Another Life Lesson for Dusty
Life Lesson # 2 for Dusty.
There has to be a first time sooner or later for both of us. I guess today was the time for both of us.
All I can say is “PHEW”.
Cindy
Frost on the Pumpkins
First frost last night. Temp. this morning at 745am, 28 degrees. Things were looking pretty droopy in the front yard. The leafs on my beet plants literally broke off when I touched them. Time to pull them I guess.
There was a little skim ice on the water in the ditches along the road also.
Something I saw at work today that really shocked me. Two Blue Wing Teals flew into the driveway and landed. I figured they were on the way South since this isn’t a normal area for them. Teal over the desert. Humm, what a concept.
Cindy
Where did Fall Go?
Did we forget about that part of the year?
Nasty weather warnings up for this weekend. 2 storms coming in and they have flash flood warnings up already for SW Utah (which is where we are) and it’s not raining yet.
They are calling for S N O W for the mountain regions of Northern Utah. Sheesh
Supposed to be cold Saturday night also. So, all the water is shut off again to outside faucets. Lots of wind also. Darn and I was hoping to get the turnout area done for the horses tomorrow. Looks like that gets moved to bottom of list again.
Mom got her first dozen eggs yesterday. Yippee! They are getting with the program now.
Cindy
Fall has Fallen
A couple days early by the calendar. But from the looks of the garden at the farm/ranch, it is here, almost.
Last night temps went down to 35 and Monday morning on the way to work, the thermometer in the truck said a chilly 34. Some of the tomatoes got wrinkled and white frost spots on them and we have some black leaves on various plants.
Most of the ‘maters are still green and probably won’t get a chance to ripen all the way. Besides the cool temps. the wind was really whistling today 35-40 mph and is supposed to continue overnight and Thursday.
Here at home we lost what was left of our cucumber plants, and some flowers. We have been turning water off at the frost free just for good measure. We also have turned off our irrigation system in the front yard. We woke up to ice on the asparagus Monday morning from the sprinkler.
Eggs are coming with some regularity now, anywhere from 2 to 3 per day and today all 3 were in the nest boxes. 2 more needed to make our first dozen carton full. (excluding the one mom ate) Mom is a happy camper now.
Cindy
Couple More Local Residents
This is the second year in a row that these little critters have been in this location. They have raised 2 families here. It looks like just a plain ole culvert, the kind that does under the road.
They can be seen there first thing in the morning, or sitting on the stop sign next to culvert, with their youngsters. They also can be seen in the evening hours.
When they are sitting at the opening, as you go around the corner, they turn their heads 180 degrees around to follow the vehicle around the corner.
For more interesting facts about these little guys, click here . This will open another window with the new page.
Cindy
More Eggs!
There have been 2 more peewee sized eggs in the last week for a total of 3 now. Mom is very happy even if she hasn’t found them. We changed out some of the nest box material from the wool to shredded newspaper.
One of the chickens finally made it to a nest box with the egg, and the other was laid on the floor again.
Maybe they are getting the hang of it finally.
Cindy
We Seem To Have a Houdini Filly
This trick would have even impresses Houdini.
Bev came home from work about 2PM Wednesday afternoon only to find things didn’t look exactly right with Dakota’s location. Bev went out to check it out.
What she found was that Dakota was in the 4′ walkway behind the new stalls that we built but hadn’t put the girls in yet. The Houdini part came in when Bev seen right away that the pen Dakota was SUPPOSED to be in was still closed and the bungie cords securing the panels were still in place.
The panel we use as an access to Dakota has to be lifted and opened due to the sand; it doesn’t just swing open easily at all. The other panels were still secured with the pins.
The pen is too small in area for her to get a running start to jump over the 5′ panels, and too low to the ground to go under. The bottom rail is about 8 inches above the ground. We are still scratching our heads over that one.
Needless to say, her and Dusty got acquainted from the looks of the walkway. Seems she spent some time there. We were planning on putting her in that stall this weekend while we worked out there so they could get to know each other. No need for that now I guess.
The outside door that we use to access the hay for them was open for ventilation for Dusty. She had been around to that area but didn’t go in the door. She could have had a feast on the hay but for some reason didn’t go thru it.
She walked all around the barn, and behind Neche’s round pen area. I guess she decided to go on a “walk about”. She was no problem to catch and return to her area but how she got out will probably remain a mystery unless we watch her do a repeat performance.
Cindy
Mom’s Egg
Mom looked at her first egg all weekend. She put it in a little wicker basket that wasn’t much bigger than the egg and put it in the fridge.
This morning she decided she had looked at it long enough and it was time to do something with it.
Here is what she decided to do with it. Gee, imagine that!
It’s a little hard to see how small it is, but mom said it wasn’t much more than a bite or two. This is a 6″ skillet to give you an idea.
Cindy
Oh, What a Sunset
Check out these sunset pictures. Just when I think I have never seen such a beautiful sunset, another comes along.
These pictures were taken during a stormy period. The sun was reflecting on storm clouds in the South East.
This is the sunset that produced the above pictures. You can see one of many storm cells. Picture was taken facing West.
Cindy
Stall Project
We didn’t get it done as we ran out of lumber. All we have to do are the trusses, another couple of supports for the roof, and the roof itself. Then we have to pull some railroad ties from the existing fence row and move them out to the site of the new fence. Unless we can get a tractor somewhere, that is going to involve a little bit of digging by hand. The railroad ties are about 28″ down and the sand packs them in like concrete.
Here are a few pictures of what we have done so far.
This is the start. Corners and divider posts were set using 4×4′s.
Stall dividers are set and roof is framed in. 2x6x8′s (stall dividers) and 2x6x12′s (roof framing) were used for this part.
Rear and side panels are in. We are also going to put a 4′ wide walkway in the back so we can walk the length of all 3 stalls to feed and water. That will also give a little extra protection for the gang from the bitter North and Northeast winds in the winter. We will install doors on the stalls that will be accessible from the interior walkway also. There will be an area to hang halters and lead ropes for each horse.
When we get this project finished, I will post a picture of what this area looked like prior to getting Dusty.
Cindy
Pocket Gopher
Here is one of the “critters” that contributed to the demise of a lot of flowers, veggies, and various other plants this summer. Kinda cute isn’t it?
The picture below is a common, everyday, run of the mill, chipmunk. He likes to use the birdbath as his drinking fountain. Oh well, to each his own I guess.
When plants that didn’t get eaten while they were young and tender, managed to grow up a little, the critters left them alone. It’s just getting them past that “new start” stage that is a bummer.
We had some 1/4″ hardware cloth that we cut to size and made cages to place around things to give them a chance to grow. That worked for a couple days until the critters figured there were no tops on them and launched an aerial attack and came in from above. Ok, so we had to put covers on the cages now. Sheesh, the extremes we went to just to get a few veggies and flowers.
Cindy
Nest Box Project Finished
We can chalk off another project as done, one more to go. We finally got the nest boxes moved to the outside to facilitate egg collection for Mom. This way she doesn’t have to go into the coop.
Pictures from top to bottom: Outside view of nest box; shows how Mom will check for eggs without going inside; the dark stuff in the boxes are clippings from shearing of sheep and should make for a nice comfy nesting material; we had to put something for them to get across to the nest boxes and got a parade of chickens going across to investigate things; and the last picture are of 3 brave soles that got to the new roost and were checking out the new location of the boxes.
Needless to say, no eggs today. We were in the coop during the time the one was layed yesterday. Hopefully they will lay some tonight and mom can find them in the morning when she goes to let them outside around 6:30 or 7 AM
Cindy
Is That a? Yes, an EGG!
Whoopee! Mom’s first egg. Now she is happy and life is good. Only one problem. She didn’t find it. Well, I guess you can’t have everything. She is happy none the less.
It’s a peewee, or a pullet but it’s still an egg. Nice lined nest boxes and the hen layed it on the floor. Guess we need to get the instructions posted on the wall for them. Oh well, they are still young, just over 20 weeks old.
The eggs should start getting bigger in a month or so.
Cindy
A Little Rain Must Fall
We didn’t get much time on the stalls today. We had some weather blow up and was too windy to work, and with the lightening we were getting, decided it wasn’t safe to continue working.
The picture below is my first attempt at lightening capture with the movie setting on a still digital camera. It’s not great but you will get the idea.
I waited till deep dusk so it might show up better. Storms out here are weird. I’m sure it has to do with the mountains and the fact that we are in a valley. They can pop up in number of directions at the same time, but they aren’t connected. The sun can be shining in and area and storms all around. While I was taking this shot, it was also lightening in storm cells to the North, East, South. This shot was taken facing West. There were openings between each of these cells where it was totally clear.
Anyway, we are getting some good shots of the stalls going up and we did get part of the sidewalls up. Will work on it some more tomorrow.
Cindy
Work in Progress
Well, we got a good start on the extra stalls today. We got them framed in and a few sideboards and stall dividers in. We also made a 4′ wide walkway between the rear exterior wall and the stall walls. That way we can feed all stalls easier and be somewhat protected from the elements. All we will have to do is walk down the isle and drop hay into the feeders. We will probably install some type of rear access doorways in that area to the stalls also.
We decided that since we were going to be out there all day, we decided to put the yearling in the round pen with Neche and see how they were going to get along. They did super all day. Then feeding time came along. I got the filly’s feed barrel and put hay in and walked it into the round pen. Neche went over and helped herself to the filly’s hay. That was cool also. Then I put hay in Neche’s barrel. She went right over to it and started to eat. I separated the barrels by a reasonable distance just in case.
All was fine till Neche finished her hay and went over to help Dakota with what she had left. Not exactly sure who started the fray that ensued, but ears were pinned, and rear feet were flying. It seemed that Neche was the one providing all the action, and Dakota was trying to eat and stay out of her way.
I gave Dakota a little extra hay and watched so Neche left her alone. Just a little bit after that I took Dakota out of round pen and put her in her pen and gave her a little more hay. Not real sure I am going to handle the feeding situation. None of them are ever late for a meal and it may cause some problems. I may have to close them in their individual stalls till they are done eating. Will see how it pans out when they have stalls to go to.
The next projects that have to get done prior to winter is running a waterline to the sheep and getting a frost free hydrant installed closer to the sheep. Its a real problem running a 100′ hose and having to drain it 2x a day to keep it from freezing and then that doesn’t always work. For this job we need a tractor with a back hoe. The line needs to be at least 36″ deep and we hit hard pan at about 12″ or less. Digging it with a shovel is way out of the question. Guess will have to ask our neighbor if he could help us out when he gets here.
Prior to getting that job done, we have to finish adding nest boxes to the hen house. They have 4 now, but we would like to work it so Mom can collect eggs from outside the hen house. They should start laying eggs sometime this month we hope.
We also have to work out a better shelter system for the sheep for winter. When we had 3 young and fairly small sheep, the shelter we had for them worked great. But now there will be 5, some lambs and a ram that need shelter and it needs to be redesigned.
Other than those projects, we are almost ready for winter.
Stay tuned for progress updates.
Cindy
