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.
