon or torture implement of days gone by. We tested it and we made progress. He welded more on and made some more progress. It is still slow going, but we have now drilled all of the holes for the southern end of the arena. It is only 11 holes and the remaining 50 or so feel overwhelming as a whole. I will categorize the process by sides of the arena to feel like there is hope.
By happenstance, we ran into a fellow that did some dirt moving for us years ago. We had wanted to ask his opinion on sources of good bedding sand and AB (for the parking area and under the hay barn). It was nice to run into him because he is a nice guy, but we really wanted his expert opinion on the quarries here locally. We will need to haul in sand for the arena once we get the surface leveled and fencing up. We decided not to do the drainage runs in the arena as we did with the round pen. We can always use the round pen if rains have flooded the arena.
The chicken and turkey processing sessions have concluded for the time being. The breeding set of Freedom Rangers are just starting to lay. The Bourbon Red turkeys will get some nesting boxes in the near future as they typically start laying in February.
We have done a lot of cleaning and clearing around the property. Erin has taken on "decorating" the chicken yard. She has color coordinated the feed bins with fancy labeling. She will be labeling the stalls of the poultry barn with hotel names, and installing a homemade black board with the feed requirements for the different birds. I really appreciate an accomplice in adding a little accent around the ranch. We have had fun the last couple weeks working together.
I will be repainting the trail course poles today. Any unprotected wood around here is vulnerable to the termites. This weekend we should be ready to concrete some posts on the south end of the arena. Yea!
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