I have been busy with ongoing tasks and disasters that have prevented me from getting to my documentation. I am going to try to do a summary of events that I can recall since summer 2011.
The hatching of extra meat birds and turkeys for an individual to purchase, ended up falling through so that I had many more birds than I intended. The summer was hot enough that I could not inspire myself to set up the butcher station to process the birds until fall. By then many had gotten too large to be very good for meat, or had died from the heat. I gave some of the grown turkeys away to a neighbor that gives them to families from his church. It was an expensive "donation" as they were fed quality feed. I will never raise chicks with the intention of butchering in the summer again. The flies would have been horrible this past summer if I had actually done the deed.
The mosquito problem diminished considerably this past season with the exception of when the neighbor watered for 5 days after taking a couple months off due to a ditch squabble he was having with the other neighbor that shares with him. This summer season, the flies were obnoxious, but I would rather have them than the mosquitoes!
Eweness and Frank, our Jacob sheep pair moved in together the latter part of October. He had his mind set as to what he wanted to accomplish, so we should have a lamb the first part of April. I intend on supplementing her Bermuda grass hay diet with some reserved Timothy hay that I packaged up in the past.
Donald left the company that he was working for after 17 years in June 2011. He is much happier with his new company still today, but is home less than before. I tried to hire some help, but they either didn't show up or would not return calls. The sad part is I know who I would like to hire but he is currently in the country illegally. He is a good worker with many abilities, but I just can't take the chance. I tried to figure out how to get him a work visa, but it is a huge research project that I just haven't had time to pursue.
Our daughter started college locally. After the first semester, she applied to transfer to University of Arizona. She is interested in the Veterinary Science program and will start this fall. Our other daughter just got her driver's permit. When she gets her license, I will have many more hours to work on projects around the ranch.
We were able to get 10 more acres of Bermuda planted. It came in nicely, however, after the neighbor planted to the west of us (the wind comes from the SW and W primarily), weeds began growing in the field. The mower conked out on us during the last cutting of the third fields. We were unable to cut the new fourth fields before they went dormant and the weeds spread. We reluctantly will have to spray a broad leaf weed killer to eliminate them, as there are some that are toxic to horses. Morning Glory and some "horseweed" will be treated, but the Johnson grass (also from the neighbor's fields) would not be killed with a broadleaf weed killer. We are hopeful that the Bermuda will choke out the Johnson grass this spring. The first cutting will probably be sacrificed, meaning not sold to our hay clients.
We have made some progress on the barn electrical. We had to hire an electrician to do some conduit and wiring, because Donald just doesn't have any time now. The work was mediocre at best and a lot of the metal studs in the feed room were bent as a result of his work. This all has to be fixed in order to hang the drywall. Many fixtures were not braced properly and Donald has spent any spare time redoing those problems.
We have plenty of repairs to attend to this winter on the equipment as well as the normal maintenance. I'm not sure when I will post again.
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