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.
