# Mystang's Homesteading Circus



## mystang89 (May 23, 2018)

I'd been wanting to start a journal for a while now but never really found the time.  Well, it's 7am now and the children actually aren't awake yet, giving me much sought after peace and quite.

   Much of my journey can be found in different threads but the main parts of my story would probably be 
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/splitting-up-my-7-acres.34780/
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/new-to-shepherding.34738/#post-453684
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/installing-hot-wire.36390/
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/a-bush-to-pull-things-together.37735/
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/wishful-thinking.37763/page-5#post-551738

   A bit of an introduction.  I am a stay at home father of 8 children with a wonderful wife who's a nurse.  I was born and raised in the city, a bona fide city boy, but must have received my love for nature, animals and the country from my parents who were born and raised in the country, especially my father.  It's amazing how much you get from your parents even without realizing it.  About 1 1/2 years ago we moved from the city where we could hardly put our hand out our window without shaking hands with our neighbor, to the country, where I can still unfortunately see my neighbor.  Nothing against neighbors or people in general, I'm just a rather introspective person who likes to  not SEE my neighbors from my porch.

   When we found the house it was love at first sight but we both (my wife and I, not my neighbor) knew that there was going to be tons of work involved in getting it fixed up.  That was fine with me, as I had done as much as I could at my other house and was honestly getting bored there.  We purchased the house and have been working on it since.

  First thing needing worked on was making the house into a livable HOUSE and not a drafty barn.  We had a fireplace insert installed but couldn't even get the temp past 57F in the winter.  After lots of checking and a home audit we found that we were as drafty as the barn outside.  That's when I had a company come in and spray insulation foam around the gables of the house along with the roof.  Worked a charm!  We were now nice and warm during the winter.

  Next thing was the fencing.  We had always wanted farm animals.  In the city we started with 5 chickens which is the max we were allowed. (I hate that.)  Then we upped it to 10 chickens....you know, just in case something happened to the other 5 and then finally to 12 chickens...because, you know.....CHICKEN MATH!  With continuous bribings of the neighbor with eggs we were allowed our chickens.  Plus I mowed their yard and they didn't like mowing.  Tit for tat.  We then started raising rabbits.  They were/are easy and not very noticeable.  Afterwards we dabbled in pigeons.  I liked raising them but couldn't really get a good breeding program going for them so when I moved out here I haven't had them on the agenda......yet.  That, however, was the extent of our homestead.  We honestly thought about getting one of those mini cows that don't get much larger than your dog and then putting up a privacy fence but I digress.  We had as large a garden as we could make without taking all of our .25 acres and having nothing for the children to play in.  (Speaking of children...they are now awake.  There goes the peace and quite.  )  That was as much as we could have there.  Moving to our current house we new things had to increase.

  One of those links tells about getting the pasture fenced up.  My father came to help and we ALMOST finished the fencing before we went for the sheep.  We purchased 3 Awassi sheep, 1 ram and 2 ewes, from a man in Wisconsin, a 10 hour drive from where we live. That was the best 10 hour trip ever.  It was just my wife and myself.  Anyway, once we get back we still have the rest of the fencing to put up but no where for the sheep.  So they decided to keep my lawn mowed....and my flowers (which were here when I moved in) and pretty much anything else that decided to grow.

  After the fencing came the lean to on my barn.  The barn was built around 1900 and needed a bit of TLC.  Ok, more than a bit.  The lean to was falling down. The corner post was gone.  Seriously, it wasn't there, MIA, KIA, notta, zilch.  Now, I don't build houses for a living but I was pretty sure that this particular corner post was needed lol.  Fortunately the former residence decided to keep a few telephone poles around the property because....you never know when you're going to need a telephone post?Anyway, it's a good thing they did because I cut that puppy down to size and, with my wife and children in the hay loft, a rope on the top of the pole, and my tractor bucket lifting the bottom of the pole, we secured it in place!!!  Guardian angels work over time that day.  Actually, they've been working overtime since moving in here.  Think they probably deserve a few weeks vacation time lol. 

  Back to the lean to.  
 This doesn't really give a good picture of it since I was actually taking a picture of my garden plots (and apparently my wife) but it does give an impression of what I was dealing with.  The inside was being held together by a few 2x4's that they decided to try and buttress up the lean to with.  Before we moved in they had used it as a haunted house....I'm sure there were reasons but I can't stand seeing perfectly good buildings be let fall into disrepair when you have the means and capability of repairing them, especially when I know how much hard work, blood and sweat was put into building the things.  Seems so disrespectful to me. I needed wood to fix this.  I needed roofing to fix this.  I need a lot of both to fix this.  We are on a very limited budget so buying was out of the question but fortunately there was a tabacco barn right behind us which was falling down as well.  The owner of that land actually grew up in the house we bought.  The original land I live on was actually around 100+ acres but get partitioned off and we ended up with 7 acres, far more than we ever imagined.  I got in contact with him and asked if I could take his barn down to repair the one on my property.  He said he wanted a bit of the wood for himself but if we could take the barn down and bring him the small portion of wood, everything else was ours.  SOLD!  I made sure and take care of him first then worked on getting the rest of the barn down.  That's still a work in progress BUT it is down....just not cleaned up.  Work in progress I said!!!!  I've been going there and getting pieces of wood I need.  

  Where was I?  Lean to.  Yesterday we finally got the roof up on it.  Where did the metal from the roof come from?   The man who let us take down his tabacco barn.  The roof didn't come from that barn though.  He actually had reroofed a barn near his house, kept the old roofing and gave it to us.  Gave.  Free.   SOLD!  (We've been very well taken care of and blessed.)  Now all I need to do is put the sides and door up so my sheep won't have to worry about going through a slog full of mud in order to get into the barn at night.  (footrot is constantly on my mind).

   What else?  We wanted to name our property.  We wanted it to be very appropriate.  We have a very gracious Benefactor.  He's taken care of ALL our needs and we really don't have a want.  He's a shepherd for us and our family.  So we decided to name our sheep homestead after Him.  The Good Shepherd Homestead.  


When I moved in there was a full trove of locus trees that needed to be removed.  I used those trees for my posts in the fencing but I have tons more left over.  I decided to make a sign out of the wood and there it is, at the beginning of our driveway.

   I know there is more, electric fencing and such, but with children away, the smell of burning eggs and a crying baby, they will have to wait until I get extra time.  In the meanwhile, I'll leave you with a picture of our God given place.  Thanks for reading.


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## Baymule (May 23, 2018)

I have enjoyed your other threads, can’t wait for this one to continue. I love the old barn and applaud your efforts to save it. I am a scrounger, I collected used lumber, tin and even telephone poles. We built a 36’x36’ barn. Just so you know, Lowes has a cull/reject rack where you can buy lumber for less than half price. If you don’t have a Lowes in your area, check out the lumber stores. If there is new construction going on near you, ask if you can go through the big roll off boxes, it is AMAZING what they throw away!


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## RollingAcres (May 23, 2018)

Hello @mystang89 , looking forward to reading your journal. That last pic is beautiful!
Like @Baymule said, your local lumber store or Home Depot has those reject rack as well. We were able to (in the past) pick up some free lumber from a local lumber store. They had a pile of not so good/can't sell lumber that they just wanted to get rid of, we got them and used some to build our cow barn. Also sometimes they may have something that a customer ordered and paid for but failed to pick up and have been there over a year, they might want to just sell them to you for cheap just to get it out of their warehouse.


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## Latestarter (May 23, 2018)

Great start to your journal! Really nice looking place you have there. Thanks for sharing the pics. I think you'll like it much better having everything in one place rather than trying to keep up with multiple threads.


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## mystang89 (May 25, 2018)

Been a couple of days (and a few injuries) since I updated this so i figured now as good a time as any. 

   After what seems like an eternity, 1 1/2 years, the lean to is completed!.....ish.  I still have to put the door up and cut the rafter runners to size plus put in a milking station but the sheep now have a clean ("clean" is a very relative word atm) place to stay that is out of the heat, out of the mud (once it dries up under the lean to) and out of the rain.  They have a place that is sturdy and I don't have to worry about falling down on them.  I hope.  It hasn't fallen down yet!  So that's a positive lol.  
  
That last picture sure looks like it's more empty space than wood in the picture LOL.  It really is fully covered haha.  Anyway, the children were out there helping too.  I can only hope and pray that they learned something from it.  Not necessarily how to screw to boards together, or even how a lean-to goes up.  I can only pray they learned how to work, how to help people, each other, their parents.  Memories.  How to suffer.  Getting hurt and working through it.  I was trying to cut part of some wood with a jig saw.  It had a dull blade, I wasn't positioned well and the jigsaw used my thumb as a tasty dinner.  No big wound.  Just a deep wound.  Think it hit the bone and tore the muscle.  I grimaced, closed my eyes, took control of myself again, thanks be to God, and continued working.  If it had been bad enough I would have done something.  I've tried to cut my fingers off before so I know when its serious enough, but this was just a bit of blood and tons of pain.  My children were there, watching, learning.  I wonder what they learned.  God knows, not me.  This was a few days ago.  My thumb feels like its been crushed by a tractor each day lol.  My wife works at a hand surgeons office.  It's something I could get looked at for free if I wanted to but I'm not the type that goes to the doctor unless I'm holding my fingers in my other hand.  I think that drives my wife crazy.  (not in the good way )

   We worked on the lean to for a week straight at least.  As long as it wasn't raining we were working.  In that time the grass had grown quite long.  It had already been a week before that so now it was 2 weeks long.  The pasture is about 4 feet tall right now.  I sure wish I had some hay equipment.  I'd cut it and use it for bedding if nothing else.  All that said, I was able to get the lawn mowed today.  I'm fairly OCD about cutting my lawn so when it got that tall even my wife was worried about me lol.  Still needs to be trimmed but I'll try to do that and the pasture tomorrow if the rain holds off.  We'll see what the next days bring but in the mean time I'll leave you with another view from my house.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 25, 2018)

I’m now following along too and looking forward to it! I’ll


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## Baymule (May 25, 2018)

I love old barns, yours is awesome. You might want to take advantage of your wife working for a hand doctor. She might change jobs some day and Murphy's Law says that you will need hand surgery the next week. If you have problems, get it looked at. I am a big believer in "If it's broke-FIX it!"


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## Baymule (May 25, 2018)

I love old barns, yours is awesome. You might want to take advantage of your wife working for a hand doctor. She might change jobs some day and Murphy's Law says that you will need hand surgery the next week. If you have problems, get it looked at. I am a big believer in "If it's broke-FIX it!"


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## Baymule (May 25, 2018)

I love old barns, yours is awesome. You might want to take advantage of your wife working for a hand doctor. She might change jobs some day and Murphy's Law says that you will need hand surgery the next week. If you have problems, get it looked at. I am a big believer in "If it's broke-FIX it!"


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## Baymule (May 25, 2018)

I love old barns, yours is awesome. You might want to take advantage of your wife working for a hand doctor. She might change jobs some day and Murphy's Law says that you will need hand surgery the next week. If you have problems, get it looked at. I am a big believer in "If it's broke-FIX it!"


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## Baymule (May 25, 2018)

I love old barns, yours is awesome. You might want to take advantage of your wife working for a hand doctor. She might change jobs some day and Murphy's Law says that you will need hand surgery the next week. If you have problems, get it looked at. I am a big believer in "If it's broke-FIX it!"


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## Latestarter (May 25, 2018)

Bay wanted to make sure her post was there... like REALLY sure!  Lean to looks good. May be you could teach the kids how to bandage and repair jig saw cuts to the hand? Minor medical training is always beneficial in my opinion  If you anticipate them following your lead, better that they learn young!   Hope it heals and feels better soon.


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## mystang89 (May 26, 2018)

Lol, she really, REALLY likes old barns lol.

And you're right about Murphy, Baymule. That is one of the things I made sure and warm my children about during this process. Murphy always pops his head up.


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## Baymule (May 26, 2018)

I hate when that happens! But you said you were a hardhead, so maybe my message got through to you! LOL


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## mystang89 (May 26, 2018)

Baymule said:


> I hate when that happens! But you said you were a hardhead, so maybe my message got through to you! LOL


LOL!


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## RollingAcres (May 26, 2018)

Lesson of the day: Bay LOVES old barn!


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## Wehner Homestead (May 26, 2018)

Thanks for the laugh y’all!


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## RollingAcres (May 26, 2018)

@mystang89 I hope your thumb heals soon. Now just because your wifr works for a hand surgeons doesn't mean you should go cutting your fingers or hand off!


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## mystang89 (May 26, 2018)

RollingAcres said:


> @mystang89 I hope your thumb heals soon. Now just because your wifr works for a hand surgeons doesn't mean you should go cutting your fingers or hand off!


   LOL, I really should learn my lesson.  Before we moved to this house, I was working on a vegetable can dispenser like you see at the store.  The kind that works with gravity where you pull one can out and another fall down.  I needed a small, triangular piece to act as a ramp which would eject the falling can or it would just get stuck under the weight of the rest.  I didn't take proper precautions nor did I practice safety and I paid for it.  The wood ripped into the blade taking my hand with it.  The tip of my middle finger was promptly removed and my ring finder tendon was cut in two.  I can no longer extend that finger fully.  I was in the basement at the time.  I realized immediately what had happened and ran upstairs to  tell my mother, who just happened to be visiting, thanks God, that I needed to drive myself to my wife's work.  Before I completely got upstairs I then remembered the table saw was still on and little children were downstairs with it.  Bleeding and all, I ran back downstairs, turned it off, and ran back upstairs.  My mother told me to put salt on my wound.....I honestly haven't figured out her motive for this.  I don't know if she was trying to pay me back for all the pain I've caused her in her life.  If she was truly concerned or if she thought perhaps it would be funny.  Maybe all the above.  The amount of pain I felt with that salt made the actual cutting of the finger pail in comparison.  I love that woman more than anything but she really got me that day.

   Once I reached my wife's place of work the promptly did surgery.  Maybe I just like all the attention from my wife and try to go there


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## CntryBoy777 (May 26, 2018)

That's a really nice area there.....have seen many tobacco barns and have gotten a few boards from some....hope the thumb isn't too much of a setback for ya.....one thing to remember is a large can, that when flattened, ya cand get your hand into will work wonders with a baggie of ice or ice pack...put the ice on top of the can and insert hand into can the metal will transfer the cold without the pressure pain on the injury.....


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## mystang89 (May 26, 2018)

Thanks @CntryBoy777 ! I'll give that a try.


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## CntryBoy777 (May 26, 2018)

It will take the throb out for sure.....that is some of that old medicine from back in '62-'63....they had real cans back then....


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## Mike CHS (May 26, 2018)

I'm glad you decided to do a journal.  I didn't have a chance to finish it until tonight and it's some good reading.


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## mystang89 (May 28, 2018)

Today was a very interesting day.  We didn't have any plans today except for working on the door to the lean-to.  Clara Bell, our other Awassi whom we weren't for sure if she was pregnant or not, was acting strange.  She'd go off by herself to a tree and dig herself a dirt hole next to it so she could lay down.  Later in the day she finally made her way back to the lean-to where we were and the children noticed her lifting her head and bearing her teeth.  I wasn't sure what it was but knew she was in pain so we all took a break from the door to watch over her.  It didn't take us too long to realize what was going on.  She ended up having a ram. I'll upload a video of the birth once it finishes uploading on youtube.  It was really awesome to witness this birth.  My wife got to actually watch a birth instead of being the person birthing.  That was a first for her I think.  The children all got a life lesson about where they came from.  They thought a doctor came in with a knife and cut the child out.  

  Earlier in the day my son was trying to find Clara Bell, (before we knew what was going on) and ended up stumbling over a fawn laying in our pasture.  Yeah, you know your pasture is long when deer start throwing their fawns around in it.  I wasn't sure what to do but apparently that is what they do.  Have a fawn, keep it hidden, then come back for it later.  We made sure to keep away from it after that so our scent wouldn't be on it and we also kept our dog away as well.  I thought about raising it and then having it for dinner but my wife nixed that idea.  She really takes the fun outta things sometimes.

  We never managed to get that door up but we DID manage to spend LOTS of money at the store for items for the door so that's a plus.....

  Oh, then I found a turtle.  Our property was just a wonderful place for random animals to come hang out lol.  Honestly thought, it was a great day with many things experienced that would have never been experienced in the city!  

That being said, it did have it's downsides.  The lamb doesn't seem to know what a teat is even if it hit him in the face....no really.  My wife stuck the teat in his face and he sucked on the poop wool.  Darwin's survival of the fittest is at work here. I sat Clara Bell down to shear a bit of wool off so the lamb could find her teat.  Just a bit......and I almost did a post birth C-section.  Opened her up good.  Sprayed disinfectant on it and put the shears down.  I'm calling someone over to shear my sheep or teach me how to.  When I start seeing the insides of the sheep I want to keep that's when I step back and get professionals to help.  Sheep do NOT have thick hides.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 28, 2018)

Eventful day. Hope the ram lamb gets the hang of it!


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## Mike CHS (May 28, 2018)

I can relate so thank you for the laugh.  I have 3 gates sitting down by my shop that I have to keep moving out of my way for a fence that "may" get built this year.


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## mystang89 (May 28, 2018)

Oh, uh, spoiler alert.  This film may contain content that is unwanted by some viewers.  Please use extreme caution when viewing.  Thank you and good night


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## Latestarter (May 28, 2018)

Grats on the new ram lamb. sorry he's brain damaged. sorry your ewe is now clipper damaged... Hope both turn out OK.


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## mystang89 (May 28, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Grats on the new ram lamb. sorry he's brain damaged. sorry your ewe is now clipper damaged... Hope both turn out OK.


LOL, thanks.  He fits right in


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## Baymule (May 29, 2018)

You'd think that someone with a perchance of cutting his fingers half off would have pity on a poor, defenseless ewe, right after giving birth.......and NOT go after her with a pair of shears.  Good thing your wife had doctors and a hospital when the babies were born.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 29, 2018)

How is the hand, the ewe, and the lamb anyway?


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## mystang89 (May 29, 2018)

Hand still feels like it's broke. The ice trick seems to help a bit though. 

The ewe is in pain. I don't know what's wrong. She's giving the short grunt like she was during the labor and she grits her teeth. I'm not sure if that is because of the lovely gash I made on her belly with the sheers or not. It might be that her udder hurts because the lamb isn't eating enough to keep her From hurting.

The lamb is an idiot. . He still has a hard time finding the teat even though the area around them is cleared. He can't seem to see his mom or hear her when she calls to him and she's only 10 feet away. He's what I expect from a sister and brother sheep mating. (No, I did not mate sister and brother). 

I'm working on my milking station since I finally finished the doors to the lean to today. Found out the rail which guides the door was a bit too small when I opened the door and it fell half off. Wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't do it again after telling myself not to do that..... And then a third time.... That ram lamb and myself might have more in common than I thought now that I think about it Anyway, once I get the milking station done I'll milk the ewe and feed that to the ram lamb to see if he'll gain weight. Should be done tomorrow.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 30, 2018)

Yikes! Take care of yourself. The ram lamb may have had some birth trauma, be stunned, and come around. 

Are you sure the ewe is done and/or passed the placenta? Just a few immediate thoughts. Your vet could get you banamine for her. That’s a prescription anti inflammatory that works wonders!


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## mystang89 (May 31, 2018)

Yesterday was definitely a trial.  There's nothing worse imho, than taking the time to make something, especially when it takes all day, and then who or what you've made it for don't use it.  I made the milking stand yesterday but couldn't for the life of me get the sheep to simply walk up the ramp.  I finally asked on the forums and someone recommended to use food in order to bribe them.  I did so, and after much coxing, begging, complaining and threatening I finally was able to get them to go up there.  I started milking the newest momma so I could then give that milk to the lamb since he didn't seem to have the brains to find the nipple but it turns out she doesn't have much milk in the udder.  The bag is small.  The teats are small.  The bag is hard.  This is a sheep bred and designed for generations to give milk but this one can't produce more than a spit.  It leads me to thinking.  I wonder if she has mastitis.  Now I haven't taken her to the vet nor can I.  I haven't ever seen mastitis in animals before but from reading this really seems like it would fit.  I don't know if the udder is supposed to feel hard but hers definitely felt different than the other mom ewe who has a proliferation of milk for her young ones.  I'm not really sure what to do.  I might try a warm compress, keep her udder clean, and try to express her milk as much as possible but I'm thinking that if it is mastitis that it might be a bit late for the normal methods of dealing with it.  She's been this way for going on 4 days now.  I don't know.

Anyway, getting the sheep up on the stand is definitely still a work in progress.  I'm sure eventually they'll learn that food is at the top of the climb but that might take a while.  I'm stubborn though so we'll see who wins.  I'll take pics later.  

We finally received some of that rain I've been hearing so much about thankfully!  We had gone for 3 or 4 weeks without any here so my plants were hurting.  Cut the grass just before it dropped too.  My son told me he wished he had cut the grass before it rained too.  Yep....old man might know a thing or two

Yesterday my good mom ewe, Betsy Mae, started headbutting the lamb from the bad mom ewe, Clara Belle, when he went to feed off Clara Belle.  Asked on the forums again and was told that Betsy might just be a hormonally good mom who's defending her milk sac.  I'm separating the two for now until the behavior calms down and the lamb is a bit older/healthier than he is now.  At 4 days old he's still a bit wobbly on the feet.  We are giving him formula now.  The wife had stopped at the local farm store and picked up a bottle to feed him with but the nipple was the largest thing I've ever seen.  He wouldn't take it so she went and got a baby bottle from inside.  He seems to do well with that so we'll stick with it.

@Wehner Homestead Yes, she passed the placenta about 3 hours after birth.  I'm assuming since the placenta is out that there aren't anymore lambs stuck inside her.  I really hope that's the case anyway.

Just another day.  No pics today since no sun.


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## Wehner Homestead (May 31, 2018)

I’m not a sheep person and know very little but we used Today for mastitis treatment in a goat (and several cattle over the years.) It’s for cattle so you won’t need to use the whole tube in one session. 

If you go this route, the milk is safe for the lamb. Clean the teat before inserting the smaller of the two tips. Insert until it feels full, then massage up. Treat twice daily after milking out as much as possible. 

You might also see if a vet will give you an antibiotic or buy some OTC antibiotics to give an actual injection to jumpstart her beating it. Going untreated is painful and she could lose her udder. 

Here’s a link to show you the message I mentioned...
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...MIsZWMjPaw2wIVD77ACh2NsgVOEAQYASABEgI_QvD_BwE


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## Latestarter (May 31, 2018)

Sorry that the ewe is dry... Is this her first lambing? I ask because sometimes on a first freshen, they don't produce milk till after the birth but 4 days is way too long. Generally speaking, I believe hot and hard indicates mastitis. Not sure what hard and small/nonexistent" means...   Regardless, I'd recommend she be culled and replaced when the time comes.


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## mystang89 (May 31, 2018)

I agree latestarter. She's be the one to pull when the time comes. I just don't think that time is doing to come for another year or 2, maybe longer depending on how the wife deals with it. Yeah, this is her first time lambing which is also making me want to give her another chance, kinda like what I do with rabbits. Only difference is, rabbits are ready to matter right after gestation and my sheep are once a year lol.


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## mystang89 (Jun 1, 2018)

Last year we had planted our grapes.  I trellised them all nice and pretty but they didn't really do anything.  In fact, one of them looked like it had died.  Didn't even think it was possible to kill a grape vine so I went out this year and bought a replacement.  Turns out the one from last year sprung up and the one from this year is doing good too.  Now we have 3 grape vines.  Going to be some GOOD grape jam this year I hope!  

Where we moved from there lived a mulberry tree right on the edge of the neighbors property.  I kept it nice and trimmed for him since it was a good shade tree too, however we never actually received any ripened mulberries as the tree takes a male and female to produce the ripened fruit.  Fast forward to our new house and we have around 5 mulberries that produce ripe mulberries now!  Love my life here.  The wife, children and myself went out Sunday and picked about 6 cup fulls until we felt we had enough for a cobbler.  I got around to making it yesterday and boy was that delicious.  I'd always wanted to try it but unripened mulberries leave much to be desired lol.  The mulberry cobbler has such a...clean? taste to it.  Clean probably isn't the right word.  It just doesn't have any overwhelming taste too it.  Not too sweet, tart or tangy.  Just refreshing!  

Our old house had strawberries we'd planted and loved picking.  Everbearing.  However, I planted them in a 10x10 square.  So if you wanted that nice juicy strawberry right there in the middle, well, try to tip toe through all the rest to get it.  I looked up some practices for planting strawberries when I moved here and found one that I think works well.  You plant the strawberries in rows, spaced about 2 feet apart.  Every 2-3 years, you let the runners from the strawberries start to grow into the row that isn't being used so the next 3 years you have grapes there.  The previous strawberries are tilled in, given to the chickens, sheep, rabbits, compost....you get the point.  Well, this year they started to really get loaded up, and surprisingly even without any netting around them I haven't seen many eaten by the wild life around here.  So we picked those too, along with the rhubarb I planted last year.....strawberry rhubarb cobbler....heaven.  Tomorrow I'm going to melt some almond chocolate and then put the strawberries in the melted goo and let it firm up.  Strawberry almond chocolate sounds yummy.  My oldest child said he wanted to make strawberry cheese cake, which sounds pretty darn good if you ask me, so that will be in the works too.

Tomorrow I'll also need to trellis up the tomatoes and cucumbers.  Since I've been working around the clock on the lean-to my garden has been neglected by me.  If it wasn't for the children you wouldn't be able to see a garden at all, but they go out there each week and weed the garden.  Good children when they want to be.

On the sheep side of things, Clara Belle is still hanging in there.  She doesn't eat or drink anything that I see.  I have been giving her the milk replacer with a turkey baster, (hey, it works better than any drenching tool I've seen).  She takes to the milk well.  I bought some electrolyte mix as well which I will be giving her too.  Also gave her an anti-inflammatory with her drench as well. She's a tough sheep but I don't hold high hopes.  Her lamb is hanging in there with his mom.  Somehow the little runt is still alive.  I give him the milk replacer too about 4 times a day and I see him still trying to eat off his mom.

Yesterday I ordered "The Original Henry Milker".  After trying to milk sheep by hand and seeing all the crud that ended up inside the milk container I opted for this route.  I'm all for doing things all natural.....but seeing that stuff in my milk was just nasty.  They haven't been completely sheered yet so trying to keep the dirt and crud out just isn't a feasible option. 

Speaking of shearing, I did call someone and ask if they'd come out to sheer two sheep.  They laughed and said no one would do that....I'm slightly stubborn and took that as a challenge.  I found someone who said he'd come out this way but I think I need to be a squeaky wheel and call him again just to remind him.

I'm still looking for someone to bale my pasture.  I honestly don't know the first thing about it but if I had the equipment I'd do it myself.  Even if it can't be used for food, I can still use it for bedding.  Unfortunately, being new around here, I know nothing and no one to ask.  If anyway knows anyone around the Charlestown IN area that wouldn't mind doing it for a reasonable amount or even splitting it, let me know


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## Baymule (Jun 1, 2018)

You need to get out and meet your neighbors. We will stop if we see someone outside and introduce ourselves. We have had people over for coffee, some turn out to be good friends, others are just acquaintances. But we have built a network of people we know or know of, that have skills or other attributes that we might need from time to time.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 2, 2018)

I agree with @Baymule that some visits to the neighbors can pay major dividends.  On the even better side is we have quite a few new friends.


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## RollingAcres (Jun 5, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Last year we had planted our grapes. I trellised them all nice and pretty but they didn't really do anything. In fact, one of them looked like it had died. Didn't even think it was possible to kill a grape vine so I went out this year and bought a replacement. Turns out the one from last year sprung up and the one from this year is doing good too. Now we have 3 grape vines. Going to be some GOOD grape jam this year I hope!


My grape vines did the same thing! I planted them last year, they did nothing then they looked dead. They both came back this year! I need to make trellis for them soon. I was thinking to just use 2 t posts and some leftover wire fencing. How did you trellis yours?


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## mystang89 (Jun 5, 2018)

My children went outside yesterday to let the sheep into the pasture in the morning but came back in telling me that Bruce, my ram sire, had busted through the barn wall....yes, he took out the barn wall.  Now granted, the barn wall has been in need of repair since I moved in and it was on the to-do list, just hadn't moved to the top yet.

I went out to see what they were talking about and sure enough a few slats of wood were missing or broken and some of the wall was pushed out.  Much of the barn was in bad disrepair anyway.  The previous occupants had kept horses inside but never cleaned out the stalls so there was much wood shavings and straw laying around on the frame and built up around the wall.  My son started digging out from around the wall so I could get the rotten wood out and replaced.  Almost all wood needed to be replaced.  It was a blessing that we had been allowed to take the tobacco barn down on the neighboring acreage.  We used that wood to repair what we had and now its nice and fortified.  He'll end up with a nice headache if he wants to go through that wall lol.

Afterwards I recieved my milker in the mail but it didn't work as intended.  Needless to say I wasn't very pleased.  A huge let down.  I made a post about it in the milking section.  Still waiting on a response from the manufacturer.  I've been thinking about trying to convert my wife's breast pump into a sheep milking pump but not sure if the tubes will fit.  Suppose I'll find out later.

Also was called for Jury duty and went in today.  Now, I understand the reason for having the justice system we have and its great.  A panel of your peers and all that.  Very nice.  But when they ask you if you have any reason you can't be there a few weeks beforehand and you say you are the stay at home parent of 8 children, one at 3 months old, no one to watch them and they still tell you to come in, then we need to think things over.  Then you get there at 8:30am after begging your 77 y/o mother to drive an hour to watch them and they ask once again if anyone has any reasons they can't be there and you tell them in person your reason, to which they say, "Thank you, sit down please,"....we need to think things over.  Then you are called up to the jury box and the attorneys ask you about what you've already said.  They then dismiss you from the panel after you've been there already for 5 hours when they weren't going to use you in the first place and could have saved a bunch of time and tax payer money by simply saying that you were exempted......we need to think things over.

Other than that, no much has happened.


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## Latestarter (Jun 5, 2018)

So all of that to simply say that rams, are aptly named?  I know, I know...  

Sorry about the civic duty stuff. So while we're on the subject, perhaps retired military or civil servants should be removed from the rolls of jury duty people entirely since they basically spent their working lives in doing just that? Civil service? Maybe you should have packed all the kids up and brought them with you? Course then they'd have probably slapped you with a contempt of court charge   Of course in my case I pretty much do hold most courts in contempt.


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## mystang89 (Jun 5, 2018)

lol.  That's exactly what my mother said.  Then myself and all six children would have been calling my wife to come bale us outta jail  .  

Seriously though, I don't mind doing the jury stuff as it is important.  But the selection is a bit broken and needs fixing.  That was a lot of money spent and persons time wasted, (not just my own as there were others in there with similar causes).  More qualified persons could have been selected from the get go and they would have had a better pool to choose from.


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## Baymule (Jun 5, 2018)

I have tried to get chosen for a jury, but they never want me. Last time it was for felony theft and my comment was that he needed to be taken behind the barn and given a whipping with a peach switch.....now WHY didn't they want me on that jury???


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## mystang89 (Jun 5, 2018)

LOL, we need more justice like that!  Make him pick his own whip too!


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## greybeard (Jun 6, 2018)

Not much I should say about the jury duty thing I suppose, but when I read things like this, & coming from the perspective of a  now 68 yr old former combat Marine that was making (base pay+Hazardous Duty+flight skins) right at $375/mo ($93.75/week) and think back on all the mortal hell I flew into, thru and back out of and the subsequent years of being away from wife and family while afloat, and all the death and misery I saw and caused and have to live with and account for to my maker someday soon, I have to wonder....... if this is what the nation has become, why did I bother? 

But as I so well remember thinking one night about sundown, after a very hot, long, bloody day of getting my butt shot at about 40 times, _it was a small price to pay to be among the Nation's Finest_


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## mystang89 (Jun 6, 2018)

I wonder the same thing, being an army retiree, having served in Iraq during it's height, watching my friends take an early leave of me, but I didn't serve because some legal system was broken, I served because I love my family.  

Many good things need working on. I can look at myself for example. I think I'm a fairly decent person, however there are a great many things "broken" about me that need fixing. When someone brings it up to me then that's a cause for joy because I now know something else I should work on to become better.

By the way, thanks for serving in that hellish place before I was born. I've never seen it but read and heard many accounts. By my standards, Iraq was a cake walk compared to then.


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## mystang89 (Jun 6, 2018)

Today was spent working more on the barn, still trying to fix it up from where it was let go into disrepair.  It's being noticed by the people around though.  A man stopped by yesterday as I was out near the rode with my children and told me he was glad I was trying to get things back in shape.  The "feel goods" were felt.  

Since Bruce decided to give me a kickstart on fixing the sides of the barn I figured I would continue on with what I started.  Where his stall is located happens to be at the left side of the barn.  From the left side all the way to the far right side, the face of the barn was literally crumbling.  I set out to put the cookies back in place, unfortunately however, the barn was terribly infested with termites at one point and still infested with lovely ants, living in my wood.  

As I work my way past Bruce's stall I get to the pigs stall.  In order to fix it I already know what's necessary.  I need to go into the messy, nasty, stinky pigs stall, hands and knees and rip out and replace the support column that is completely destroyed and lay down another floor runner so I can nail the slat boards to it.  In I go.  The pigs were thrilled to see me.  The started chewing my shoes to show me how much they love me.  The wanted to give me kisses.  It was a lovely time spent bonding with Sizzle N. Sausage and Chris P. Bacon.  I took the Reciprocating Saw and went to work on the support column in the middle of the barn.  This 8x8x20 piece of wood was nothing more than a shell for the first 5 foot.  I took it out and replaced with wood I, thankfully, had laying around.  The pigs were very grateful for the ants.  I've heard of chocolate covered ants but not mud covered ants.  New delicacy!

Finally finished up the middle and went around to the right side, repairing as I go.  On the right side of the barn is a large light.  It was placed on the barn by the electric company but according to the previous occupants, the electric company says they won't touch it anymore.  Don't know why, haven't bothered asking the company.  Anyway, it was put on the barn in about the same manner as everything else not originally built onto the barn.......shoddy.  There is on large bolt holding a 8 foot pole with this light on it to the corner post of the barn.  This pole runs through the roofing.  They never put flashing around where it ran through the roofing.  There is a nice 4"x2" hole in the roofing between the pole and metal .  It must have been there for decades because the corner post, rafter, runners and anything else around that area is rotted out.  Out come the drill, screws and whatever other tool I can get my hands on.  The main problem is the electricity.  I hate electricity.  I was born in the wrong time period.  I can't stand working near or on it.  I walk up my 16 foot ladder, unaware of (not paying attention to) the wires running from this light down to the breaker box.  My cheek brushed one of the wires.  The wire kissed me.  I don't like electricity.  Now, I'm no electrician, but these wires were being spliced together with.....wait for it....you ready?  Duck tape.  Quack quack tape. The duck tape is, of course by this time, falling off and low and behold, bare wires.  Bare wires, running from this very powerful light, to my barn.  Consider this light the same as a light you see in a neighborhood at night near the street.  Same thing.  

I did as much as I could.  Fixing it up as well as I could.  I'm going to turn off the electricity to the barn from the breaker box before I do anything with those wires.  I'd like to hook those wires up to a light switch so I could turn that light on and off as I saw fit in the future.  For the present, I'd just like for there not to be bare wires around my barn.  I wasn't able to get a fix in place for the large hold going through my roof either.  Honestly not sure how to fix it.  I'll get together with the pigs and figure something out.  

I'll try to get a picture of this electrical nightmare up tomorrow.


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## Baymule (Jun 6, 2018)

Bonding time with the pigs......time well spent.  We have a neighbor that deals with electricity all day and he is slowly wiring our barn. I don't like or understand electricity either. Kudos to you for making repairs on the barn. I hate to see old barns in disrepair.


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## mystang89 (Jun 7, 2018)

These are some pics I took this morning of the light.



 
That is the whole assembly. You should be away able to see the wires.
 
This is the wiring upclose. Nice duck tape, coming off. The bolt that you see was the only thing holding it to the rotting piece of wood. You can also see the hole which the pole goes through in the roof, allowing for much rain water to soak the wood.

I'm still in the thinking phase of fixing this one.


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## RollingAcres (Jun 7, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Kudos to you for making repairs on the barn. I hate to see old barns in disrepair.


X2! I love old barns and it's sad to see some of them just sitting there rotting away.


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## greybeard (Jun 7, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> The pigs were thrilled to see me. The started chewing my shoes to show me how much they love me.


Remember, they are omnivorous, and will eat you if they get the chance.


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## mystang89 (Jun 7, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Remember, they are omnivorous, and will eat you if they get the chance.


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## Baymule (Jun 7, 2018)

It's a wonder that your barn hasn't burned down. It's just been waiting on you to come save it.


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2018)

Been a few days since I updated and my memory is such that I really don't remember much of the past few days but I'll give what I can.

Few days ago our troublesome buck, Bruce, decided he wanted to try something different for his food and ate some Jimmyweed or something like that.  I made a post about it in the emergency area with a video.  Turns out he poisoned himself and got a bit tipsy at the same time.  Fortunately he ended up only with a bad hangover and nothing else.  He's all fine now and back to his normal evil self.

Today was spent traveling.  The family went on a small road trip to pick up a 5 Wheel hay rake.  It was in decent condition, only had 2 teeth missing, a few half teeth, and a spring ended up breaking when we were loading it up in the trailer.  Fortunately I had a few springs at home to replace it with.  The drive home wasn't all that fun.  Should have made a wide load sign because the tongue of the rake was sticking out about 5 - 6' off the side of the trailer and one wheel was about a feet out the other side.  We tied flags all over it and took the back roads home.  Only took out 1 stop sign and 1 speed limit sign.  Pretty good all things considered 

We don't have a sickle mower or a baler so I'm just going to take the side off the bush hog and, after the grass is dried, shovel it on a trailer then into the hay loft.

Someone also came out and sheared the sheep today.  I feel better with them having all that wool removed.  He wasn't the most personable guy in the world but it was outrageously hot today and he'd been outside shearing sheep most of the day so I'll give him a bit of lee way.  He definitely knew what he was doing.  All 3 sheep were done within 15 min and some of that time was spent trying to get the sheep to him.  I was impressed.  They even gave me pointers to what I was doing wrong. 

With all the wool gone it was much easier to see the condition of the sheep.  I was pleased with all but one.  My milker isn't looking great.  She's real bony.  Right now she gets 2 coffee cans of feed at night before I put them up but I think I might give her some in the morning.  I just don't know if her stomach would get upset with all the feed.  She's eating the grass well and has a healthy appetite. Her stool is looking good too.  (Who'd have thought you could say poop looks good lol )  My wife wonders if putting some hay in the stall at night might also be good for her.  I don't know.  I'm not apposed to it per say, just if I don't have to use the hay I have for winter, then I'd rather not.  I'll continue to look for other ways to recondition her though.  She's the star of the show right now.

I'll leave you with some pics of them.



   

Apparently don't have any updated of the lambs so I'll try for those tomorrow.  The large picture is my Betsy Mae.  She's my milker and, even in the bad picture, you can tell she needs some fat on those bones.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 16, 2018)

She does need some work, hope you can get her back in condition.


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## Baymule (Jun 16, 2018)

I have a ewe that always has twins and gives them everything in her milk. I give her about 3/4 cup of corn twice a day to help her out.


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2018)

Thanks Bay. I think I'll give her 1 cup in the morning and 2 at night at first, then once her stomach gets used to it I'll give her 2 in the morning and 2 at night.


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## Baymule (Jun 16, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Thanks Bay. I think I'll give her 1 cup in the morning and 2 at night at first, then once her stomach gets used to it I'll give her 2 in the morning and 2 at night.


That might be overdoing it. Remember, their stomach flora and bacteria can be seriously disrupted with too much grain. Better to gradually bring her condition up than to try to do it too fast.

The 3/4 cup of corn is given to the ewe that is nursing twins. While it doesn't pack weight on her, she is able to hold onto what she has. Once the lambs start eating, it gives her some relief and she gains weight.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 16, 2018)

Carry a handful in your pocket and while ya are outside thru the day....treat her....that way it will begin to work in smaller amounts, so a little extra later won't be a problem.....I've had to do that with our older doe, cause the Boys won't allow her to eat...if they aren't eating too....


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2018)

OH! I thought you were saying 3 to 4 cups of food. She already gets 2 of those small coffee cans fulls at night so far for the past 2 weeks. Wish I knew how much they held. They aren't the large round ones but the old metal can great for putting nails and screws into.


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## Latestarter (Jun 17, 2018)

IMHO, that is not too much twice a day. If you're talking about the small coffee can that holds ~2-3 cups... I think you're presently feeding about 1/2 what they could easily use. I may be off base but with goats it's not the quantity as much as the weight of the feed. My goats are getting 4-6 cups of 16% pellet feed twice a day.  So I'd guess right at 2-3 pounds a day. And they would gladly take twice that much if I offered it. I have to stand between the adults and kids with a staff to ward them off so the kids can eat theirs in peace. If I weren't standing guard, the adults would push the kids right out and scarf it all down themselves. I'm feeding 7 adults and 8 kids. I haven't made a creep since I'm standing right there while they eat. You could also consider swapping out to a higher protein feed... Or adding a small amount of higher protein supplement to their grain when you feed them.


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## greybeard (Jun 17, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> OH! I thought you were saying 3 to 4 cups of food. She already gets 2 of those small coffee cans fulls at night so far for the past 2 weeks. Wish I knew how much they held. They aren't the large round ones but the old metal can great for putting nails and screws into.



They held 1 lb (or 16 oz)..............of coffee.


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## mystang89 (Jun 17, 2018)

greybeard said:


> They held 1 lb (or 16 oz)..............of coffee.


Thank you, yes, that would be them!  So she gets 2 lbs of grain in the evening before I put them to stall.
I was out with them in the pasture this morning and took these pics of the lambs to share.

The bottom pic is of the lamb which I had to bottle feed.  He's still a bit on the skinny side but he's eating off his mom, eating some grass and doing well enough that I I'd rather him get his nutrients from his mom and grass.  Oh, and that's my dog (Pandy) in the first pic.  She's a good girl.


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## goats&moregoats (Jun 17, 2018)

At night I don't like to be left to my own thoughts for very long, so I look on here for threads to read....and tonight I found yours. What a glorious refreshing read. Not many men can stay home, farm, & take care of eight kids. Kudo's to you on that one. What I know about sheep could be put on one side of a piece of paper and still not fill it up. I had two Soay sheep and a a fixed male that looks like yours(lol). Wasn't my thing so I should them. Any hoo, I am hoping your ewe gets better and your young ram starts putting on the weight and gets smarter. Looking forward to more of your journal.


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## mystang89 (Jun 19, 2018)

I finally got some time to get the front pasture bush hogged so I could take the hay rake to it.  Yes, I am very well aware of how much hay I lose by the bush hog and how inefficient it is but if you want to dig a hole and you don't have a shovel then a claw hammer works too.  Still haven't gotten to the raking part yet.  For some reason my baby feels she is entitled to eat during the day.  The nerve!

While I was on the tractor my friends decided to come over and play so I thought it only right to treat them to a gourmet meal!






I love these little guys (when they aren't eating my bees).  They really are amazing.  It's like being treated to a well orchestrated acrobatics show.  I astounds me how finely tuned their eyesight is.  I tried to look for some insects jumping out from under the cover of the freshly mowed grass but all I was able to see was the occasional dragonfly and moths.  Oh the poor moths.  I almost felt sad for them as they tried dodging this was and that in order to evade the multitude of ravenous beaks which preyed upon them from on high.

I truly thank God from the bottom of my heart for allowing me and my family this little piece of heaven on earth.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 19, 2018)

I often think while mowing, about how many "worlds" are being changed with the cutting.....and enjoy watching the activity and excitement of a "free-for-all"......


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## Latestarter (Jun 19, 2018)

I really, really, really wish I had a tractor...   Very nice looking hay pasture you've got there.


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## mystang89 (Jun 19, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> I really, really, really wish I had a tractor...   Very nice looking hay pasture you've got there.



I have no clue what I would do without that tractor.  When I first moved in, purchasing a tractor wasn't even on the list of things to do.  The previous owner asked if I wanted to buy his so I figured why not.  You know, country and all.  Besides purchasing the house, that was the single best buy I've ever made.

I took the wheel rake to the field after I had bush hogged it.  I'm going to be very frank here, I'm going to show just how much I grew up in the city....how do I use one of these things?!  How far down to the ground do the wheel have to be?  Touching the dirt?  Touching the top of the grass?  Touching the middle of the grass?  Does it need to be directly behind the tractor?  To the right of the tractor?  How should I go over the grass to best rake the hay?  The same direction I took while mowing?  Opposite?  Does the fact that I used a bush hog instead of a sickle mower or disk mower make a difference since the hay is shorter?  Does the rake not want to pick it up as well now?

I went over my pasture for 2 hours trying to get windrows.  All I really ended up doing was making the pasture look like 500  sheep just stomped all over it.  I'll try again tomorrow after I get some gas for the tractor.  Yep, used it all up trying to windrow.  Growing up I thought I knew it all.  I'd hardly listen to my parents when they tried to teach me something or give me sage advice.  I always had to learn the hard way.  I really wish I had listened a bit more or asked a few more questions of them.  Now that I'm a bit older I find that I don't know hardly anything and the things I do know are rather easily forgotten lol.  I told my children today that they should be very grateful to have parents around who are willing to take the time to teach them life lessons and they should always take the opportunity to ask questions.  Whether they believe me is another story.


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## Baymule (Jun 19, 2018)

What if your kids are just like you?


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## mystang89 (Jun 20, 2018)

Baymule said:


> What if your kids are just like you?


hush you


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## RollingAcres (Jun 20, 2018)

Baymule said:


> What if your kids are just like you?





mystang89 said:


> hush you


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## mystang89 (Jul 5, 2018)

Been a while since I updated this.  I had to read what the last thing was that I wrote.  So where to begin.

Hmm, well, trying to hay rake the pasture after using the bush hog didn't work.  I'm a newbie at making hay so I'm sure that contributed to it but one of my wife's friends said that the hay rake probably couldn't grab the hay since it was cut too small even after taking off the side of the bush mower.  That's ok though.  I decided to take the finish mower and mince up the dried grass as much as possible so I could at least use it as fertilizer for the pasture.  As I was doing my rounds I found that I was inadvertently making windrows.  I figured I would continue on and, in the end, ended with 5 or so rows.  The next day it rained.  Oh, the love, it's real.  I waited till the next day and the children and I went out to pick it all up and place the hay in the trailer.  Took some pictures but they aren't on my phone so that'll have to wait.  Turned out good though.  Just need to wait till the hay is dry enough now.  Until then, it'll wait in the back of the trailer.

I tried to take my daughters leg off.  Yep, proud moment as a father right there.  I was bush hogging the back pasture and she was on the front loader like normal.  I didn't time my turn right nor pay attention to the speed I was traveling at and ended up running her leg into a small try.  Don't have a picture of that one either but it was ugly.  She needed to have 16 stitched with 4 of those being on the inside for the muscle since it was torn as well.  Some lessons are learned the hard way, it's just unfortunate that it was at the expense of my wonderful daughter.  She's such a strong girl though.  She makes me proud.

Today we went out and straightened up the garden.  After weeks of non stop company or things NEEDING to get done, the garden had gotten out of hand.  

The sheep themselves are doing well.  I'm not getting as much milk from Betsy as what I wanted but she also still has one of her lambs on her during the day and both of them at night.  Still trying to get her condition improved though.  

We also fixed out wood shed.  When we purchased the property the woodshed's back wall was falling down.  I replaced boards and did the whole screw/nail barn wood together and now it's just as sturdy as the day it was made.  Ok, well, probably not that sturdy but it isn't going to fall down on my any time soon lol.

 
That's the before from when I first moved in.  I'm pretty sure they had forgotten where the trash can was so they just put everything in there.  It was cleaned out not long after I moved in.  I, unfortunately, don't have an after picture just yet but just imagine that back wall being connect at the ends and not having a huge, gaping hole in it and you've pretty much got the picture.  Next project for the building would be the roof which has a few holes that are making the wood rot.

After looking back a few pages I apparently never mentioned that I enlarged the sheep living area.
 
The above is the before of the area which I enlarged.
 
That was the area which 5 sheep had to call a home.  Slightly smaller than what one might want.  I think it was about an 8x8.
 
This is the new area.  It's about 5x's the size of the original.

Think that's it for now.  I'm sure there's plenty more I'm forgetting but I'll think about it next year.


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## Baymule (Jul 6, 2018)

To cut hay, you need a hay cutter. Probably a sickle cutter would work best for you. Your hay got rained on. Rained on hay has its nutrients washed out. It may do for a belly filler, but that's all. Watch it closely for mold. If it is spread out flat, it may dry ok, if it is clumped up at all, being not too dry, it will ferment.

Sorry about your daughter. I am going to say this as politely as possible. Your daughter, nor anybody should ever ride in a front loader. I worked in machine shops and welding shops, got lots of safety training and I am phobic about safety. I piss my husband off a lot because of the stupid things he does sometimes. He just doesn't have a clue. There are lots of farm accidents because of lack of safety. You and especially your daughter are very fortunate that she wasn't hurt worse. I am not beating up on you, I imagine that you have done that already. I do not know your back ground. I do not know if you ever had safety training on equipment. But I certainly hope you seek out safety books, training manuals or something that will help you be more safety conscious. 

The new sheep living area looks real nice. I am sure they like it too!


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## mystang89 (Jul 7, 2018)

Baymule said:


> To cut hay, you need a hay cutter. Probably a sickle cutter would work best for you. Your hay got rained on. Rained on hay has its nutrients washed out. It may do for a belly filler, but that's all. Watch it closely for mold. If it is spread out flat, it may dry ok, if it is clumped up at all, being not too dry, it will ferment.



Thanks for the info! I'm new to the hay cutting scene so every little bit helps. I probably won't be doing any more hay till next year when I get a cutter with taxes but I'm the meantime I'll be gathering info.

This weekend has been a God send. With temps at 108f the past few days it's been a huge drain trying to get work done. This weekend has been low humidity and around 85. Feels like heaven. So after a little light work today is time to just sit in the porch swing and enjoy the breeze.


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## Baymule (Jul 7, 2018)

A sickle cutter would be the safest to operate, since you don't have a cab tractor. No flying disc that just came off the mower at 3000 RPM's to slash your arm off. At least the cab offers protection, along with A/C and radio. LOL


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## mystang89 (Jul 19, 2018)

Quick update.  For the past 3 weeks I've been trying to refinish my brothers hardwood floors.  They had stains in the wood which I tried to sand out and for some of them I was able to remove completely.  Others, however, were too deep and ended up having to stay.  I threatened his children that if they ever so much as dropped a spot of sweat on the floor I would eat them.  They look at me and rolled their eyes.  I tried.    I did finally finish through.  I think it looks terrible, he thinks it looks great.  He lives there so I'm good with that.  It did make me want to take up the carpet here and see if I had something that was stainable underneath.  Maybe one day.

Today was spent finishing up with mowing the pastures.  Yesterday the belt for the finish mower broke so I went and purchased a new one.  Today the belt for the finish mower broke so I.....pulled out the bush hog....Yeah, pretty much the same sentence plus additional crying.  I'm not sure what's wrong with the finish mower and why its snapping the belts.  The first looked like a clean snap, the second looked shredded.  I know it can be a few different things including pulleys not being on the same plane, ball bearings being off a bit, rust around the pulleys etc.  I'm going to take it apart the next rainy day and see what I can't break.  

Sheep are still good.  Getting about 1 1/2 - 2 cups a day from Betsy.  She's still feeding her ewe lamb but I've pulled the ram lamb off since he's been weaned.  He's with his dad now and seems to be doing good.  I'm keeping an eye on them though because I don't trust his dad any further than I can see him and many times less than that.  That said though, with another sheep in the pasture with him, he seems to be a bit happier.  We'll see how long that lasts especially when the girls come into heat.

Checked the pigs today to see how much they weighed.  125lbs and 160 lbs.  Still have a bit over 100 lbs to go   I can't wait to butcher them.  I can't stand pigs.  They stink.  They fight.  They destroy everything.  They knocked everything over.  They don't pick up after themselves.  They don't clean their rooms....oh wait, sorry, started talking about my children....


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## Latestarter (Jul 19, 2018)

Sorry about the belt issues... aside from the monetary loss it has to be very frustrating.


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## Baymule (Jul 19, 2018)

Pigs aren't THAT bad! LOL We just took ours to slaughter and i'm glad. It is over 100 now and I wouldn't be able to keep them cool.


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## mystang89 (Jul 19, 2018)

It was a hot and sultry 85 today  Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be even worse! Low 80's with low humidity.

Honestly thought, I know how your feeling. We just got through the 106f stage. Hopefully it'll cool down for you all soon.


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## mystang89 (Jul 22, 2018)

Yesterday a gentleman showed up at or front door around 9:30pm, just as the last rays of the sun were starting to fade. He looked like he was in his 40's.  He came up walking sideways to the door, instead of straight up to it like normal, much like you'd watch someone who just looked through your windows to see if you were there.  

I opened the door to find out what he wanted and he said that he wanted to talk after seeing the sign at the start of our driveway which says, "The Good Shepherd Homestead". Stating that we must be "people of God" and he would like to talk to us about our religion I tried to ask questions but none seemed to go anywhere. It seemed as though he didn't really have anything to talk about. I'm an introvert so trying hold a conversation with anyone can be a challenge even when they want to talk back so at times there was just awkward silence.  

I asked him if he wanted some water, trying to be a good host and expecting him to say no, but he said yes. I opened the door and in he walks with us. Still trying to be nice I hand him a glass and offer him a seat. We stay there "talking" for another 20 min or so when he gets up and walks to the door and stares out it. The wife and I stand up, we all walk outside and he asks if I would mind if he looked around at the property, talking it all in. 

Putting aside the red flags and Bell alarms that are pounding in my head I tell him I'll show him around. I tell him the history of the place, show him the chickens and rabbits etc. In the meanwhile my wife has the sense to take down the make, model, color and license number. As we make it back to the car he finally hands me back my cup, (kinda thought it was going with him though I really wouldn't have minded) and I but him a good night and safe travels. 

By this time the sun is gone and night is there. My wife and I go inside and immedietely lock all doors and shut off the lights, looking at him from a crack in the shades. He stayed in the car for another 5 - 10 min. Finally, he turned his car on and after another couple of min drive down the driveway till he got to the end, stopping there for another min or so.

My wife and I watch him the entire time wandering which way he'll turn. Right takes him further in the country away from the way he HAS to take in order to get home. Left takes him to the main road. He takes a right. Goes straight to my neighbor's house who wasn't home, drives up their driveway and sits there with the lights on for another 5 minutes then he turned the off, got ito and proceeded to walked around with a flash light. 

Police were immediately called and we were told they were on the way and to call them back if he left. About 20 min later he left, again going right. I called and told the police again, relating to them which way he went.

I never saw the police but eventually I did see a car that was traveling very slowly down the road towards the main road later in the night. Never heard from the police today either. I've never had to dial 911 but I'm not impressed with our police department. My wife and I have never felt so unsafe as we did yesterday in any of our houses and the police did nothing.  We moved out here to get away from that stress. I have never locked the doors out here, never felt unsafe but the does have stayed locked so far and will be so into the foreseeable future. 

This world is sad.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jul 22, 2018)

Wow - that's a little creepy.  No wait - that's a LOT creepy!


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## Mike CHS (Jul 22, 2018)

I'm sorry you guys had that experience.  I guess having lived in an area with far more trouble than we have here we still have a bit of paranoia with people that act strange.  It has only happened once in all of the time we have been here but I opened the door to a dude that I had seen walking down our 1500' driveway several minutes before I saw his car coming.  I'm not real friendly if I get those red flags and have no problem telling someone to move along but I also have the means to back it up if needed.

It really does sound like he was casing your place and the neighbors.


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## goatgurl (Jul 22, 2018)

would freak me out.  youall stay safe.  sometimes paranoia isn't a bad thing.  and yes the world is a sad place anymore


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## Baymule (Jul 22, 2018)

We have a gate offset from the road, our place is completely fenced in. We have Great Pyrenees, one jumps fences and he is almost always at the gate. If anybody came walking down or driving down our driveway like that, and we didn't know them, they would be greeted by at least one of us being armed. We sure as heck wouldn't let them in the house nor show them around. You got conned. 

That was most likely a druggie looking for something to steal. He'll be back.


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## mystang89 (Jul 22, 2018)

Baymule said:


> You got conned


Mmm,I look at it a bit differently. To be conned would mean that he was able to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes. However, my wife and I were very well aware of what his possible motives were and tried to play it smarter since playing aggressively wouldn't have worked in it favor.  The only thing that he got was a friendly welcome. I don't know what brought him but I do know that God allowed him so whatever happens is for a good reason. I can only hope that he took the friendly greeting to heart and perhaps give him something to think about.

For reasons left alone I don't own a gun so self defense via that means is quite unfortunately unavailable. Therefore playing smarter than the nearest thug may be more beneficial than aggrevating the man who looks like he's experienced about 10 more street fights than I have. My way is more the kill them with kindness approach.

Don't take that as my saying the kill them with a bullet approach doesn't work and wouldn't be preferred when push comes to shove but when you have a lemon....make lemonade


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## Latestarter (Jul 22, 2018)

That is a bit creepy... I sure hope nothing bad comes of it.


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## Baymule (Jul 23, 2018)

Since you do not have a gun, you should have a big barky dog. Thieves think twice before challenging a big growling, barking dog.


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## RollingAcres (Jul 23, 2018)

That's just creepy! Glad nothing happened to anyone that night. But be careful and be alert!


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## mystang89 (Jul 23, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Since you do not have a gun, you should have a big barky dog. Thieves think twice before challenging a big growling, barking dog.


 
Lol. We're half way there. We have a great Pyrenees that is supposed to weigh100lbs. At 3 years old she weighs 55lbs no matter what I feed her. She's happy though and runs all over the place and loves to bark. She did come out there with me, unfortunately she just wanted to lick him.  Kinda takes the fright outta the big dog lol.

My wife posted something on FB and one of the LT on the police department responded and said we should have called the Clark county sheriff's dispatch when it's not an emergency.  It's weird, I could have sworn when I dialed 911 I made a conscience decision that it WAS am emergency. Perhaps the legal term of emergency is if someone is in eminent danger?  If something happens like this again I think I will call both numbers just to be on the safe side.


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## mystang89 (Jul 23, 2018)

Baymule said:


> We have a gate offset from the road,



That is actually something that we have thrown around since we moved in. Only thing really stopping us is the inconveniences of having to open and close during rain and snow storm and other inclement weather. I think I'll mention it to the wife again though. If anything save up some money and buy a solar gate opener.


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## Mike CHS (Jul 23, 2018)

Have you given any thought to a security system.  We have a self installed system that can be monitored but doesn't have to be for a fairly low dollar amount. Even though you didn't need it this time if you were ever to feel in a truly frightening situation they have a panic button.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jul 23, 2018)

You don't have to have a gun to post a "no trespassing" sign.


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## mystang89 (Jul 23, 2018)

Mike CHS said:


> Have you given any thought to a security system.  We have a self installed system that can be monitored but doesn't have to be for a fairly low dollar amount. Even though you didn't need it this time if you were ever to feel in a truly frightening situation they have a panic button.



I'm embarrassed to say this never even crossed my mind. Thanks for bringing it up!


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## greybeard (Jul 23, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> My wife posted something on FB and one of the LT on the police department responded and said we should have called the Clark county sheriff's dispatch when it's not an emergency. It's weird, I could have sworn when I dialed 911 I made a conscience decision that it WAS am emergency.



After the perceived imminent threat is already gone, and no crime has been committed, it is not an emergency in the view of most police depts.
In the countryside, odd or suspicious behaviour or activity gets reported to the regular hrs phone number of the constable or sheriff's dept. After hours, you can call 911, but that kind of odd/suspicious activity will probably get pushed down to the bottom of any list that exists for the Police to work. Even a fender bender accident will probably take precedence.

Thieves, especially those trying to finance a drug problem don't care one bit how much kindness is shown to them. A kind person's possessions will sell just as easily as a gruff person's will.

I never let a stranger walk around my place and sure don't let one in my front door.


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## mystang89 (Jul 24, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Thieves, especially those trying to finance a drug problem don't care one bit how much kindness is shown to them. A kind person's possessions will sell just as easily as a gruff person's will.


I'm sure you are correct but I need to look at it from a more strategic point of view.  I'm unarmed.  I have a gentleman on my doorstep who is acting suspiciously.  My wife and children are around.  I see myself as having 2 courses of action.

1.  Tell the person who already seems to have an hostile intention to get off my property.
2.  Show kindness to him.

Experience would tell me that showing aggression to a person who is already hostile leads to greater hostility.  Since I'm unarmed, have loved ones near and he looks like hes more experienced in combat then CoA 1 doesn't seem to have the greatest chance of a positive outcome.

Showing him kindness might not make him not want to come back but it doesn't aggravate a situation which is already tense.   At the very least he would leave the rest unharmed and give us time to prepare a bit and not be so lax.  Plus as many others here have stated, there are other things besides a gun which can help to deter people who would bring harm to my family. 

Trust me when I say, not having a weapon is a sore in my side which I am very unhappy about, but if I rely on only one means of defense then I may as well stop even trying.

My sister also mentioned a taser.  I'm not a big fan of them because I've seen people shot by police with them and it took 3 hits to bring them down.  Not the outcome I'd be looking for but perhaps better than nothing.  I have a bow and arrow....better than nothing again.  The gate at the front is nice along with the security alarm.  My wife sent a link to a system which lets you know when someone is pulling in the driveway but the best that does is give you an early warning.  Still many things to consider 

Today however, went well.  The weather is a very pleasant mid 80s with low humidity.  My children and I were able to pick up two trailer loads of wood from the tobacco barn tore down and get it stored.  Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get some more.

The milk production in my ewe seemed to be tanking and it seemed a bit early.  
i found out why.  It's because the lamb from the other mom ewe is eating off my milker too.  :/


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## Mike CHS (Jul 24, 2018)

You have to do what makes you feel best and I'm glad you had a productive day. 

Not to beat a dead horse but we have a system through Simplisafe. It's affordable, has no contracts and is easily installed by a DIY'r.  You can also add components at a later time that integrate very easy.  We actually have two complete systems because we had two homes for several years and we use the old system in my shop.  It isn't monitored but does send a text message whenever a sensor is tripped.


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## mystang89 (Jul 24, 2018)

Thanks @Mike CHS . That's a nice system.i like that, even if it's not monitored that it'll still send a text to you're phone which let's you be the one to call.


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## mystang89 (Jul 27, 2018)

Today was a fairly relaxing day after the morning was done.  I loaded up the children and checked the gas app to see where the cheapest gas since I was going out to the city for some grocery shopping.  The app said it was $2.89 and about 8miles away.  Awesome!  The app did NOT say that the 8 miles was crossing the Ohio River by boat from my house!!!!  Stupid app.  So after 40 min travel time, (Yeah, I stuck with it) I made it to the gas station only to find they had raised the price to $3.09.  Put $40 in the 15 passenger van and it brought it up to a quarter tank.  You know, for America being one of the largest oil producers now because of fracing you'd think gas might be a reasonable price. No, lets export all our oil and keep our prices rising.  Thanks.

After we purchased the groceries, came home, make some good ol' PB&J sandwiches the rest of the day was just playing games with the children.  Can't really complain especially with the 80f weather.  Sorry Texans   Hopefully it'll come your way soon.


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## Latestarter (Jul 27, 2018)

Funny you mention PB&J sandwiches... I have recently experienced the joy of same again after some 40 years away from them.  Creamy Jif with  smucker's preserves; strawberry and concord grape. They really are quite good. I remember as a kid, I used to love fluffernutters with cold milk. For those who haven't heard of them, it's like a PB&J but the "J" is replaced by marshmallow fluff. MMmmmmm might have to go get me some fluff


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## Mike CHS (Jul 28, 2018)

Gas prices have been silly down here but not quite as bad as yours.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jul 28, 2018)

It is $2.479/gal here.....it has been fluctuating for the past couple of months, tho.....I had a fluff-a-nutter just last week Joe.....still as Good as they have always been.....


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## mystang89 (Jul 28, 2018)

I have GOT to try a fluffernutter!


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## goatgurl (Jul 28, 2018)

dang it youall, now i'm gonna have to go get some fluff.  I can't remember the last time I had a fluffernutter.  now I have to try them again.  whats not to like, peanut butter and sweet.


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## Latestarter (Jul 29, 2018)

LOL  I'm actually surprised... I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about... Fluff-a-nutters...  Glad to know that others have experienced them as well.


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## Bruce (Jul 29, 2018)

CntryBoy777 said:


> It is $2.479/gal here.....it has been fluctuating for the past couple of months, tho.....I had a fluff-a-nutter just last week Joe.....still as Good as they have always been.....


We have been paying over $0.50 more per gallon for months. It has lately dropped to $2.939

Not big on fluff. Actually, don't like the stuff at all.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jul 29, 2018)

Come to think of it, we picked that up when we lived in Maine.....that was back in '64-'66.....so, I've been eating them for quite the while now.....


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## mystang89 (Aug 5, 2018)

We FINALLY finished deconstructing the tobacco barn!  After a years worth of work it's now gone.  The owner of the property said that he would come by to burn what had to be placed in the sink hole.  He mentioned he'll probably be there to burn the rest of it plus detree the area in about 24 months....well, actually he started out saying by fall, then winter, then next spring...and finally to 24 months.  His timeline is slightly different than mine lol but I'm just glad to be done with it.  Now on to getting some more fence put up in the back pasture.

The finish mower broke a few weeks ago.  I had literally just bought another belt and put it on there when not 5 minutes later it snapped in two.  It didn't fray like warn out, just snapped.  I looked up what the possible causes were and the main one was the pulleys being on different planes along with possible rust working at the belt.  Since its an old finish mower I went ahead and sanded down the pulleys and spray painted them however I am not sure how to get the main pulley to come down.  It's not a huge difference, probably less than 1/4" but I wanted to be sure to check all possible problems before paying another $80.

I also have a leak on my tractor which I tracked down to the power steering.  Last year sometime my power steering went out because the gaskets on the power steering cylinder were bad.  I replaced all those but now the leak seems to be coming from a tension screw. This little screw (probably 1/4" as well) screws down into the cylinder in order to keep the outer nut, which holds everything inside, from loosening.  At first I put some thread lock on it hoping that would shore up any gaps.  Didn't work.  I then put plumbers tape and thread lock on it hoping it would work.  I still see little spots coming from it but I've yet to lay eyes on it to verify.  Suppose that'll be for tomorrow or the next day.  For the time being I'm just adding fluid as it needs it.

We pulled the corn finally too.  I thought I'd lose all my corn just checking the ears throughout the month just to see if they were ready for picking.  Well, this year turned out a bit better than last year.  Last year I pulled the corn WAY too late.  It was all pasty.  This year only 50% was pasty lol!  Progress!  We haven't planted corn before so knowing when to pick it is still a learning experience for us.  I plant two plots of corn side by side.  Unfortunately when I planted this year I did not plant the first plot in front of the second plot so that the incoming wind would pollinate the second plot so much of the second plot's corn never actually filled out.  Lesson learned for next year


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## greybeard (Aug 5, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> he finish mower broke a few weeks ago. I had literally just bought another belt and put it on there when not 5 minutes later it snapped in two. It didn't fray like warn out, just snapped. I looked up what the possible causes were and the main one was the pulleys being on different planes along with possible rust working at the belt. Since its an old finish mower I went ahead and sanded down the pulleys and spray painted them however I am not sure how to get the main pulley to come down. It's not a huge difference, probably less than 1/4" but I wanted to be sure to check all possible problems before paying another $80.
> 
> I also have a leak on my tractor which I tracked down to the power steering. Last year sometime my power steering went out because the gaskets on the power steering cylinder were bad. I replaced all those but now the leak seems to be coming from a tension screw. This little screw (probably 1/4" as well) screws down into the cylinder in order to keep the outer nut, which holds everything inside, from loosening. At first I put some thread lock on it hoping that would shore up any gaps. Didn't work. I then put plumbers tape and thread lock on it hoping it would work. I still see little spots coming from it but I've yet to lay eyes on it to verify. Suppose that'll be for tomorrow or the next day. For the time being I'm just adding fluid as it needs it.



Pictures of the finish mower and the leaking power steering component?


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## mystang89 (Aug 6, 2018)

Here's the steering cylinder.  As far as I can tell its not leaking near the way it was though there still is some fluid that drips.  If it's anything like a mustang that is normal.



 


 

Another problem I'm trying to troubleshoot with my tractor is that I seem to lose Hydraulic pressure.  I'll be mowing the pasture for example, and every 10 minutes or so I'll have to tilt my bucket back towards me and lift it up.  Same for if I leave the bucket up overnight.  When I come back the bucket will have tilted downwards and if something is in it, it'll have fallen out.  It's a slow gradual thing but it's still a thing.  I checked to make sure I have hydraulic fluid and it's filled up to where it needs to be.  I don't have a leak that I've noticed....that's not really saying much though.  I'm guessing I may have air in the line but haven't figured out how to flush the lines yet plus I'm not sure I have the money to buy another 5 gal of hydraulic fluid.

Started work today on the back pasture fence.  Well, I say we started work but really I just mean I placed the poles out near where they are going to be put in the ground and then just looked at the spring/creek crossing for a long time as I tried to figure out how I was going to work this one. lol.  Here are some pictures of the spring/creek crossing area.


 

 

As you can tell there is bedrock right next to it but the hill grade isn't that steep which means that I won't be able to dig down very deep before I hit the bedrock.  I can almost guarantee that I'll the separation between the poles on either side  of the spring would be in access of 20+ feet before I was able to even get the pole 2 feet in the ground.  I have the same problem on the other side of my property with the same creek line.  It's bedrock through and through.  I'm not sure how I'll get poles or T-posts in the ground.  Even with a foot of concrete trying to hold it down that's not going to create enough of a hold for the fence plus any water which flows through there.  It may be dry now but during the rainy season it floods hard.  

I think I'll take my thinking chair out there and sit down for a long time.  Maybe something will come to me.....other than my wife wondering what I'm doing.


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## Latestarter (Aug 6, 2018)

Cattle panels are 16'... I know you said 20' but that's as close as I can get... Can you center a cattle panel over the creek bed and post either end with concrete bases? You could then attach "cut to fit" woven wire to the bottom to drape out on the down stream side. The pull of fencing on either side of the cattle panel should also help to keep it upright and semi "tight"...

If your bucket is dropping overnight,and there's no visible Hyd fluid to indicate leakage, I'd suspect a leaking seal within the hyd cylinder.


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## Bruce (Aug 6, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> I think I'll take my thinking chair out there and sit down for a long time. Maybe something will come to me.....other than my wife wondering what I'm doing.


And mosquitos and biting flies!


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## greybeard (Aug 6, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> If your bucket is dropping overnight,and there's no visible Hyd fluid to indicate leakage, I'd suspect a leaking seal within the hyd cylinder.


Or a maybe bad control valve. They're spring loaded to neutral, which is ported back to return. In the neutral position, if a spool within the valve is leaking, it will simply drain back into the reservoir and whatever ram that spool held in position will drop. 

Generally, the way air is bled from a cylinder after a repair is simply to start the tractor, then using the control lever, work the ram back and forth from full extended to fully closed---IOW, from fully tilting of the bucket to down to fully tilting it back....cycle it back and forth.

As far as the plug goes, I'm not familiar with that particular cylinder. If you think it's just a set screw to hold the end cap from unscrewing I'll take your word for it, but I've never seen a cylinder that did it that way. I suggest some teflon tape on the threads tho.


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## mystang89 (Aug 7, 2018)

Would the control valve be what moves the lift?

I'll get it there today and measure plus I may try to poke around with a rid to see how far down I can possibly dig.


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## greybeard (Aug 7, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Would the control valve be what moves the lift?


yes.


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## mystang89 (Aug 7, 2018)

Thanks GB. I'll pull it apart sometime.... before I die preferably..... And see what I can find.


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## greybeard (Aug 7, 2018)

I would not 'pull it apart'. The machined tolerances in those control valves are extremely tight, and the least little nick while taking one apart or putting it back together after inspection can cause more problems than you have now. We didn't even rebuild them at the dealership..we either replaced the whole valve or sent them to a hydraulic shop.
There are ways to test the valve without disassembling it, and in most cases, without removing it from it's mount.

I'd have to see the valve and where it's hoses end up or a flow schematic of the valve, but the idea, is to raise the bucket, tilt the bucket to level, (you can 1st put some weight..like about 1/4 bucket of dirt) in it if you want, then shut the tractor off. Find and remove the hose (either end--whichever is easiest) that is the valve's return line. Put a bucket under the line or fitting or lay a piece of clean cardboard under it. If it is the valve that is leaking by, over the course of several hours or overnight, there will be a pool of hydraulic fluid in the bucket or on the cardboard. It will be a substantial amount..not just a few drops.


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## mystang89 (Aug 7, 2018)

Thanks again @greybeard ! I won't do anything with it especially if there is a chance I'll make it worse. Come tax time I'll try to look into having that checked out.

Onto the fence....I drove a rod down into the ground next to the spring, working my way away from the spring. On one side I went to 20' from the spring before actually getting 1' into the ground. On the other side I went 12' away before getting the rod into the ground a decent ways.  That's 32' of no poles. Myself, my son, the flies, nats and mosquitoes were all out there racking or brains trying to figure something out. I even took my scythe out to clear the path so I could have a clearer picture. The grade is steeper than I thought.


 

 



That's one side.

I was doing some googling and found someone who used tires, poured 5" of concrete in, put his post inside and used a few of those. I was thinking maybe digging down 5" and putting the tire in the ground so the fence doesn't have the tire bulge to push the fence out.


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## Baymule (Aug 9, 2018)

Tires work themselves out of the ground, that's why you can't toss them in a landfill. You can if you cut them in 3 pieces, but that would defeat your purpose. 

3 cowpanels, overlapped and fastened securely together to make a 40' span. Then drive rebar at an angle as deep as you can to make a zig zag pattern, cris-crossed at the top and bottom, fasten them together. Then fasten to cowpanels. Run wire top and bottom, fasten to cowpanels.  Make a triple H brace on each side of the spring. Maybe overkill, but that's my idea for what it's worth.


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## mystang89 (Aug 9, 2018)

You think the tires would still work their way out of the ground even being filled with concrete?

What you're explaining kinda sounds a bit like a buck fence set up which I am thinking about too. Thanks for the help!


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## greybeard (Aug 9, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Tires work themselves out of the ground, that's why you can't toss them in a landfill.


Not filled with 5" of concrete, as he stated he had read about. Tires usually come up, because their shape allows air (or landfill gasses) to be trapped in the tire. They are lighter than the soil covering them. Approx diameter of a car tire (bead to underside of tread) is somewhere around 24". Filled with 5" of concrete, it will contain .04 cu yds, which is 1.8 cu ft. An 80 lb sack of quickcrete is .5 cu ft.
1.8/.5=3.6 bags of quickcreteX80(lbs)=288lbs.
That, is a weight value far above any surrounding or over bearing soil for the same volumetric area..commonly referred to as volumetric weight. The only place it would go is down, until it encountered a strata more dense than itself..like rock.




> 3 cowpanels, overlapped and fastened securely together to make a 40' span. Then drive rebar at an angle as deep as you can to make a zig zag pattern, cris-crossed at the top and bottom, fasten them together. Then fasten to cowpanels. Run wire top and bottom, fasten to cowpanels.  Make a triple H brace on each side of the spring. Maybe overkill, but that's my idea for what it's worth.


I have doubts about this..if there's one thing I know, it's fences versus flowing water.
That, is a sacrificial fence that will have to be constantly rebuilt.
It will last only until the first time the branch or draw runs full.
The less total wire surface you can present to flowing water, the better your chances of success.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 9, 2018)

We had a place where the fence used a tire filled with concrete. It was here when we bought th farm. Constantly had to push it back in place as the water pushed it forward. Got a gulleywasher and it makes its way halfway the length of the property. Still don’t have a good fix...


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## greybeard (Aug 9, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> We had a place where the fence used a tire filled with concrete. It was here when we bought th farm. Constantly had to push it back in place as the water pushed it forward. Got a gulleywasher and it makes its way halfway the length of the property. Still don’t have a good fix...


I assume it was not  buried but was just on top of the ground?
In that instance, I agree. Not heavy enough and too much cross section exposed to current flow for it to remain in place. Moving laterally across the ground horizontally is a lot different than floating or otherwise coming up out of the ground vertically.


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## mystang89 (Aug 9, 2018)

Read everything, thanks for the comments everyone and the math @greybeard . 

I was out today with my auger drilling holes where I could. Even without hitting rocks those three holes were more difficult than drilling all the holes across my front 5 acres. Bunch of clay. Got it done though. Only feel like I've been hit by a truck, not a train.   Still have to wait for my sister to give me back my fence puller.

... Till tomorrow


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## Mike CHS (Aug 9, 2018)

It had to feel good to at least make some progress.  I have a couple of sections where I make sure I have a bunch of shear pens.


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## Baymule (Aug 9, 2018)

You are getting ideas, something is bound to work for you. @Mike CHS has lots of experience fencing in rocky ground.


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## Latestarter (Aug 9, 2018)

Mike does, but the master of rock fencing has to be Bruce by far... I mean Vermont (like a lot of New England) is nothing but rock... Pretty much why the old time farmers had so many rock walls.


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## Mike CHS (Aug 10, 2018)

I have rock but I have also seen enough pictures of Bruce's place that I quit griping about mine.


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## mystang89 (Aug 11, 2018)

Seven years. We raised 4 rabbits, 3 does and 1 buck, for 7 years. My wife and I were all on board with it. We raised them so we could feed our growing family.  She never liked the butcher part so left that to me which I was fine with. Something apparently changed after moving. She continually said it wasn't worth the money when we had kits but just keeping rabbits and not mating then was senseless. It takes 3 rabbits to feed this family but with as healthy as that meat is and the amount of kits our rabbits gave is we always had plenty. A couple of days ago I got rid of all the rabbits. Not too happy with it but thats how it is.

I put the t posts in the ground for the fence today. Wow. Only 3 out of 16 were able to be pushed in by the bucket of the tractor. The rest has to be hammered in with the sledge hammer. It's days like today that I'm grateful to God He has given me the strength to be able to do things like this. Not easy time.  Also dug a hole for one of the tires
I figured I'd use a truck tire for the post closest to the spring since it holds more concrete. Wasn't even about to get it 3 inches in the ground before I hit the bedrock. The wood posts were set today so everything is ready except for the wire. Hopefully it should be done by next week.

@greybeard Would that Front End loader lever that raised and lowers the bucket also be responsible for the loader not raising unless gas is given?


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 12, 2018)

Greybeard: you are correct. It was just sitting in the middle of the creek on a ledge of flat rock.


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2018)

Had to go in today for an echo grab of my heart and get a Holter moniter to wear for 24 hours. Apparently my doctor want happy that my heart rate was low. Been that way my whole life. Heart rate today was 44. I'm starting to be amused by the reactions of the nurses when they take my BP and heart rate. Their face... My face
.... Them they proceed to retake everything like their machine was broke and it then comes up the same. Doc got tired of that so she ordered this stuff.  I'm a little miffed at it because I'm taking up slots of time that people who actually really need the echo gram could use and using a monitor that people who need to use it now don't have access to. 

The nurse doing the echo told the fellow in there that this was one of the clearest hearts that she'd seen. There was also a student in there with them. I felt like a cadaver lol. And these leads on the monitor are KILLING with how much they itch. Doc told me that I could spend the day doing what I normally do before I got this thing. Nurse said the same thing today. I went to the guy who actually hands them out and he said the same thing.  THEN he said that I shouldn't do anything that causes me to sweat lots so the tape wouldn't come off.... Soooooo, don't do what I normally would today I asked? He looked at me crazy and I told him I had a fence to put up, walls to shore up on the garage, and a farm to take care of in general. Told me to take the day off.  Silly man, I don't get days off.

Came home and immediately started getting things done. Hey, if they want to know what my heart normally does then I need to act normal right. 

Anyway, all the holes are dug, just need concrete. All posts are in.

Walls that were peeling away from the frame on the old garage see all mailed back in place too. 

We have a family reunion at our house on Saturday so lots of cleaning to be done. The garage was finished today. Tomorrow, we do the workshop.


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## Bruce (Aug 13, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Came home and immediately started getting things done. Hey, if they want to know what my heart normally does then I need to act normal right.


That sure seems reasonable to me. Maybe you are the opposite of people afflicted with "white coat hypertension".



mystang89 said:


> Walls that were peeling away from the frame on the old garage see all mailed back in place too.


Wow is your spell "fixer" working overtime!


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2018)

Bruce said:


> Wow is your spell "fixer" working overtime!


LOL, I think my phone does it to me in purpose.

That was supposed to say something about all NAILED back in place. AI at it's best!


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## Baymule (Aug 13, 2018)

I think doctors and nurses like to see people with high blood pressure, they can poke pills at their patients. Low BP, that bumfuzzles them. Congratulations.


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## greybeard (Aug 13, 2018)

I've spent extra 24 hrs in hospital because of low heart rates, always because the on-call dr or charge nurse wanted it, then my cardio people would come in and tell them "We know him well. That's normal for him". 
(I've never had anyone try to prescribe me anything to raise my heart rate or bp) 
I do think tho, the girls at the nurse station just get tired of the alarms going off as soon as I doze off to sleep. My normal while sitting now, is around 52-55 bpm, but by concentrating, I can get it down to mid 40s and that's where it is most of the time I'm asleep, depending which dream I'm having. Right after a meal (like right now) can get it up a little)
Not bad for a 68year old male American..


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## mystang89 (Aug 14, 2018)

That's pretty healthy greybeard! When I asked the fellow yesterday about why it's so low he said that people who are very active and typically in good shape tend to have lower heartrates. This is because the heart has "learned"to be more efficient at distributing the blood so it doesn't have to work as hard. I was told that many atheletes have heatrates around 44. I'm only 35 so I'm not surprised. I have 8 children that keep me running and work on a farm all day. My brother is 44, has 13 children and works out everyday. He told me his heartrate is always upper 40 's -lower 50's.

Couple more hours left to get this sticky, itchy tape off.


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## Baymule (Aug 14, 2018)

Hmmm.....guess I should check my HR, my BP is always 120/63. I am a 63 year old white female and take no medications. Now I am curious.


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## mystang89 (Aug 14, 2018)

Sounds good to me but I'm no where near medically qualified. Think they said mine was 116/..... Something. I don't know. I'm alive, I feel fine and I still have use of my cognitive functions lol. That's all I care about.


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## greybeard (Aug 14, 2018)

The little programmable wrist monitors I pictured are extremely affordable nowadays, tho my wife has the more traditional upper cuff (sphygmomanometer) as well. They, are often even less expensive. 
https://www.cvs.com/shop/cvs-health-self-taking-blood-pressure-monitor-prodid-800232?skuId=800232

She ordered her's tho from Allheart and it's Prestige brand. It was about x2 the price of the CVS gage.


mystang89 said:


> Think they said mine was 116/..... Something. I don't know.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 14, 2018)

Y’all know the nurse would have to weigh in...

@Baymule we have pills to raise BP and put in pacemakers for low heart rate! 

My personal experience with the monitors: my second pregnancy ended unexpectedly and resulted in a funeral. When I got pregnant again (with DS) my heart would race (200+\min.) I had to wear a monitor for 30 days on light-duty to be told it was all stress. I HATE the stickers too! 

Before my first child, my standard BP was 90s/60s with a heart rate in the 60s. Add a few (or 60 ) pounds, 3 kids, Spina Bifida, etc and I’m more like 120s/80s with a heart rate in the 90s now.


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## Baymule (Aug 15, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> Y’all know the nurse would have to weigh in...
> 
> @Baymule we have pills to raise BP and put in pacemakers for low heart rate!



No thanks. I stay as far away from pharmaceuticals as I can. They do become necessary from time to time, but I seldom get sick enough to take pills. My Mother had BP that was just a little high, but medication dropped it too low, so she didn't take anything.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 17, 2018)

@Baymule I often agree that less is more! I’m not one to push meds and vaccines without proper research and considering alternatives.


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## Baymule (Aug 18, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> @Baymule I often agree that less is more! I’m not one to push meds and vaccines without proper research and considering alternatives.


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## mystang89 (Aug 18, 2018)

Long great day. Family reunion, great weather, no fights, lots of food, lots of children running around, really tired, lots of pain, all completely worth it.


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## Latestarter (Aug 18, 2018)

Everyone deserves a day or two like that every so often. Glad you had yours today!


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## Bruce (Aug 19, 2018)

Pain?


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## mystang89 (Aug 19, 2018)

Bruce said:


> Pain?


Yep, that one wasnt a typo lol. Running around, playing games like an 18 y/o who doesn't have a broken back. Very worth it, just don't feel like doing much moving today haha.

It was really great getting to see everyone again yesterday. Some of those people I hadn't seen since I was a child. I told everyone that I was very grateful they came, some came from 2 states away. Having funerals be the only time you see and catch up with the events in people's lives is getting old. One, the dead person doesn't do much talking so they aren't much fun and two, the mood is always sour which also isn't much fun. I figured this might be a better way to connect with those you don't get to see on aregular basis.

Even though there was alcohol there, everyone drank responsibly which for one particular branch of people at that family reunion is nothing short of miraculous.

Speaking of miraculous, the weather had been calling for a 60% chance of rain all day, including heavy T-storms. My wife, myself and our children did lots of praying that God would give everyone a nice day and show compassion to those who had travelled from far places just as He had for those who were following Him from afar and were hungry. He heard it prayers because, other than one rain shower that lasted all of 5 minutes, it was either sun or clouds which have everyone shade. He is too generous and I very grateful to Him.

Many family photos were taken. I hate family photos.
"Smile!"
"I don't want to smile. I want to go back to playing the game I was having such a good time at!"
"SMILE I SAID!"
"Why don't you smile and leave me out of this picture!"

I don't like pictures. If the way a person's face looks like is worth keeping them I'll keep it in my head......most person's face apparently aren't worth remembering to me cause I forget then quite quickly with my terrible memory lol.

However, all that rant done with, I know my mother and wife and Aunt love those things and they were so thrilled to have those pictures with everyone together. It makes my, apparently slow beating heart, cry with happiness.

Another thing was selling all the children, of which there were around 50+ here, mainly younger 13 and under, running around the 7 acres, playing hide and seek, swinging, jumping on the trampoline, playing fortress in the hayloft of the barn, beating each other with sticks, playing 4 square, running after chickens, picking said chickens up by the tail feathers (yeah, we won't be getting eggs for a few days LOL ) and generally just laughing and having a great time was wonderful to see. Normally at a park they run out of things to do because there is only so much. They have the swingset, maybe a water area they can run around in and that's it. They can't even run around much because the parents, responsibly so, don't want them out of their site because of idiots in the world. Here, the parents could relax knowing nothing improper was going to happen to their children which made the parents enjoy themselves much more.

All in all I think everyone had a good time. I don't do the FB thing but my wife does and she said that many people were posting on there about how they would like this to be a yearly thing. Well, see what next year brings.


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## Mike CHS (Aug 19, 2018)

I'm happy for you that it worked out well.  I avoided doing Facebook until fairly recently but it has allowed me to renew some strings with many family members that I haven't seen since I was a child many years ago.


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## Latestarter (Aug 19, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Another thing was _*selling *_*all the children*, of which there were around 50+ here, mainly younger 13 and under,


   Aren't you worried about child trafficking laws? Even the moral issues associated with it?   Gotta love autospellcorrect 

I remember gatherings like that when I was a child. I haven't been to anything of the type for many decades. Love hearing about gatherings like this that are successful and joyous. I don't expect anything of the sort to exist in my reality at all, ever, going fwd... for a plethora of reasons. Truly happy that things went so well for you and yours!


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## mystang89 (Aug 19, 2018)




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## Bruce (Aug 20, 2018)

Dang @Latestarter you beat me to it again!!!!! Just saw that @mystang89 foolishly posted about selling children in a public forum  I wasn't around to see it yesterday. If it were me I'd keep that on the hush hush!


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2018)

Haha, gotta find some way to buy all that food we ate!

Today we started preparing for winter. Cut 3 trees down before the rain rolled in. Oldest boy was helping thankfully. Sheep were also helping. Honey locus and 2 cedars. 



I know the cedars have sap that leaves a load of creasote but if you keep you chimney clean then you don't have to much to worry about.

I'll get more tomorrow. Still trying to recoup from Saturday.


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## greybeard (Aug 20, 2018)

Bruce said:


> Dang @Latestarter you beat me to it again!!!!! Just saw that @mystang89 foolishly posted about selling children in a public forum


iconic:


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## Mike CHS (Aug 20, 2018)

Is your locust tree full of thorns?  I'm thinking about filling my lawn mower tires with that slime stuff as I'm tired of plugging it.  I think I'll buy spare rims in case I have to replace tires at some point.


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## Latestarter (Aug 20, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Haha, gotta find some way to buy all that food we ate!


  huh?    did you steal it before eating it?   Maybe eat all that food you bought? 

That Locust doesn't appear to have thorns... Honey locusts have some serious thorns going on! Maybe a black locust? Either way, my goats love the leaves off both and I see your sheep seem to as well! Free food, can't turn that down.

I've got multiple plugs in all of my mower tires


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2018)

Definitely a honey locus lol. My thumb still feels like it got stabbed by a nail. I inadvertently grabbed without thinking and without gloves.

I have about 8 or 9 on my property that I've found.


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## Latestarter (Aug 20, 2018)

Wish the thorns on mine were that huge... they'd be easier to avoid. Here's what mine look like:


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 20, 2018)

Those thorns are certainly not worth playing with....they are dangerous and I try to eliminate them as quickly as I can....tho, they say the trunks make good fence post....


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2018)

Went outside to do the chores and found this. The picture doesn't do it justice.


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2018)

I've got one that looks like that too @Latestarter . I'm saving it for a tree hugger.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 20, 2018)




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## Bruce (Aug 20, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> View attachment 51448
> View attachment 51451
> Definitely a honey locus lol. My thumb still feels like it got stabbed by a nail. I inadvertently grabbed without thinking and without gloves.
> 
> I have about 8 or 9 on my property that I've found.





Latestarter said:


> Wish the thorns on mine were that huge... they'd be easier to avoid. Here's what mine look like:
> View attachment 51453
> 
> View attachment 51454


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## greybeard (Aug 20, 2018)

Black locust is what you want for fence posts. They will last 30 years.................honey locust only about 10-12 years.
Both have thorns, tho the thorns look different.


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## mystang89 (Aug 21, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Black locust is what you want for fence posts. They will last 30 years.................honey locust only about 10-12 years.
> Both have thorns, tho the thorns look different.


Yeah, we have black locus here as well which is what I had cut down a couple years ago for the posts I've been using for my fencing. Still have about 50 posts left stacked up waiting for myself to get started on the back pasture fencing again. 

The black locus does have thorns and like any thorns they hurt but the are much much smaller which actually make them a bit harder to see.


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## RollingAcres (Aug 21, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> View attachment 51448
> View attachment 51451
> Definitely a honey locus lol. My thumb still feels like it got stabbed by a nail. I inadvertently grabbed without thinking and without gloves.
> 
> I have about 8 or 9 on my property that I've found.


Dang! Those thorns!!!


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 21, 2018)

We call them Thorn trees!


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## Mike CHS (Aug 21, 2018)

I need to go back and find the posts where @greybeard said how to kill those things.  I'm tired of plugging then replacing tires.


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## mystang89 (Aug 21, 2018)

Hopefully they aren't as invasive as black locus. Have you had to plug tractor tires or just mower tires?


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## Mike CHS (Aug 21, 2018)

I avoid the areas where those trees are with the tractor and try to with the mower but obviously not far enough away.


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## greybeard (Aug 21, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Hopefully they aren't as invasive as black locus.


Worse than black locust about spreading..
but easier to kill.


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## mystang89 (Aug 21, 2018)

Added a Walnut tree to the list and finished cutting all the trees up, splitting the wood and stacking. All with my children's help of course. Then the sheep wanted to go for a tractor ride.



Now all it on to another set of trees tomorrow. The children asking when we would be done cutting trees. I told them after the wood shed was full. Ah, the look of despair on a child face is prescious.


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## Baymule (Aug 21, 2018)

I hate locust trees. There are several pastures nearby that need mowing or the locust trees will take over. I don't know if the owners are lazy or idiots. Probably lazy idiots.


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## mystang89 (Aug 21, 2018)

They sure are invasive but have beautiful flowers and a wonderful smell during spring.


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## Baymule (Aug 21, 2018)

And you can make caltrops with the thorns and scatter around the parameter of your home as a defense against intruders.


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## mystang89 (Aug 22, 2018)

A few more trees came down today but not by me. I was inside feeding the baby and when I went out some of the trees were already cut down by my oldest son (10) and oldest daughter (9). The had taken the handsaw and cut down about 5 of them which were around 3 - 4" in diameter. I was pretty impressed and proud of them for simply taking the initiative. 

Anyway, I cut the rest. We'll do some more tomorrow.


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## mystang89 (Aug 25, 2018)

Nothing significant. Still cutting trees down for firewood. We probably have enough for a month of bad weather so still have a lot more to go but I ran out of 2 cycle gas so it's on hold for now.

I put liberty up for sale on Craigslist so we'll see how that goes. Even if he doesn't sale I can still butcher so it's not like anything is lost. I figure I'll keep the other ram just in case something happens to my main one. Murphy's law and all that.


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## mystang89 (Aug 28, 2018)

Got hit with a head cold or something yesterday. If say allergies but I very rarely get them. Aches all over, stuffy nose etc but those aches were not helping yesterday as I took the roof off the wood shed to change it out. Plus it wasn't fairly hot, around 95f. I know that's cool compared to South Texas and Arizona but the humidity really kicks it up a notch. Anyways, finished taking the roof off and got half put back on before my body just couldn't take anymore.

Really didn't feel like milking the sheep either but since I'm still the only one who knows how then nothing can be done about it. Keep telling people they have to learn but they don't seem to understand. 

My 10 y/o son was cleaning out the sheep stall yesterday, thankfully, and was putting the wheelbarrow full in the solo where we keep all the compost. Right inside the silo was a small mound of compost about 2ft wide by 1 ft tall. Easily movable with a pitch fork. He comes inside and says he can't get the wheelbarrow inside the silo because of the mound so I ask him what he thinks will need to be done in order for him to accomplish his task. He knows exactly where I was going with this and just looked off or looked to the floor so I asked again. Moving the mound is what he said. I told him correct and went on to say that daddy wasn't always going to be around to do the extra little work when something comes up. He needs to step into some bigger shoes.  Really the only reason he came in is because he wanted someone else to move that pile. I love him greatly and he's a good child but his temperament is a phlegmatic so he is prone to bouts of laziness. I'm the opposite so it boggles my mind quite often lol. It's amazing how each person can help to offset another's weakness. Anyway, I tried to make that point to him and my wife to let them know that there were going to be times when I WASN'T going to be able to do what I normally can. I'm only 35 but I know life throws curve balls all the time.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to teach the sheep how to milk each other yet. Well, I suppose the little ones would probably still milk the momma's but the keep all the milk for themselves. Stingy little things. I read somewhere a person saying that before you got into milking animals you needed to realize there was no sick days, vacation days, PTO, or anything else unless of course someone else could do the job. You would need to be there. It really struck me yesterday just how true that was.


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## Baymule (Aug 28, 2018)

And that is exactly why Daddy needs to give milking lessons...…. I hope you feel better. We all have dragged ourselves out to take care of animals and know where you are coming from. With little back up members of the family running around, you need to get to training them how to do things just for times like this. And they will grow up, fly to the city and tell horror stories to their friends about how Daddy made them do.....(insert all farm chores here LOL)


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## mystang89 (Aug 28, 2018)

Lol, very true. I have said it plenty but I should be more assertive about it. I've always been the impatient type when it comes to teaching. If the person isn't doing it fastv enough it the way it should I generally just take over and show them. However many people learn better from doing than watching. I still have much to learn myself.


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 28, 2018)

First off ya know your child way much better than me, but at 10 he could be looking at spending time with Dad and doing things together.....not many enjoy being alone, I never did....I also had the desire to help my Dad and learn from his lead....however, he continually pushed me away or would send me off to do something else away from him....after he retired from the Navy and we moved to the farm, he was a grounds keeper at the community cemetery....quite a few family are buried there....and I would go to help and spend time with him.....I was given the hedge shears to trim around head stones and foot markers while he mowed....he never told me how much he appreciated it or that it was a good job...I was walked from stone to stone and all flaws were pointed out and was told that I could do better.....things never changed throughout life and our relationship was always strained because of it....until he got old and was dependent on me and my assistance.....I loved him in spite of himself, but the teenage years were filled with turmoil between us.....sometimes spending time with ya on his terms may lend itself to a long lasting and loving relationship....nobody always wants to be pushed away....here shortly ya will turn around and he'll be gone.....if ya get the chance look up "Cats and the Cradle" by Harry Chapin on youtube....there is a whole lot of truth in that song....and I have seen it from both sides at this stage of life.....


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## Latestarter (Aug 28, 2018)

Baymule said:


> And they will grow up, fly to the city and tell horror stories to their friends about how Daddy made them do.....(insert all farm chores here LOL)


  And then years after that, one day, they will wake up and it will have dawned on them how special a childhood they had really had, and share THAT with their grandkids.


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## High Desert Cowboy (Aug 28, 2018)

I’ve gotta laugh because my 9 year old son is the exact same way.


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## Baymule (Aug 28, 2018)

CntryBoy777 said:


> First off ya know your child way much better than me, but at 10 he could be looking at spending time with Dad and doing things together.....not many enjoy being alone, I never did....I also had the desire to help my Dad and learn from his lead....however, he continually pushed me away or would send me off to do something else away from him....after he retired from the Navy and we moved to the farm, he was a grounds keeper at the community cemetery....quite a few family are buried there....and I would go to help and spend time with him.....I was given the hedge shears to trim around head stones and foot markers while he mowed....he never told me how much he appreciated it or that it was a good job...I was walked from stone to stone and all flaws were pointed out and was told that I could do better.....things never changed throughout life and our relationship was always strained because of it....until he got old and was dependent on me and my assistance.....I loved him in spite of himself, but the teenage years were filled with turmoil between us.....sometimes spending time with ya on his terms may lend itself to a long lasting and loving relationship....nobody always wants to be pushed away....here shortly ya will turn around and he'll be gone.....if ya get the chance look up "Cats and the Cradle" by Harry Chapin on youtube....there is a whole lot of truth in that song....and I have seen it from both sides at this stage of life.....


I could only "like" one time, but I figure this post deserves about a million likes.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 28, 2018)

How many sheep do you milk?  How much milk do you average per day?     Maybe you could teach the two oldest, one at a time, to help.   If one doesn't "like" the sheep, keep it short or they will resent the chore and upset the ewe.  Then give them a different chore.  

Will your children be returning to school soon?


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## mystang89 (Aug 29, 2018)

I have 2 sheep that we milk but that will hopefully increase as the years go by. As of right now we get about 3 cups a day off milk. Again, not as much as I hoped but look for it increasing in the years to come. I get the impression the children want to learn how so I don't think I'll have a problem getting them out there. We homeschool so I don't have to worry about a strict schedule to get them off to school.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 29, 2018)

That's great, that they have an interest.   Homeschooling -- wow you are a busy man!   

I'm thinking you have the sheep for meat and graze help, as well as the milk.  But the milk isn't of a volume I would feel adequate for my time to get it.    With the numbers you have in your family, I'd suspect you go through a good deal of milk!   You may want to consider a cow (may be too much) or a goat or two.   My Saanen & Nubian girls give me 1-1.5 gal per day each.   Great milk.  Plus appears it is easier to get to than the woolies.     You know, you don't have to rebreed every year -- many of these goats will "milk through"  for a couple years.  Eliminating the need for keeping a buck on site, see?

Just a suggestion for your SS adventure.   It appears you are in it for real.

Love the rainbow pic.


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## greybeard (Aug 29, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> And then years after that, one day, they will wake up and it will have dawned on them how special a childhood they had really had, and share THAT with their grandkids.


Yeah well, time also, simply has a way of distorting memory and time generally has some help.
If we want to have a good memory, we have a tendency to throw out most of what we find/found unpleasant and keep only what we enjoyed.

Inversely, if for some reason we want to have a bad memory or assign blame, we throw out the good and only retain the bad.
After a decade or two, that which we don't 'want' fades into obscurity.
Such, is the human brain and it applies to how we view our own actions just as it applies to how we view the actions of other.

Memories are kind of like 'stripping to the waist'.
You can do it, from either end.......


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## mystang89 (Sep 4, 2018)

Starting school today with the children. Have a new one in kindergarten today so we'll see how bad the growing pains are. The first few weeks will probably be the worst with everyone getting used to what is expected of them, the time frame they are given etc but after that I'm sure everything will smooth itself out. I'll make it a lite day for them, (and myself) today and then go cut another tree down. That'll be nice to get out after being cramped up doing school work.

Past few days have gone smoothly enough. Still trying to get over this cough left over from the cold or whatever it was that I had. Each night I'm having to take some Benadryl to stop the dripage at the back of my throat which wakes me up with coughing fits. Then around 12 or so I'll take some more to get me through the night. I hate taking the stuff, being reliant on anything isn't quite my style but I'm a grumpy bear without my beauty sleep.

After getting all the school books out and placing them on the floor because I have no where else to put them I decided it was time to make a wall bookshelf in my room. Just an way little thing, nothing complicated. I had a scrap log left left over from the sign I made for the homestead so I decided to use that since it was always cut and about the length that I wanted. The only problem was that it was "cut" (butchered) with a chainsaw so I would need to sand all the divits out with the belt sander. They were too pronounced for an orbital, especially since the lowest grit I have for the orbital is 60, whereas the belt sander has 40. I got about half way through before the belt finally caught on one of the larger divits and ripped. I figured I'd just put the project on hold until I got some more sand paper for the belt sander. I went out there later on and saw my 10 y/o son with the orbital trying to sand out the rest of the board. I didn't stop him as it gave him something productive to use his energy on and went about my business. He finished up as much as he wanted and the next day went out and started on it again. He finished the rest of it.



 
The pic is what I had done just before the belt ripped. Had half completely sanded. The rest is what was still to be done. When he finished, the rest of it looked as good, if not better, than what I had done already. I am extremely proud of him. Not because he knows how to use a sander. Anyone can do that. I'm proud of him because what he did took perseverance, patience, solitude and keeping silent and finally because of his ability to keep to his commitments. He didn't give up half way through our because it was hard. The boy did a good job. All I needed to do was take the chainsaw to the part I had already sanded and cut down part of it which was curving and sand it back down (with the belt sander). I don't have a planer unfortunately but if anyone wants to donate one to me I'll take it!  All I need to do now is figure a way of getting it in the wall which I'll look into today.


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## Bruce (Sep 4, 2018)

You need a planer!


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## Mike CHS (Sep 4, 2018)

You could probably find a hand plane at a flea market for a few dollars and spend a bit of time sharpening the blade.  You would be surprised how much use they can get.


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## Latestarter (Sep 4, 2018)

Nicely done and great job by your son! Everyone needs kids like that! That will be a beautiful shelf when you finish it. Will you stain it, just seal it, or leave it bare?


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## CntryBoy777 (Sep 4, 2018)

One thing is for sure....it is a "keepsake".....and could be returned to him, later....down the road of "life", just be sure to date it and have him put his initials into it......


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## mystang89 (Sep 4, 2018)

Bruce said:


> You need a planer!





Mike CHS said:


> You could probably find a hand plane at a flea market for a few dollars and spend a bit of time sharpening the blade.  You would be surprised how much use they can get.



Indeed I do! I actually have a couple of hand planers with blades I have sharpened already.  HOWEVER, having a hand planer and knowing how to USE a hand planer are two completely different things. I've watched many Youtube vids about the proper way to use them but I'm the type of person who needs hands on help with this for the proper technique. If someone knows how to use them and would like to teach me I'd be willing to say thank you.  



Latestarter said:


> Nicely done and great job by your son! Everyone needs kids like that! That will be a beautiful shelf when you finish it. Will you stain it, just seal it, or leave it bare?



I haven't decided if I am going to seal it. I don't have much moisture in the house so I don't expect warping. It shouldn't be touched by hand often so it shouldn't get oils on it. On to of that it's black locus so even if it did get water or oils on it, I don't believe that would affect it much in the least. So I'm leaving towards not print a sealer on it. It's already seasoned so I don't have to worry about that either. I like the look of bare locus so I don't think I'll drain it either. If I did decide to seal though if end up using a matte polyurethane.

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I'll pass them to my son too. He'll enjoy that.


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## greybeard (Sep 4, 2018)

Using a hand plane is fairly straight forward. Adjusting the cut depth and angle of the blade tho for each type of wood, can be daunting, and that's what most people (myself included) have trouble with. 
(you will find out how good your wrist and other arm muscles are if you use a big one very much.)


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## Bruce (Sep 4, 2018)

If it is going to warp, it will whether you seal it or not. How long has the plank been sitting around? If a decently long time it has already warped as much as it is likely to. 

Given the option of a hand plane or a belt sander, I'd go with the sander and spend the money on some 40 grit belts. That is a big chunk of wood, my hands would be complaining long before one side was smoothed with a hand plane. I have a 3 blade 13" Delta power planer for smoothing rough lumber. When using a hand plane, I find it helpful to go at a slight diagonal to the grain, seems to catch less that way. And for a piece that long, you want a long plane so you don't make a bunch of peaks and valleys.


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## mystang89 (Sep 4, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Adjusting the cut depth and angle of the blade tho for each type of wood, can be daunting, and that's what most people (myself included) have trouble with.



Yep, that's exactly my problem. Each piece of wood is different, and I haven't a clue where to adjust everything to. I have a hard time with the hand planer catching on the wood. I try to set the depth more shallow but it seems that even then if I hit a small bump it catches.



Bruce said:


> If it is going to warp, it will whether you seal it or not. How long has the plank been sitting around? If a decently long time it has already warped as much as it is likely to.
> 
> Given the option of a hand plane or a belt sander, I'd go with the sander and spend the money on some 40 grit belts. That is a big chunk of wood, my hands would be complaining long before one side was smoothed with a hand plane. I have a 3 blade 13" Delta power planer for smoothing rough lumber. When using a hand plane, I find it helpful to go at a slight diagonal to the grain, seems to catch less that way. And for a piece that long, you want a long plane so you don't make a bunch of peaks and valleys.



Thanks for the advice! I'll try going at a more diaganal angle. It's 2 years aged so I'm not worried about warping. It should be pretty solid.

I did take the belt sander to the part I cut with the chainsaw and it made relatively short work of the piece. I hung everything today. It's functional but I'm not completely happy with it. I'm out of screws so I had to nail it to the anchors you see on the wall but I didn't have drill bits of the correct size to drill a pilot hole meaning I had to have 8d nails through black locus while it was pushing down on 4 lag bolts. A few bent nails later, or partially hammered in nails, and it's up there. It won't come down. That much I'm fairly sure about but I am going to buy some screws, take the shelf off the anchors and screw it down after drilling a couple of pockets holes. It will give it a much more "finished" look instead of a "hurried" look.  

It is large enough so I can put more books as the years go on too so that's nice. 




 

We started school today for a half day, just to get everyone accustomed to it. Went fairly well. We'll do a full day tomorrow and get into the fill swing. I feel I'll be able to give more of my attention this year than in the past two years that we've lived here since most of the large "must get done now" projects are finished and therefore not on my mind. I don't feel pressed between the two. Here's to a quick school year!


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## greybeard (Sep 4, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Yep, that's exactly my problem. Each piece of wood is different, and I haven't a clue where to adjust everything to. I have a hard time with the hand planer catching on the wood. I try to set the depth more shallow but it seems that even then if I hit a small bump it catches.


Blade bevel up or bevel down?  Initially smoothing up  rough cuts, I've had better luck with bevel down.


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## Bruce (Sep 4, 2018)

Interesting, I've not heard of flipping the blade for working rough wood.


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## Mike CHS (Sep 4, 2018)

I use a plow plane when I'm really hogging rough wood and have an old smoothing plane to straighten out the rough work.

The picture is a cedar slab that I was working on for a friend and it didn't take but about 20 minutes.


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## mystang89 (Sep 4, 2018)

BEAUTIFUL! Well done. You're welcome to swing by here. I'll throw in lunch and dinner for you and yours. 
I don't have a planer that size. I'll have to take a pic of what I have and post it. It may be that the tools aren't many for the jobs I'm using them for.

For the past few days I've been battling a real PITA. It's name is Bruce. First he tore down the door leading from his stall to the outside of the barn. Since I never use that door I sealed it up. Then he broke thought the wood of the door. I replaced the wood and used...."unconventional" means to deter him from doing that to the door again.  
Next he broke the lock on the door to his stall from the inside of the barn. I replaced the lock and he did it again so I put a new locking system on the door. 
Then he broke through the wall on the other side of the stall. Literally moved the wall or of his way. Broke the nails holding everything together. I replaced that wall and barricaded it. 
Went out tonight and he was it. How? By moving the wall that his door is attached to so he had enough room to get out. I used more "unconventional" means to deter him and tomorrow will try to think of some manner of shoring up that wall before he breaks the 4x8 that it's anchored on.

I'mma shoot that ram lol.


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## Wehner Homestead (Sep 4, 2018)

@Bruce you need to stop tearing out of your stall!!!


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## mystang89 (Sep 4, 2018)

LOL

I'll leave it to his wife to keep him reined in.


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## Wehner Homestead (Sep 4, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> LOL
> 
> I'll leave it to his wife to keep him reined in.


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## greybeard (Sep 4, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Blade bevel up or bevel down? Initially smoothing up rough cuts, I've had better luck with bevel down.





Bruce said:


> Interesting, I've not heard of flipping the blade for working rough wood.



on most planes I've used, you don't ( & can't)  just flip the blade. The plane itself is designed either for bevel up or bevel down blades.
Jack planes, block plane,scrub plane, jointer planes, smoothing planes, plow planes..each has it's own purpose. I wish I could afford a good quality plane of each type, but really good planes are hundreds of dollars new. 

I've found yard and estate sales to be better and cheaper sources of wood working tools than flea markets. Flea markets nowadays have become pretty tech saavy and they know the value better than some old widow woman or millennial spawn or grandthug that is getting rid of the deceased patriarch's lifetime collection of quality tools.


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## Mike CHS (Sep 4, 2018)

I got a many old 5 1/2 planes and more #4's than I can count for $20 at estate auctions.


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## Bruce (Sep 5, 2018)

I have never been to your place and I refuse to take the blame for damage to the stall!!


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## Bruce (Sep 5, 2018)

Mike CHS said:


> The picture is a cedar slab that I was working on for a friend and it didn't take but about 20 minutes.


Interesting piece of wood. What did it get made into?


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## Mike CHS (Sep 5, 2018)

Bruce said:


> Interesting piece of wood. What did it get made into?



I never saw the finished project but they were using it as a retirement plaque for a Navy retirement to show duty stations.  The retiree was going off the grid and had a log cabin for his retirement home.


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## mystang89 (Sep 6, 2018)

I don't know if it's because of rutt season or what but Bruce (Ram) has completely destroyed the barn.  He broke through his door last night, (this is the 4th night in a row that he has escaped somehow,) then got into the ewes stall and then broke through the stall wall and door.  I came in this morning to see all of them outside their stall lying together.  The 2 two year old ewes along with the 5 month old ewe were laying there with my 3 rams.  I wasn't really going to mate the two older ewes for another month or two and I didn't even know if I was going to mate the 5 month old ewe then.  Now I don't know if any of them are mated and I'm especially worried about the 5 month old.  I have "quarantined" Bruce for the moment but I think I'm going to put him together with the 2 older ewes now instead of waiting so I'll at least have an approximate idea of when to expect lambing.


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## Mike CHS (Sep 6, 2018)

That sounds like some determined critters.


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## CntryBoy777 (Sep 6, 2018)

That doesn't sound good at all............when we lived in Maine....there was this old man that lived at the end of the subdivision....that had sheep....and he had a ram that was really mean....and he had some wooden boxes in the pasture for protection and for the ram to batter......I was in the 1st and 2nd grade way back then, but I still remember it....


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## Bruce (Sep 6, 2018)

Sounds like Bruce (the ram!!) needs a solid steel wall enclosure!


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## Latestarter (Sep 6, 2018)

hated to "like" the post... sounds like a really determined ram.


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## Mini Horses (Sep 7, 2018)

Hmmm......you have 3 rams?  you mean two young ones plus the elder?  I believe I'd be having mutton for dinner soon.   

These animals are short legged, stout and a true battering ram (no pun intended) .  The weight is just so concentrated tho and you can see how determined they are.    I'd say no less than 2X6's attached to well set 4X4 corner posts for him.  Even hot wire won't do so much for him, too much wool to insulate from it.

He wants to be with his ladies.


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## mystang89 (Sep 7, 2018)

I win! My barn is still in one piece and everyone was separated. 

He won to because I have put him with one of have older ewes. I figure I'll keep him with her today and then put him with another one all day tomorrow. How is it that you who have done this on a yearly basis mate yours?

And you're absolutely right @Mini Horses . He wants his ladies and I'm not sure there is much which will stop him. I'm normally not nervous going around him but we then he was in the lean to work one ewe and I walked in I was definitely in full guard mode. Get between a man and his lady when he's trying to woo her coul have spell a world of hurt.


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## Mini Horses (Sep 7, 2018)

Some control has to do with the animal itself.  My mini horse stallions were always handled from day of birth and halter trained early.   When trained to hand breed, they could get  rowdy but had been so very controlled with ground manners that I could walk them from a mare who was ready with only light resistance and correction. 

My goat buck was hand raised, halter trained, and can be moved away but, not easily.  He is generally field bred.  Big difference.  He was not bought for being a lead line pal. However, he is not aggressive to people and you are safe in a field with him.

Now sheep == which I do not own, nor have worked -- seem to be far more determined.  As are cattle.    I feel certain that once the ewes are bred, your guy will relax again.   The lower to the ground types do not give us the leverage advantage of some of the taller animals in halter training.   Personality of the individual and "being the boss" for handlers are huge elements in each animal type.  Takes some time & effort to learn your own and that species quirks & body language.  Be safe.


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## mystang89 (Sep 7, 2018)

Mini Horses said:


> Hmmm......you have 3 rams? you mean two young ones plus the elder? I believe I'd be having mutton for dinner soon.



Yeah 2 of them are 4 and 5 months. One of them will be either sold or eaten in the next 2 months.


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## mystang89 (Sep 11, 2018)

School is in session now.... Getting Cabin fever and it's been raining so not being able to get outside. Even when it's not raining I'm feeding the baby or fixing breakfast/lunch/dinner. Going stir crazy. I did get out Saturday and nail the roof back down on the outhouse in between down pours along with picking up a few logs that has been cut down before school started.

We have been getting into a rhythm though and the children are getting past the growing pains of what is and is not expected, some faster than others.

I'm still putting Clara bell in with Bruce d during the day but I think today will be the last day. It's been about 4 days straight now. When do you all normally start mating your lambs? I thought about 6 months but not sure how she would physically take to it. She is in great condition though at 4 months.

Time to get ready for the rest of school...


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## Wehner Homestead (Sep 11, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> School is in session now.... Getting Cabin fever and it's been raining so not being able to get outside. Even when it's not raining I'm feeding the baby or fixing breakfast/lunch/dinner. Going stir crazy. I did get out Saturday and nail the roof back down on the outhouse in between down pours along with picking up a few logs that has been cut down before school started.
> 
> We have been getting into a rhythm though and the children are getting past the growing pains of what is and is not expected, some faster than others.
> 
> ...



@secuono @Sheepshape @Mike CHS @Baymule @farmerjan Can any of you help answer about breeding the ewe lamb?


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## secuono (Sep 11, 2018)

Mine usually didn't cycle until 9mo.

4mo isn't smart...wait 4mo months. What's the rush?

Commercial breeders tend to wait until lamb is 70% of adult weight. 

They cycle every 3wks, so 4 days means nothing.


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## Baymule (Sep 11, 2018)

4 to 6 months, they are still babies. Rams can breed as early as 2-3 months, although it is not recommended. That is why they must be weaned and separated. I like to wait until the ewe lambs are 8-9 months old to breed them.


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## goatgurl (Sep 11, 2018)

I agree with bay, I usually wait till mine are 9 mo to a year old before breeding.  they grow out better and the lambs they have do better when you wait a bit, in my opinion.


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## farmerjan (Sep 11, 2018)

Our Dall sheep are bred to lamb when they are about 16-18 months.  So they are bred as yearlings more or less.  4-5 months is WAY TOO YOUNG to breed a ewe lamb, of any breed.  If she should settle, and looking at the ewe of yours that lambed, a lamb too big could kill a young small ewe. 
Even though that ewe chose to come in the barn to lamb, she should have had some clean hay or straw to lamb on.  It is not ideal for a lamb to start out with dirt and such in it's mouth or around it's navel.

I don't know anything about Awassi sheep.  Our Dall's have horns, that is why we raise them. They are a hair breed.  The rams are all kept together once they are weaned.  What I mean is we keep appropriate age groups together.  After they are 3 then they can be mixed but the first two years they are kept with their age group.  

Were you keeping the one ram by himself, or did you have him with the 2 young rams?  He was looking for company, not just the ewes.  However, we do not keep them near to each other, definitely not alongside the same fence and not within "smelling range" of the females.  We keep our rams in standard woven wire  - field fence - that is 47-48 high.  We also have some board fence.  It is standard  1x6 fencing boards, usually oak or treated poplar.  The boards are on the sheep side so they cannot push or butt or "ram" them off.  I might suggest some fence panels on the inside of the barn walls;  but it may be that the boards on the barn wall are just not new enough/strong enough to hold them.  I am all for re-using,  repurposing,  scavanging  stuff.  But there are times and places that it just doesn't work.

I am not surprised at the amount of milk you were getting when you said that there was still a lamb with the ewe.  And she liked a lamb nursing or she wouldn't have let the other one steal off her.  
Is there a reason why you are milking sheep instead of a goat?  Goats are bred more for dairy than sheep.  The only sheep I have ever heard of being used as milkers are  the Fresians in this country.  After a little spate of googling, I see the Awassi are a basic dairy breed, but I had never heard of them.  Perhaps you just got  some that are poor milkers.  Not every Jersey or Holstein cow is a good milker either.

I have just read your whole thread.  Not the smaller ones but this one.  I would suggest that you get a book about sheep, with the basics on breeding and such.  Also about nutrition.  I suspect that the ewes are not getting enough protein to keep up the production.  I have jerseys, guernseys, and crosses with holsteins.  I use the cows as nurse cows right now and milk a little for the house, but with my work schedule and other things it is hard for me to do much milking.  I used to milk 4 twice a day then bottle feed calves and such.  My cows graze, and get hay, and get grain in the barn when being milked, or when they come in to let the calves nurse them.  I feed a little alfalfa hay in the barn and it really helps with the protein as well having alot of trace minerals since it is such a deep rooted crop.  Not cheap, but we feed it and don't have trouble with pregnancy toxemia anymore, or milk fever in the cows.  They really like it too.

Do you let the sheep have access to a good mineral mix?  They need one that is designed for sheep as sheep do not need very much copper.  Goat mineral has too much copper.   Most are a complete mix with salt in it.  Even Tractor Supply has mineral designed for different breeds.

I am with @Baymule  on the tractor bucket with your daughter.  Sorry, I am not quite as diplomatic, but you are VERY LUCKY and your GOD must have been looking out for that child.  That is the absolutely worst thing to ever do and  I am sure you learned from it. If she had fallen out you could have run over her or cut her up with the bush hog.  We have run over a couple of fawns that we didn't see until the last minute in the grass and could not get the tractor stopped in time.  Ran over and killed a new baby calf that the momma had hidden when we were bushhogging one time.  It scares me to death to read of the accidents that happen to people in farming situations in a blink of an eye.  People with tons of experience and knowledge of the equipment they are running. 

You might want to try finding some books by Joel Salatin.  He is into raising animals as naturally as possible and is quite experienced.  I don't know if he has sheep.  But they do alot of beef, and pigs on pasture.  Pigs are not dirty or stink if they have room.  A 10 x 10 pen or something is not big enough.  They will designate a spot for a bathroom area if they have enough room to do so and normally won't soil their sleeping or eating areas.  And again, TSC has a book/magazine section and there are all sorts of books there to read and learn about different things.   "Countryside magazine"  is for the small homesteader/farmer and I like it.  Good old  "Mother Earth News"  has been around for 40+ years.  I realize that you are very busy with the children and home schooling is a daunting job.  I commend you for that.  Plus you are doing the cooking and probably some/all of the canning etc.  I have done it for 40 + years as a single parent/single farmer but only had one son and did not home school because I worked off the farm full time too.  So I give you A LOT of credit.  But you might want to try reading up on some of the animals you are raising and maybe will learn something more.  I learn some little thing everytime I read something or go to a seminar.

That's another thing.  Go to your county extension office and see what they have to offer to the small landowner/farmer/homesteader.  They have free pamphlets on stuff, and often have seminars and such that you can attend for a small fee.  Try asking about 4-H and/or FFA for the kids.  They will be able to meet kids with similiar interests and learning and doing is always more fun with a buddy of your own age.  Socialization is harder for home schooled kids just because they aren't around other kids  like in a public school system.  They also aren't around the drugs and problems either... much better in my opinion.

@Pastor Dave  is in  IN  I think, and he raises rabbits as a good amount of their meat source.  He has a thread on here you might want to read.  

Sorry, I just realized I wrote a book......


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## Sheepshape (Sep 12, 2018)

A ewe lamb should be about 80% of her expected adult weight to be bred. Large, healthy lambs will be fine provided they are given additional food supplements.

Over here most folk usually wait until the lamb's second year of life (shearling, yearling, hogget). I  allow a small percentage of my ewe lambs in with the tup who have been born in late March and will go to the tup mid October. This year a couple are even bigger than their mums.

Sheep hate to be alone. They also have a VERY good sense of smell and can smell a ewe in season for up to a mile. They will jump several fences to be 'of service'.Last year the neighbour's ram made his way into our girls 3 times (from several fields away)....such that in the end we borrowed him for 6weeks.


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## mystang89 (Sep 13, 2018)

Due to Tornado Bruce school has been cancelled today while repairs are made to the barn structure.




 

What you see is the corner foundation of the barn which Tornado Bruce kindly moved out of his way.

School is due to resume tomorrow at the same time.


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## Mini Horses (Sep 13, 2018)

Do you think you may want to rehome Bruce?    Freezer camp?


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## Latestarter (Sep 13, 2018)

but yeah... my thoughts as well...  That Bruce seems just altogether too destructive to me. Either that or a welded well pipe containment jail, set in concrete, and only removable by use of TNT or similar agents. Let him bang his head on that for a while...


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## mystang89 (Sep 13, 2018)

Lol Bruce is my test. I keep him around because I figure if I can make it "Bruce-proof" then I won't have to worry about it for the rest of the time I or my children live here 

I did my best at a quick repair. We went out and bought some mortar mix and restacked the stones on top of each other. I'll probably buy another bag, this time of concrete, and fill in the rest of it. If I had rebar I would have drilled into the stone and joined it that way as well but you work with what you have.


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## CntryBoy777 (Sep 13, 2018)

He is helping ya out by exposing the weak spots that need repairing....just gotta hope that he leaves something standing.......


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## farmerjan (Sep 13, 2018)

You never did mention if he was put in this stall area by himself.  If so, I really think that giving him one of the other rams for company would help.
There is one other thing I think you should address. If he is doing this because of the ewes being in heat, you really need to consider that he could become aggressive towards you or towards your children.  This kind of attitude is not acceptable when you have children that could go out in the field with the sheep, or even out to just play in the field.  He can hurt a child badly if he were to hit one from the back or side unexpectedly.   I think you have a disaster in the making.  I know what it is like to get hit by a ram that is only trying to get out of a pen .  I was chased by one when I was younger and the friend with me got rammed by him and got 2 of his ribs broken before we could get over the fence.


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## Mini Horses (Sep 13, 2018)

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9380/roast-leg-of-lamb/

 options


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## Wehner Homestead (Sep 13, 2018)




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## greybeard (Sep 13, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Due to Tornado Bruce school has been cancelled today while repairs are made to the barn structure.
> 
> View attachment 52100


Better call Burt.
Looks like you got yourself one of them there graboids..


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## Bruce (Sep 13, 2018)

Mini Horses said:


> Do you think you may want to rehome Bruce?    Freezer camp?






Mini Horses said:


> https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/9380/roast-leg-of-lamb/
> 
> options


I'm in. Let me know when to show up!!


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## Wehner Homestead (Sep 14, 2018)

Heads up y’all!! @Bruce is going to eat Bruce!!!


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## RollingAcres (Sep 14, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> Heads up y’all!! @Bruce is going to eat Bruce!!!


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## Bruce (Sep 14, 2018)

He might be a bit gamey but I'll give him a try!


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## mystang89 (Sep 28, 2018)

Just in case anyone was wondering, Bruce has not eaten me yet, nor I him.  He did break the door separating the front and back pasture today so I went out there and fixed it with some sturdier wood.  I think this video sums up Bruce and myself.  Any Star Trek fans out there should appreciate it.  Just take out the Khan and put BRUUUUUUCE!








farmerjan said:


> Were you keeping the one ram by himself, or did you have him with the 2 young rams? He was looking for company, not just the ewes. However, we do not keep them near to each other, definitely not alongside the same fence and not within "smelling range" of the females. We keep our rams in standard woven wire - field fence - that is 47-48 high.



Sorry for taking so long to respond.  Thank you for all the info!  He is not by himself.  He actually has 2 other rams that he stays with all day.  It would be nice to be able to have him separated from the females by such a length but that isn't possible on this homestead so I just need to think outside the box 



farmerjan said:


> I am not surprised at the amount of milk you were getting when you said that there was still a lamb with the ewe. And she liked a lamb nursing or she wouldn't have let the other one steal off her.
> Is there a reason why you are milking sheep instead of a goat?



Yeah, ol' Betsy is still letting her milk off her when she wants.  I stopped milking her a few weeks ago though so Betsy should start tapering her off for good.  Provided Bruce didn't impregnate her when he escaped in the barn a couple weeks back she shouldn't be mated this year.  That should allow her to gain her weight back.  Clara Bell did a good job of feeding her lamb and keeping her weight so I went ahead and mated her again.  Not sure how to know they are pregnant though.  Anything wrong with putting her back in with him in a month or 2 just to make sure and just be ready for two possible dates?

Reason for not wanting goats?.....mmmm, don't like em?  Lol, no logical reason.  Just don't like them. 



farmerjan said:


> Do you let the sheep have access to a good mineral mix?



Yeah, they have access to mineral block specifically for ewes.



farmerjan said:


> rabbits as a good amount of their meat source.



Up until here recently we used to raise rabbits for meat but my wife decided the meat wasn't worth the money spent to feed all the kits so I terminated that venture.

As an update for recent activities, not much happening, School is in session of course so that has been taking up all day.  We did go outside the other day during the rainstorm and play in the creek.  Everyone had a great time and we give thanks to God for giving us such an awesome water park.

The lawn mower blew up today.  Oil got in the piston chamber and boom.  Kinda sucks but it is what it is.


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## Baymule (Sep 28, 2018)

Hmmmm………..do I see a lawnmower mechanic class in your school in the near future?


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## mystang89 (Sep 28, 2018)

lol, been there and done that.  It would cost more money to fix the engine than it would to just buy another one.  It's not new.  Just an old Bunton.  Great lawnmowers, last forever.  

I did forget to mention that the pigs are gone.  We killed them and made much of them into sausage.  Gooooooood eating!  Still don't want to do that again lol.


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## Baymule (Sep 28, 2018)

Did you and your wife slaughter the pigs or did you have help? It is a big job, but fresh home grown pork is so good!


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## mystang89 (Sep 28, 2018)

Actually it was myself and the man who went half way in on the pigs along with his dad. It was an all day event but worth it.


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## Baymule (Sep 28, 2018)

It does take some time, but like you said, it is worth it.


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## Mini Horses (Sep 29, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> The lawn mower blew up today. Oil got in the piston chamber and boom. Kinda sucks but it is what it is.



My mower engine blew up a couple weeks ago   Yep, new engine is almost cost of new unit...almost, well a whole lot! I'm using tractor and daughters riding mower for fast resolve.  I'll address mower later -- maybe Spring.  



mystang89 said:


> Reason for not wanting goats?.....mmmm, don't like em? Lol, no logical reason. Just don't like them.



Some people don't.   I never considered them until someone ask us to take in an older doe almost 25 yrs ago.  Found her to be pregnant and really needing a home.   She was a sweetheart and from then on, always had goats.   Mine have a lot of personality.     To each his own, I say.


Glad you posted as I was wondering where you had disappeared to.    Seems you have been very busy.   Yes, the homegrown hogs are tasty!   Yes, they are work to raise & butcher.   Yes, I am glad mine are gone  -- although I have enjoyed the meat!!     My sows & piglets went to a great home, making their total cost a profit.  Win-win.

Hope Bruce the ram continues to behave for you.  Shame that the boys have to be so obnoxious!  Forunately, my mini stallions and buck goats are pleasant and well trained to handle.   They have their days of resistance but, overall good ones.   At 72 I'm still able to easily handle their 250-400# temper tamtrums, which are seldom occurrances.   Nice to be able to give them that amount of compliment.

So, don't be a stranger.  At least post a hello.


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## Latestarter (Sep 29, 2018)

You are entitled to not like goats... No biggie! Sorry to hear about the blown engine. Just one more expense... I've come to realize that that's what having a "hobby farm" is all about... moving from one expense to another. Yup... I said it... I'm a hobby farmer. Fair weather naturalist. Anyway, glad to hear from you. Just finished a plate of breakfast sausages come to think about it. Love me some pork products!


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## greybeard (Sep 29, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> Fair weather naturalist


Which, (I found out the hard way) is decidedly different than being a naturist..

(I bought some of H-E-B's brand breakfast patty sausage last week. Do NOT like it. 
Unpleasant odor when cooking and too much blood..and way too lean to even make pan gravy with afterwards..)


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## Mike CHS (Sep 29, 2018)

I was never a fan of any particular brand of sausage until I grabbed some Bob Evans brand a few weeks ago and I'm now a fan of that.


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## Bruce (Sep 29, 2018)

greybeard said:


> Which, (I found out the hard way) is decidedly different than being a naturist..


What, you showed up at a Naturist resort and were surprised when they asked you to take off your clothes?


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## greybeard (Sep 30, 2018)

No....just happened to substitute the wrong word when googling/researching something regarding naturalist named Euell Gibbons...


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## mystang89 (Oct 20, 2018)

Just a small update. Everything still doing well in school. Going through the routine, people learning, generally decent grades.
Trying to make time to do anything besides school..... Yeah, give up on that.

I did try to go out a few weeks ago to more the grass for the last time this year. That went over smashingly. The old bunton had a bad drive belt on it that kept slipping off. I was trying to make it last till three beginning of next year when I do my maintenance on all my equipment so I just kept putting the belt back on. When I would put the belt back on I'd have to flip the more over to get under it. Unfortunately the last time I flipped it I did so incorrectly and flipped it on the air filter side. No no. If you need to flip a mower then flip it to it's muffler side.
Anyway, I put the belt back on and noticed some oil leaked out through the air filter. Figured it would just burn out with some white smoke and be ok. (Wasn't thinking clearly apparently. The oil has no way to burn off when it's on the air filter. Doh!)

Flipped it back over, started it up, made it about 10'and the engine started to bog down. Stupid me thought it would push it's way through so I keep it going. CLINK! Thought real clearly after hearing that. Mower shut down. Piston rod broke. Darn good mower. Dummy operator lol. Oh well, good Lord gave, and the good Lord took away. Tax time comes I'll have to try and allocate some money to another bunton.

It's too bad they don't make bunton anymore. One heck of a mower. (No, bobcat doesn't make a mower that even comes close to comparing with bunton. They simply bought the name so they could sell cheaply made mowers for an exorbitant price.)

So when tax season gets here hopefully I'll be able to get a belt for the finishing mower and a new mower... And some hay.... And pay off the bills.... And.... Well you get the point.

Edit: forgot to mention Bruce. He's still alive. He tore down the lean to sliding door again. I fixed it. Again. Went through to stall door. Fixed it again. I ended up putting bungie electric fence
https://hardwareonlinestore.com/ind...NWO0Qju-4_tVsylLxRTtFc8z-OQNhF5xoCCt4QAvD_BwE
up in front of it. So far that has surprisingly worked well.


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## Bruce (Oct 20, 2018)

Glad to know I'm still alive  Sorry I've been so destructive

RIP Bunton. No way to replace the engine? Must be a graveyard somewhere.


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## mystang89 (Oct 20, 2018)

Bruce said:


> Glad to know I'm still alive  Sorry I've been so destructive
> 
> RIP Bunton. No way to replace the engine? Must be a graveyard somewhere.


Lol.

Replacing the engine would cost more that it at least only slightly less than a "new" to me bunton. Might be able to find a bunton for parts on CL but I'm not too keen on that idea since there's not really a good way to see what the problem was in the first place. It's more just taking the person's word for it.


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## mystang89 (Oct 30, 2018)

Graphic pics ahead.
Bruce is dead. I had a doc appt yesterday morning so my wife went to let the sheep out. She got to the Rams and the two boys went just fine but Bruce game her lots of trouble so she called me for some advice. Not long into the conversation she screamed out in pain and started crying. After asking what was wrong she said that he had head-butted her in the groin. The decision was made right then, Bruce was gone.

Once I returned home I saw that he had also tore down part of the stall again. Had a look at the bruises and they are deep. Bruce lasted about another 10 min after that which was mainly me getting the knives and tables set up.

So now on to the butchering part. I only have experience with rabbits and pigs but I know the older the animal gets the tougher it is to strip the fir/wool and if it's a make it's even more difficult for some reason. This 2 year old ram was a pain getting his wool off. It probably to me over an hour just doing that. Granted this was my first time but wow. 

I do have a question though. For those of you who process your own meat what do you do with the layer of fat from right under the skin? I was watching a YouTube vid 



And the sheep didn't look near the same as mine. Seemed like there was much less fat and for none of my sheep being on anything but grass he sure was fat!


 
 

Is that supposed to be cut off or leave it there with all the fat?


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## farmerjan (Oct 30, 2018)

Why does someone have to get hurt before a problem animal gets taken care of? 
I am sorry your wife got hurt and I am glad that it wasn't one of the children because you would be looking at broken bones or internal injuries or worse.  Please take this as advise that once an animal gets as destructive as he was, the only place if for him is a freezer somewhere.   It is also a good way to turn off a potential "young farmer" from wanting anything to do with animals.


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## mystang89 (Oct 30, 2018)

Writing this for my memory for the next time I butcher. 
Things done wrong.
1. Didn't take head off before skinning
2. Didn't take holves off before skinning


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## RollingAcres (Oct 30, 2018)

@mystang89 

Sorry that your wife was hurt. I hope that she wasn't seriously hurt.


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## mystang89 (Oct 30, 2018)

Since I have been living in the country, trying to raise my own food and provide for my family, one thing has struck me. It seems that many livestock owners have it in their mind that humans are born knowing everything there is to know about raising animals, planting gardens, building things etc. It seems that many of the people whom I've met have forgotten that at one time they too were just as lost as myself. Perhaps many of them were raised on a farm and taught much of what I don't know which is great but recognition that there are those out here who don't have this knowledge in our head would go a long way.

I've asked questions of some people and just got that look like, "how do you not know about this" or made mistakes and others have asked how could I have made that mistake. It's easy. Some answers are because of money and yet others are a lack of knowledge. The lack of knowledge is easy to fix. That just comes with experience.


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## Latestarter (Oct 30, 2018)

Sorry your wife got hurt. Glad it wasn't a kid. Hope nothing too bad and she heals up OK. Just so you know, even a "pet" ram can be stoopid. All it takes is once. Best to have the dogs with her when she, the kids, or even you are around one, as they should keep him otherwise occupied.

If you've ever butchered a deer (you didn't mention one) it's pretty much the same deal. Yup, head and feet from the knees down come off, but it doesn't necessarily have to be before skinning... You can just cut the skin in a circle around the limb/neck and then strip the skin down. It is much easier to skin the animal if it's hanging. That way you can grab loose folds and use your body weight to pull down. I've found it's best to hang vertically from the hind legs. Put hooks through behind the tendons and haul it up with a spreader bar or something to spread the legs. I do it this way so gravity can help pull blood out of the animal and down through the large neck veins and out (head cut off).




As for that outer fat layer, you can boil it down and chop it up and add it (and the water/grease) to your dog's food. The outer layers of fat on an animal are generally the "gamiest"... the best fat for lard or general use is the real light fat located around the kidneys.

"Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered form. The best lard is called leaf lard, and it comes from the fat deposits surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin. Leaf lard is “best” because it has little to no *pork* flavor, making it ideal for bakers (doesn't really apply to us) and for general cooking."  <--same applies to most animals.  From Google: https://www.marksdailyapple.com/yet-another-primal-primer-animal-fats/


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 30, 2018)

@mystang89 

In trying to relate and educate, any large livestock male of breeding age can be extremely dangerous. Females can too, especially if their offspring is being threatened. 

Don’t ever turn your back on an intact male sheep, goat, pig, bull, stallion, etc. 

You’ll see that Indy is a potential to not be retained due to her jumpy nature and intent for injury. 

Mike also has several posts about not trusting his ram but that he isn’t flat out aggressive either. 

I’m sorry we failed you and someone got hurt.


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## mystang89 (Oct 30, 2018)

Wehner Homestead said:


> I’m sorry we failed you and someone got hurt



Wohhhhh. Wait a sec. That part wasn't meant for you all! I've dealt with quite a few people like that HERE were I live. Don't take that post as personal to the people on this site. I've learned more from you all than I have from anyone around here.

That said, I've read much on Rams and their behavior. Does anyone here have Rams that don't headbutt on a constant basis? If it's during rutt season I understand the ram going a bit crazy.  Does anyone have Rams that don't act crazy like that on a normal basis.


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 30, 2018)

@Mike CHS @Baymule 

can you weigh in?


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 30, 2018)

I just feel like we should’ve been more direct as he was getting more destructive


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## Bruce (Oct 30, 2018)

Sorry I caused you so much trouble @mystang89  Sure hope DW wasn't hurt too bad, I can imagine how painful that would be regardless of gender.

With respect to "normal" ram behavior, I've got nothing. BUT I don't read about people having generally aggressive rams. Most likely that is because, like aggressive roosters, if they can't be trained out of it quickly, they no longer have a home on the 'farm'.


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## RollingAcres (Oct 30, 2018)

Back when @Wehner Homestead wrote:


Wehner Homestead said:


> Heads up y’all!! @Bruce is going to eat Bruce!!!



@Bruce should have eaten Bruce.


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## Mike CHS (Oct 30, 2018)

To make a bad joke even worse there is a reason a ram is called a Ram.    Most of the farms that I've been to have rams that aren't aggressive but the owners are all pretty much hands on.  The only time our current ram is flighty is when you first put him in with the girls for breeding.  Even then he isn't aggressive but he avoids contact to make sure he doesn't get taken away from the girls.  From the time our sheep are born they are exposed to a lot of human contact.  I rarely have to use it but I carry a buggy whip out with me until they get used to me being among them. I don't touch them with it but just the popping sound gets them moving away.  A good swat on the nose when they are young stays with them as it seems they don't forget that kind of thing.  Hopefully you know but don't hit them on their heads.  Once they trust you you can pretty much do anything with them.  Animal crackers and a curry brush goes a long way at taming them down but even then don't take for granted that they are going to be gentle.

I've been around several rams that were handled enough that they trust their owners but you still have to watch them.  I am probably too complacent around our ram but if he gets too close without being asked, my
Akbash will go after him.

I enjoy spending time with our ram but he acts more like a dog than a ram.  Our ram came out of the Virginia Tech Ram Lamb program where they are handled daily from the time they are born so that was a good start.  I don't give our ram lambs very long without human contact and will call them in to get some feed daily until they start to mature.  They are so used to you being around that they don't get that attitude.  There are occasions though even for those that seem gentle that I won't let Teresa go into a chute with them unless I'm in there also.  They are just too strong and when confined all gentleness goes away temporarily.


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## Latestarter (Oct 30, 2018)

I hope you and your wife enjoy "paying back" Bruce for his numerous and one too many transgressions. I hope he's very tasty!


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## farmerjan (Oct 30, 2018)

Since your breed of sheep is rarer than most, you might have trouble finding a very young ram lamb to raise up.  Yes they all can be aggressive, but much of it is in the raising.  @Mike CHS  has more experience with commercial sheep and is a good one to guide you.  Our Dall sheep are raised semi-wild, as the rams are sold to hunting preserves.  BUT, they still do not bother or get aggressive with us humans. They don't tear up fences or buildings either. They do tend to do more "ramming" of each other.  We do not tolerate any of the males as breeders if they are aggressive towards people.  But we are raising a completely different type of sheep for totally different reasons than you are. 
I am sorry that I wasn't a little more blunt in my post when I tried to warn you about the possibility of him getting aggressive with your wife or especially your kids.  Sometimes I tend to be not so diplomatic, so I was really trying to not come across too hard.  I am really thankful that your wife was not badly hurt although the bruising will be felt for awhile.
I think it is rather neat that you have dairy sheep.  I only asked about the goats since they are more often used for dairy.  I am not a big goat fan either, hence my lifelong love of cattle, and having dairy and beef cattle. 

I still suggest that you contact your county extension office to see if they have any programs or seminars for the "small acreage" farmer like you.  There are many more people looking to become more self sufficient on small farms than you realize, and there are alot that are "beginners" like you.   Everyone makes mistakes, the thing is to listen to people with more experience and try to learn before it becomes an expensive repeat mistake, or one where someone gets hurt.  Really hope we can help you on here.


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## Bruce (Oct 30, 2018)

RollingAcres said:


> Back when @Wehner Homestead wrote:
> 
> @Bruce should have eaten Bruce.


I would LOVE to!!


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## Baymule (Oct 30, 2018)

You did the right thing. Your ram was getting dangerous.  We took one to slaughter that tagged me one too many times. I have his son, who so far, shows no interest in me or anyone else. 

I think people here feel bad that they didn't strongly warn/tell you to get rid of your ram. Your wound up getting hurt and people are sorry for that.  We know you are a beginner and want to help you all we can.

All rams are crazy. Some worse, some better, but all have their brains in their penis and there isn't a lot of room there.


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## mystang89 (Oct 31, 2018)

I don't want anyone to feel bad about what I allowed to happen. I'm glad no one was seriously injured and I look at it from a learning perspective. Going from what many of you have said, including @Mike CHS and @farmerjan , there ARE Rams it there which aren't overly aggressive. 

I do have one problem and it seems from what you said farmerjan.  Since this breed isn't that prolific in the states it's a bit difficult to get another replacement ram which is also the reason why I always keep 2 Rams even though my herd is so small.

I think what going to impliment going forward is a 3 strike system. After 3 strike you're gone, even if that means I have to go with east fresian or something like that. (I tried to stay away from them because I've read many articles saying there constitution wasn't very strong. 

Once again, thank you all for all the help and guidance. Don't feel bad for what happened but be grateful no one was hurt and lessons were learned.


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## Bruce (Oct 31, 2018)

I think I would make that "3 strikes" pretty flexible. (With no experience!) I think it would depend on the severity of strike 1 and strike 2, if the ram is allowed to have that opportunity. What Bruce did to your DW, to me, would be 3 strikes even if it was also the first.


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## mystang89 (Oct 31, 2018)

Bruce said:


> I think I would make that "3 strikes" pretty flexible. (With no experience!) I think it would depend on the severity of strike 1 and strike 2, if the ram is allowed to have that opportunity. What Bruce did to your DW, to me, would be 3 strikes even if it was also the first.



Good point and something I'll definitely bare in mind!


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## Latestarter (Oct 31, 2018)

You can always breed in the milkiness of the east fresian through the buck to the breeds you have or want. Then keep one (or more) of the "best" rams produced to be the future herd sire(s). So you can select the future herd sire based on the specific traits you're looking for. It will take a while longer to get where you want to be but you can breed in better milk, better meat, better wool, and better parasite resistance...


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## Wehner Homestead (Oct 31, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> You can always breed in the milkiness of the east fresian through the buck to the breeds you have or want. Then keep one (or more) of the "best" rams produced to be the future herd sire(s). So you can select the future herd sire based on the specific traits you're looking for. It will take a while longer to get where you want to be but you can breed in better milk, better meat, better wool, and better parasite resistance...



Work on some hybrid vigor!! May be a great option!


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## mystang89 (Oct 31, 2018)

Latestarter said:


> better parasite resistance...



Yeah, the parasite resistance is where I get worried at. You never know if they have parasites until it's too late


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## Mike CHS (Oct 31, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> Yeah, the parasite resistance is where I get worried at. You never know if they have parasites until it's too late



It's fairly cheap to get in to doing your own fecals and there are some great procedures out there available.  After we started doing them ourselves we still took sample of the same animal to the vet to make sure we were doing them right. He's a great vet and spent a lot of time telling us easier ways to do them.


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## mystang89 (Nov 1, 2018)

Finally proceed the ram (nope, doesn't even have a name anymore, just "the ram".) I was pleasantly surprised with the amount if meat obtained. I know he was over 2 years old but that was quite the amount.

The vid I posted above which I was using to help in the processing didn't really help much in the end as it seemed when it came to the smaller details, such as boning and such, he told what needed to be done then fast forwarded through what he had just said. I looked up another video and watched it all the way through and he seemed to explain everything in a much clearer way while not forwarding through his movements. Unfortunately I hadn't found this vid until I was just about done. I told DS to go get another sheep so we could try it out.... He just laughed at me 

Children were real good helps. Cut a bunch of the meat into cubes and helped me hold the meat still so I could cut through the bones......(GET MEAT SAW OR BAND SAW!) Afterwards they helped clean up. Very blessed to have them. DS cut himself pretty good with the knife while trying to sharpen it but hopefully he learned the lessons I've been trying to teach them for a while now. 1.) Pay attention to what you're doing when messing with knives. 2.) Don't cut towards yourself! Those are the two times he broke.

 He was sharpening the knife and I had always told him to move the knife away from himself when sharpening however this time he brought it towards his arm and nicked it nicely. After a good bandaging, (applied by Mom since mine failed) he's as good as new and he'll hopefully keep that lesson much closer to himself next time. Mistakes can be a very good thing as long as they are learned from and if he's anything like me, he'll be making plenty of those in his life as you could probably tell from the past few pages of this thread lol.


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## Mike CHS (Nov 1, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> he's as good as new and he'll hopefully keep that lesson much closer to himself next time. Mistakes can be a very good thing as long as they are learned from and if he's anything like me, he'll be making please ty of those in his life as you could probably tell from the past few pages of this thread lol.



I hope you realize men are slow learners.  I've been "learning" from those kind of mistakes since I was a young boy but I still do them several decades after getting the lessons.


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## Latestarter (Nov 1, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> I told DS to go get another sheep so we could try it out.... He just laughed at me





mystang89 said:


> Children were real good helps.


When I was feeding my family primarily venison for red meat, my kids used to enjoy helping me butcher the deer. Of course that was many, many, years ago, but if we have a SHTF event, I'd guess it'll all come back to them. I guess when it comes right down to it, it's all basically the same... a skeleton with edible muscles attached. Detach the muscles, remove the "blue skin" from the muscle, cook, cut cross grain, and enjoy.  Hope you enjoy that ram meat!


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## farmerjan (Nov 1, 2018)

Glad your son wasn't cut too badly and yes, hope he will learn from it. But we all forget so just be prepared to say ""  ahem, didn't something happen the last time you tried to sharpen the knife TOWARDS YOU  ???? "".  Eventually.... I sometimes forget some things on the tractors, but it usually isn't going to hurt me.   Now, the cows are different...  sometimes they can hurt you when you are "doing everything right"...


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## Baymule (Nov 1, 2018)

Trial by fire--my favorite way to learn. Screw it up, get it right next time!


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## mystang89 (Nov 1, 2018)

The terrible thing is when you tell them you hope they learn from that mistake and then you make the same mistake in front of them.  Had that happen a couple times. "Dad, didn't you just tel....." 
"Son, remember that gift you were wanting for your birthday?"...


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## Latestarter (Nov 1, 2018)




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## farmerjan (Nov 1, 2018)

mystang89 said:


> The terrible thing is when you tell them you hope they learn from that mistake and then you make the same mistake in front of them.  Had that happen a couple times. "Dad, didn't you just tel....."
> "Son, remember that gift you were wanting for your birthday?"...



You don't change the subject, you say, "you know you are right.  I did just tell you not to do this ....this way.  I need to remember that.  You are smart to realize that I forgot, and so I hope that it will help you to remember to do it the right way....."

OR you can say, "you are right;  I did tell you that.  I was just testing you and wanted to see if you were listening to me.  I am PROUD of you for remembering what I said, and noticing that I was doing it wrong.  Good for you."


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## mystang89 (Feb 6, 2019)

Been a while since I posted here but there really isn't much new to tell.  Winter has been all about focusing on school.  Since it warmed up, I did go out yesterday and cut some wood.  The -20f depleted us.  Today we woke up to news of a new lamb being born.  Sounded great until we went out to check on her and it looks like the lamb isn't being fed by the dam.  Every time the doe went towards her she moved away.  When I placed the doe next to her she tried to move.  I pinned the dam against the stall and moved the doe next to the udder but the doe didn't want anything to do with it.  The doe isn't really walking around either.  I've isolated the Dam and doe in their stall for the day and let everyone else go out to pasture.  We have a field trip to go on today so when we get back I'll check to see if she (doe) has eaten.  If she hasn't I'll start trying to bottle feed her.

Unfortunately I don't think this dam is a good mom.  Last year she birthed a ram and we had a similar problem where she wouldn't feed him and I had to bottle feed then too.  Hopefully she'll prove me wrong today.

Here is a terrible picture of the doe.






The dog is taking better care of it than the dam lol.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 6, 2019)

I can't tell for sure but it doesn't look like she even tried to clean it up.


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## mystang89 (Feb 6, 2019)

She did have a blob of blood on her nose. This is all very much in love with what happened last year for Claire Belle


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## farmerjan (Feb 6, 2019)

If she isn't doing any better than that, 2nd time around, she needs to find a new place to reside.... like either your freezer or the stock yard where she will be in someone's freezer.  Don't perpetuate poor mothering. And a single lamb to boot.... nope, different address. Preferably a permanent terminal one.


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2019)

I agree, she needs to go.


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## greybeard (Feb 6, 2019)

Baymule said:


> Trial by fire--my favorite way to learn. Screw it up, get it right next time!


Tho it is or may be the most enduring way, it's my least favorite way to learn.
1. Generally causes physical, financial, and/or mental pain.
2. A huge waste of the most precious commodity humans have...time.

There are 3 ways to learn lessons.
1. Thru our own mistakes.
2. Thru the mistakes of others.
3. Thru the successes of others.

I much prefer #2 and #3 over #1.
Life is short.
It's one of the reasons I read and research so much and why I try to share the knowledge learned from that research. Much (if not most) of what I learn comes from reading others' failures and learning 'why' their efforts failed.
No one ever laid on their death bed thinking "Boy, I sure wish I had spent more time & $$$ making my own mistakes".


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2019)

greybeard said:


> Tho it is or may be the most enduring way, it's my least favorite way to learn.
> 1. Generally causes physical, financial, and/or mental pain.
> 2. A huge waste of the most precious commodity humans have...time.
> 
> ...


The master of sarcasm didn't get the joke?


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## greybeard (Feb 6, 2019)

I tend to read things exactly as they are submitted. Lack of a eyeroll emoji led me to believe you were serious. 
Now, I get to eat crow, but it won't be the 1st or last time.


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## Bruce (Feb 6, 2019)

I'm not real fond of #2 when I've paid them to screw it up. Cheaper to screw it up myself and learn.


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## mystang89 (Feb 6, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> If she isn't doing any better than that, 2nd time around, she needs to find a new place to reside.... like either your freezer or the stock yard where she will be in someone's freezer.  Don't perpetuate poor mothering. And a single lamb to boot.... nope, different address. Preferably a permanent terminal one.


My wife was saying the same thing and I agree.  I hate to because of how few sheep we have and how hard Awassi are to come by but I'm not a fan of this.  Lambing is supposed to be enjoyable for the most part but her two lambings have been far from enjoyable for me.  Nothing but stress.

I have started to try and bottle feed her but she doesn't seem to know what to do so if it continues I'll probably go to a drench until I see weight gain.  The dam was being more motherly to her lamb when we came home from the field trip which is nice to see, I guess.  I haven't seen her nurse off the dam yet so tomorrow I'll make it a point of spending a bit more time outside with them.  

Looking over the lamb I noticed fluid still trickling out the lambs mouth.  We also noticed an abrasion on her head about where her horns would normally grow out at.  I've also taken a picture of her now that it's daytime and better lighting but I really don't think it says much more than the first.




 

This is the picture of the abrasion on her head.





This is a picture of her eye.  It may not be noticeable in the picture but it seems swollen.



 

On a separate note the children had a nice time on the field trip.  We went to the Science center.  Lot's of activities for them to do but they definitely enjoyed making rockets the most.  Thanks to the in-laws for the season passes.


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## farmerjan (Feb 6, 2019)

Looks to me that the ewe tried to either butt her against the side of the pen, or took her hoof and pawed at her  and it caught the skin and tore it.  That is a cut and will  get infected.  Also, you need to get some colostrum in that lamb NOW !!!!! Not wait til tomorrow.  It is pretty obvious to me that she is not going to "mother it" and that lamb will not be able to absorb the colostrum if you keep waiting.   In cattle we try to get the first feeding into the calf within 2 HOURS.  Our sheep are the same way.  The gut tract is able to absorb the antibodies in the colostrum, it also warms their body, gets the meconium plug in the bowels to pass so that their whole digestive/gut/intestines/ etc. and so on, gets started working.  But by the time 24 hours goes by, the antibodies are not as easily absorbed and you are losing the greatest  protection the lamb can have.  Either get some help and get the ewe in a corner and get some colostrum out of her, or feed a colostrum REPLACER,  and if necessary use an eye dropper with a bulb on the end to squirt some in the lambs mouth so it gets a taste. 
Maybe the ewe doesn't have milk???  Or maybe her teats are clogged and the lamb can't get any milk from her???  Sometimes when an animal is first fresh, often in cows, the teat is plugged and it takes a few hard squeeze pulls, to get the milk out and to flow.


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2019)

greybeard said:


> I tend to read things exactly as they are submitted. Lack of a eyeroll emoji led me to believe you were serious.
> Now, I get to eat crow, but it won't be the 1st or last time.


Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie......


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## Baymule (Feb 6, 2019)

You lamb needs help, as @farmerjan said. I caught (read that tackled) a ewe this morning and milked out colostrum to give to the lamb. He was weak and not nursing. So I had to squeeze the bottle nipple to dribble drops in his mouth. He took maybe a half once. I set him down, guided him to the ewe, who was still tied up and he suckled. She is being a VERY good mom, FF and all about her lamb. 

Your lamb needs colostrum, a vet once told me that I had a 12 hour window to get the colostrum in a new baby. Later that night, my mule foal died in my arms. Your ewe is not a good mother, pull the lamb, take it in the house and bottle feed it. I'd eat that witch and enjoy every bite.


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## mystang89 (Feb 7, 2019)

I've gone to using a drench now. The mother seems to have mastitis. I have another ewe who is still making milk from last season so I think I'll milk her a bit so she actually gets sheep milk and not just the replacer.


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## Bruce (Feb 7, 2019)

Baymule said:


> Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie......


Is that a Texas delicacy?


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## mystang89 (Feb 7, 2019)

She's still here. We've been drenching her today and trying to express from the mother. We have noticed she is trying to popp but haven't seen any success. If there anything we can give that might help her do her business?


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## Mike CHS (Feb 7, 2019)

You can give a warm water enema to help her out.  Just don't use too much force with your syringe.


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## mystang89 (Feb 7, 2019)

Thanks!


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## Baymule (Feb 7, 2019)

Bruce said:


> Is that a Texas delicacy?


Dunno, but greybeard said he has eaten crow before. Must not be too bad, he said he would eat it again.


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## Baymule (Feb 7, 2019)

Hope your little lamb makes it, sure won't be from lack of care on your part.


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## greybeard (Feb 8, 2019)

Bruce said:


> Is that a Texas delicacy?


I've eaten black birds before, but it was in Louisiana, where they eat just about everything.
Not much  different than squab or dove imo. Come to think of it, the birds one of my friends cooked over a campfire when I was a kid were probably black birds. He was a dead shot with his bb rifle. Dark meat, a little gamey and dry if just pan fried but not bad.

I trapped about 25 crows one year, right before my garden's corn was ready to pull. Kept them in the ladder trap for over a week, then turned them loose. They made an awful racket all day, but one morning, they were really cawwing up a storm. I went out & there were 2 raccoons in with them, munching on the corn I had in there to keep the crows fed and lure more in. Them crows evidently didn't like raccoons much.
Crows are easy to trap once you get the first 2-3 in there. Not legal to trap and kill tho without a permit. You can do one or the other, but not both..trap, then kill them.


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## mystang89 (Feb 8, 2019)

Had a scare earlier today. We came home from running or errands, fed the lamb again and then put her and the dam out in the pasture to get some sun. (They had been in the barn to separate them from from the others and give some bonding time.)

I went back to taking care of the chores then came back to check if the lamb was still in the same spot. I already knew the dam had walked into the pasture without the lamb. When I came back to check, the lamb was gone.

I found that kinda weird because the lamb hasn't really walked all that much. It's still scrawny and sunken stomach so I want thinking it had gone far yet I couldn't find it. The dam was baying frantically trying to find her plus she had fresh blood on her hind legs. Predator! was the first thought.

My wife, a few children and myself set out to find the lost sheep.  I expanded my search area.  It had only been 5 minutes and I know coyotes can move fast when they want to but maybe I'd see a trail of blood or something.  I found nothing.

Returning to the barn I decided to check the dam with the bloody rear.  The blood wasn't from a wound.  That eased my fears about a predator but that lamb isn't very mobile.  Where in the world is it?  I started to look in all the nooks and crannies I could find and sure enough, the lamb was in the corner of a wood pile curled up.  I told the children it was trying to get warm but what I fear is that the lamb was trying to get into a dark corner to die as I know that is what many herd animals instinctively do.

I decided to bring the lamb inside.  I really, REALLY hate doing that.  My house is for humans...and a dog, but with the lack of body weight the lamb has and the fact the dam isn't very motherly I was afraid it wouldn't survive the cold nights.  Secondly, it's cold!...and we still have to feed that thing!...in the cold ...Much rather do that in the comfort of my house.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 8, 2019)

You don't need to hide under the chair since nobody is going to fault you for trying to keep a lamb alive.  As frail looking as that one is she could easily go to sleep and never wake up outside.


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## mystang89 (Feb 8, 2019)

Going from this site, https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.wikihow.com/Bottle-Feed-a-Baby-Lamb?amp=1
She is supposed to eat 200 ml every 4 hours. She has NO appetite. In the past 6 hours we have been able to give 120 ml and most of that was by drenching. She doesn't want to eat. Anything to stimulate the appetite?


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 8, 2019)

Happy you brought the lamb inside, easier for all of you


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## Mike CHS (Feb 8, 2019)

You can try to tube feed her but I have a feeling the lamb is shutting down on you so this might be a last resort.  Have you tried to drench it with some Nutridrench?  I haven't had to do it but I had this video bookmarked in case.


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## Baymule (Feb 8, 2019)

Keep her warm. put her in a small box, cut a hole for her head to hang out so you don't scorch her lungs with hot air. Cut a hole in the other end and put a hair dryer in it and turn it on. Don't walk away, keep an eye on her. You want to warm her up, not cook her. Then wrap her in a towel and let the kids snuggle her and keep her warm. Feed her as instructed above. 

I don't keep sheep in the house, but i'll bring in a little baby that needs help in a heartbeat.


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## mystang89 (Feb 9, 2019)

Thanks for that @Mike CHS . I'll see how feeding goes this morning then see what we need to do.


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## Wehner Homestead (Feb 10, 2019)

Aww!! Definitely let the kiddos cuddle that baby and help keep her warm! They’ll love it! 

I hope she pulls through for the sake of all.


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 10, 2019)

How is the lamb today ?


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## mystang89 (Feb 10, 2019)

The lamb is still alive. Eating more even though it's still a chore getting her to down the milk. Her stomach isn't sunken in anymore which is good, and she is "walking" around a bit more though not what you'd consider healthy, more like depressed. The one major thing I'm still very concerned about is that she hasn't pooped. She pees clear but she has yet to poop. I've given her enemas and some mineral oil. Next I'll try some castor oil if I can find it. I'm also going to give her some Karo syrup to see if I get boost her energy even temporarily.

I was curious if she was running a fever so my wife and wanted to Google the temp. I typed in "internal temp for lamb". It came back with 140f for medium, 175 for well done.....not really what I was going for lol. The nurse told me to Google body temp for lamb. Much lower 101-103f. Both had a good laugh, the lamb probably wasn't so they'll with the conversation.

Thanks for the thoughts and asking. I'll try to keep updated a bit more.


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## Baymule (Feb 10, 2019)

Karo ought to clean her out. LOL Glad that she is hanging in there.


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## mystang89 (Feb 13, 2019)

UPDATE Just killed the lamb. As I'm sure most of you already figured, it wasn't going to make it. Today it was so lethargic that it couldn't stand up. The head kept curling unnaturally to the opposite side she was laying on. She wouldn't drink the milk. Started shaking a bit. I made the call to put her out of her misery. Kinda sucks since she was the only lamb we got this year but it happens. Haven't told children or wife yet. Really don't want to. 

Most would have probably made that call Sooner and for good reason but if I hadn't tried everything I could then if this had happened again I wouldn't know any more than I did before she was born.


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## CntryBoy777 (Feb 13, 2019)

Sure sorry to hear that....but, I understand the reasoning....I certainly hope the next time goes much better for ya....


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 13, 2019)

Understand totally, but YOU didn't  kill the lamb,  the lamb was dieing from the start, and you were trying to save it.......you did the most humane act you could...you ended her suffering.....its ok , most of us have been there...sorry for your loss


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## Mike CHS (Feb 13, 2019)

Those things are never easy but you can only do so much.  Sorry it didn't work out this time.


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## mystang89 (Feb 13, 2019)

Thanks everyone. I forgot to ask in the other post but for a lamb that is only 5 or 6 days old and does, what do you normally do with the carcas? I'm not a fan of wasting if I have a choice. I know with still born you can make rennet but by this age I'm pretty sure it's too late. Dog food?


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 13, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Thanks everyone. I forgot to ask in the other post but for a lamb that is only 5 or 6 days old and does, what do you normally do with the carcas? I'm not a fan of wasting if I have a choice. I know with still born you can make rennet but by this age I'm pretty sure it's too late. Dog food?



I feed raw to my dogs, however you may want to think thru it as you don't  know what the problem was with the kid to start with ?..dogs ph is about a 1 and pretty great at killing bacteria.............diseases ????


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## mystang89 (Feb 13, 2019)

B&B Happy goats said:


> I feed raw to my dogs, however you may want to think thru it as you don't  know what the problem was with the kid to start with ?..dogs ph is about a 1 and pretty great at killing bacteria.............diseases ????



Yeah, for this particular instance I went ahead and disposed of it but I'm sure I'll have other lambs die either due to the mother not feeding out other reasons.


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## Baymule (Feb 13, 2019)

I can't make myself cut up a dead lamb that I've done everything to save. I bury them. Really sorry about the lamb. I WOULD NOT have a problem shooting that witch in the head, stringing her up, skinning, gutting and cutting her up for the freezer. Savor every bite.


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## mystang89 (Feb 14, 2019)

Baymule said:


> I can't make myself cut up a dead lamb that I've done everything to save. I bury them. Really sorry about the lamb. I WOULD NOT have a problem shooting that witch in the head, stringing her up, skinning, gutting and cutting her up for the freezer. Savor every bite.



She'll definitely end up in the freezer but I'm not upset with her. It's simply the way she was created. Being an animal she didn't do it on purpose with a malicious intent.

She'll probably stick around till I get a couple more sheep, (and it warms up) then I'll dispatch her, presumably in the summer.

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The hardest part was when the children thought I did it on purpose simply to kill it... Cause I do things like that all the time.... Everything is in now that they've been straightened out and the real reason was explained though. The wife didn't take it to well either. I killed the lamb early morning after she had gone to work but never told her until she came home at night. I didn't want her to be sad all day because she was thinking about it. She told me she'd rather have time to get over it during the day than come home to it..... I'll never understand women lol. No good deeds go unpunished

Oh well. Everyone has their way of dealing with stress and hers is her own. She's better now, children are better now and we're all getting along on this valenValent day.

Happy St. Valentine's day all!


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## Baymule (Feb 14, 2019)

Possibly you could breed her again, take the lamb at birth and milk the ewe for colostrum and bottle feed the lamb. Yours is a rare breed and I understand the reluctance to slaughter the ewe. Do bear in mind that being a poor mother can be hereditary.


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## mystang89 (Feb 14, 2019)

Baymule said:


> Possibly you could breed her again, take the lamb at birth and milk the ewe for colostrum and bottle feed the lamb. Yours is a rare breed and I understand the reluctance to slaughter the ewe. Do bear in mind that being a poor mother can be hereditary.



Yeah, that's why I don't think I'll breed her again.  As much as I'd like to keep my program as close to Awassi as possible I think I might end up getting some Lacaune to breed into my Awassi aiming for milk production first, good mothering second, disease and parasite resistance third, then the nipple size etc last.

I like the fat tail though and I do not believe the Lacaune is a fat tail sheep, so I'm still weighing my options.


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## Bruce (Feb 14, 2019)

I haven't raised sheep (or much of anything) but since yours ARE so rare and because being a poor mother *CAN* be hereditary doesn't mean she WILL pass it on. Seems like it would be worth one shot that she DOESN'T pass it on.


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## Baymule (Feb 14, 2019)

It wouldn't hurt to try one more time with her, just understand that you will have to pull the lamb and milk her for the colostrum.


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## mystang89 (Feb 15, 2019)

I'll have to wait till later to make that decision. We're still pretty raw from the recent events so some time should be good for the family.

Speaking of passing on genes, even without this happening I was still planning on buying some more sheep. I heard the reason the ram was more expensive than the ewe was because the genes were passed on from him. Is this true? I always thought it was 50/50 coming from both dam and ram. How does that work?


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## Baymule (Feb 15, 2019)

Not so much the majority of the genes, but your ram is half your herd. ALL the lambs will be his. A ewe will have one or two lambs. The ram will be everyone's Baby Daddy.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 15, 2019)

The good producers that we know personally send the majority of their ram lambs to market and only keep those that show super promise.  That's the way it is around us which changes the supply/demand. We started with some decent sheep but wanted to cut several years off of improving our stock to fit the goals we have.  We networked till we found a farm that had the genetics that we wanted to wind up with and bought several from them.  They had a dozen years getting their line to where it is now and at 68 years old I didn't want to spend a dozen years getting there.


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## mystang89 (Feb 15, 2019)

Baymule said:


> Not so much the majority of the genes, but your ram is half your herd. ALL the lambs will be his. A ewe will have one or two lambs. The ram will be everyone's Baby Daddy.



Ok, so if I understand it correctly, the ram costs more because his dna will be in the entire herd; whereas the ewe's dna will only be in a few of them. This is overall. Individually the ewe and ram dna will be 50/50ish right? 

So when buying a ram I need to make sure that he comes from a dam AND ram with the traits I want, not just the ram?


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## Baymule (Feb 15, 2019)

A dam that consistently produces twins, is very milky, a GOOD mother, ease of birth and whatever else you want. I think you're on to something! What good would be a good looking ram that was a single, bottle raised because his mom rejected him, she had mastitis, and she prolapsed.


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## farmerjan (Feb 15, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Ok, so if I understand it correctly, the ram costs more because his dna will be in the entire herd; whereas the ewe's dna will only be in a few of them. This is overall. Individually the ewe and ram dna will be 50/50ish right?
> 
> So when buying a ram I need to make sure that he comes from a dam AND ram with the traits I want, not just the ram?



Yes, you have it right.  The ram's influence will be in the whole flock.  And the ewe will only affect the lambs she directly has.  
In cattle we say that the bull is half your herd.  Not meaning numbers, but meaning genetic influence.  The calves ( or lambs of kids or piglets)  get half their genes from each parent.  But the fastest way to make progress is to get the very best male you can afford.
The female will influence some things more than the male, simply because they are with the baby all the time.  In other words, attitude and friendliness will be more influenced by the female due to the baby following the mother.  If the ewe, or cow, is standoffish, or unfriendly, or hard to catch and get in, or even nutty....  the baby will follow the "simon says"  "do as I do", more often than not.  If the baby is bottle raised, then it will be more apt to be friendly and somewhat calm to be around.  That's not 100 % guaranteed, but is the most likely scenario.  If the mother is not a good mother, as this ewe, there is a possibility that the lamb will would grow up to not be very attentive.  But, if you do breed her again, when she lambs, and doesn't take care of it RIGHT OFF THE BAT, licking, cleaning it and mothering it, then you take it away and raise it with no further contact with her.  It has a 50/50 chance of being a better mother.  
First time females sometimes get confused and don't fully get it, but they often just need to be penned with their baby.  Once a baby gets on the teat, and sucks, the ewe will often then realize that this is what this strange little creature is for.   Our first calf heifers mostly do very good with their first calf, but every now and then will have one that will keep trying to lick it, and not let it get back to the udder.  They will back up or keep turning around.  So if we can just get the calf to suck, then they seem to get it. 
The ewe will be half of the traits, so things like bad legs, bad confirmation, udder problems , and such will come from the dam as well as the sire.   But since this is a fairly rare breed, you are going to have to take what you can get, and try to breed up from there.  Maybe crossing like you suggested will be the answer.  Then going back with a purebred male on the females from the cross.


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## greybeard (Feb 15, 2019)

Yep, A herdsire=1/2 the whole herd's genetics, while each of the dams= only 1/2 their individual offspring's genetics.


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## mystang89 (Feb 20, 2019)

Was woken up this morning by a "plop, plop, plop" sound. Turned on my phone light, thankfully, and followed the sounds. Turns out there is water coming out of my ceiling fan.... Onto my bed covers. 

 Placed a bucket under it and went upstairs to pin point where the leak is coming from. Our house is a balloon framed house and I think the leak is coming from where the "new" addition which the residence before us put in. I tried looking behind the walls where I could but the children are still asleep so anymore investigation will have to wait till they get up.

Load of tar sounds like it's going to be needed. Oh well, like the ol' saying goes, "When it rains, it pours."


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## Baymule (Feb 20, 2019)

That sucks. I hate leaks. Our old house had the plumbing in the ceiling. A pipe burst and flooded the house, we replumbed the whole house. Bad experience. Hope you find it and get it fixed quickly.


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## mystang89 (Feb 20, 2019)

In our other house our updates tub leaked into the basement. Lovely time that was.

I'd rather deal with leaks than electrical to be honest.... Unless the leak is coming out of something electrical. In it old house we had a leak come in from where the ground meets the basement. Came in right where the breaker box was. Water was just pouring out of it in the middle of the night. What fun times that was. Had to call the electrical company and have them turn the power off from the outside then get someone in to find and fix the leak.

This time, I "think" the leak might be coming in through a window above our room. It seems like it may have rained so hard that the water came in through the screen part of the window then down the sides? I climbed into the balooned out party of the house and didn't see any water or wet parts. Still need to check the roof.


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## Bruce (Feb 20, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Was woken up this morning by a "plop, plop, plop" sound. Turned on my phone light, thankfully, and followed the sounds. Turns out there is water coming out of my ceiling fan.... Onto my bed covers.


That sucks. Leaks are hard to find since water runs the easiest path. The source can be quite a way from the drip drip drip.


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## mystang89 (Feb 20, 2019)

My wife asked if I had found anything else out when she was at work so I sent her this text.

"Here's my synopsis. I believe that the water is coming from outside the house. It's coming into the house from an area that isn't sealed off which needs to be sealed off someone in the near future. I further believe that if something isn't done about this in the near future that there will be water damage from the aforesaid water coming into the house from the aforementioned penetration of the before mentioned house."

I thought it was fairly accurate.

I will end up getting some cauking for around the window, where the water drains out as well along with some tar for parts of the roof that I'm just not sure about.

The attic area had a bunch of that old insulation still inside that hasn't been removed after I had the house spray foamed. I had to crawl through it to get to various parts. After two showers and 3 sets of clothes I'm still itching lol. That darn angel hair glass sure sticks around.

Today was the first birthday for my daughter. One year ago today my wife and I were walking around in the pasture trying to bring the contractions on. Warm and sunny then. DD is the first child my wife birthed in this house. Thinking on that just makes me even more happy to be here and have her as me wife.


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## B&B Happy goats (Feb 20, 2019)

I enjoy reading your posts, your life is full and you take time to enjoy the simple things.....that will make for great parenting and a beautiful life together


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## mystang89 (Feb 26, 2019)

The other day we Ran out of seasoned wood yesterday. We use a wood stove to heat the house. It saves us close to $100 on the bill. Since we ran out though I figured would could go ahead and handle a higher bill for about a month. I turned on the furnace. The furnace didn't turn off and the temp was going down instead of up. (The pump probably has gone bad).  I looked at the thermostat and it read "heat aux". I looked that up and it told me that the furnace can't keep up with the cold and so the coils are being heated to provide additional heat. This, in turn, is a very inefficient way of heating and so the bill raises Sharply. The temp was 40f. Definitely should have been able to keep up. The furnace was on for 24 hours straight. Going to love that bill. 

Needless to say, the next day I spent outside cutting up downed trees and splitting them. Fortunately I have 7 acres and the wood I needed to cut was at the farthest end of my acreage. Oh, and the tractor couldn't get there, it's down. I lost count of how many loads i wheel barrowed. It was down hill, then up hill. I was Dead afterwards. 

I woke up today feeling like a truck hit me then a pyschopathic chiropractor moved every bone out of where it was supposed to be. So, feeling so wonderful, I went out after school with the children and started clearing the thorn bushes, briars, and vines away from the back pasture fence. We got a good start on it and found that the fence was mostly still good. Yey for little victories. Depending on the weather we'll try to do something else tomorrow.


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## Mike CHS (Feb 26, 2019)

Our HVAC was added when we renovated our house so it is all outside so that auxiliary function really eats up the electricity.  We never set it over 66 at night because it just won't get there when the temps are in the 30's or under and we don't have temps like you do (normally).


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## Baymule (Feb 26, 2019)

I like to sleep cold in the winter and pile on the quilts. We set our thermostat at 68* at night. 
I wish we had wood heat. We have lots of trees, but no fireplace, wood heater or anyplace to even put one. When we cut trees, we cut up and give away the wood. Our DD and family has a fireplace, we keep them supplied first, then neighbors. One neighbor has a log splitter and brings it over. We share the wealth in our neighborhood.


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## Baymule (Feb 26, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Today was the first birthday for my daughter. One year ago today my wife and I were walking around in the pasture trying to bring the contractions on. Warm and sunny then. DD is the first child my wife birthed in this house. Thinking on that just makes me even more happy to be here and have her as me wife.



Awww..... this is so sweet! You need to read this to your wife.


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## Bruce (Feb 27, 2019)

Baymule said:


> We have lots of trees, but no fireplace, wood heater or anyplace to even put one.


You could install an outside wood furnace and pipe the heat into the house.


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## mystang89 (Feb 27, 2019)

Bruce said:


> You could install an outside wood furnace and pipe the heat into the house.


I wanted one of those and still do want one. For a mid range it's about 10k but you can heat your house and get it hooked up to heat your water as well.


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## farmerjan (Feb 27, 2019)

The outside wood furnaces are very popular here.  Keeps the mess outside. The insurance companies are much happier;  no chance of fires inside the dwelling.  It is great for the hot water heating, and because there is quite a bit, it doesn't run out as fast as some "regular" hot water heaters.  They do cost from 5-10,000 to get set up.  You usually fill twice a day, they are thermostatically controlled.  If you have a hot air system, they pipe the water in, and it goes through something along the lines of a "radiator" that will heat the air as it is blown into your duct work.  Baseboard hot water heat is a little more efficient, but it is very doable.  That would be my choice at this point in time,  except for my kitchen wood cookstove,  I really would like to get somewhere that I can take it out of storage and use it.

They also are great if you have radiant floor heat, as the floor stays comfortably warm.  One of my farmers has it in his shop and they all congregate there even if they are not working on any projects in the shop.  It does make it more enticing to get all those repair things caught up with in the winter.


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## mystang89 (Feb 28, 2019)

I sure wish lawmakers and insurance companies here would takea couple lessons then. I've been seeing many places where they are wanting to outlaw wood fireplaces because of the pollution. I told my wife that if they feel like outlawing them then they'd also better feel like paying my electric bill too.


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## mystang89 (May 30, 2019)

Few updates here as I'm not going to come close to remember what all has happened since last time.

   My nephew graduated high school the other day and had a party at a park near them.  We took the whole family and had a great time.  I think I spent about 5 hours playing Volley Ball that day, jumping, diving, bending backwards and anything else I could do in order to get the ball.  This was on Monday.  I'm still paying for it today lol.  Back has been spasming for the past few days but today its now to the point that I can't yawn without severe pain in my back.  If this keeps up I'll probably have my wife rub some Icy Hot on my back and see if that helps the muscles release and calm down.  All the pain and it was still worth every minute.  I haven't gotten to let loose like that for a very long time.  It's one of those things where you know you're going to pay for it and still go head first.

  About 2 weeks ago we started searching for some hay and were able to find some around here thankfully.  The man lives about 5 minutes down some of the back roads.  He's an 84 year old man who does the whole process himself.  He still picks up those bales and tosses them around like they are rag dolls.  I was impressed.  Since he's getting older though, his daughter and son both moved back so they could help him around the farm.  THAT is what this world is missing.  The parents have children, then raise the children who then move far away and are so wrapped up in their own life to help the same people who gave them that life to begin with.  Those same people who sacrificed that nice new car or that vacation, that date they wanted to go on are now being shipped off to nursing homes because no one has the time to spend on them.  Don't get me wrong about nursing homes since I've already mentioned them.  I do understand there are those people who are needing to be there because their medical problems are just so extensive that they need that extra care and I'm glad they are around, but when you have people who are simply being placed in nursing homes to get them because its easier, that's when you have a society which forgot where it came from.  Ingratitude upsets me, which is why I was so edified to see these people helping their parent around the house, continuing to show care and affection that was so apparently shown to them.

  Another thing that gave me delight by going to this man's house was how willing he was to impart that wealth of farming knowledge which the years of experience have given him.  The knowledge in elderly persons heads should be treasured and absorbed by younger people.  If we can learn from them we will be so much better off.  So much pain could be saved by listening.  I'm glad he's right down the street as I plan to take the children over and see if we can help him around the house sometime but also I want to hear his stories, learn what he knows.  I think that knowledge is worth any price.

   We've been working on part of the house which was void space.  It was about 308 sq ft of dead space that was behind a wall.  The previous occupants had built on to the house which meant they extended the roofline.  This gave a large space behind the wall which was nothing other than pipes, insulation and framing.  I decided it would be a good place to make as a play room for the children which would then open up the room they were using as a playroom as a new bedroom.  This would then let us get 5 girls out of one room.  Brain cells would be saved by myself and my wife because that was a hotbed of a mess.




 

 

 
The above pics are the pictures of what it was before I started working on it.  The spray foam had to trimmed down with a handsaw so the rafters could be exposed.  With the rafters exposed I could then nail the dry wall to the ceiling and walls.  Unfortunately for me they spaced the 2x4's apart every 24" to 27".  This really through me off because I'm using to them being every 16".  That left me with dry wall that was hanging on the ends.  It wasn't ideal but I tried to make it work.  I'm aware that I could have cut the dry wall to fit the studs but that thought didn't come to me till after I had already put up a few pieces.  By then the damage was done.



 
This was after I had laid the floor and the drywall.  Fortunately the older children helped me hang the drywall on the ceiling.  If they hadn't i would have had a much more difficult time than it already was.  My oldest, the 11 year old, was awoken to the fact that when working on construction projects, things tend to be heavier when you are having to hold them above your head, especially if its a 4x8' piece of drywall lol.



 
This is the after picture.  Not perfect but the children love it and they are going to tear it to pieces in time anyway so I'll just redo what's wrong when they leave the house.  The carpet came from a friend of mine house.  His house caught on fire and burned a portion down so they were having to replace parts of it.  He ended up with JUST enough carpet left over and gave it to me.  Literally, just enough.  God always provides.  The carpet was going to cost me $120.  Now it's free.


 
I painted the facing wall with chalk board paint.  What child doesn't like drawing on walls?!  You can tell that I'm raising Michelangelo's here right?.....RIGHT?!

  That project being done I decided to fill in the sink hole that was in the front pasture.  The previous owners simply through a bunch of brick in it and left it.  Snakes galore lived in there so I took my tractor and pulled the bricks out, replacing them with wood chips.  More aesthetically pleasing and it'll decompose one day filling in the hole.  I know that as it decomposes it'll end up being lower than the level is right now which is fine.  I'll simply put more chips on top. 

  The back pasture fence line is finally cleaned for the most part.  I asked the man who owns the pasture behind me if he minded me taking my bush hog to the fence line on his side of the fence and he didn't mind at all.  In fact that was the quickest reply I think I've ever received from him.  It looks MUCH better now.  On the same topic I was able to complete the fence line to the side of the back pasture as well.  My sheep were continuing to go on my neighbors yard and eat which was worrying me since they seem like the type who like to sue.  I had asked a question on here a while back about how to make a fence line along bed rock and I mentioned using tires and cement.


 
So far it has worked out wonderfully.  I'm still trying to tame the back area past the spring which you see in the picture.  It's the part which the hog fence is covering plus the stones are keeping my animals in and other animals out.  I've had no problem with the fence being pushed by the water coming through though I suppose the big test will be spring time next year.  Each tire took 3 to 4 bags of concrete just like @greybeard had mentioned.  Good call.  I believe in all I had to use 3 tires.  I still have the other side of the back pasture to do which will be a bit more time consuming but it's doable as you can see.

  Another project in the making is trying to fix the spring house.  It's built over a nature spring coming out of the ground (hence SPRING house lol) but the stones are starting to shift.  The person before me used mortar on some of the stone but I believe they used the normal mortar you find at Home Depot or Lowes which is for brick.  I looked up a few sites and they've mentioned that when you are dealing with a wall that is in constant contact with water, such as a retaining wall, that you need to use a mortar that has a higher bonding rating.  I'm still doing my homework on this one but if anyone has any experience or knowledge here I'm all ears....or eyes since I'll just be reading your comment.  

  The chickens food dispenser which I had made for them wasn't working the way I had anticipated.  It was gravity fed but for some reason the food just continued to get stuck in the shoot no mater how much I expanded the opening so I made a different one.  


 
The one on the left is the old one and the 55 gal barrel is the new one.  I'll be taking the old one down and scraping it for parts.  The barrel has a similar problem in that the food creates cavities when the chickens are eating but I think if I simply open the PVC pipe further in the inside that will take care of the problem.  I'll also be getting caps for the end and cutting them in half so the chickens can put there grubby little necks in for the food but can't scratch any of it out past the half moon cap.


 
That of course is the inside of it.  Again, I think if I cut a portion of the pvc pipe back that will allow more of a flow for the food to fall.  The piece in the center is an old funnel which I'm using to displace the food when it fall in there so I don't have a large lump of food in the middle of the barrel that tease the chickens.  Like putting a steak just outta reach of a lion.

  While I was upstairs working on the play room I figured it would be a waste of time to not check the floor in the room that used to be a playroom.  It was carpeted with this really old nasty looking yellow shag carpet so I decided to look under it and to my excited surprise it was that old farmhouse hardwood flooring.  There was only one catch.  The idiots...I mean, wonderful people before me had painted portions of it white.  Yes, I said portions.  Part was painted white, part was speckled, part was still the floor color.  The wood was old cedar.  I ripped that carpet up and got to work refinishing the floor.  Rented the drum sander and edge, bought the sanding paper to use for them and went at it.  Learned a few things along the way too. First, always, always, always buy more sand paper than what you think you're going to need.  You'll thank your younger, less aggravated self when you feel older a week later.  Second, don't use a belt sander.  Use the drum sander, then edger, then orbital.  Third, don't go diagonal against the board no matter what they tell you.  That'll leave lines against the grain.  I listened to them against my better judgement.  Every carpenter fiber of my being was telling me, "Don't do this, that's going against the grain.  You won't be happy."  But did I listen to myself.  Nooooo.  I said, "Self, be quite, these people on youtube know more than you."  Stupid self lol.  Either way, just go with the grain, any tough spots you can use your edge and orbital.  Take your time.  Don't use min wax stain.  Use Duralast stain which is from min wax but not the same.  Has a faster drying time and other positives.  Get more polyurethane or whatever you are using to seal the floor than what you need.  Short story, more is better. Can never have too much.


 
Before picture.  Well, after the carpet but before the finished product.  You can see the white areas they painted to the right of the picture but also the areas they didn't to the left.  You can also see I'm going diagonal to the grain.  Don't do that.  After you don't go diagonal to the grain that way, don't go diagonal to the grain the opposite direction.  Two wrongs don't make a right.  K?
Finished product in the following post.  CLIFF HANGER!!! HAHA


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## mystang89 (May 30, 2019)

Continued.


 
Blurry picture but you get the gist.  One thing I would have done differently was to get a full gloss sealer instead of a semi gloss.  I'm honestly not sure why I did that.  I remember thinking when I bought the semi gloss that I didn't want semi gloss but continued on with the purchase.  Once again, ever do something that you know you're going to regret and continue to do it even though you are regretting it at the moment you are doing it?  Welcome to the story of my life.

Our strawberries have really come through for us this year.  We've been getting tons of them. 


 
A bit freezer bitten but still yummy when mixed with rhubarb or just about anything else.  

  Corn in the garden is not doing good this year and I'm not sure why.  Out of 40 seeds only 2 sprouted.  Blueberries are which we are looking forward to greatly.

  The tractor is working now.  I took the power steering cylinder to the mechanic and he said the rod was bent, which it turned out to be true.  He told me to buy another one was going to be $1000.  I told him he was cute.   Bought one for $300 and installed it.  Still have the problem with the bucket drooping after a bit but I can live with that for the time being. 

  Hmmm, bought a new mower as well since I blew up the other one's engine.  This is a 48" walk behind Bunton.  Original bunton, not when they got bought out, sad story, them getting bought out.  I like it but the engine seems a bit weaker than the 36" bunton I had.  All in all its an upgrade.  

  Wife got a new car.  She loves it.  Went from a 97 Ford Taurus to a 2004 Lexus ES330.  She feels like shes driving a Bentley. 

  I'll be putting some more lights in the barn when I get a chance and rewiring part of it.  They have some of the wire going out the hay loft.  Bare wire.....still connected to the breaker box....just chilling outside in the elements....I looked at it in a very confused manner.  Like when a dog hears a noise that it's not familiar with.  Kinda cocks its head off to the side, then to the other with that funny look on its face.  Yep, that was me as I looked at it.

  Children are on summer vacation.  YEY!! YEY!!  Rejoice.  Anyway, if I think of anything else I'll post sometime.


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## Bruce (May 30, 2019)

That floor looks great. And you can let the kids play on the roof without worrying they will fall to their untimely demise


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## mystang89 (May 30, 2019)

Lol, yeah, they love the roof. I'll be downstairs and hear them sliding down the roof.


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## Mini Horses (May 30, 2019)

Nice job on the playroom & floor refinish.   I enjoy an update  

So why don't you add us to the bill list?  When paying & crossing off, there we will be "update BYH"....

You seem busy & doing pretty well.   How are the sheep?

We all have issues, some costly   I have a DIY spirit.  Working on my tiller, I removed my glasses, then stood and stepped on them    The tiller drive belt was $14, new glasses & eye exam $320   Had thought "take to shop"  -- like you say, "listen to yourself".  

Update soon...….you must have a lot to tell.   Oh, Absorbine Jr for those sore muscles, from the feed store.


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## Baymule (May 30, 2019)

That is a great remodel job on the kids play room. You did good on that! You did a beautiful job on the floor too. I bet your wife is proud of you on that. You have been busy, chicken feeder, fence, bush hogging, fixing tractor, the garden......Whew! I'm tired just from reading that! LOL


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## CntryBoy777 (May 30, 2019)

Sure good to hear from ya again and it sounds like ya have been pretty dad-gum busy!!.....the floor looks really good and with the kids out of school....maybe "little hands" can help some with the chores.....


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## mystang89 (May 31, 2019)

Mini Horses said:


> So why don't you add us to the bill list? When paying & crossing off, there we will be "update BYH"....


LOL I like it!


Mini Horses said:


> You seem busy & doing pretty well. How are the sheep?


Sheep are doing well. I tried to shear one of them a week or so ago and cut straight into him. I immediately stopped before butchering him anymore and called someone. It'll cost $65 for him to shear all 5 which is WELL worth the cost of my patience, sanity, and the sheep health and well being. It might be different if there was actually someone to show me on each sheep but there isn't. I've tried the local 4h and others around here who have sheep but no luck. Perhaps one day.


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## Bruce (May 31, 2019)

5 for $65 is a great deal! I wouldn't think 1.000001 times about taking that. I nearly had the opportunity to have my 2 alpacas sheared on Wed. The guy (who I do not know) called at 8:45 AM to say he was going to be doing the neighbors 2 boys and did I want him to do mine (she must have given him my number). You bet I did, especially since DD1 announced last year that she wasn't helping with Laddie again. He's a kicker, wears you right out even with 4 feet tied to the platform I made. 

So I said yes - no idea what he is charging, I think $35/animal was the last rate but that was a couple of years ago. Then he tells me he is doing the neighbor's boys at 9 AM. TODAY?? Yes in 15 minutes and he's leaving the state tomorrow to do some shearing. Well DANG! I had a chiropractor appointment at 10:30 no way I would be back before he finished the neighbor's animals and I really doubt he'd want to hang around waiting for me to show up at 11:30 or so. HOPEFULLY he'll call back with a little lead time.


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## mystang89 (May 31, 2019)

Wow, 35 an animal!? Well at least there is some cooler weather for a couple days. Hopefully it'll stick around till he comes back in town.


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## Mini Horses (May 31, 2019)

For that I would have moved the chiro apptmt!   

I got more than that doing minis for horse shows...of course, the results had to be perfect, still!


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## Bruce (May 31, 2019)

24 hour notice on the chiro appt or you get to pay anyway.


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## mystang89 (Jun 9, 2019)

The gentleman and his sons came over to shear my sheep and they were very nice about it all. Talked to me about East Freisians they had sheared, saying they hadn't noticed very many with foot rot or parasite problems. Taking that into consideration I'm backing down from my stance about absolutely no East a Freisians on my homestead and today we are going to pick up 3/4 East Freisians/Lacaune 1/4 Icelandic. 

I'm not a huge fan of this because of the East Friesian and especially the Icelandic but there are a few things going for the purchase. 
1. Less than an hour away.
2. Does have Lacaune in her which I REALLY want.
3. Only $300
4. She is pregnant and getting ready to pop in about a week.
5. They are throwing in her daughter from last year.
6. When they milked her they were getting 1/2 gal each day.

I haven't been about to find any Lacaune within a 3 hour drive of me, to my great dismay so I think this is the best I'm going to get right now. After spending $2400 on 3 starting sheep $300 sounds much more reasonable.  Plus with that money I'm getting another sheep, which even if I don't keep will at least get me food. I'll probably keep her though if she proves to be a good sheep. This might even help me to start thinning out some of the low performers in my herd. (Here's looking at you Clara Bell.) We asked why she was selling the ewe and she told us that it was because she had too many and that she wanted to keep all of her lambs from this year. One half gal isn't an overly huge amount of milk but it's much more than I'm getting from mine right now. That said, I'm sure I'm doing something wrong. These Awassi are mixed with Lacaune so they should be leaking milk all over the place, yet I'm only getting about 2 cups. This is again, one of those times I wish I had someone here to tell me what I'm doing wrong but I plan on asking this person how she does her milking. 

Comments suggestions or critiques are always welcome as usual.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 9, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> wish I had someone here to tell me what I'm doing wrong but I plan on asking this person how she does her milking.



DO ASK!!!!!   Milking is a learning process for both milker and milkee.  There are habits and situations to make more or less milk.   Among them,  feed, handling of offspring, time of milking (both times of day and length of lactation, etc), ROUTINE.   Milk is one reason dairies take young at once and bottle feed.  There are ways to "co-parent" & share milk, some does don't agree.

My goats have better or worse production years and it's usually MY fault, not theirs.     Some prefer the contact with humans, others not so much.  This has a great deal to do with their decision to let down, as much as our ability to milk them.  ALWAYS milk in same order...if it's Suzie's turn, don't let Lilly in first.   Really, I swear they get mad and hold back!  You know how women can hold a grudge        I have a "place" to milk and call them by name, open gate, they go there.  Head into feed bucket and I can have milk --  so long as, they want.

Easy Peasy!     

The buy deal sounds great!  Pregnant doe and last years kid, all for only $300?!  GREAT buy.  Hurry there.  We're waiting for pics of the newbies.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 9, 2019)

Pictures,


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## mystang89 (Jun 9, 2019)

Thanks everyone. I purchased the two ewes and she decided to throw in the ram of the ewe which is still being fed. (I've ewe is pregnant, the other ewe just lambed last month and this ram was the offspring so he was still nursing off her.) So 3 sheep + whatever comes out in the next week or two. Pics will be on the way. Been a LONG, stressful day so I'm not really up for it right now. I did ask her about milking and she said she used a cow milker..... Was a new one for me but she said it worked well and didn't bruise the teat. Anyone with experience of this way of milking feel free to speak up. I've heard of using a goat milker and I've tried it but it hurt the teats so I stopped and began by hand.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 9, 2019)

Happy that you got a great deal ! , I can't  answer on the milker...I do the milking by hand as i don't  have many to do....and they are nigerian dwarf goats,


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## Baymule (Jun 10, 2019)

Sounds like a great deal! Waiting on pics!


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## mystang89 (Jun 10, 2019)

This is the nursing ewe at the moment.



 
This is the ram nursing off the ewe.


 
And this is the expecting ewe.


 

I never expected the East Friesian to be so much smaller than the Awassi but they definitely are. Looks like my Awassi could eat them. 

I'm keeping them in confinement right now though. They'll be there for a couple weeks.

I'm not a huge fan of how much Icelandic is in them since I want to use them for milking and Icelandics aren't known for a prolific amount of milk.

Back to making a better version of a hay feeder.


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## Baymule (Jun 10, 2019)

Congrats on the nice looking sheep.


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## mystang89 (Jun 10, 2019)

Thanks, they are much more mellow than the Awassi but the Awassi are definitely my favorite breed.

We finished up the hay feeder in all three stalls. Hopefully that will cut out much of the hay waste we have when they have access to hay. I'll throw a couple pictures on her tomorrow if I get a chance.


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## mystang89 (Jun 11, 2019)

Went to put the sheep up today and checked on the East Freisians. The ewe that is pregnant is limping heavy on her right front leg. I tried to check if it was foot rot but she want cooperating and I didn't want to flip her on her back or be too rough with her since she is due any day now. The person who trimmed her feet did not really do a great job of squaring them up. I'm not going to give an injection either especially since I'm not completely sure what it is. I did go ahead and spray a fungicide on her feet along with the other ewes just to make myself feel like I had done something.

Also had a thought about expanding the barn but I can't do that with the silo in the way. It'll have to go. The only problem is how. The silo doesn't have a roof so right now it's just collecting water.



 
Thought about knocking a few holes in the bottom of it then trying to connect a long chain pull it but I think the metal straps would hold that together pretty well.


 
I'm fairly good at destroying things but I kinda an at an impasse on this one plus I don't want to destroy the barn while I'm at it.


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## Baymule (Jun 11, 2019)

I've seen failure videos where silos fell over on the equipment operator endeavoring to knock it over-but in the opposite direction. I have no ideas on this one.


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## mystang89 (Jun 11, 2019)

Yeah, I've seen those videos too which is why I'm not swinging wildly with a sledgehammer right now lol. Though that does sound kinda fun.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 11, 2019)

Can you incorporate  the silo into the barn plan , collect water for garden or feeding animals ? 
Or drill holes at bottom to drain water out and get something to push it away from the barn and operator ? 
Depending on diameter,  may make a good housing for some farm critters ? 
Seems like you could have fun getting  a creative use for it


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## mystang89 (Jun 12, 2019)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Can you incorporate  the silo into the barn plan , collect water for garden or feeding animals ?
> Or drill holes at bottom to drain water out and get something to push it away from the barn and operator ?
> Depending on diameter,  may make a good housing for some farm critters ?
> Seems like you could have fun getting  a creative use for it


I had thought about that but the solo is right where the entrance to the add-on. The way this whole thing is laid out is that the only way into this silo is through the barn. You have to climb a ladder to the hay loft, then climb a few more rungs on the actual silo itself just to be able to see in it. It's probably around 20 ft or so. That is literally the only way in so I wouldn't be able to store food or materials and if there silo stayed there I wouldn't be able to have an addition since it's located in the middle of that side. 
As to collecting water for garden I'm currently making a rain water collection system with the gutters I'm going to be putting in the barn.
Ah, why can't life just be simple


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## Mini Horses (Jun 12, 2019)

If no entrance but the top, what was the silo for?  

Like the new sheep!   Cute -- the new ram is a different color.

While you don't care for Icelandic, their lack of milk production may not have passed to these    Just won't know until you can work them.  All I can say is that you bought them for a price that will allow you to sell at a profit!    A good thing.


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## Bruce (Jun 12, 2019)

Mini Horses said:


> If no entrance but the top, what was the silo for?


Looks to be a connection to the barn lower down. Seems like that would be where the silage was removed.



B&B Happy goats said:


> Depending on diameter, may make a good housing for some farm critters ?


Or an observatory!


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## Mini Horses (Jun 12, 2019)

Well, looks to be an OLD silo...  They don't make anything like that now...do they?  
I'll be interested in how it is taken down.   It's obviously a concern with size and being concrete, as to how & where it falls.


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## animalmom (Jun 12, 2019)

I don't have any suggestions for you on the silo but would LOVE to see pictures of what you decide to do with it.


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## mystang89 (Jun 12, 2019)

Mini Horses said:


> While you don't care for Icelandic, their lack of milk production may not have passed to these    Just won't know until you can work them.  All I can say is that you bought them for a price that will allow you to sell at a profit!    A good thing.



I'm definitely interested in how much milk they will be producing and I think if I can get this problem with the current pregnant ewe taken care of, that I'll find out. The last who sold them to us said she'll come over to look at them and bring some kopertox with her in case it's skald. I'm fairly certain it's not foot rot.


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## mystang89 (Jun 13, 2019)

The lady was kind enough to come over yesterday and take a look at the hoof. She said it didn't look like skald nor foot rot which I agree with. She said it looked like she stepped on something. Hooves are put solid so I'm not so sure about that although when she trimmed the hooves she did end up cutting into the quick. This was over a week or 2 ago though and she is just now limping. There is a small area on her hoof that is very tender, not like the hoof is being eaten away or anything, just real tender and easily bleeds when need with. She put some horse thrush medicine on it for disinfectant and my wife wrapped it in Coban to give it a bit of padding.

I'll just play the way and see game.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 13, 2019)

Could be a bruise or an abcess starting.   Either could be from stepping onto something.   It's a wait & see...but, definitely watch and the bandaging may be enough to help if it is "only" a bruise.   Didn't see any puncture wound?   If so, then that may be another consideration...healing and keeping out infection.


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## mystang89 (Jun 13, 2019)

My wife was worried about the thrush medicine not being correct since it's a fungal and she's more thinking we'll need to worry about bacterial so I'm going to see about an antibacterial. I'm fairly sure you could just use alcohol as a disinfectant but better safe than sorry.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 13, 2019)

We had one that had a hoof problem that we weren't sure about and the vet said it was bacterial.  We got some Nuflor from the vet and the hoof was fine in just a few days.  It is not cheap though.


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## mystang89 (Jun 14, 2019)

Purchased a used haybine today and I'll probably be purchasing hay baler from the same person. Not too far from me and reasonably priced. He gave me a lot of info which I never had access to and free reign to ask whatever questions I needed. He had a farmhand wheel rake as well which he's willing to sell but I'm not sure about it.

I've owned a wheel rake before and wasn't very impressed by it. I really don't think it picked up as much of the hay as could have been picked up. I was thinking about a bar rake. I've heard different things about both; one person likes this one, another person likes that one, but what are your thoughts on regards to them. Do you prefer one over the other? If so, what do you like it dislike about them?


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## mystang89 (Jun 15, 2019)

Children, wife, and I went for a road trip to Illinois to pick up another sheep with a ram lamb. Four hour trip one way, four back, with 8 children in the car and all survived. Mentally the wife and I are done, physically we're ok. 

The Sheep are fine too. It's a ewe dam  (Henrietta) and  her 1 week old lamb, both cute as could be. The ewe is supposedly an awassi, East Freisian, Karakul mix. Her dam was purchased from Karras Farm. I say supposedly because I'm not all that confident in Karras' records. I'll get pics of her and her ram tomorrow. 

We'll probably end up keeping this ram since it's new blood and has both Awassi and Karakul in it along with Sunny, out 50% Awassi/Lacaune ram from Bruce. That gives us a good genetic line to work with. 

Henrietta seems to be a great mom just from first impressions, teats are a bit smaller than I like (especially since Karras farms say they breed specifically for large teats) but they are larger than Clara's. (The ewe that is a terrible mother. Actually, calling her a mother at all is an offence again that word.) Anyway, the teats are manageable and the udder is decent size. Seems to be good stock to work with.

BTW, whoever lives in Illinois, sorry for that weather. Wow. Do you all ever see the sun? Everytime I go through the is a torrential downpour.


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## Baymule (Jun 16, 2019)

Congrats on the new sheep and on surviving the trip with 8 children. LOL LOL


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## mystang89 (Jun 18, 2019)

A new addition just arrived to our growing herd. We came home from some errands and this little thing had just gotten here not more than 10 minutes prior.



 
Mother took to her nicely it seems. Cleaned her up, fed her etc. Was something nice to watch on this rainy day.
Now the children are in the front pasture playing in the "pool". Really, it's just an area which collects rain water when there's too much for the steam.


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## mystang89 (Jun 18, 2019)

Here's a pic of Henrietta and her ram. The ram I'll probably end up keeping. We named him Dewey as we purchased him from Dewey, IL. Original right?




I love the color in her plus her personality is just so gentle and meek. Really great sheep so far. Can't wait to get her out of quarenteen.


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## Baymule (Jun 18, 2019)

Congrats on the new lamb.


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## mystang89 (Jun 19, 2019)

Just a little piece of my heaven. Sheep are getting used to each other. Well, the lambs run the herd and the ewes are getting used to that lol.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 19, 2019)

That was a new one for me.


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## Baymule (Jun 19, 2019)

That was cute.


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## mystang89 (Jun 19, 2019)

I think I might train that ram to be my herding ram so I don't have to round em all up at night.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 19, 2019)

I had to watch it twice....thought it was a border collie....


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## mystang89 (Jun 20, 2019)

Went around the fencing this morning because something was grounding it the electric wire.


 

I forgot to hang the "No frogs trespassing"sign.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 20, 2019)

Pre-cooked!  LOL


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## mrs.mystang89 (Jun 20, 2019)

I can't believe that frog tried to jump such a high fence!  That is amazing (and so sad lol)!


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 20, 2019)

Have ate many fried frog legs in my days....tho, none were "fried" on a fence....and those legs are "toothpicks" compared to bullfrog legs....


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## mystang89 (Jun 20, 2019)

CntryBoy777 said:


> Have ate many fried frog legs in my days....tho, none were "fried" on a fence....and those legs are "toothpicks" compared to bullfrog legs....



Lol, we're going to have frog legs when you get home tonight @mrs.mystang89 !


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## mrs.mystang89 (Jun 20, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Lol, we're going to have frog legs when you get home tonight @mrs.mystang89



I am sure that once we feed the kids there won't be much left for me, so I  will take one for the team and eat something else


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 20, 2019)

That's a good woman there - sacrificing for her family!  LOL


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## Bruce (Jun 20, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> I can't believe that frog tried to jump such a high fence!  That is amazing (and so sad lol)!


Me either, especially since it could have just hopped through the wire fence.


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## mystang89 (Jun 21, 2019)

Bruce said:


> Me either, especially since it could have just hopped through the wire fence.


Darwinism at its finest lol


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## Baymule (Jun 21, 2019)

Make sure you cut the legs behind the knee or they will jump out of the frying pan!


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## mystang89 (Jun 25, 2019)

Purchase a Massey hay baler today and got it home safe and sound, no tires blown like the haybine. Just bought another time for that today. I'll probably go out tomorrow and cut the pasture with it. If anyone has ag of wisdom they like to share about how to know if you're grass is ready to be cut feel free to share. One person told me that when the grass gets a bit below your knees it's ready. I'm sure that depends on what grass but it's a starting point for me.

We're trying to get water run to the barn so we can clean things or there when we milk. The line runs 113ft so that's how far my son and I dug the ditch. 113ft....of gravel...gravel that was 4" thick in the shallow parts and close to 1' thick in other parts. After the gravel came the easy stuff to dig, clay. Good ol' clay. I have more blisters on my hand than I've had in a while and they're in spots I didn't know I could get them lol.

Another thing started was rewiring the barn and placing lights in areas that actually need them, like the stalls for starters. Also fixed a few that had been broken from before we moved in. Almost done with that project.

The tractor tire is low and I'm REALLY hoping the bead broke. I'll try to air out up again them keep an eye on it. If it sinks again I'll take it off, break the bead completely, then seal the bead again and air it again. That doesn't work, I'll cry and hope my tears fix it.


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## Baymule (Jun 25, 2019)

If the tears don't work, try throwing something and stomping on it. It may not fix it, but it sure feels good.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 25, 2019)

I love your posts but I hope the tire is OK in spite of losing air.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 25, 2019)

If ya have blisters that haven't popped yet....ya can get a sterilized sewing needle and prick it close to the edge of it, ya can absord the fluid with gauze or TP is what I use, and then push the skin down to the raw....they will seal together and ya can work with it without bandages....just wear gloves....if they have already popped and the skin came off already.....just think of that tire and shed the tears as ya shove your hands in as warm as ya can stand hot water and salt....ya can put em in and take em out as many times as ya wish, but keep doing it til they don't sting anymore.....with the first one, the skin will grow off and by that time the raw will toughen.....


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## farmerjan (Jun 26, 2019)

A few suggestions on hay cutting.  Depending on the grass type......For optimal nutrition you want to cut just as it starts to make seed heads.  If it is alfalfa or clover, cut when 10 % is in bloom.  CUT earlier than later for better quality.  Our orchard grass we try to get cut first cutting as we see the first "heading out".  It never happens that way due to the weather/  rain almost always puts us behind. For us, we start when we get the first window, and the hay is usually knee high or more. We just cut a field of orchard grass that had headed out and was brown.  Way over mature; but it did scatter alot of seed back on the ground so the reseeding was not a waste.  There was alot of 2nd growth coming up through it so it was still palatable but definitely NOT optimal nutrition. We cut alot of places, rented, given to us, whatever.  So we start with the first place that is getting heads and work from there.  If you have a small number of acres, you can do a better job of getting it at the right time - IF THE WEATHER CO-OPERATES.  I am sure the guy you got  the hay equipment from will tell you that.   Any hay that is not moldy is better than snowballs in the winter.  Sure better quality is the goal.  You can supplement their feed with alfalfa pellets and/or some grain... but they need the hay/roughage so over mature is better than none. 
For second cutting, you need to determine the type of grass or forage.  OG we cut 2nd cutting when it just looks tall enough to make cutting worthwhile. It does not get the seedheads for 2nd cutting.  I will try to measure the height on ours to give you an idea when ours is close to ready to cut. The same principles apply to alfalfa with the bloom.  Do not cut alfalfa close to frost.  Wait until after the first frost for the last cutting so the crowns and roots are going into dormancy.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

Thanks for the info @farmerjan ! Quick question. Why not wait for the grass to get seed heads for the second cutting like you can for the first? Why is there a difference in the nutritional value when, in my mind, everything seems the same?

I'd still like to find an expert to help figure out what the majority of my pasture is but just my limited research makes me think it's a mix of Timothy,  clover and tall fescue. Grasses all look the same to me in pictures though (except clover, that one is pretty easy lol).



farmerjan said:


> Any hay that is not moldy is better than snowballs in the winter.



Words to live by!

I truly do appreciate the knowledge shared by members here. It's unfortunate, but many of the old timers that are repositories of knowledge around here are doing off and the people who came after them didn't want to soak up that knowledge, deeming it useless. This makes finding things out much more difficult and it's in large part thanks to the charity of persons like you all that I have even this imperfect knowledge. Hopefully I can pass that on to my children and they can perfect it in time. 

Oh yeah, almost forgot to share this epic race my son and I are privileged to see. I think if we had blinked we probably would have missed it.


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## Bruce (Jun 26, 2019)

Which snail did you bet on?



mystang89 said:


> The tractor tire is low and I'm REALLY hoping the bead broke. I'll try to air out up again them keep an eye on it. If it sinks again I'll take it off, break the bead completely, then seal the bead again and air it again.


Maybe a stupid question but why do you hope the bead broke rather than there be a pluggable hole??



mystang89 said:


> I have more blisters on my hand than I've had in a while and they're in spots I didn't know I could get them lol.


I take it you don't have a backhoe on the tractor. That's a long way to dig through gravel and clay.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

If the bead is broke I figure it'll be about as easy to fix as a car tire that's bead is broke. As for the plug, I had read that they don't last long at all. All of this is just stuff that I've read though which as we all know can be very different from reality.

I just finished cutting the pasture. MANY questions forthcoming tonight lol.

Edit. Oh and nope, no backhoe or ditch witch.


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## Bruce (Jun 26, 2019)

I don't know about tractors but plugs in the tread (can't fix sidewall holes) can last many many many thousands of miles.


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## greybeard (Jun 26, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> If anyone has ag of wisdom they like to share about how to know if you're grass is ready to be cut feel free to share. One person told me that when the grass gets a bit below your knees it's ready. I'm sure that depends on what grass but it's a starting point for me.



One word.
*Boot*


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## Baymule (Jun 26, 2019)

You need some ducks to eat those snails, they are hosts to developmental stages of liver flukes.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

greybeard said:


> One word.
> *Boot*


Boot... Like a boot to kick some sense in me?


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## mrs.mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

Check out what I saw crossing the road on my way to work this morning. I love this neighborhood we call home


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## frustratedearthmother (Jun 26, 2019)

cool!


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## Baymule (Jun 26, 2019)

Boot stage is just as the seedhead starts to form. Look it up and read for more detail.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

I don't know why but it won't let me load the actual picture so you'll have to DL it to see but these two pics are of my property.  The first one is the original, no markings on it and the second shows the way in which I tried to cut the hay today.  As you see in the picture I started out in a counter clockwise motion so the tractor tires wouldn't be running over the grass I was about to mow.  This placed the haybine on the inside.  Each time I went around the pasture, the tires on the tractor would run with the cut hay neatly in between them.  I started running into problems though as the more hay I cut, the sharper the turns became and the more grass my tires would run over and along with my tires the haybine as well would then run over the grass that was in a neat row.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't want to be running over the grass with the tractor because then I compact it down and make it take longer to dry.  I don't want to be running over the rows of hay with the haybine because it:

1.) messes up the rows.
2.) cuts the grass a second time which then makes it smaller
3.) ....I'm sure there's a third I just can't think of it.  This is much nicer with a 3 though so feel free to insert a reason of your own 

Anyway, as I say, the more I go around the pasture, the sharper the turns. I wanted to go up and down the pasture as you see stripes in the grass on some persons lawn but if I did that then the tires of the tractor would be running over the grass that I haven't cut yet.  Everyone YouTube video I watched shows the tractor running on the outside so it didn't run over the uncut hay.  

How is it you all would run this show?  The area is about....3 ish acres so that part isn't much but I'd like to get as much hay outta it as possible plus I'd just like to learn better ways of cutting hay.  I know there are other people around here, (my neighbor) who wouldn't mind me cutting their hay so I'd like as much info as possible so I don't butcher their pasture and make it as easy as possible on me.

In the link below you'll see how I turned some of those corners.  The haybine literally pivots the spot and keeps doing its thing while the tractor just a great job of running over every row of cut hay I could possibly find in a 5 mile radius.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

greybeard said:


> One word.
> *Boot*





Baymule said:


> Boot stage is just as the seedhead starts to form. Look it up and read for more detail.



Thank you.  Just looks it up.  I'd say I was a bit past the boot stage.  When you have different types of grasses in the pasture and they have different stages of seeding, do you just go with the grass which is more predominant?


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## farmerjan (Jun 26, 2019)

Okay, first off. About the tractor tire. Most holes are not "pluggable" and the plugs will not last due to the type of tread on a tractor tire.  The plug would not be between the treads as tractor tires don't have those type treads.  You can have a tire place, usually have to find one that has the equipment to work on big tractor tires though, put a boot inside the tire where there is a hole.  It is like a "patch" that goes inside, gets "glued in" and will seal it from the inside.  Most put a tube in after putting in a boot.  If the inside of the tire is rough, from some damage/hole/whatever, it is like a smooth patch so that the tube won't rub and then get a hole in it and go flat. Plus most tractor tires have liquid calcium in them which helps with weight, and such.  Only someone experienced with tractor tires can recover most of that and put it back into a new tire(tube). Boots are also put inside large truck tires.
Obviously, you got it fixed/blown up in order to run it to cut.

Boot stage is what @Baymule  said.  As far as why not let the hay get seed heads the second time, they usually don't get to that stage.  The grass/plant puts all it's effort into growing as fast as it can in the spring to be able to make a seed head to reproduce.  That is what nature designed them for.  If it has made a seedhead, even in the boot stage, it has "completed its task" and will not make another seedhead.  It will continue to grow blades that will feed the roots through photosynthesis, but the reproduction (seed heads) is done.  The second cutting also will not grow as tall nor will it be as coarse a stem.  2nd and third cutting is what we make nearly all into small square bales.  The hay has a higher quality protein because it is not so much "stalk" which is lignin, which is to support the seed head.  Plus you get into hotter weather, the cool season grasses do not perform in the hotter temps, and there is usually less moisture.  The cool season grasses will go dormant in the heat. So they will not get near as tall. 

You manage your hayfields according to the "majority" plants.  Mostly orchard grass, you manage it for that;  mostly alfalfa you manage/cut for the optimum output of that.


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## mystang89 (Jun 26, 2019)

Thanks again @farmerjan !

@mrs.mystang89 Those peacocks missed that No trespassing sign. We may never see them again now


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## farmerjan (Jun 26, 2019)

After you make several trips around the pasture, then you can do one of 2 things.  You can  make a cut down the middle, splitting the size of the section you are cutting. Yes you will run over the uncut grass for one trip.  Then when you get to the end of the long side, pick up the haybine, and proceed over the cut grass and line up and go down the long side again.  You quit making corners with the haybine.  You proceed to just make straight rows.  And when you cut the section you ran the tractor tires over that was not cut, cut it from the opposite direction that you ran over it.  If you run it slow enough, it will pick up all the hay you bent over by running the tractor on the uncut portion.  Or you can just pick up the mower, travel over the cut hay, around the field not cutting anything,  and then drop the mower and proceed to cut the other side. 
Most of us here, actually make our first cut around the outside with the tractor against the fence or whatever the perimeter is, and the mower is on the inside.  So the original cut is like the 2nd row in.  Then go back and mow the outside with the tractor on the cut row.  It is for the safety of making sure there are no obstructions/trees/down fence/wire/groundhog holes/  WHATEVER you can imagine, to come across with the mower.  The width of the tractor is usually close to the width of the mown row, so it is not a problem.  The hay is usually tall and you can't see an obstacle in time to stop and most problems will be along the outside row.  Rather run up on a down tree hidden in the hay with the tractor than to run a piece up in the mower and tear it up.  Also, we have alot of rock and ledges, and it just seems that the D#*#ed groundhogs will dig a new hole near the edge of a field and they are great at bringing up rocks and such that we inevitably hit. 
A haybine is not near as bad as throwing stuff that it picks up as a discbine is.  We used a haybine for years, that is what I learned to mow with.  I do not use the discbine.  It is bigger, mows much faster and is more dangerous.  YOU HAVE TO use a closed cab tractor with a discbine.  If the blades, which sorta  look like the blades you can use on a weedeater  but bigger and sharper, hit something, it will throw it.  They operate as VERY FAST SPEEDS, and if a blade hits something and it breaks, they have been known to hit and break the back glass window on a tractor.  They can hit and injure or kill an operator.  Had one hit a fist sized rock last year and shattered the window behind my son.  If he had been in an open cab tractor he could have been hit and hurt or killed.  They mow fast, get down hay real good, and are a time saver but they can be dangerous.  Not for an inexperienced person.  A haybine like you are using, with the cutter bar.... is safer, and slower and great for someone who is not making hay in the quantities we are.  And believe me, alot easier and cheaper to replace a few teeth/blades on it.


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## mystang89 (Jun 27, 2019)

Thank you once again @farmerjan .  Quick question.  When I split the field in half after I go around it a few times, and line my tractor up so that I'm going in straight lines won't I end up running over with the tractor tires what I cut when I was cutting the perimeter at least until I get the tractor lined up again?  And this would happen each time I lined my tractor up to cut the straight lines?  Is the amount of hay ran over by the tires negligible that it won't really make a difference?


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## farmerjan (Jun 27, 2019)

Once it is cut, there is no "damage" to the green hay laying on the ground.  If you split the field, you make one pass down the center, running over uncut hay with the tractor.  Then when you get to the end, you will be running over cut hay to make the swing to come back to cut the next straight row.  It won't hurt the already cut hay.  There is nothing to hurt.  Unless you are running through mud and getting it dirty or something, it is simply there. It has to dry, and running over it will simply compress  the stems a bit.


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## mystang89 (Jun 27, 2019)

Thank you. I thought that by running over it again that I would increase the drying time. I went and bought the wheel rake from the same man today so that's where I'll be. 

How close to the ground do you lower the tines of the wheels and how fast is best to go?


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## mystang89 (Jun 27, 2019)

Just finished raking.  Learning experience.  At first I was leaving large amounts of hay on the ground but as I went, I constantly adjusted the rake to where I thought was the best fit and also my speed.  I feel like I just came from school.  Don't go too fast, you'll leave hay behind.  Don't go too slow, your wheels won't turn in order to pick up the hay.  Don't put that wheel so close to the ground.  You'll break the tines.  No, just have the wheel too high, you're not going to pick what's on the ground up dummy.  By the end of it, I was satisfied with what I had learned.  Still don't know where to put the tines but it seems like if they are 1/2 in off the ground that should be ok.  That lets them pick hay up but gives them enough play room that if the wheel bounces it's not going to get stuck in the ground....always.  My speed was 3 gear low half throttle.  Second gear low full throttle was too slow, third full was too fast, Goldy Locks was just right.

One thing I never could figure out was how to NOT run over the rows that are going around the perimeter when you are making your straight lines? This doesn't have a 3 point hitch so I just run over the outside rows.

Much of the reason it was more difficult than it should have been was because of how I cut the hay yesterday and left the rows.  Towards the 3rd or 4th hour of my raking, I think NASA was looking at my windrows wondering if I was trying communicate with aliens.

Still curious how I know whether the springs on the wheel rake need to be replaced.  Are they too springy?  Is it just when they snap?

Oh, and note to self.  BRING HAMMER!  That darn bar which you have to move in order to adjust where the Wheel rake spreads out too is a PITA to take in and out of those darn holes!

For those of you who aren't prone to seizures due to videos jarring motion, here is a vid of my NOT picking up hay because.....me.


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## farmerjan (Jun 27, 2019)

Okay.  Your wheel rake is different from any we use for several reasons.  First off, all of ours are V rake which means there are 2 sets of wheels that funnel the hay back into the center. You are basically using this one as a single row rake.  If I had known that/seen a picture, I would have told you to get the roller bar rake.  I don't believe that this one has any hydraulics?  When we use the wheel rakes, V-shape, for raking 2 rows together, the hydraulics let the wheels down and then you set the lever in the "float" position.  The wheels run on the ground, but they will bounce some with the springs. The tines have basically an L shape, so the flatter part actually runs on the ground and that is what helps to pick up the hay.  They HAVE to run on the ground or they will miss too much of the hay.  If yours has to be set at a certain height, it will drag on uneven ground because it cannot adjust to the ups and downs in the ground.  A roller bar rake you set and you want the bottoms of the tines to just drag the ground but not dig in.  So I am not very much help for you.  We had a one row wheel rake somewhat like that one and found it was more pain than not and could accomplish what we were doing with the roller bar rake better.
One other thing, you have to keep the wheel on the outside of the hay so that it starts the process of rolling it up.  You cannot get the outside wheel on the actual hay or you defeat your own purpose of catching the hay so it will roll.
Also, because it is a "fixed wheel" rake, you do not have the hydraulics to pick it up at the end of the rows, so you have to use this as you would a roller bar rake.  Rake from the outside in so you do not run over all the mown hay on the outside rows.  I was going on the premise that as you got to the end of the straight rows, you would be picking up the rake to go around to the next row you wanted to start down.
I know I am probably not making alot of sense to you.  It is very difficult to explain it without showing you.  I have a very old simple flip phone, and cannot take pictures with it to send in.
Another thing, you want to only roll the hay into the green grass area between the rows.  You do not want to roll it over on top of the other row of hay as the idea is to have it "up" in the air so to speak, not laying flat.  By the looks of the grass you mowed, it is fairly fine bladed.  So you would roll 1 row into the center, then go down the other side and roll the other row into the center so they basically meet in the middle.  It allows for any needed drying and makes a windrow that the baler can more easily pick up.  So when you rake, basically you want to start the outside wheel, right NEXT to the row you ARE NOT raking, catch the whole row you want to rake, roll it over into the greener area, then come down the other side and rake that row into the center.  If the hay were really thick and tall, you could single windrow it and so you would be basically turning the row over into the space between the next row. 

Sorry I didn't see the wheel rake you were talking about first.  I haven't seen a single row wheel rake in probably 35 years so never even thought about it.  I apologize if I confused you as I was telling you what I knew based on what we have here.


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## mystang89 (Jun 27, 2019)

Thanks very much @farmerjan !  You straightened out much of what I did wrong for me.  For instance, I rolled 2 rows on top of one another.  First I raked the left row closer to the right, then went back and rolled the right row on to the left I had just raked instead of just next to each other.  Much of it is still clear as mud for me but that is definitely not your fault.  It's simply what happens when you don't have a teacher right there with you.  I'll get it learned though.  It may take me longer but with your help and the help of everyone else, it'll get done.  Might not look pretty, but done is better than pretty =P

Besides, I have my neighbors field I can practice on too LOL.


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## mystang89 (Jun 28, 2019)

Baled hay for the first time with a Massey Furgeson 12. One problem I seem to be having is the left twine keeps not getting tied or slips out from around the bale which means the bale comes out all over the place. It happens maybe every 7 - 10 bales. Thia isn't so much of a problem as I can just throw the hay back through the baler but twine isn't free.

Got the water heater for the barn today. Still working on the leaks, hopefully tomorrow will get that fixed.

Also got the cylinder for the well today. That'll hopefully get out together but next Thursday? I'll fit mowing in there somewhere.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 28, 2019)

Have you figured out what you are going to do with all of your spare time?


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## farmerjan (Jun 28, 2019)

Mike CHS said:


> Have you figured out what you are going to do with all of your spare time?


  That's what we say......


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## farmerjan (Jun 28, 2019)

It isn't the end of the world to rake one row on top of the other, but by doing so, if there are any not quite cured spots, they will be green when you bale and can cause mold or even heating to where a fire is possible.  The baler will pick up the hay better if it is "fluffed" up off the ground.  That said, if it is light, then I have raked 3 rows together and there fore one basically is on top of another one.  But they are still "up off the ground" if that makes sense.  
Knotters not tying are curse that every one of us that square bales has to deal with.  My son knows alot more about that than I do.  Suffice to say that we have our square baler worked on about every other year for things like it missing tying one of the strings. They get worn and don't always catch right.  Yep, it wastes string.... no way to "re-use" string either.  I make alot of lead ropes, and tie out ropes by braiding the baling strings.  Looking for a pattern of some sort to use them to braid a mat of sorts to use in front of the door.  When it gets crummy from muddy feet,  toss it.
Unless you can ride with someone and learn by doing/watching them, then it is really a trial and error.  And no offense, because ALL of our balers are used;  but any used baler will have some quirks and the biggest thing is the knife doesn't cut the hay off and the knotters don't tie. 
One other trick, when square baling...... if you run the baler pickup towards the "outside of the windrow"  then the hay will feed into the chamber better.  If you notice, the sweep will run from the outside towards the chamber, so the more hay on the outside section, it will feed in better, and it will pack tighter too. It will ball up sometimes if you run the baler over the hay and have it closer to the chamber, so the sweep doesn't have to pull it across, and there is nothing more of a pain than to have to stop and shut it down and sit under it and pull hay out that didn't feed in right.  
The farmer that taught me to square bale in Ct also said something that I will never forget.  If the windrows are heavy, use higher RPM'S and slower ground speed.  So to slow the tractor down going forward, but keep the rpm's up so the baler doesn't run "overtop" of the hay too fast.  Quickest way to get it "stuffed up" and break a shear pin because you were trying to put hay through it too fast.   And buy a dozen shear "pins" or bolts at a time.  They are supposed to break rather than break something serious inside the baler.


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## farmerjan (Jun 28, 2019)

If one string is not tying as tight, you need to check the tension.  On our square baler, there are 2 cranks right near/above where the knotters are.  You have to make sure they are cranked down the same or the bales will come out uneven and one string will be tight and the other will be looser.  The thing to do is "uncrank" them all the way then to crank each the same number of times.  Or at this point, crank down the one on the side that seems to be tying looser a couple turns.  Bale a few bales, see if the strings seem to be more even.  If not then crank a little more.  Trial and error on that too.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 28, 2019)

I'm feeling better about the cost of hay.


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## mystang89 (Jun 28, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> And buy a dozen shear "pins" or bolts at a time.



Yeah, I found out about that shear pin. I got ready to start baling today when the only thing that spun was the PTO shaft. Being as how I had no clue how this thing worked I started looking at the fly wheel where it hooked up to the PTO shaft. Turns out it was missing a "bolt"so I put one in and it worked. Knowing now that it was a shear pin I'll buy one when I get a chance.

As I was baling I did noticed in some of those areas where I hadn't cut well, (read completely missed), that the baling tines were picking up a bit of grass that hadn't been cut. I'll leave the bales out of the barn, but still covered.


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## farmerjan (Jun 28, 2019)

On the shear bolts.  You DO NOT  want a "hard bolt".  You want it to break if there is too much pressure against it.  You obviously saw how the PTO shaft was turning and the flywheel wasn't and found the hole for the bolt.  So do not get a hardened bolt....I think you want something like a grade 5 or less.  They are cheap insurance AGAINST breaking something serious if the flywheel doesn't stop turning.  
If the baler just was picking up random green grass I wouldn't worry too much about it.  It is mixed in with your dry hay so shouldn't be a problem.  I was mostly referring to clumps of mown hay that didn't cure and was still "green",  that would feed into the baler and make the bales "heavy".  Believe me, you will learn pretty quick if a bale feels heavy and will know that there is "green" in it. If it does nothing else, it will mold. But they have been known to get hot and can cause a fire if packed into a barn tight.


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## Baymule (Jun 29, 2019)

@farmerjan you are a wealth of information and you are a Blessing to people here on BYH with your generous sharing of your years of experience.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 29, 2019)

If you have ever "picked up in the field" you sure can "feel" that heavy bale!   They are all heavy but, the one that is way heavy, you set aside.  Those balers will kick out pretty darn close to same weight in a field of similar grass.

I watch the hay I buy grow...my goats sometimes go sample it -- taste testing  is important...I watch it cut and baled.   These guys have the accumulator, picker upper, that picks it up, lays them out and then flips that entire flat of hay up and repeats.  They end with a huge block of hay -- maybe 120 bales ??? -- that all goes to the hay barn.   Cool to watch!!   One guy, one tractor, wham, bam, up & gone.  Fast.

Is that what you are mentioning above, Farmer Jan?   The Alfalfa/Orchard I just got is unreal!  90% alf, young, excellent, 2nd cut.     Can't wait for Aug baling.


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## mystang89 (Jun 29, 2019)

Baymule said:


> @farmerjan you are a wealth of information and you are a Blessing to people here on BYH with your generous sharing of your years of experience.


Couldn't have said it better.


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## farmerjan (Jun 29, 2019)

@Mini Horses  I know what you are talking about.  It's a stacker and it will stand up and put the hay in stacks that can be backed into a barn and stood up and that's that.  No the "cuber" is something newer.. The square bales some out of the baler on a chute, it feeds into this cuber and it puts like, 21 or 27 or something into an actual "cube" and that cube is wrapped with the baling twine.  It can be picked up with a set of forks like on a skid loader.  The twine they use is like what is put on the 3x3x4 or 4x6 big bales.  Extra thick and heavy.  But this cuber actually puts the bales into a "cube" that can be loaded into the back of a pickup with a set of forks and the person buying it doesn't have to worry about stacking hay on the truck or trailer.  They are kinda neat...I've seen them on youtube, if you search it you can see them. I have never seen the stackers in person, but have seen video's of them Yeah, they are a one man thing too.  Thing is, you have to have the barn area so they can fit in and stand up and stack the hay.  A small downside for some operations, especially like us having the use of an older barn that has "haymows" on the sides that a stacker can't get to.  Cuber doesn't really work for that either....


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## farmerjan (Jun 30, 2019)

Just in case anyone does go looking for a hay "cuber"..... the machine that bundles square bales into a "cube" is better known as a bundler rather than a cuber.  A true cuber actually makes cubes out of hay, like buying cubes to feed animals.  The bundlers I am referring to are like the Bale Baron or the Bale Bandit.  Because they bundle the hay into a cube, it is often referred to a cuber here but that is not the proper term.  There are also several different types of sq bale gatherers, a friend has one to help make sq baling less labor intensive.


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## Baymule (Jun 30, 2019)

Here they call that super cool attachment an accumulator. It accumulates the square bales into groups of 8 in the field. We bought square bales from a guy in 2011 during a drought and he loaded up the flat bed trailer with his accumulator hooks. Awesome to watch him lower that thing, engage the hooks and pick up 8 bales at once. Even more awesome that we didn't have to load and stack the bales on the trailer.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 30, 2019)

Yeah, my guy had an accumulator.  This one now doesn't leave them, it keeps them on the equipment and there he goes with 8-10 accumulators worth, to the barn.  It is amazing to watch.

Comes back empty and starts again.


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## farmerjan (Jun 30, 2019)

The accumulator that you are talking about does not band the square bales together with twine.  The bales do collect usually on a trailer that slides them off on the ground then the grapple like hooks pick them up and puts the whole "flat" of hay on a wagon/trailer.  The one our neighbor has you pull on the ground, it follows the baler.  There are several that look somewhat like a flat trailer, and it slides a full flat off to be picked up later.  The bundler ties them into the cube.... like putting plastic shrink wrap on a stack  that is on a pallet.  So all you have to do is take a skid loader or front end loader on a tractor with "pallet forks" and pick them up and put directly on a trailer.  They all accomplish the idea of not manually handling the bales. Faster and the bales are "tight" together.  But all those pieces of equipment cost and you have to get more for your hay because they cost alot more than having human help.  Problem is we can't get the human help anymore.  
At 30,000 for a bundler, if you made and sold 3,000 bales a year and charged 1.00 per bale more than what you get now, it would take 10 years to pay it off, not counting interest. And these things take more horsepower, fuel, and the wear and tear so by 10 years they are needing some work.  The accumulator is not as expensive, but then you have to have another piece of equipment -the grapple- to use to load with.  That means a FEL with live hydraulics, or some can use the back 3 pt hitch but they can't lift it very high and it still takes hydraulics.


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## farmerjan (Jun 30, 2019)

The one that @Mini Horses neighbor uses probably puts it on a wagon, one "flat" at a time but in an upright position.  Those wagons are not cheap either but it is a good way to get a whole wagon load of hay stacked in the barn quickly.  Needs enough room to back that wagon in and for it to be able to unload. There are lots of videos to see the different types of ways to handle square bales.


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## Bruce (Jul 1, 2019)

I've seen videos where every step is a pass with the tractor, mow, ted, rake, bale, accumulate, pick up the bale square and place it on a flatbed. Most recently I saw one where the rake, bale and accumulate steps were combined into one pass. Must take a pretty powerful tractor to pull all three machines at one time but sure cuts down on time needed. I'm sure it also helps remove much of the decision making on how to spend extra money since there won't be any for a long time .


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## mystang89 (Jul 1, 2019)

Bruce said:


> I've seen videos where every step is a pass with the tractor, mow, ted, rake, bale, accumulate, pick up the bale square and place it on a flatbed. Most recently I saw one where the rake, bale and accumulate steps were combined into one pass. Must take a pretty powerful tractor to pull all three machines at one time but sure cuts down on time needed. I'm sure it also helps remove much of the decision making on how to spend extra money since there won't be any for a long time .


When does the hay have time to dry?


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## Bruce (Jul 1, 2019)

They ted it first, then rake, bale, accumulate. I'm no haymaker but I gather that it is supposed to be dry after tedding or it shouldn't be raked and baled. BUT there is some sort of chemical you can spray on it to keep it from molding after baling if it is just a bit not dry enough. Based on moisture content and sprayed on the hay before it is baled. I expect that is another not cheap machine. In the video I saw, the guy had a moisture meter in the cab of the tractor that was reading moisture content as the hay was picked up by the baler.


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## mystang89 (Jul 1, 2019)

I never would have guessed that making hay paid enough to warrant purchasing all that.


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## Baymule (Jul 1, 2019)

either t


mystang89 said:


> I never would have guessed that making hay paid enough to warrant purchasing all that.


Either that or somebody needs a tax write off.


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## farmerjan (Jul 1, 2019)

Haymaking doesn't pay enough to warrant those costs unless you are getting into custom work;  or you have some very high quality alfalfa that is in some of the western states that is irrigated, and the weather allows for it to be cut every 28-35 days and dried perfect in the no humidity weather, and you have a market for it.  Alot of alfalfa is shipped overseas believe it or not.  There are probably some other markets, but the thing is to afford equipment like that you need the markets and the product to sell.  Quality is everything when you are getting premium prices.  Our weather here really is too "IFFY"  to really justify that kind of investment.  We could control the irrigation so it got perfect water amounts required(until we had a wet year like last year).... but can't control the weather to get it made on time.  That is where the more arid west has a lock on it.  But then the water costs are through the sky.....
If tedded out, and the weather co-operates, then yes you can rake, bale and accumulate all in one pass.  And yes, you need a good sized tractor to run it.  But the accumulator runs on its own power, it is not dependent on the tractor or PTO.  If pulling a rake, then the baler probably has it's own power/motor.  It couldn't run off a PTO from the tractor either.  But you would need a decent amount of HP just to keep it all moving along smoothly.  
I was raking just 2 windrows ahead of my son on the one orchard grass field that one evening.  It was dry, and I got 4 windrows, when the sky turned black.  He got there with the baler and told me to only have 2 rows ahead of him in case it did rain, I wouldn't have to tedd out the whole field again.  We were lucky and got it all baled and then it rained later.  The 14 wheel v rake ( 7 on a side) was putting 2 rows together.  Did a nearly 12 acre field in less than 3 hours, with me slowing my speed to not get too far ahead of him.  I could have gotten it raked in about 2 1/2.  But it basically a straight shot, open field, just a little gradual slope.  Makes a difference when you are not raking around corners, or obstacles like rocks, trees, ledges and such that TEAR UP a baler.


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## mystang89 (Jul 2, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> Did a nearly 12 acre field in less than 3 hours



Took me nearly 3 hours just to make my 3 acres or so into a windrow lol. But I'm ok with that. It felt great finally being able to make my own hay, from my own pasture, for my own sheep.

I think after all was said and done I ended up with somewhere around 60+ bales although many of those were far too loose. I'll need to work on where to adjust the tentioner when I do it again.


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## Baymule (Jul 2, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Took me nearly 3 hours just to make my 3 acres or so into a windrow lol. But I'm ok with that. It felt great finally being able to make my own hay, from my own pasture, for my own sheep.
> 
> I think after all was said and done I ended up with somewhere around 60+ bales although many of those were far too loose. I'll need to work on where to adjust the tentioner when I do it again.




Your own hay, from your own pasture for your own sheep. Stand up and be proud. Loose rolled or not, that is a major accomplishment.


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## Bruce (Jul 2, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Took me nearly 3 hours just to make my 3 acres or so into a windrow lol. But I'm ok with that. It felt great finally being able to make my own hay, from my own pasture, for my own sheep.
> 
> I think after all was said and done I ended up with somewhere around 60+ bales although many of those were far too loose. I'll need to work on where to adjust the tentioner when I do it again.


This is your first shot at making hay, yes? I'd guess you did pretty well for the first time, plenty to learn as you go through the steps. I would bet it goes faster and with fewer problems next time.


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## mystang89 (Jul 2, 2019)

Bruce said:


> This is your first shot at making hay, yes? I'd guess you did pretty well for the first time, plenty to learn as you go through the steps. I would bet it goes faster and with fewer problems next time.


I don't know about faster, but I wouldn't mind fewer mistakes.


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## Bruce (Jul 2, 2019)

You and I both know there will be fewer mistakes!!! You learned a lot the first time around. And you asked good questions and got good answers.


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## mystang89 (Jul 13, 2019)

Not a lot to say here.  Just kinda cleaning up the odds and ends jobs.  Put a pop up drain pipe in for the water we just ran to the barn.  It was just running back in the milking parlor but this seemed to fix that problem nicely.  

I've separated all the rams lambs from their dames at night and we are getting around 3.4 lbs of milk a morning, which turns out to be around a little less than half a gal.  This is coming from 3 ewes.  Two of the ewes give about 2 quarts each morning and the third just doesn't have an udder to speak of.  I think she gives around 1 cups...ish....maybe...if I'm generous?  She's on the chopping block in the future once I feel a bit more established.  She's a good mom but how she actually produces enough milk to feed her lamb is beyond me.  He's growing though, nice and healthy and crazy.  Other two are good moms too.  No complaints.  

The East Friesian that we were having feet problems with is still having feet problems.  I honestly don't know her deal.  I don't think it's scald.  I don't think it's foot rot.  Sometimes she limps, sometimes she doesn't.  She's always unsteady on her feet though.  It's like watching an elderly person with hip problems try to walk up a couple steps.  That's what she looks like when walking.  Slow, like she's really struggling.  Feels like it's in the bones or muscles?  Don't know.  I've just taken to watching to see if anything stands out to me.

I'm winding down here now, just relaxing, door to my room closed, when I hear my 14 mo old who is supposed to be in her crib upstairs sleeping, tapping at my door.  My wife and I look at each other and I open the door.  There she is, being held by her older sister, with a face full of blood and a huge smile on her face.  The dichotomy of the face full of blood and the smile had me stumped.  I took her, handed her to the wife and proceeded to go for some wipes to remove said blood.  We asked the older sister what happened and of course she didn't know since she is in the same room, right next to her.....why would she know right.....

My wife asks my my 14mo old daughter who still just babbles, "Did you hit your bed and get a bloody nose?"  My baby, in the happiest, clearest voice ever say, "YES!" 
....Children....


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## Baymule (Jul 13, 2019)

Kids are fun. I went grocery shopping and came home to my son with a fat lip and broken off front tooth. He and his little sister were playing with the BB gun and the story ran, they were shooting at a stump. She shot the stump, close up, the BB bounced off and hit him in the lip, breaking his permanent tooth. Was at the dentist the next day getting it bonded. That night I was tucking in my daughter (she was 5) and she was crying. I asked what's wrong. She sobbed out "Daddy took my gun". Ya' think?

Years later they finally told the truth. She shot him deliberately in the face, he lied to cover for her so she wouldn't get a butt whipping.


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## mystang89 (Jul 14, 2019)

Since we've been pumping a decent amount of milk, (in our opinion,) I've taken to making a bunch of yogurt. Love it. Well, I love it. Like I told my wife, I'll get her to like it to even if it kills her. So far I've done regular vanilla yogurt, strawberry yogurt and banana yogurt. Think my next one will be honey yogurt if I can find enough honey.

Strawberry yogurt:
-1 cup yogurt
-tbs sugar
-1 pint strawberry jam (think that's how much, might have been 2 cups)
          -2 lbs strawberry
          -4 cu sugar (a bit too sweet by itself but when mixed with yogurt it's perfect)
          -1/4 cu lemon juice
-4 pints sheep milk

Banana yogurt
-1 cu yogurt
-1 be cu sugar
- bananas
-4 pints sheep milk

I like mine to be on the thicker side so when the temp reaches 180°f I keep it there for 5 or so minutes. I really like it.

I'd like to make soap but takes to much oil and to darn long. A couple months!?

I'd like to make cheese but I don't have the culture or molds.

If like to make butter and I'll probably go with a real simple butter. It just won't have that smooth consistency that you but at the store.

Children seemed to like the yogurt too.


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## Bruce (Jul 15, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> My baby, in the happiest, clearest voice ever say, "YES!"


Better than screaming her head off for half an hour!!



Baymule said:


> Years later they finally told the truth. She shot him deliberately in the face, he lied to cover for her so she wouldn't get a butt whipping.


Wow, how lucky that the BB didn't go a few inches higher and take out his eye!!


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## animalmom (Jul 15, 2019)

You can make a type of cheese that doesn't need cultures or molds.

This is how I do it, others may have other suggestions:
1 gallon milk in a double boiler
Heat until 180
Slowly add 1/4 cup vinegar or lemon juice
Stir
Turn off the heat
Keep stirring -- you will see the curds start to form
Stir every so often for 15 minutes

Pour into a colander lined with real cheese cloth or light muslin, tie the four corners and hang until it stops dripping.  Put a pan or clean bucket underneath as the liquid that is dripping is whey.

You can add salt, if you want, at the 15 minutes section, but it will turn your cheese slightly brown.  It is the iodine in the salt that does that.

You can add herbs when you put it in the muslin for hanging if you want.

Store your cheese in the refrigerator.  It should keep for about a week.

Very mild, great snacking, great in salads.

If you don't add salt you can make ricotta with the left over whey.

Molds don't need to be anything fancy.  The mold I use when I do chevre is made from the plastic canvas crafters use with needlepoint/cross stitch.  This plastic canvas has nice holes in it and come as round pieces and rectangles.  I hand sew the rectangle to the circle and that's my mold.  Works real well.  You have to line it with muslin, but you have to do that with a store bought mold too.


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## frustratedearthmother (Jul 15, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> I'd like to make cheese but I don't have the culture or molds.


I make a lot of Chevre.  It can be plain or flavored with just about anything you want to flavor it.  You can use this culture for it:

http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/Chevre-Cheese-Starter-Culture.html

You don't need to mold it and it makes overnight.  Really good stuff!


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## Mini Horses (Jul 15, 2019)

Basically, I do as animalmom.  But, I don't use double boiler, just a stainless steel  pan, being careful to stir and not scorch milk.  At temp, I add vinegar, stir a few times, remove from heat and let sit 15 -35 minutes.   Then strain as she does.  At this point, once strained I add salt (kosher or sea salt, no iodine) and then add any seasonings.  I like  basil & garlic powder, oregano & sundried tomatoes, fig & lemon zest or fig & cinnamon.     I don't "mold", just tighten muslin and dump into a bowl.  It will be like a ball or mound of cheese.    I have rolled into a log and then rolled that in herbs or nuts, depending on flavors & use...self, gift, etc.    If adding herbs r dried fruits, leave the cheese moister at draining, as the dried elements will need more moisture.  This cheese does not melt when cooked.   When I have a lot of milk, I make this, leave it looser (less drained) as use as ricotta would be used.

Butter.   Cream in a jar, shake, when you have chunks, drain, add clear water, shake, then massage with a spoon to get all water/whey out as that is what makes it rancid if left.  This massaging with back of spoon can be done in a bowl easier than jar. Add salt if desired, massage it in.  It's as smooth as store bought.    Be sure cream is room temp, not cold.  Also, if you set cream out for 10-15 hrs it will ripen, the bacteria will change the taste -- don't let it sour but, it will age.  Most home butters have had cream aged to some extent. Goat butter is white, sheep butter ?

I love that you are happy will milking and the milk.  But, I chuckle when you mention quantities of sheep milk -- yes, they give less than my goats  (who are full sized breed).   The Nigis give about what sheep do BUT I get 1 to 1.5 gal per goat per day...that's 8=11#.   When I'm working 3, well there is a LOT of cheese & butter going on.  I have no people to help drink.  My cats, chickens & pigs (when I have them) are happy to assist.


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## mystang89 (Jul 16, 2019)

Does Chevre have to be made with goat milk? Every recipe that I've seen seems to use goat milk. I wasn't sure if the milk from goats was so fundamentally different from sheep milk that it would affect the recipe.


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## Mini Horses (Jul 16, 2019)

Home Cheese Making , by Ricki Carroll….pg 11   Sheep's milk is one of the most nutritionally valuable foods a available.  It is high in protein & vitamins, which so often have to be artificially added to our diet.  Sheep's milk contains almost 10% less water than cow or goat milks & is almost twice as high in solids as cow's milk;  therefore, it produces a very high cheese yield -- almost 2.5 times what you would expect from cow/goat milk.

Making cheese...when adding rennet, use 3 to 5 times less than that used for cow's milk & top-stir carefully.  When cutting the curd, make larger cubes, when ladeling, take thicker slices , or you will lose too much butterfat & cheese will be too dry.  Use half the amount of salt called for & exert only light pressure when pressing.

In French "Chevre" means "goat"


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## Bruce (Jul 16, 2019)

Mini Horses said:


> In French "Chevre" means "goat"


So answering the specific question, I guess that means "Yes!". 
Given your description of sheep cheese I guess we need a cheese called "Mouton" or "Brebis"


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## mystang89 (Jul 16, 2019)

Mini Horses said:


> In French "Chevre" means "goat"


Lol, I guess you can't take the "Chevre" out of Chevre cheese!


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## mystang89 (Jul 16, 2019)

Bruce said:


> So answering the specific question, I guess that means "Yes!".
> Given your description of sheep cheese I guess we need a cheese called "Mouton" or "Brebis"


You beat me to it!


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## Mini Horses (Jul 17, 2019)

Some cheese recipes are doable with cow, goat, sheep milk.  As noted, with the extra cream, you sometimes need to handle it differently.  With heavy cream, you also get a better volume of cheese per quantity of milk.  this is where the Nigies are great in goat milk, heavier butterfat.    Google sheep milk cheese recipes.   I looked in the book I have and many recipes say either type milk.    Chevre is one that may need adjustment    I have only goat milk.  

Also, sheep milk, like goat milk, is naturally homogenized.  so you don't get a huge rise of cream quickly, as with cow milk.   I use a cream separator for the goat milk if I want cream & butter.   It will rise more in early lactation as it has heavier cream at that time.

Another thing -- I mention since you are new to milking -- the milk will have some changes as they go thru lactation cycle.  The amount of butterfat is greater in beginning & total volume will drop in later lactation..   Also, when cycling they will usually drop quantity for a day or two.   Of course you dry them off a couple months before lambing.   

Obviously, all cow, goat, sheep give milk BUT -- those breeds which were developed for milking will give you a far different output than those breeds which are for meat.   Of course, input= output.  Feed on milk stand is a sure enticement to go there but, it is to keep them producing!  So feeds for those being milked are a consideration beyond the "pasture ornaments".


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## mystang89 (Aug 1, 2019)

Been cutting through trees in the back pasture trying to get enough firewood for the winter. Don't want to run out like we did last year. 

As far as the sheep are concerned this post pretty much sums up what's been going on. https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/lame-hind-legs.39867/

We had a string of attacks from a raccoon a week ago or so and lost 3 or 4 chickens. I saw done chicks at Rural King a few days later and got to thinking about wanting to replenish our chicken flick now rather than Easter time so that when summer gets here next year I'll be getting eggs, not waiting on chicks to grow old enough to lay only to hit the winter lull and not get anything.
We had a broody chicken who had gone broody quite often so I figured I'd give her what she wanted. I bought 7 chicks, came home and waited till night time for myself and @mrs.mystang89 to go out to place the chicks under the broody chicken in the hopes that in the morning she would wake up and think she had hatched them.


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## mystang89 (Aug 1, 2019)

Hit the wrong button, sorry for the double post but here is another pic.


 
And another with one of them playing peek-a-boo.


We went outside late the next day to put the chickens away and find one of the chickens missing. No feathers gone, no blood, nothing. We didn't know what to do so we just went back inside. I came out the next day to let them out and low and behold there the missing chicken was, walking around outside of the chicken coop while everyone else was safely inside. Mind blown but at least she was ok.

Went out yesterday and she was gone again but this time we heard a sound coming from outside the coop. Out we went, looked up, and we found her.


Came out this morning, she was done. Let the chickens out to join her and a white chicken decided she wanted to see what all the fuss was about so she jumped up in the tree and started to hop from branch to branch.

Never a dull moment. I thank God He's given us this slice of heaven.


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## Bruce (Aug 1, 2019)

Apparently it worked! Need to do something about that coon though.


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## Baymule (Aug 2, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Never a dull moment. I thank God He's given us this slice of heaven.



AMEN to that!


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## farmerjan (Aug 2, 2019)

Great that the hen took the chicks.  Some will take anything, some not so much.  Had one that would not take white chicks... only striped or black or dark colors....ooookaaaay.  She was a great mother.  Didn't force the issue as I tried to have at least 2 setting at the same time so I could split the chicks up.  Had another one that would take all she could gather.  Sometimes would find her with 15 or more and the other  "real momma" would only have 2-3 of her own.  In the morning they would both just be taking care of them.  The one that wouldn't take white chicks I always kept separate because she just didn't like any white chicks around her.  They say they are color blind...... she is long gone now but it was interesting to see her "color preference".  Wish i had someone broody now.  Well, will have to find some more to replace what I lost, this fall at the poultry swap or else at our poultry club show in Nov..   Don't want small stuff then with cold weather coming, and my surgery in Jan..... have to think about consolidation and then maybe get more stuff going in April when I am hopefully getting around better.


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## Baymule (Aug 2, 2019)

That brings to mind the old saying, Birds of a feather flock together.


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## Bruce (Aug 3, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> she is long gone now but it was interesting to see her "color preference".


Hmm, sounds like she was quite racist!


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## Mini Horses (Aug 3, 2019)

Had the chick  color thing with one of mine this Spring.  She & another hen hatched out clutches  a day apart.  One evening a hen & chicks would not go in and layed out in heavy grass.  hen taken (fox?) & chicks alive.  Tried to put them with other hen that night.   She kept the one black -- hers were all black -- not the other 5, brown & white.  I had to be momma hen.   OF COURSE 3 of 5 are roo-dinner      It's odd but some are finicky.


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## mystang89 (Aug 11, 2019)

Trees, woods, splitting. Lots and lots of cutting trees down. I dream about cutting trees down now. That is what my life has become recently. We are trying to prepare for winter and so we're cutting trees down in the back. 1. So we can clear and clean out a bit of it. It's overgrown and needs some cleaning. 2. I'm trying to do what was done many moons ago, especially with locus, and cut some trees down, leaving about 1'+ of stump so another tree can grow off that. This way I have a continual selection of trees from which to cut in the coming years and I don't deforest my entire area.

Chickens with the chicks are doing great! No more attacks for Mr raccoon either. Knock on wood that doesn't happen.

Elsa, the ewe that had back feet problems still had just as much problems. Seeing her in pain stabs my wife and myself in the heart each time. I don't want to put her down. I want to save enough money to pay a vet to make a house call. However it might come down to having to fill her. She's a great mother, makes a great amount of milk and she's grown on me. We have tried a drench of selenium. That have BOSS mixed with their sweet feed every day. They have a mineral block. I'm really starting to think she has some sort of hip problem but I'm no vet. Just frustrated. Frustrated I can't do anything right for her. Frustrated she is still in pain. Frustrated I don't know what is wrong in the first place. Frustrated there isn't a blasted vet anywhere near me who deals with sheep. I'M IN THE BLASTED COUNTRY! Why not!?
...just frustrated I, the Shepherd, can't make my sheep feel better.
I keep telling myself all in good time. Be patient. It'll happen. It's become a mantra.


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## Mike CHS (Aug 11, 2019)

_I saw earlier in your thread that she was having foot problems but didn't see anything about the symptoms.  Have you checked to see if the gland in the middle of the toes is swollen?_


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## mystang89 (Aug 11, 2019)

Um, how do I tell if it's swollen. I can see it. Tomorrow when I'm milking her I will take a picture of her and other sheep around. What's does a swollen gland on the foot mean or what's that gland called and I'll look it up. Thanks


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## Mike CHS (Aug 11, 2019)

Here is a good link that tells about it:  We check them whenever we work feet but that is the first thing we look for if their hooves are otherwise alright.  If they have any hoof rot they can also get things inside that hurts them.

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/musc...sheep/impacted-or-infected-oil-gland-in-sheep


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## mystang89 (Aug 12, 2019)

So here are comparison pictures. The first set are from Henrietta. She is an Awassi/mix. 
Front feet



 

Back feet


 
This set is from Elsa. She is an East Fresian/Icelandic mix.   Front feet.


 
Back feet


 

The spots aren't raised or anything but the are bare as you can tell. They don't seem any more sensitive to touch than any other part of her feet.


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## Mike CHS (Aug 12, 2019)

They don't seem to be swollen from the pictures so that idea may be of no help.


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## Mini Horses (Aug 12, 2019)

The hair loss would make me wonder -- did solutions or heat from inflammation cause that.  Especially L/R.   Has she had any antibiotics?    It's a pretty defined area, right at the point of where inflammation  may have caused it....only on that foot.

If you lift her leg and move to manipulate the hip area, does she show any sensitivity from such repositioning?   If so, that may help define what parts are painful.    We do that with horses to help "locate" possible problems.  Works with all animals so, if you haven't, or as least lately, that would be my suggestion.

Shame there are no "local" farm vets near you.   However, today it isn't unusual.  They are a dying breed, the large animals ones.   More $ in a $40 office visit for Fifi....


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## Mike CHS (Aug 12, 2019)

I like our vet plus he only charges $40 for a farm call and that includes a Vet Tech.


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 12, 2019)

Wow @Mike CHS. ..ours is $85 trip charge and $ 100 per hour AND med  charge.....you got a great vet !


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## Baymule (Aug 12, 2019)

Our vet charges $75. So far, we have taken our animals to the clinic.


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 12, 2019)

I usually "sit on the sidelines", because I like sheep...but, have never had them....anyway, your quandry that ya are in with not having a vet around ya....I can "identify" with, because we had our goats for 3yrs and had no vet that treated small ruminants...in my searching of resources I came across BYH for assistance and direction....I had accepted that the stock I had was "learning stock" and had to give it my best shot....our situation changed and we had to get rid of the goats, they were healthy, thank goodness....but, I sure understand the stress of it..... ...


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## Mike CHS (Aug 13, 2019)

We also take animals to the vet.  We only had him out once and that was because we had multiple things that needed to be done, including shots for our neighbor's dog since he doesn't consider it necessary.


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2019)

I felt her feet and she didn't seem to move her feet away from me any more than the other she do when I mess with their feet but I took a video of her walking which I will upload in a few minutes when it finishes loading.


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2019)




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## Baymule (Aug 13, 2019)

No wonder you are bumfuzzled and can't figure out what is wrong. It is like she has weakness in her leg joints, not her feet.


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2019)

Baymule said:


> weakness in her leg joints


YES! That's exactly what my wife and I said but what would cause that. If it was an injury at some point while she was here I would have thought that after all this time it would have healed. She want walking like this when we bought her.


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## Baymule (Aug 13, 2019)

It is like she has a pinched nerve. What about a do it yourself chiropractic massage on her back? Look up skeletal pictures and massage areas that you think might be hiding a pinched nerve. It couldn't hurt  and it might help her.


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## mystang89 (Aug 13, 2019)

Baymule said:


> It is like she has a pinched nerve. What about a do it yourself chiropractic massage on her back? Look up skeletal pictures and massage areas that you think might be hiding a pinched nerve. It couldn't hurt  and it might help her.


I actually just responded to another thread I have going about this issue pretty much saying the same thing.  Might be something to look up.  I'll start researching.


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## Bruce (Aug 13, 2019)

Good luck Mystang. I agree it sure looks like a joint issue rather than sore feet. Hopefully it can be figured out and fixed.



Mike CHS said:


> I like our vet plus he only charges $40 for a farm call and that includes a Vet Tech.


Wow! Probably helps that there are other sheep farms around and he can book "house calls" in an area.



CntryBoy777 said:


> I had accepted that the stock I had was "learning stock" and had to give it my best shot


And a great job you did!


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## mystang89 (Aug 18, 2019)

Update on the ewe with bad back feet - she's still not doing any better.  I've tried everything I can do so far, gave her selenium, BOSS, a shot of LS-200, tried feeling the vertebrae for any abnormalities, massaged.  She is still having just as much trouble and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.  Now I'm stuck with the problem that, if I put her down, I can't eat her because of the LS-200 shot which says no meat or milk can't be eaten within the 28 day period. I don't think I'm going to put her through the pain she seems to be going through for another 26 days. I hate waste and feel that's a waste but I'm sure not filling up my freezers with a sheep to give it to the dog.  Maybe I'll at least get a hide out of it. Hate not knowing what's wrong with them.

My ram has off and on front foot problems.  At first it was because of the pebble that had grown into the hoof.  That I could understand but after keeping it clean and watching it heal back nicely he occasionally limps on it still.  Hate not know what's wrong with them.

My other milking ewe started barely limping on her front hoof yesterday as well.  Looked at her hooves and saw nothing wrong there either.  Hate not knowing what's wrong with them.

Tomorrow I'm going to cut the hay for the last time this year.  I've been going back over what @farmerjan wrote and trying to go over in my head how to do it.  One thing that's a problem I wasn't able to fix last time is the size/weight of the bales.  As said, I have a Massey Ferguson 12 baler and during the last baling session the bales were FAR too loose.  I tried wrenching down the screws which supposedly control how much hay goes into the bale but the bales were still very loose.  Loose enough that they would just come apart when you picked them up.  Anyone know if there is a way to tighten the baling twine?  I was reading about it online and found another possible problem might have been the amount of hay going into the baler itself.  Apparently if the baler doesn't have enough hay being picked up at one time then the bales won't be tight?  I don't know.  They also seemed to say that if you had thinner hay, (stuff like myself) and not alfalfa, then you may need to double or even triple the windrows when you're hay raking it. Logic seems to imply that even if you had even a handful of hay being thrown into the baler a little at a time then it would simply wait till completely full before tying it off.  

I really don't want to deal with the flimsy hay bales again as trying to throw them up into the hayloft, from inside the bucket of a tractor and having them completely fall apart and tumble to the ground is less than.....pleasant....


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 18, 2019)

I hate that you are having  to go thru these issues 
Is there any thorn or cactus  type plants that could  of gotten in  any of their hoofs ?..... , we have some funky plant  here that has a fine hair like thorn that will drive any animal crazy if stepped on and embedded. ....
Hope you can find a solution, this surely  has to be fustrating.


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## Baymule (Aug 18, 2019)

Wish I could help you.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 18, 2019)

Caught up on your thread. That sheep trying to walk looks wild. I’m wracking my brain for options. She doesn’t look to be in pain to me. If she was, she’d be losing weight drastically. Her condition would be very poor and she wouldn’t be making milk. I dare say she’s been like this for some time.
It’s very possible that this is why she was being sold...

I’d give her a few more days. If she continues to hold her weight, make it less difficult for her to make it to the point of having the antibiotic out of her system. Don’t isolate her or limit her ability to be active as that could be more harmful. Just make sure she doesn’t have to trek overly far for hay, water, mineral, feed, milking, and forage.


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## mystang89 (Aug 19, 2019)

She'll be culled today. She cannot walk. It degenerated to the point where even her front feet refused to move. I don't know which member mentioned it but I think it's the deer born parasite which attacks the spinal column. Nothing to be done about that except accept it.

The Good Lord have and the Good Lord takes away. As it has please Him, bless be His holy name.


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## Baymule (Aug 19, 2019)

I’m really really sorry. I had to have my most favorite ewe put down. I had the whole vet staff crying. I was heartbroken for weeks. I’m a pretty tough lady, I can take what gets thrown st me, but sometimes you get those special animals that get in your heart like no others. I grieve with you over this girl. May God give you comfort.


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## Bruce (Aug 19, 2019)

That is very sad.

Meningeal worm? If she's got that you need to start regular worming of ALL your animals in the herd or they will all follow her. The life cycle goes from the deer to mollusks (snails and slugs) which are ingested when the animal gets them with the grass/weeds they are eating. The deer do NOT have to be in the same area as the sheep/alpacas etc, the mollusks travel. Being that they are not the normal host, they are affected differently, the worm doesn't do damage to deer.


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## mystang89 (Aug 19, 2019)

Bruce said:


> That is very sad.
> 
> Meningeal worm? If she's got that you need to start regular worming of ALL your animals in the herd or they will all follow her. The life cycle goes from the deer to mollusks (snails and slugs) which are ingested when the animal gets them with the grass/weeds they are eating. The deer do NOT have to be in the same area as the sheep/alpacas etc, the mollusks travel. Being that they are not the normal host, they are affected differently, the worm doesn't do damage to deer.



I thought I read that normal wormers did not work for Meningeal works or is that only when the work is fully developed. 

Very interested in what you all have to say about this. I'm not a huge advocate on worming but I'm very willing to if it keeps this from happening again.


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## Bruce (Aug 19, 2019)

Ivermectin is what is used on camelids. Once the worm has had a chance to get get in the brain or spinal column, it's all over. If it is meningeal you need to worm them monthly during the periods mollusks can live out in the grass.

https://www.sheepandgoat.com/deerworm


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 19, 2019)

@CntryBoy777  talked me into  kC ducks to help with snails and sluges passing deer parasites to the goats, the ducks eat bugs and all kinds of snails, I live a hour from Gainsville Florida and they call this part of Florida "the swamp" .....its  so hot, humid and wet in the summer that parasites bloom all year long. ...I have seen less snails in just the short  time we have had the ducks....you may want to consider some to help you out.
Very sorry that you have to put your ewe down  putting down a loved animal hurts really bad


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 19, 2019)

I’m so sorry! I was hopeful that you could at least get her past the withdrawal time.


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## mystang89 (Aug 19, 2019)

Lost a ram lamb today out of no where. Went to let it come in and found it dead. 

Killed the ewe that wasn't able to walk. Children took it hard but it was a good learning experience.


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## Bruce (Aug 19, 2019)

Two in one day  Any idea what happened to the lamb?


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 19, 2019)

That is really sad news........I know it is extremely difficult without having a vet around ya....and not knowing, for sure, what it is that ya are dealing with....I was wondering if your county agent may be able to assist ya....since they are usually from an Ag college....the sheep eat much closer to the ground than goats do and can be more suseptable to those parasites, for that reason....Khaki Campbell ducks have a stronger drive to eat the snails and slugs than the other breeds of ducks, but in your location ya may not wish to deal with the ice daily for them....I've been thru that area many times driving a truck and spent many nights in Seymour at the TA.....I hope ya can overcome this and that it isn't something contagious.....


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

Bruce said:


> Two in one day  Any idea what happened to the lamb?


His heart stopped.

Honestly though, we haven't a clue and I didn't have time to do an autopsy. He used to be very active and energetic but his behavior changed about a month ago. Not sure if you saw the video I posted about anew ram lamb herding the older sheep but that was him.

About a month ago he stopped running around crazy, didn't care about being with the other sheep, seemed very depressed etc. He still ate, drank, had a healthy appearance and was otherwise fine. Just his behavior. I chalked it up to normal changes in growing up. Guess I chalked it up wrong.


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## Baymule (Aug 20, 2019)

Watch the rest of your flock closely. I guess I don't have to say that.


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## mrs.mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

B&B Happy goats said:


> you may want to consider some to help you out.



Yes, @mystang89 , ducks sound like a great idea!!!


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

Currently haying the front pasture. This is my grass. Judging by the looks of it, what can you all tell me about it being at the correct stage for sheep eating it during the winter. Is it good for that or better for bedding. Was I too late, too early etc.


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

Hate the wheel rake. Left so much hay behind no matter how I set it. I ended up having to take my entire side pasture with a leaf rake in order to get windrows which means tomorrow I'll need to do it again.


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> Yes, @mystang89 , ducks sound like a great idea!!!


Don't ducks attack?... Like, little children?


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## mrs.mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Don't ducks attack?... Like, little children?



IDK all the answers as I have just started the researching process but I read in one article that if you love on your ducklings a lot that they will learn to not be scared of you (aka not chase you).  I think our family can handle that lol


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 20, 2019)

Khaki Campbells won't....and with a bill, not a beak like a chicken, it is like being pinched with 2 spoons.......muscovies are Not ducks, can be aggressive and have a very different kind of bill/beak....KCs will certainly keep ya entertained and eat lots of harmful things....will also chase and eat biting flies....we put ours with the goats and the goats loved having them around to keep the wasps, flies, and hornets off of them....they will also eat any maggots or larvae they can find....KCs will out lay any chicken, don't slow down for weather, and are more cold hardy than chickens....they are very personable and are the tattletales of the barnyard....they will announce anything strange in the area....and will put many smiles on your face.....


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## Bruce (Aug 20, 2019)

The KC pusher strikes!!! 
Now if they just didn't need a fair bit of open water in the winter.


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 20, 2019)

They don't....just have to have it to eat with....they eat snow and ice too....we only gave ours their pool when temps were above 40°.....


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## JHP Homestead (Aug 20, 2019)

I don’t have ducks now but have had a couple different batches over the years. I never gave them a pool in the winter. They got a full bowl of water twice a day just like everything else does. Sometimes they would try to get in it and splash around, but not all the time.

I’m sure they weren’t as happy as they would have been with a full, heated pool  but they were healthy and did just fine. 

Mine were also pretty skittish and not aggressive at all. They weren’t handled much though.


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## Bruce (Aug 20, 2019)

CntryBoy777 said:


> They don't....just have to have it to eat with....they eat snow and ice too....we only gave ours their pool when temps were above 40°.....


Yeah but they splash it all around when they eat, making an icy mess no? 40°F? Oh, you mean in April through October!


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

40% chance of rain today... Means there was a 60% chance of no rain. Wind storm hit, blew bunch of shingles of the roof. Was going to go up and replace them but, ya know what, I'm tired. I've replaced shingles on this 9 year old told 3 times in the past 3 years. 

Bright in some rain, so I'll be out there tomorrow re-raking the pasture with the leaf rake. Looking forward to that... At least I'll stay in shape.


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 20, 2019)

Bruce said:


> The KC pusher strikes!!!
> Now if they just didn't need a fair bit of open water in the winter.



Thank heavens for the KC pusher man...WE LOVE ours, they do exactly as CntryBoy777  says ..... snail and slugs are much fewer, even with all this rain


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 20, 2019)

Mystang I don't normally post pics on another's thread, but here are a couple of the ducks with the goats.....

  
@Bruce , it is like I have always said....it is up to you as to how messy they are with water....the 40° barrier was for our comfort....and the water setup can have a warmer if needed, but they have to have it in order to eat....this is the waterer we used for them, but didn't live near Canada, either....that is your choice..............the holes in the lid allow them to get water without making a huge mess.....also, Mystang, the housing requirements are really simple and will be glad to help ya as much as I can....I did a ton of research on them before getting them....brooding young ones are really messy til they get their feathers...around 3-4wks....just let me know if I can help answer any questions ya may have.....


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 20, 2019)

best ducks ever ! ....... thank you @CntryBoy777


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## Bruce (Aug 20, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Was going to go up and replace them but, ya know what, I'm tired. I've replaced shingles on this 9 year old told 3 times in the past 3 years.


Something isn't right there! Maybe it is time to stop patching and do the whole thing so you won't have to screw with it again until your kids are well into their 20's.


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## mystang89 (Aug 20, 2019)

Bruce said:


> Something isn't right there! Maybe it is time to stop patching and do the whole thing so you won't have to screw with it again until your kids are well into their 20's.


That's kinda my way of thinking too. I have a feeling that's not going to be the adjusters way of thinking but I'll see what happens when he comes out.


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## Baymule (Aug 21, 2019)

Maybe he'll give you enough $$ to get re roofed. Hope so.


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 21, 2019)




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## mystang89 (Aug 21, 2019)

They came out and looked at it today. I talked to him about not wanting to have to fix the roof each year nor have to make home owners insurance claims as that will just lead to my insurance going up or them dropping me so I'd rather they just write up the estimate for a new roof.

He said he'd rather do the entire roof as well because "they can't insure their work" if they just replace a couple of spots. (Read in between the lines - entire roof means more money. Whatever, as long as we're on the same page.) They came out, looked and left so I'll find out what they said sometime I suppose. If I don't like it, I'll try another place.


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## Bruce (Aug 21, 2019)

You might want to check with your insurance company before you decide they will raise your rates if you make a claim. I bet they'd rather pay to replace a storm damaged roof than all the interior when a storm comes in through that roof. 

And they really can't insure it if they are patching in, kinda hard to get all the patches sealed up properly.


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## Baymule (Aug 21, 2019)

It can be traumatizing when your home is damaged. Dealing with insurance can be frustrating, I hope it all goes smoothly for you.


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## mystang89 (Aug 22, 2019)

Bruce said:


> You might want to check with your insurance company before you decide they will raise your rates if you make a claim. I bet they'd rather pay to replace a storm damaged roof than all the interior when a storm comes in through that roof.
> 
> And they really can't insure it if they are patching in, kinda hard to get all the patches sealed up properly.



Yeah, I can understand not being able to insure just a patch but I'm also a bit of a realist and know that they'd rather have more money as well, not just the ability to insure the work lol. 

With my previous home I had shingle damage due to a tree limb that landed on the house. That roof was over 30 years old. I asked this same insurance company if they replace the entire roof and they said no. When I talked to the man yesterday from the contacting agency he said that this insurance agency had guidelines starting that 80% of the roof slopes had to have visible damage to them. So if you had 10 slopes, 8 of them needed something wrong with them to replace the whole thing.

As for the sheep, the other East Friesian ewe which we bought from a lady around here, (same person we bought the one I just had to kill and who's ram lamb just died) is sick. Came in very weak last night, acting very much like her son. I immediately have her a dewormer and will make a decision on whether or not to give antibiotics today.

Well see.


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 22, 2019)

Goodness! That makes me wonder if they picked up something and brought it with them. I’m so sorry y’all are dealing with this!!!


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## Wehner Homestead (Aug 22, 2019)

P.S. if you decide to switch to goats, I will have some available in the spring!


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## Baymule (Aug 22, 2019)

I hope that all of the ones you bought from that lady are not sick.


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## mystang89 (Aug 22, 2019)

That's what we were thinking as well. And yeah, every one of them so far has a problem. I don't know if it's their breed which I new had a weak Constitution to begin with it something from that lady it something from here. 

Tried getting stool sample from them today but they were less than cooperative.
List of things to do: train sheep to poop on demand!


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## Baymule (Aug 22, 2019)

The new (to me) sheep working equipment we have now has sure made life easier. I used to use cow panels with pallets at both ends. The sheep would run back and forth the 16' length. It was just barely above  a running around the pen flying tackle. LOL With the new equipment I can work them a whole lot easier.


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## mrs.mystang89 (Aug 22, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Tried getting stool sample from them today but they were less than cooperative.
> List of things to do: train sheep to poop on demand!



List of things to do: set up a camera in the barn so that I can watch and laugh later


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## Bruce (Aug 22, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> That's what we were thinking as well. And yeah, every one of them so far has a problem. I don't know if it's their breed which I new had a weak Constitution to begin with it something from that lady it something from here.
> 
> Tried getting stool sample from them today but they were less than cooperative.
> List of things to do: train sheep to poop on demand!


If it is meningeal more than likely if one picked it up, they all did. I surely wish you luck with this! Very unfortunate situation.


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## Bruce (Aug 22, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> That roof was over 30 years old. I asked this same insurance company if they replace the entire roof and they said no.


That isn't unreasonable, the roof was beyond end of life. At best they would pro-rate the payment and it wouldn't be much.


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## mrs.mystang89 (Aug 22, 2019)

@CntryBoy777 @B&B Happy goats    I know neither of you live close to us, but do you have a recommendation for a reputable source for getting the ducks from?  Do you recommend starting with ducklings or grown ducks?


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 22, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> @CntryBoy777 @B&B Happy goats    I know neither of you live close to us, but do you have a recommendation for a reputable source for getting the ducks from?  Do you recommend starting with ducklings or grown ducks?



I found ours on craigslist, all three are females  as I don't  want to breed them, I got them as you see them in the picture  so they would start eating my problems away imediatly,  lol....the eggs are awesome.
@CntryBoy777  is the KC expert, so if you have technical  KC duck questions...he is your man to go to. 
 I had found some on CL for $10 each, but these girls were closer and I paid $20 each.....worth every penny !


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## mystang89 (Aug 22, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> List of things to do: set up a camera in the barn so that I can watch and laugh later



That's what I'm here for, your entertainment  In fact, I believe that was part of my marriage vows: To have and to hold, in life and in death, etc, so long as I can laugh at him. 

Just remember, all that laughing comes at a price and that price is whip cream in the face....


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 22, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> That's what I'm here for, your entertainment  In fact, I believe that was part of my marriage vows: To have and to hold, in life and in death, etc, so long as I can laugh at him.


....its  like that here too ..."so long as I can laugh at him "


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## Baymule (Aug 22, 2019)

We’re laughing at you too! You can’t reach us with whipped cream! 
Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah! Nah!


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 22, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> @CntryBoy777 @B&B Happy goats    I know neither of you live close to us, but do you have a recommendation for a reputable source for getting the ducks from?  Do you recommend starting with ducklings or grown ducks?


We ordered ours from Ideal Hatchery out of Missouri...I believe it was around Joplin or Springfield.....the one thing about KCs is that they are naturally skittish....I really like bonding with my animals and always prefer to raise them from young to maturity, so they are use to me and a routine as they grow....cause ya never are quite sure how or what others have done with them previously.....if ya wish to handle them, I'd go with the hatchlings so they would grow use to that somewhat...especially with the children....just so they don't get freaked out having the jumping, running, and noises of them scaring the ducks....they do grow very quickly and ya will see changes in their size overnight....the best thing to do with older KCs is to go about your business, ignoring them....they will be very attentive to what ya are doing and before ya know it they will be right beside ya chattering away....they are not the extremely loud quakers most expect....if they get loud it usually signals something strange is around or they feel threatened.....they will start laying at 17-20wks and will avg between 300-320eggs per year....if ya wish to raise them, then ya need to have a drake for every 3-4 hens for assurance of fertilization....we found this out from experience as we only had 1 drake for 10hens....if ya get them now they would be okay to brood outside after the first couple of wks, to help with the mess and for easir cleanup line their brooding area with an old shower curtain liner under some hay substrate....we used the cabinet liner that looks like netting for their footing and to keep their sharp like nails from putting holes in the liner....I do have pics that I can post if ya wish to see what I'm talking about....just let me know....but, if ya get day olds, just try to get them from closeby so they are not so traumatized by the shipping....others may have better breed "genetics", but if they aren't being shown or bred for hi $ sales, then it really doesn't make much difference....especially on a "learning flock"....your kids will really get a kick out of watching them, for sure!!.....and ya will be laughing more at them....than at Mystang.....


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## Bruce (Aug 22, 2019)

Unless she's laughing at Mystang chasing the ducklings around!

Ideal is in TX, that is where I got my first batch of 12 chicks. Been getting them from Meyer in Ohio since then. The Ideal birds were fine but their website sucks big time, it didn't in 2012. Why go backwards??? Little information about the breeds and no pictures. Now if you already know what you want that can be OK. Google says Cackle, Estes Farm and Heartland are in Missouri.


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 22, 2019)

That's right Bruce!!...thanks for that....it was Cackle Hatchery I got them from....sorry for the malfunction of this ole brain....


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## farmerjan (Aug 22, 2019)

The only thing is many places will not have ducklings available in the fall or winter....the same with turkeys.  You need to check with whatever hatchery you are interested in using.  Even the Rural King stores that advertise they have chicks all year round, have a sign posted that no more ducklings or turkeys until Spring.....
If there are any fairs in the area, go to them and check.  Sometimes 4-h projects are sold in the fall.  Research any purebred poultry shows in your area.... there are usually waterfowl shown, might be some KC's, and you don't want fancy show stock, so some of their "culls" due to color, size or something that does not meet the standard, would still make a good farmstead duck.


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## mystang89 (Aug 23, 2019)

Darn rain. Flipped the hay. It rained. Flipped it again it rained. Lol. I'll see if it dries out today and might flip later in the evening. It seems like I'm only going to have 2 days off no rain then the chances increase again. 
I feel like I love my life with the mantra, "we'll see" haha


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## mystang89 (Aug 25, 2019)

3rd sheep died. Last from the same breeder. All three were. I pray that the last of them. We really don't know what to do next. She died in the same way as her ram lamb.


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## CntryBoy777 (Aug 25, 2019)

So, so sorry about such a loss....did ya have them quarantined from your flock?......


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## B&B Happy goats (Aug 25, 2019)

Really sorry for your loss, have you contacted the "breeder" to see if they are having the same issues ... to you both.


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## Baymule (Aug 25, 2019)

That sucks. I'm really sorry.


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## Bruce (Aug 26, 2019)

Very sorry to hear it. IF it is meningeal worm, your other animals should be fine, it won't be transmitted to them since the normal life cycle was interrupted by them being in the wrong host.


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## mystang89 (Aug 28, 2019)

What do you do with moldy hay that is still in windrows @farmerjan ?


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## farmerjan (Aug 28, 2019)

I  am assuming that you had raked some hay, then it got rained on, and probably got more than one rained on time.  We will tedd it out and sometimes if the windrows are thick, have to tedd it more than once.  Now all according to the situation, as to what we do with it.  If it is very light, have just left it tedded out to just "rot" back into the grass.  If it is thick, we will rake it,  once dry, then roll it, and then use it for mulch hay.  We have actually rolled out a complete roll for cows to lay on in the field in the cold of winter or if it is very wet/muddy.  Moldy hay is not "feedable" and animals normally do not want to eat it.  Basically, it is bedding, but we only use it out in the open, rolled out in a field, not in a barn.  Even dried, mold spores can make them sick, and will make a human sick just from handling it.  It will make great mulch in the garden, anywhere you are trying to improve the soil.  You could just rake it up and pile it near/or even in your next year's garden and leave it.  The top layers will dry out some by the time you want to use it in the spring and can be used as normal mulch.  The very bottom layers will already be turning into top soil by the worms.   We had alot of hay get wet last year with all the rain all summer, and there were some moldy spots in some of the bales.  The cows will normally just pick around it and lay on the crappy stuff.


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## mystang89 (Aug 28, 2019)

Thank you very much. That's pretty much what happened. Got rain, the day of sun, let it dry that day and flipped it, next day rain, next day rain, next day rain. Apparently it doesn't take long for hay to mold but it's good to know that so that work isn't going to be going to waste at least. 

I think I'll take my baler out there and bale just to try to get my bales the size I want them for next year, then I'll put it in the garden over the winter.


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## mrs.mystang89 (Aug 29, 2019)

@mystang89, I want to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that you put in day to day.  I know that things have been harder than usual lately on the farm but your strength and encouragement is why the rest of us will "keep on keeping on".  I love you!


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## mystang89 (Aug 29, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> @mystang89, I want to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that you put in day to day.  I know that things have been harder than usual lately on the farm but your strength and encouragement is why the rest of us will "keep on keeping on".  I love you!


Thanks hun. I love you much! I'll make some chicken just for you when you get home.


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## mystang89 (Aug 29, 2019)

On another subject, the children started home school again. They are taking to it MUCH better than myself. They are normally up before 7am, have or at least have started their assignments by the time I get up and have a generally positive attitude about it. Afterwards, if there is work to be done on the farms they are normally my shadows. I just wish shadows could lift as much as myself lol


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## Baymule (Aug 29, 2019)

I made every footstep my Daddy did. I learned much, tagging along at his heels. Your children have a life rich in real life experiences. They learn more than just school. They will grow up Blessed in being able to live on a farm and having time with their parents.


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## mystang89 (Aug 30, 2019)

I went ahead and baled the hay yesterday and used that time to "fine tune" the baler so the bales wouldn't come out so lose next spring when I hopefully get to bake the hay then. It worked out fairly well to. The bales started to come out packed and not loose. Heavy as all get out but I'm going to say that was because of how wet it was.  I'll get them picked up out of the pasture today or tomorrow and throw them in the garden for when I do my fall tilling.

There really isn't much else that makes my heart as happy as seeing the children in the field with me working on the hay. I don't know exactly what it is about it, but I thoroughly enjoy it.


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## farmerjan (Aug 30, 2019)

That's great that you got the baler set a bit better to have the bales tight.  We have to fine tune ours every year.  One thing, it may seem counter intuitive, but you should unwind the tighteners for the winter. Uncrank them as it saves on the springs.  Just count how many times you unwind them and then next year start out with them wound up that many times.  Then it is easier to get them fine tuned to where you want.  I am sure that their being wet is why they are so heavy.  That is one of the ways we can easily toss aside any sq bales that we are loading to sell.  The weight is a dead giveaway that there is/are wet or moldy spots in them.  
Congrats on getting this all working for you.  I still feel bad about advising the wheel rake when I didn't realize that it was the type it was.  You will also find that it will pick up better with first cutting as the stalks of hay are longer and will "roll/turn" over in a more consistent manner.  

Have you had any cold weather yet?  Read where a farmer in Minn has had their first frost on another cattle forum.  We have cooler off here a bit, beautiful weather for the last 2 days.  We have about 25-30 acres of 2nd cutting on the ground and my son may cut another 10 acres or so this evening.  We only have a 20% chance of some showers on Sun-Mon then sun until probably Thurs when we might see some after effects from Dorian.  NOT READY for any winter type weather.


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## mystang89 (Aug 30, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> That's great that you got the baler set a bit better to have the bales tight. We have to fine tune ours every year. One thing, it may seem counter intuitive, but you should unwind the tighteners for the winter.



That's a great idea! I was thinking because of how tight those springs were and wondering how long they would last being as tight as they are. I think I'll take a piece of tape and mark when they are set currently do when I need to set it next year it will be much closer to the spot.



farmerjan said:


> Have you had any cold weather yet?



No cold weather yet. It gets down into the 60s but you into the 80's and 90's during the day. You can tell that cooler fall weather is right around the corner.

Hope the rain stays away and let's you get the hay done! Either that or I hope you have A REALLY big garden.


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## Bruce (Aug 30, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> @mystang89, I want to say thank you for all of your hard work and dedication that you put in day to day.  I know that things have been harder than usual lately on the farm but your strength and encouragement is why the rest of us will "keep on keeping on".  I love you!





mystang89 said:


> Thanks hun. I love you much! I'll make some chicken just for you when you get home.



Are you two in the same room when you post? 



mystang89 said:


> I think I'll take a piece of tape and mark when they are set currently do when I need to set it next year it will be much closer to the spot.


I was going to quote part of Jan's post and suggest that. I KNOW I would unwind X times, telling myself I will remember next year and nope, I wouldn't have an idea 9 months from now.


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## farmerjan (Aug 30, 2019)

Anyway that you can remember approx where the "right spot" is will work.  We have a system here for it so it always is the same year after year. And you can always write it on a a piece of the baler twine paper, and then next year look at it and say..."what are those numbers for?????" 

I got about 20 acres raked today.  It is pretty light, and put 3 windrows together.  The advantages of the big wide V wheel rake that adjusts with the hydraulics. Took about 4 hours or so.  Everything that is down is raked.  My son was going to mow some more this evening, but after getting the tractor moved there, had to do a couple other things, so is saying he might start mowing early tomorrow.  This is a place we do on shares.  I'd like to get it done and out of the way for the year.   He has a friend coming to work tomorrow, he likes to do some side work.  So things that they will be doing will be stuff that needs both.  One is the sq baling, as this guy can ride the wagon and stack hay as it is being baled.

No I don't want a garden to put the wet hay bales on so I will be very glad if we don't get any precip any time soon.  I actually go around early in the spring and clean up where we have stored the round bales.  There's often some that comes off the bottom of a bale and such.  And there are about 10 really old falling apart round bales in the woods area of 2 places that would be great mulch if I can figure out where I am going to be next year.  And if we can get them picked up without falling totally apart.  
I think of @Baymule  every time I see some falling apart old bale on the one farm we rent.  Some of them have been there since time began and are all but disintegrated...  Hey, that's an idea @Baymule , know anyone who stores round bales in the area?.... ask to clean up the area after they have fed out the rolls of hay.  Take a pitchfork, and chunks can go on the trailer or in the back of the truck.  I usually collect a couple small p up beds full for the garden if I don't get him to deliver me an old one to use.  Didn't do a garden this year.... got alot of stuff from some other's gardens given to me so had fresh stuff to eat.  Got my tomato sandwich fix this summer that was important!!!!!


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## Baymule (Aug 30, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> I think of @Baymule  every time I see some falling apart old bale on the one farm we rent.  Some of them have been there since time began and are all but disintegrated...  Hey, that's an idea @Baymule , know anyone who stores round bales in the area?.... ask to clean up the area after they have fed out the rolls of hay.  Take a pitchfork, and chunks can go on the trailer or in the back of the truck.  I usually collect a couple small p up beds full for the garden if I don't get him to deliver me an old one to use.  Didn't do a garden this year.... got alot of stuff from some other's gardens given to me so had fresh stuff to eat.  Got my tomato sandwich fix this summer that was important!!!!!


Good idea! I take the dead hay from around my round bales and spread it on my so called pastures. It has helped, just not enough of it. I like your idea of clean up of where they are stored. I can do that! I am currently tossing dead hay in the sheep lot and barn. They poop and pee on it, I toss in more. We'll dig it all out and spread it as far as it will go on the ground we just had forestry mulched.


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## mystang89 (Aug 31, 2019)

Does anyone know if there is a way to make the baler but the twine shorter or if the twine is pre cut?


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## farmerjan (Aug 31, 2019)

Precut twine that is knotted together,  won't go through the guides and feed into the knotters .  I have tried for years to try to figure out a way to "reuse" the twine.  The flow from the bales of twine needs it to be a very smooth passage and it will even get screwed up if there is a clump in the twine from the factory.  I make lead ropes and such from my twine from the square bales we use.  Keep several handfuls in every vehicle so that if I need something quick to tie things together, I have it. Braid it to make stronger lead ropes.  Trying to find some way to make it into a "throwaway" mat to wipe feet on at the door.  Some sort of weaving, knotting, braiding combination.  
Balers are preset so to speak, so that certain models make bales that are certain sizes.  You can tighten them down to make them more dense and heavy, but no way to shorten the bale.  I don't know of anyone who has "altered" the size of the bale, just the density/heaviness of the hay in it.


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## mystang89 (Aug 31, 2019)

Perfect, that's exactly what I needed to know. Thank you. With that knowledge I know my limitations from that baler and what to expect from it.

The reason for my asking was because after picking up some of those bales today they seemed really packed and extremely heavy yet when I carried then by the twine it would "stretch" a bit making the twine loser. Now, I think the weight is very well be accounted for in the water that was already in the hay when it was baled and the down pour we received yesterday. Perhaps that's also why it seemed to stretch as I know water expands what it is absorbed by.

Either way, next season I'll be able to verify if that is the reason or not! Never been so excited for spring to come and it's not even fall yet.


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## Bruce (Aug 31, 2019)

farmerjan said:


> Trying to find some way to make it into a "throwaway" mat to wipe feet on at the door. Some sort of weaving, knotting, braiding combination.


Oh that would be slick! "Free" door mats.


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## mystang89 (Sep 13, 2019)

Update... School started the end of last month. School, school school school and more about.
In the midst of school both mowers broke down on the same day, the refrigerator door feel off, the dishwasher and the vacuum continues to degenerate, and I'm still fighting with the insurance company.

Life continues, school continues.... In fact, paper was just turned in. Time to grade. This will be my life for the next 6 months so not much is going to be updated lol.


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## Bruce (Sep 13, 2019)

I sure hope things improve! I've never had a refrigerator door fall off.


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## mystang89 (Sep 14, 2019)

Bruce said:


> I sure hope things improve! I've never had a refrigerator door fall off.


Yep, it was a first for us too. With the amount of things that have bottles this month all we could do was laugh.


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## mystang89 (Oct 6, 2019)

So a small update. Things going ok here. Roof was finally put on, still waiting on mortgage company to send back the check they had to sign so I can pay the roofing company, then wait on home owners insurance company to release the second part of the check so I can pay the roofing company. Such a hassle.

Homeschooling is still homeschooling lol.

Yesterday was @mrs.mystang89 and mine anniversary. God be forever praised for bringing us together, blessing is with 8 children and giving us so much more than we deserve!

We went out for our anniversary horseback riding. It was our first time and very enjoyable. It made us decide that we wanted our children and anyone who came over, along with ourselves of course, to be able to ride whenever. Now we're looking into getting a horse but have plenty of questions and many things to learn. Many questions have been posted in the house feed section of anyone wants to take a look. The plan is to wait till spring and see what our hay situation is with the sheep to see if we can sustain having a horse as well. Time will tell.


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## Baymule (Oct 6, 2019)

I have 4, 2 are retired old seniors, ages 30 and 32. They have earned their places. I love to ride and just hang out and spend time with my horses. Your children will benefit from having a horse. Only thing is, one won't be enough. I always say horses are a hole in my pocket that I dump money into.


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## Bruce (Oct 7, 2019)

Just like houses!


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## mystang89 (Nov 17, 2019)

I've been reminded that it's been a while since I've updated this. Since it's winter, there has been and will remain very little updates.
However, for now this is what's new. Winter whether has hit and the fire place has been started. Fortunately, a very generous tree company has been dropping of MANY loads of wood for me and it looks now that we'll have plenty of wood for the season.

Homeschooling is consuming most of my time but we've got into routine and are just plowing through it.

I tried tilling the garden few weeks ago but I think I need to change the oil in the tiller, it seems to be on the fritz too. 

Health is good for everyone. We made some elderberry syrup for the first time from our elderberry bushes and have been trying to drink about a tbsp a day.

My life loving wife, @mrs.mystang89 , is once again pregnant. God has been so kind as to bless us with our 9th child developing in her womb. He/she should be here in the summer. It'll be very difficult money wise but Providence has always provided, can provide, and will provide.

Many different projects are in the making for the summer, it'll be busy. We'll be making a lean to for the hay equipment, trying to fix the spring house, repairing the mowers and tillers, garden, new child and more I'm sure will come. Lots to keep us out of trouble.


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## Mini Horses (Nov 17, 2019)

Good to hear all are well there!   Sounds like your
home schooling will be handling kindergarten through high school before long.   Congrats on the new addition!    You will need a large garden.....you have helpers, teach them grow food.😍

Winter has all of us in some state of disarray at times.   But often there are days to just muddle along.   Enjoy them.


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## mystang89 (Nov 17, 2019)

Won't be long. So far I have kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th. Will be adding another next year I think
 I just kinda go numb to it. If I don't think about it, it never happened

Worse thing about winter is it's cold. Other than that, I just hibernate and make plans for spring... And babies for summer! 

Garden will definitely need to be well tended this year. Hopefully we'll have some drenching hoses this year and be able to give it some good watering.

Forgot to mention we had 3 of the new chickens drown. We have a 55 gap water I never have put a lid on cause I haven't needed to. Came to check on them a few days ago and 3 had roosted on it or something and fallen in. Darwinism at it's greatest. They were the prettiest of the bunch too. Lavender orphinton and a wyondote. Dumb things. Always the prettiest who seem the dumbest. Just look at @mrs.mystang89 , prettiest thing in the world......


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## frustratedearthmother (Nov 17, 2019)

mystang89 said:


> Always the prettiest who seem the dumbest. Just look at @mrs.mystang89 , prettiest thing in the world......


Ohhhhhh - you're gonna get in trouble for that one, lol!!


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## farmerjan (Nov 17, 2019)

frustratedearthmother said:


> Ohhhhhh - you're gonna get in trouble for that one, lol!!


Yeah, wait til we tell on you


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## Baymule (Nov 17, 2019)

We don't have to tell on him, she reads this!


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## Bruce (Nov 18, 2019)

AND he TAGGED her!!!



frustratedearthmother said:


> Ohhhhhh - you're gonna get in trouble for that one, lol!!


I'm thinking the same thing. Maybe she's cracked him in the head so many times he can't differentiate between THINKING something and TYPING/SAYING it!


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## mrs.mystang89 (Nov 19, 2019)

frustratedearthmother said:


> Ohhhhhh - you're gonna get in trouble for that one, lol!!




I hear that hay keeps you really warm at night during the winter. We'll ask @mystang89 tomorrow how true that is!


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## farmerjan (Nov 19, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> I hear that hay keeps you really warm at night during the winter. We'll ask @mystang89 tomorrow how true that is!


 OOOPPPPs I think the Mrs read the post


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## mystang89 (Nov 20, 2019)

Lol, that's why I love this woman. She knows how to take my jokes. Someone who is thinking about marriage recently asked me how I knew she was the one I wanted to marry. Besides a few other reasons one of them was because she is the only one who could put up with me. Very true


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## Baymule (Nov 20, 2019)

It's not so much the true love, pie-eyed stuff of story books or happy ending movies, but it is all about who can love you despite all your faults. I have quite a quirky personality, charming until somebody has to put up with me 24-7, then it can get annoying. LOL My husband just lets me roll on, he knows it is pointless to try and stop me and he loves me despite never knowing which way the wind blows. LOL LOL


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## Bruce (Nov 20, 2019)

mrs.mystang89 said:


> I hear that hay keeps you really warm at night during the winter. We'll ask @mystang89 tomorrow how true that is!


If he atones just a bit, could you let him have a dog or something to help stay warm?


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## mystang89 (Nov 20, 2019)

Bruce said:


> If he atones just a bit, could you let him have a dog or something to help stay warm?


Could we at least upgrade to a sheep?


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## Bruce (Nov 20, 2019)

Only if it is a ram and the ewes are in heat


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## Wehner Homestead (Nov 25, 2019)

Just dropped by to say hi! We will have pups soon and probably again next year if you are interested. We have a list already but I know one at your house would be well loved!


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## mystang89 (Jan 18, 2020)

Been a bit over a month since I was here so I figured I'd update but there really isn't anything to update. Still doing homeschool. That's going. Still have a wonderful wife. It's starting to become winter finally. I know we need the cold but I really don't like cold.
Still not sure if the ewes are pregnant, hope they are.
I'm trying to fix up an old hay trailer to be ready for the hay season. Going slow because of the aforementioned cold but it's a thing.
That's pretty much it. Anything comes up I'll post it.


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## promiseacres (Jan 18, 2020)

I just started my youngest in kindergarten... 13 more years.  I am blessed though.


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## Mini Horses (Jan 18, 2020)

Glad you dropped in....at least we know you are still around.  LOL    Winter is probably most undesirable for most of us.  I dislike the cold, also!!

Hope the ewes are prego


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## Bruce (Jan 18, 2020)

Yep, a lot less going on in the cold months. My big outdoor accomplishment for today was to move another wood rack onto the porch landing after removing the one I emptied yesterday.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Jan 18, 2020)

I just read your journal. Great story. Great life. Beautiful farm I’m glad you and your wife were able to get your children out to some land with animals. And yes,  they are learning. How could they not??


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## farmerjan (Jan 18, 2020)

Glad to hear from you.  Nice to have the slowdown time to do things like get the hay trailer work done.  I sure hope that haying will be a little easier this year, and that if you need any questions answered, I will try to do a better job of giving you an answer than I did on the rake.  I still feel bad for not realizing the kind of rake you were looking at..... just hadn't really considered that type when you said a wheel rake.   I think that you will find that it will work better if the hay is taller when you cut, so a longer stem that will rake/turn over better.


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## mystang89 (Feb 16, 2020)

Well, I said I'd update if something new came up.




That was from a ram. I replaced the gate with another old gate that was left here but I don't have any clue how to stop that from happening again.


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## thistlebloom (Feb 16, 2020)

I see a pile of ram corral fencing in the background. 
Let him beat his fat head on that for awhile.


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## mystang89 (Feb 16, 2020)

Lol, I'd like to whop his head with some of those.


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## Baymule (Feb 16, 2020)

thistlebloom said:


> I see a pile of ram corral fencing in the background.
> Let him beat his fat head on that for awhile.


That struck me funny and I am laughing at the mental picture of the ram in a log corral, beating the bark off!


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Feb 17, 2020)

Baymule said:


> That struck me funny and I am laughing at the mental picture of the ram in a log corral, beating the bark off!


Geez, just last night we were at our weekly dinner talking to our farmer friend about possibly getting sheep And one ram.  After seeing that picture...I might need to slow down my thought process until we can build Fort Knox!  Good luck!!


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## Baymule (Feb 17, 2020)

They are not called RAMS for nothing. A ram will hurt you. Not all are nasty and mean, but many are. You never turn your back on a ram.


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## mystang89 (Feb 17, 2020)

Duckfarmerpa1 said:


> Geez, just last night we were at our weekly dinner talking to our farmer friend about possibly getting sheep And one ram.  After seeing that picture...I might need to slow down my thought process until we can build Fort Knox!  Good luck!!



When I first got into sheep I never imaged the amount of destruction a ram could do. If you scroll back through some my ramblings here, search for "barn", you'll see how many times I've literally had to rebuild the date thing because of a ram and that isn't even all the things they've destroyed. It's like owning a tornado.


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## Baymule (Feb 17, 2020)

If a ram can do that to a gate, what can he do to you?


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## Bruce (Feb 17, 2020)

Don't even think about that Bay! Oh, well I guess one should because there wouldn't be much left of a person if a ram got them that hard and they HADN'T thought about the possibilities. He must have a HUGE desire to get out.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 17, 2020)

i might just buy a couple just to raise for meat at that rate..... my kids would want to snuggle them... might be a problem.....


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## mystang89 (Feb 17, 2020)

Bruce said:


> He must have a HUGE desire to get out


Not as huge a desire as his desire to get away from me when he saw me coming. He reminded me of a dog the peed in the house but knew better, then saw the owner and tucked tail and ran.


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## Baymule (Feb 18, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Don't even think about that Bay! Oh, well I guess one should because there wouldn't be much left of a person if a ram got them that hard and they HADN'T thought about the possibilities. He must have a HUGE desire to get out.


Rams are dangerous and can break bones and even kill a person. You HAVE to think about that when you have a ram. It's not a Disney movie. 



Jesusfreak101 said:


> i might just buy a couple just to raise for meat at that rate..... my kids would want to snuggle them... might be a problem.....



You can snuggle and cuddle a ewe or a wether, but not a ram. If you are going to raise a couple for meat, get wethers. That way if you are tempted to keep them because they are so cute, you can't breed them. If you have ewes...….then a ram.....then lambs and you are gone down that rabbit hole like the rest of us sheeple. LOL LOL


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## Jesusfreak101 (Feb 19, 2020)

Lol we been wanting them but with the kids having a ram isn't as tempting as it was before i saw that gate lol. My husband would be livid (he isn't as into animals as i am he could do with out them and live in an apartment the weirdo)


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## mystang89 (Feb 19, 2020)

I worry about the children too but fortunately I have older children who are there to guide the younger ones plus I bought a taser. When they need to go into the back pasture they take the taser.


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## mystang89 (Mar 10, 2020)

SURPRISE! No seriously.  We didn't expect any lambs until the 30th of March but apparently Sunny got to her sooner than I thought.  Two healthy twins.  Hopefully this bodes well for the other girls we hope are pregnant.

School is starting to wind down for a few of the children.  We haven't had any breaks during the year other so we've just powered through.  It's nice having a bit of a breather during the day.

I say that but 2 of the children were puking yesterday, 3 different ones are puking today.  We expect at least 1 or 2 new ones to puke tomorrow.  Fun fun day...oh well, could be worse.

Everything else seem to be doing ok. Waiting for spring to get here in full force.  The children and wife are under the impression that this warm weather is here to stay.  I think its just an Indian summer and we still have one more cold snap that's going to come in and ruin the fruit trees.  We'll see who's right.


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## animalmom (Mar 11, 2020)

Congrats on the twins!  I'm sure there is a mama somewhere under all that fleece.


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## farmerjan (Mar 11, 2020)

Like you, we are afraid of all this 60-70's weather and then get another cold snap and ruin the fruit crops this year too.  My peach trees are showing some real swelling around the tips and I so DO NOT WANT them to open flowers...... Been in the 40's at night and up to 70 the last couple days.  Supposed to stay like this all week.  Way too early in the year for this. A few sprinkles yesterday, maybe some more showers on Friday.....


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## mystang89 (Mar 11, 2020)

animalmom said:


> Congrats on the twins!  I'm sure there is a mama somewhere under all that fleece.


Lol, all that wool was one of the reasons we have a clue she was so close. One, all sheep look pregnant at the end of winter. Heck, even my Rams look pregnant. Two, we couldn't see her udder to see that it had filled up. (I did check it after she gave birth and it's a beautiful!)

@farmerjan Yeah, our Apple and peach are gearing up like it's right around the corner. I wanna throw a few ice cubes at them lol. One thing I'm real concerned about is how weak this winter was. Fleas and ticks are going to be absolutely terrible this year I'm afraid.


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 11, 2020)

We are noticing early bugs here in Florida already....certinally going to be a interesting summer if we get lots of rain


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 12, 2020)

It's already acting like summer here the flies are horrid. Fleas i prefer not to think about. And it is in the 80 all week. Has me nervous about summer temps.


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## mystang89 (Mar 12, 2020)

My 5 year old was in the loft moving some hay around so I could get a layer of plywood down over top my workshop so I didn't have a bunch of hay floating into my woodworking pieces. I asked him to throw down some hay so we could have some to feed the sheep then I went off to work on a project.... Wrong move. He threw down enough to feed them for the rest of the year lol.

He did however ask if he could just into the hay from the loft that he just threw down. I told him absolutely not!
....
..
. 
But then it looked like fun to me... So I told him no!... Not till your mom is home so if anything goes won't I can blame it on her.
....
...
..
.
But it REALLY looked like fun so I told him ok.


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## B&B Happy goats (Mar 12, 2020)

That had to be fun, love the giggling of the kids and they were all smiles


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## Mini Horses (Mar 12, 2020)

Congrats on lambs.  I can sure see why you didn't "know" how many were in there!    Good to hear from you.


I just had to laugh really hard at how you DESCRIBED the sick kids with "1 or 2 new ones" puke tomorrow.  So matter of fact.  BUT, so true.

Hope your wife is doing well and the pregnancy is "uneventful".  Summer is coming soon.....


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## mystang89 (Mar 12, 2020)

It was fun watching. What was even better was the 5 year old when I told him to go for it. It's like when you have a big red button and you just have to push it because you think you're not allowed, but once you're given permission it loses its charm. I told him to go for it and he became a chicken. It took his big sister to jump first, then all the other little ducklings followed suit. The oldest child actually there at the end was the most reluctant lol.


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## mystang89 (Mar 12, 2020)

Mini Horses said:


> I just had to laugh really hard at how you DESCRIBED the sick kids with "1 or 2 new ones" puke tomorrow. So matter of fact. BUT, so true.


Lol, unfortunately it actually was true. The youngest one was eating breakfast, then.... It was all over her. It comes to a point eventually, after dealing a while week of this, that when it happens, you just become numb to it and nonchalantly go about cleaning it like you'd clean your windows.
Children: "Dad! She puked!"
Me: "Oh, ok, I'll clean her up while the dog takes care of what's on the ground."
Yes, that's a thing in this house.


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## Baymule (Mar 15, 2020)

Congratulations on the twins! That’s always a nice surprise. 

Puking kids.... yup. It makes the rounds. LOL


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## Bruce (Mar 16, 2020)

Well if they are puking at least you know it isn't the Corona virus


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## mystang89 (Mar 17, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Well if they are puking at least you know it isn't the Corona virus


Lol, that's what the wife was saying. Gotta look at the silver lining. 


This is just here as a quick reference for me when I'm searching for something in this thread real quick.





__





						Old metal silo for compost
					

So I've a few old, small, metal silos on the property for various uses and one of them I use for compost. I thought this would be a great use for it and I'd have lots of compost so I began putting my old hay, sheep bedding, used food,(... Banana peels, rotten food etc.... Sorry felt I had to be...



					www.backyardherds.com


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## mystang89 (Mar 20, 2020)

For the past couple of months I've been chipping away that large block silo I told you all about a while ago. I'd go out with a Sledge hammer knock a while in the base of it about the size of the hammer head then go inside. I did that until I'd knocked out over half the base. As I got past the half way point I started to become very cautious and careful till I finally felt it to risky and just waited for God to finish the rest of it for me.

I went out yesterday in, between the storms, to let the sheep back in and as I walked through the barn I noticed a door/window that didn't used to be there. Then it struck me.




That above is a look from in the barn.
The below is from near the door to the barn lean to.




Now, as a disclaimer, I wouldn't suggest this method of taking down a silo, but, thank God for keeping me and myself safe, it worked.

Now I can take down that tree you see, then start building on to the barn! .... Cause I didn't have enough to do...lol


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## thistlebloom (Mar 20, 2020)

Well when you said, "then it struck me" I feared the worst! Glad it volunteered to collapse on it's own.


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## mystang89 (Mar 20, 2020)

No, never struck me, probably should have a few times. From the look of the Rams they probably saw their lives flash before their eyes though lol. Think it traumatized them because when I let them out today they simply looked at it and wouldn't move near it.


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## mystang89 (Mar 25, 2020)

I've been wanting to start milling my own wood for a while now, getting my own 2x4's etc plus slabs for making tables. Finally getting it done.


Now just need to wait 9 - 12 months till I can do anything with it lol.


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## Bruce (Mar 25, 2020)

Do you have a mill? No pictures of it?


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## mystang89 (Mar 26, 2020)

I use one similar to this one. https://www.amazon.com/Alaskan-Mark-IV-Chainsaw-Mill-36/dp/B06XHLVY6Y
Didn't cost quite as much but looks exactly the same. I'll take a pic of it tomorrow since I'll be using it trying to clear a way to my log splitter. 

Went out and tilled the garden today getting it ready for Cole crops. With the weather as warm as it's been I feel it's a bit late for things like peas already.

We'll probably go out on Saturday and fix the fence around the garden. It needs expanded in places. 

One thing I refurbished a while back was a cast iron skillet that I actually found in the silo, before it fell down. 


After I had made a hole in the silo I saw it and decided to bring some life back.





Came out pretty good I think. So did the food.


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## farmerjan (Mar 26, 2020)

Impressive that it cleaned up that good.  Congrats on the find and the restoring job!!!!!


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## thistlebloom (Mar 26, 2020)

I'm shocked at how nice it is! I guess it must have been pretty well seasoned to come back to life that well. Does it have any makers marks on it?


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## mystang89 (Mar 27, 2020)

thistlebloom said:


> I'm shocked at how nice it is! I guess it must have been pretty well seasoned to come back to life that well. Does it have any makers marks on it?


8G1 is the only thing written on it. It's quite nice. The sides are about 1 inch deeper than the normal cast iron skillet you find which is good for a large size family with larger portions of food to make.


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## Duckfarmerpa1 (Mar 27, 2020)

We use a mill to to our own boards it’s great!!  We can buy lumber from the Amish...although, I like the rough cut...but then we mill it...gives us tons of shavings...I mean..a TON!  In fact...our chickens found on large screen TV box full..they started laying eggs in there!   Must be cozy!!  But those shavings I use all the time in the coop, etc.  in fact we’re going to mill some crappy boards just get shavings when I’m out!!  Wear a mask and sunglasses and ear plugs...plus, you’ll need to use an air compressor to hose yourself off because your a mess after..at least I am..I’m at the receiving end!


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## mystang89 (Mar 27, 2020)

You're definitely spot on about those shavings! We've only milled one log so far and already filled up a 50 gal garbage can! First place the shavings went? Chickens lol.

I was going to till some more of the garden today but that might have to wait till this evening or tomorrow when it's had a bit of time to dry. T-storm just rolled through which is good because I just closed of the rain barrels so they will start collecting rain.

I saw a YouTube video about a "no dig"garden. Looked interesting. I think I'll look into it a bit more. Anyone else have any experience with large gardens and this method?


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## thistlebloom (Mar 27, 2020)

@Beekissed does.


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## Bruce (Mar 27, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I use one similar to this one.


I've seen those, do you have a ripping chain for your saw? I have found that the regular chain crosscuts great but is almost a butter knife if I try to go with the grain.



mystang89 said:


> 8G1 is the only thing written on it.


Can you get a picture of the bottom where those marks are? The 8 is probably and indication that it is an 8" pan. "G" maybe means Griswold? If you are lucky it is pre 1950's, the "grain" is a lot smaller and smoother on old cast iron.


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## mystang89 (Mar 27, 2020)

This is the mill, I think it's an "Alaskan mill" or variety of it.




The bar on the chainsaw is 24". The chain is a milling chain sharpened to 10° however I think that I'll get a skip chain and sharpen it to 10° since that should help with the speed at which the mill goes through the wood.

I also need to get a 16" chain, fuel cap and oil cap for my other Stihl for the small cuts.

My son and I are out trying to clear and split the wood. He's operating the splitter and I'm trying to cut the pieces to size. Hopefully the girls will be out to help load and we'll get a chunk of the pile finished.

EDIT. 
@Bruce the pan is very smooth, much smoother than any other cast iron I have, and I have about 5.


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## Bruce (Mar 27, 2020)

I couldn't find anything specific about the 8 G 1 but I watched this video 





And was reminded that while the 8 is likely a size indicator, it is the size of the "eye" of a wood cookstove, not the pan in inches. Since your pan has no ring, it is likely post wood cookstove era (the ring was kept by many manufacturers though the 2 year old Lodge pan I have has a groove not a ring). What is certain is that your pan was made before 1960 as ALL pans from any country of origin since then must have that country on the bottom of the pan. There is info in the video about how you can tell if a "name brand" manufacturer made a "no name" pan and one of those ways is by the shape of the handle or what the juncture between the handle and pan looks like. 

Of course none of this is particularly important, just interesting


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## mystang89 (Mar 27, 2020)

Bruce said:


> I couldn't find anything specific about the 8 G 1 but I watched this video
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks! May not be important but I've always enjoyed knowing the story behind old things. I think if we listened more to those stories we could learn a lot.

The children and I split a bit of wood today. The oldest was really helpful handling the splitter while I sawed a few pieces to size. This is what we started with.





That saw mark is 24"long if that gives you any idea of how wide that log was. The next picture is after.



And this is after stacking. The children were a conveyor belt which sped things up tremendously. The side next to the wall is where we stacked the wood. It was completely empty when we started. The other stack was already there.



So far that's about 20ft x 8 feet tall.


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## Baymule (Mar 27, 2020)

I love cast iron skillets. I have several old Wagner skillets. When I left my ex, I took an old iron skillet that had belonged to his grandmother because I knew he wouldn't value it. years later, I gave it to my son and he treasures it. Today's cast iron is grainy, not smooth like the fine cast iron skillets of long ago. 

Congrats on your find, that is a very nice old skillet.


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## Bruce (Mar 28, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> That saw mark is 24"long if that gives you any idea of how wide that log was.


I had a few like that (no *I* didn't cut that tree down!). I cut an X into the top of them then wedge split them. Only way to get them small enough to put on the splitter.



mystang89 said:


> So far that's about 20ft x 8 feet tall.


Nearly a full cord


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## mystang89 (Mar 28, 2020)

Think I've fixed the hay loft door but I need to wait till I clear out more of that wood before I can test it. 

We worked on the garden a bit more today. I had to go to the store so while I was gone the wife and children started untying the fence from the T-posts which were around the garden. Did a darn good job especially since that was 2 hours of work I didn't have to worry about.

After lunch we all went back out and started digging post holes with the good ol' post hole digger since the Auger decided it wanted to choke out everytime I engaged the blade. Eight holes sure is a lot but when you have 2 post hole diggers, 1 Spade, 8 children and yourself, things are delagated well and as 3 people are making holes, others are placing the wood posts in the holes and filling the holes in with dirt. 

After that came stretching the fence. Would have gone well... If I had U shape nails...but I didn't, and for some reason people feel they needed to eat so we put things up for the day.

Full day though so I can't complain. Ready to eat, take some Percocet, get a shower, and go to sleep.


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## Bruce (Mar 28, 2020)

You've got quite the team of workers! What are the ages of the kids?

You definitely need some fence nails to attach the fence. Is the fence H braces at the corners and T posts between? You could likely get the wire tied back into itself without the fence nails but it is a lot easier if you've got it nailed into the post first so it doesn't slide.


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## mystang89 (Mar 28, 2020)

Bruce said:


> What are the ages of the kids?



Eight children from 12 - 2 y/0. They are fairly good for the most part but just like everyone they have their limit which is generally much smaller than mine lol. For the help they provide though, I guess I'll keep them. 



Bruce said:


> You could likely get the wire tied back into itself without the fence nails but it is a lot easier if you've got it nailed into the post first so it doesn't slide.



Yeah....I kinda cheesed it a bit lol.  I took a couple of nails, drove them in a bit, then bent them over the fence to hold it in place long enough for me to tie it around the post to itself. There rest will be nailed in Monday and connected to the T-posts.

There wood posts are supported by the H-brace system, every corner and both sides of the gate. Corners get 2 braces, one on each side. I'll try to get a picture Monday if we get it done.

Going to be in the 50's and raining next week so not sure how much I'll be getting done outside. Probably try to fix the finish mower and clean the workshop/make sure all my woodworking tools are in working order.


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## Bruce (Mar 29, 2020)

I'm guessing the 12 Y/O gets more wood stacked than the 2 Y/O. But heck they are helping and yes parental adults do seem to have a much stronger work ethic.  You'ld think I was handing out cruel and unusual punishment asking my 2 girls to do most anything .... and they are both in their 20's.


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## mystang89 (Mar 29, 2020)

Bruce said:


> I'm guessing the 12 Y/O gets more wood stacked than the 2 Y/O. But heck they are helping and yes parental adults do seem to have a much stronger work ethic.  You'ld think I was handing out cruel and unusual punishment asking my 2 girls to do most anything .... and they are both in their 20's.


On most days the 12yo gets more wood lol but that 2 year old is pretty darn helpful.


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## mystang89 (Mar 30, 2020)

Finished the garden fence today with oldest son and daughter help. Here's a look at the overview. A few of the H-braces in the picture as well as a V-brace (think that's what it's called anyway). I'm pleased with it. Up next to the lean to there's some things that need to be cleaned up a bit but I'm very pleased with the outcome, mainly because it doesn't feel so trashy, more finished.




Then we have my....."what an I going to do here" moment. I know they make pieces that go from a metal post to a wood post but I don't have any. What I do have are lots and lots of cedar and locus wood lol so I decided to nail one side to the bottom of the wood pole and hand drill a hole on the other side next to the metal pole. Then I rana chain through that hole, rapped the chain around the pole and tightened it down in one of the extra bolts that was on the pole.



And here is Sunny testing it out for me so I know if it'll break or not. I'm so lucky to have him around...


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## Baymule (Mar 30, 2020)

He sure is pretty. That's a nice job on the garden fence. It feels good to get something like that accomplished.


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## mystang89 (Mar 30, 2020)

Baymule said:


> He sure is *a *pretty *big pain in my rear end.*



Just thought I'd finish your thought

He's an alright ram though. He likes to... Well, ram things but after watching him I honestly think that's how he shows affection... Or something like that. I just hope he's more fertile than he seems to be. One out of 4 ewes isn't a good percentage.


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## thistlebloom (Mar 30, 2020)

I like your creative use of found objects, and I hope Sunny doesn't test your fence beyond it's capacity. Is he the one that rearranged those steel panels in another picture?


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## mystang89 (Mar 31, 2020)

I'm not sure which panels you mean but he definitely is the one who had torn down his stall walls, barn walls, pasture gate.... I'm sure there is more. He really does take after his dad lol.


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## Baymule (Mar 31, 2020)

He makes me appreciate my ram Ringo even more. I just moved him, but he was in a pen with a wire gate held closed with a zip tie loop. LOL Now he is in a cow panel pen with cow panel gate. The “hinges” are hog rings and it is closed with 2 carabiners. I love Ringo!


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## mystang89 (Mar 31, 2020)

Wow! My wife would LOVE to have him. Very nice to know there are those gems in the rough out there lol


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## Bruce (Mar 31, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Then we have my....."what an I going to do here" moment.


That is a novel way to brace a post, especially the hinge side of a gate post. But if it works, it works!


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## thistlebloom (Mar 31, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I'm not sure which panels you mean but he definitely is the one who had torn down his stall walls, barn walls, pasture gate.... I'm sure there is more. He really does take after his dad lol.







This one? Or was that a different ram?


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## mystang89 (Mar 31, 2020)

@thistlebloom ah yes, that one. That's the same ram. He likes to keep me on my toes and see if I have everything in proper order.


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## Bruce (Mar 31, 2020)

thistlebloom said:


>


I think you dumped the logs on the gate and are shifting blame to the poor ram


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## Baymule (Mar 31, 2020)

They aren't called RAM for nothing.


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## mystang89 (Apr 3, 2020)

Getting started in a compost bin. Should be done with it today with the help of the children of course.


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## thistlebloom (Apr 3, 2020)

That's enormous!
Curious as to why it's so tall?


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## mystang89 (Apr 3, 2020)

The final product. Not complete happy with it. I'm terrible at installing metal roofing so it'll leak like a siv but it's a compost bin so I'm not too worried about it. The metal on the gate you see is mainly what I don't like. It's crooked, does match up at all and just looks trashy. One day I'll do something about it.







It ended up kinda looking more like a quick stall than a compost ben lol.



thistlebloom said:


> That's enormous!
> Curious as to why it's so tall?


Mmmmm... No good answer lol. Guess so I could stand up in it, use the bucket of tractor to dump what I need. I didn't have any blue print and just winged it haha.


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## B&B Happy goats (Apr 3, 2020)

It's  kinda funky..I like it ! Looks like it's  been there forever


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## thistlebloom (Apr 3, 2020)

If you're using a tractor to dump it makes total sense.


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## mystang89 (Apr 3, 2020)

thistlebloom said:


> If you're using a tractor to dump it makes total sense.


We'll go with the tractor then


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## Bruce (Apr 3, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> The metal on the gate you see is mainly what I don't like. It's crooked,


Looks like the post it is hinged on has quite a bow.


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## mystang89 (Apr 3, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Looks like the post it is hinged on has quite a bow.


YES! I'm glad you noticed that "architectural design" I placed there to....um... accentuate the uh.... beauty of the building?


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## Mini Horses (Apr 3, 2020)

It IS artistic --  sorta.   Let the children paint a mural on it.  Should be a grand finish!!!!


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## thistlebloom (Apr 3, 2020)

I like that idea @Mini Horses !

Actually Mystang, I think a leaky roof is a plus over a compost pile. It should be kept moist. I know we have very different summer climates, but when I used to* pile and turn compost I would have to moisten it with a hose. We are quite arid here in the summer.
Maybe you get too much rain in the summer?

*Now I just dump all the compost in the chicken pen and let them kick it around, then dig the top 4" of soil out in the fall and spread on the garden.


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## Bruce (Apr 5, 2020)

Hmmm, the problem with the chicken pen compost processing is that a lot of what goes into my compost bin is the shavings and chicken poo FROM their coop! It definitely isn't "soil" at that point. Sure wish it was.


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## thistlebloom (Apr 5, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Hmmm, the problem with the chicken pen compost processing is that a lot of what goes into my compost bin is the shavings and chicken poo FROM their coop! It definitely isn't "soil" at that point. Sure wish it was.



I guess I mean mostly kitchen scraps go in the chicken pen. The corral and coop cleanings get spread out on bare ground for sheet composting. I rotate through the bare areas, so there are usually two years before it gets layered on again. The improvement in weed vigor is amazing! lol. I also have a small mountain of cleanings that I use in the garden after it has decomposed for a year.


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## mystang89 (Apr 8, 2020)

Spent the day working on lawnmowers and cutting peices for beehive frames. Nothing else really got done, (besides school) but you have to finish the preparation before the project.
Bought a new (to me) push mower for my son since I tilled the other one to death. Yes, you did read that correct, that is NOT a typo. I'll let that just sit with you got a moment...
...
..
.
Ok, so went out to get this mower from some guy on Craigslist. Just needed something cheap. Saw one for 85$ and figured if go for it. When I looked at it, it needed an oil change and the air filter was missing but everything else looked ok. (Everything else you normally look at anyway.) Paid for it, stopped and picked up an air filter, ($9), then got home. Didn't think about it again till my son was making sure everything was ready to use. (Gas, oil, cleaning the deck etc. New toy, for once he was excited to mow).

I wanted to make sure it was done right so I helped him out. Also wanted to make sure he wasn't going to scalp the grass so I wanted to set the depth. Moved the front wheels to the highest setting, (my grass is almost half way to my knee atm) then went to the back so I could change the depth. Nothing. Literally, nothing to change the depth. The entire depth assembly was gone. In it's place was a couple wood blocks, bolted into the frame of the mower, with a couple of metal bands screwed to the blocks which held the wheel axel to the mower....




I've had my share of lawnmowers I've looked at before and checked over. Never before have I thought, "Hey, I wander if this has the rear wheel adjuster that come stuck on ever lawnmower."

In other news we planted some of the garden yesterday. Green beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, and cabbage. I wanted to plant rhubarb, zucchini and spinach but all greenhouse were saying it wasn't time. You know, I'd agree IF the weather this year was the same temp as all the previous years but it's much warmer this year. I think all chances of frost on my area is done. I like to plant according to the weather, not according to a book which doesn't know what the weather actually is in April. But that's just me.


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## Bruce (Apr 8, 2020)

Bummer about the mower, hopefully you can use it at that height. If not I guess you can make your own custom height adjustment blocks.


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## mystang89 (Apr 8, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Bummer about the mower, hopefully you can use it at that height. If not I guess you can make your own custom height adjustment blocks.


Lol, that's what I told my wife. Strangely enough, she simply looked at me those that, blank look in her eyes.

My son did get his mowing done today thankfully. I finally aired up the tired on my 48 in, adjusted the blade height, greased up the fittings, (along with all grease fittings I could find on the tractor, Baler, and haybine) and put a velky I had left over on the back. All that finished, I decided I'd start bush hogging my yard with this mower, putting it through a good test since it would be the first time if ever used it.

About 1/3rd way through the front yard I heard a real loud metal on metal scraping sounds. Turned it off and found out the reason. The spindle on one of the three blades was bent so it wasn't tightening all the way and all that blade was doing was free spinning. Took another spindle I had left over, replaced it and continued on, getting around 1/2 way through the yard, then the blades just stopped spinning. This time the belt had completely slipped off. Besides the pulleys being too hot and the exhaust too near where my hand was going to be, I decided the good Lord simply wanted me to move on to other things.

So, since it's supposed to rain tonight, I figured it would be a good time to plant the plants I've had sitting in their pots for the past few days. PLEASE let it rain tonight!

My daughter and I have made it a routine of watering the garden by hand since planting it. That takes about 30 minutes ish, but it's time well spent I think. We do it in the morning after letting out the sheep so it's cool, beautiful, calm and relaxing and she can hopefully cultivate more than just plants, but also I love of nature, good work habits and a green thumb. (That way when I'm older age can plant my garden cause I've got a black thumb!


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## Bruce (Apr 9, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Besides the pulleys being too hot


Hmm, sounds like maybe they need some more grease? I don't think they are supposed to get hot are they?


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## Baymule (Apr 9, 2020)

That is a real redneck mower ya' got there!


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## mystang89 (Apr 9, 2020)

Almost finished the morning today. Belt finally slipped off and snapped. Suppose that makes a decision pretty simple for me. Get a new belt.
Someday we'll get that grass mowed lol.


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## Baymule (Apr 9, 2020)

Or you could let the sheep graze it.


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## mystang89 (Apr 10, 2020)

Everyone remember that garden I said I planted? Some of the children left the gate open. Sheep appreciated that. No more garden.


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## farmerjan (Apr 10, 2020)

😭😭😭😱😱


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## Mike CHS (Apr 10, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Everyone remember that garden I said I planted? Some of the children left the gate open. Sheep appreciated that. No more garden.



 I couldn't laugh at that but it was funny.


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## thistlebloom (Apr 10, 2020)

It's still early! Plenty of time for round two. Consider it practice.


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## mystang89 (Apr 11, 2020)

Mike CHS said:


> I couldn't laugh at that but it was funny.



I know one day I'll look back on that and laugh. When I do, I'll be sure to let you know so we can laugh together.   
As for now, I had to keep in the forefront of my mind that their intention was good..... And I have to get a spring loaded gate lol



thistlebloom said:


> It's still early! Plenty of time for round two. Consider it practice.



Good way to look at it!


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## mystang89 (Apr 11, 2020)

Went to two of the feed stores around here and both are sold out of chicks. Guess everyone is buying the toilet paper for the new chicks they bought?  Also haven't been able to find any bees for sale and around here there are normally a couple people selling.


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## mystang89 (Apr 12, 2020)

HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER!!


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## mystang89 (Apr 16, 2020)

*Definition of battering RAM*

1*: *a military siege engine consisting of a large wooden beam with a head of iron used in ancient times to beat down the walls of a besieged place
2*: *a heavy metal bar with handles used (as by firefighters) to batter down doors and walls

This bar is a 3/4" solid piece of steel. It was used in conjunction with a true 3"x 5" slab of wood which was inserted into 1/4" think steel door fasteners located on each side of the stall door.





I came out to let my sheep out yesterday to find the wood on the ground, the metal fasteners bent and this bar bent. This is of course for my male sheep.
..... I'm going to electrify that entire stall.... And put a flame thrower at the door along with a moat.


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## farmerjan (Apr 16, 2020)

Wow  he is rough.


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## Bruce (Apr 16, 2020)

Have you considered checking all the police departments within 200 miles to see if any are building new stations and might have a cell from the old station they would sell you?


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## Baymule (Apr 16, 2020)

I need to take a picture of the 88 cent craptastic carabiners that hold my ram's  half of a cow panel gate closed.


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## Baymule (Apr 16, 2020)

Maybe I should post a picture of the hay string loop that held the wire gate closed of the pen he used to be in.   In another few weeks he and two ewes will go to a pasture with a real gate. But I don't have a night pen in that pasture, so we are going to put up a small pallet fence pen and attach it to the Hawg Hut. Maybe I can come up with another really cool gate for that and hold it closed with a...…..rubber band maybe?


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## mystang89 (Apr 17, 2020)

Baymule said:


> Maybe I should post a picture of the hay string loop that held the wire gate closed of the pen he used to be in.   In another few weeks he and two ewes will go to a pasture with a real gate. But I don't have a night pen in that pasture, so we are going to put up a small pallet fence pen and attach it to the Hawg Hut. Maybe I can come up with another really cool gate for that and hold it closed with a...…..rubber band maybe?



So, quick question. What animal phycologist do you use that does such a great job with hypnosis and makes you Rams think they are rabbits?


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## Baymule (Apr 17, 2020)

Ringo is just an outstanding individual and he passes his laid back personality to his offspring. 

We brought him home in the back of the truck, almost 700 miles, an 11 hour drive. I fed him animal crackers through the sliding back glass. 






​
This is one of the reasons I wanted him so much. 





​
What's not to love about Ringo?


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## mystang89 (Apr 17, 2020)

I DEFINITELY think that personalities are genetically passed on to offspring. I never  would have thought that the way an animal behaves mentally would be something which was passed from parent to baby but Sunny acts EXACTLY like his father, Bruce. The other ram we have, Dueuy, is nice and laid back... So it seems anyway. It could be that he's just not the alpha and just seems to be mellow. Who knows what he'd do it he was the alpha?

I've even seen Tina, the ewe from Bruce, headbutt my 2 year old who was doing nothing more than walking around the pasture.


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## Mike CHS (Apr 17, 2020)

There is a major difference in the ewes that were sired by Ringo and the lambs that were sired by Max (our current ram).  Max will never be tame although he has also never been aggressive toward me or the ewes so that's all I expect from him.  He is getting better though.


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## Bruce (Apr 17, 2020)

Maybe in a few years you can get one of Ringo's ram lambs since his genetics in your flock will be well diluted by then


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## Baymule (Apr 17, 2020)

The two ewe lambs we are keeping this year are calm. One of them comes from a wild mom, that will come eat out of my hand, but otherwise runs from me. 

This is the high security closure on Ringo’s pen. 





This is the elaborate closure I designed to keep Ringo in his proper place, before he was moved to high security.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 17, 2020)




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## Ridgetop (Apr 17, 2020)

One year we kept our two rams (Yearling crossbred Mufasa and big Hampshire ram Killer) in adjoining horse corrals with plastic horse fencing attached to the bars.  Killer didn't like Mufasa and tried to butt him through the corral bars.  After Mufasa went to the butcher, we moved Killer to a breeding pen, and when we went to reconfigure the stalls realized that Killer had bent the horizontal bars in the horse corral panel.  Rams are very powerful!  No matter how gentle my rams seem, I don't turn my back on them.


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## Bruce (Apr 17, 2020)

2 of my gates are 12' corral panels. I think it takes a might wallop to bend those pipes!


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## farmerjan (Apr 17, 2020)

Disposition is definitely a "heritable trait".. It is one of over 20 heritable traits listed in the bull stud catalogs that come out once or twice a year for dairy cattle.  Didn't used to be listed;   but when I was taking some college courses back in 1988-89, the instructor back then said that although it was thought to be ridiculous.... he was a firm believer that disposition was very heritable.  I agreed. 
 The big ole duroc boar hog that we used to borrow off and on for a couple of years back then when I only had 2-4 sows, was the best, quietest dispositioned boar and his pigs and the gilts we kept for breeding were much nicer than the ones I kept later on from a different boar..... 
There was a real good typed Holstein bull, whose daughters did well in the show ring and milked really really good.... but they were all high strung like that bull was.  It was a well known fact that the daughters were all "looney"  if they got upset.... which anything that changed their routines would set them off.   To this day, anything out of that line will often be commented on about the high strung attitudes......
So YES, disposition is VERY important if all other factors are somewhat equivalent.  Sometimes you have to use what you have... or you use one that has very definite  reason for improvement in the herd/flock..... but you will spend several generations breeding out the undesirable  attitude if you are not real careful.


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## mystang89 (Apr 18, 2020)

I know we've been doing sheep now for about 3 years and should already have a decent start to the genetics we want, but things being what they are, the plan now is to raise a ram that is, at the very least, not destructive. Docile would be nice to but I don't think anyone in this family will ever trust a ram again, even if that ram was Ringo.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 18, 2020)

FarmerJan is so right abut inherited temperament.  It goes for horses, dogs, and all species of animals, humans included.  How many of us know a happy family with one moody member that we say "Oh, he's just like his uncle, grandpa, aunt, etc.".  When buying a dog or cow horse, we look for the temperament and ability that will allow us to train it to be a hunting, herding  guarding dog or roping or sorting horse. Ability is not worth as much it the animal doesn't have the temperament to be used.

Baymule's ram is nor the normal type of ram.  He is extremely gentle and tame.  Part is genetic and part how he has been raised by Mike and Teresa.  However, most rams are not as gentle as he is.  All of our other rams have been well behaved and docile, *BUT *although I will pet them when they come up to me, I never turn my back on one.  I have had too many injuries to take a chance.  Even the ewes are powerful and when racing through a gate for the barn or the pasture, I make sure to stand clear.  They can take out a knee accidentally.

DS1's registered Hampshire show ram, Killer, was as large as our Shetland pony.  He was meaner than sin and deserved his name.  He couldn't be approached in a stall any larger than 6 x 6 without extreme care.  We kept him in the sheep pen which was fairly large.  It had a window over the built in feeder so we just dropped hay into the feeder from the feed room.  If DH and DS1 went down together they could catch him but I never went into the pen to get him.  Instead I dropped some grain into the feeder from the feed room window, caught him around the neck with my crook and put him in a halter with a chain shank.  I tied the halter to the feeder.  Then I could go into the pen to work with the ewes, or take him out on the halter.  He was halter trained and safe to handle in a halter.  The pipe corral bars he bent were the larger corral pipes 1 5/8" pipes.   

DS1 was 13 when he bought him.  He was a big strong boy and made the mistake of thinking he could turn his back in him when he went into the pen.  For about a year DS1 told us that his ram "loved" him, but one day Killer nailed him and sent him flying  Luckily it was not  full on hit or he could have broken DS1's leg, hip, or back.  DS1 was moving to the side when Killer got him.  DS1 took a piece of 1" PVC pipe into the pen after that.  Killer was a gorgeous ram, and did a lot of winning, but I was happy to see him go when DS1 sold his show flock.  He bought a nice tempered market sire for his market ewes.

Since you have  Awassis, I would start looking for a ram with docile temperament from a breeder, even one across the country.  If you buy a young ram lamb you can have it shipped to you in a dog kennel air freight.  Livestock shippers routinely transport sheep from sheep shows and auctions to buyers across country.  If you breed your own ram from a mean ram you might be stuck.  Sell your ram instead and replace him instead.  That way you bring in new blood to our flock of ewes too.  With this quarantine you can go online and find a good breeder that will ship.


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## mystang89 (Apr 22, 2020)

Can't remember if I've mentioned this away but start working on a lean to in my pasture so I can store my hay equipment. I had some cedar logs which has been dropped of to me and figured I'd use those for my corner and center posts. 

I planned them in the ground about 2 weeks ago or so and today I got around to tying everything together for the walls and roof. Was about to put the 2 x 6 on the front posts where the lowest part of the roof will be and saw that the 2 posts in the middle are completely misaligned with the two corner posts. I tried looking at that from all sorts of angles and nothing. I'm trying to find a work around to that but right now I'm thinking I'm going to have to pull those 2 middles poles up, dig 2 more holes, then put them back in.

I'm hoping with a good night's rest they will align themselves.


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## Baymule (Apr 22, 2020)

I build things like that too! I am no carpenter, but I manage to do what I don't know how to do anyway. I think maybe you just had a headache and your eyes were crossed. I'm sure when you look at the posts in the morning, they will be ok.


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## mystang89 (Apr 23, 2020)

Let's play a game. I take a picture. You guess what it is.


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## thistlebloom (Apr 23, 2020)

Blue coffee can!


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## Bruce (Apr 23, 2020)

Dishwasher flatware rack!!!!! 


Wheel rim for an "I have no idea what"??


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## mystang89 (Apr 23, 2020)

Sorry, couldn't post until I got the darn thing off.



That was a lawn mower tire, split in 2 down the middle, then sawn in half again going across. 

These are all the tools I had to use in order to get it freed.  That's not including the tractor or jigsaw.

It's raining here today, so I figured I'd keep the day simple and check out the slow leak in the mower tire. I removed the tire, cleaned it up, sprayed some soapy water on it and watch the bubbles come out from all around the rim area. Ok, so the tire itself is probably fine but something is keeping the bead from sealing all the way I figured.

I don't have a tire puller so I figured I would simply run over the tire part with the tractor to pop it free from the rim. After running over it a few times nothing is popping free. So I get a bit more aggressive and use the front end loader tipped down. Nothing pops off. 

By now it's starting to dawn on me that this isn't simply going to be....simple. I take the hammer and start hammering away on it. Nothing. Next it's on to my pry bar. Then to my thick flat head screw driver. With that one I punctured the tire. 

Whelp, at least I can take the gloves off. Out comes the jigsaw since I don't have to worry about putting a hole in it anymore. I split it right down the middle as the original picture shows. Then I see all the rust. The tire is literally rusted into the rim. No amount of pulling is getting it off and the ring of the tire which goes around the bead of the rim has metal banding inside which keeps it in place to. 

After a while of messing with it I bring out my angle grinder and CAREFULLY grind the metal banding apart.




The left side had already had the wire wheel taken to it before I took the picture.




That's about as good as I could get it. Still pitted all over the place. I have no clue where the previous owners too this mower but I think they went fishing with it.

What was supposed to be a 15 minute job turned into a days worth. Just another day I suppose. At least I was kept busy, wouldn't want to get bored lol.

On my son's mower though, (the one that I just bought which had wood blocks keeping the wheels on it) I finished "upgrading" the wheels lol. They are now raised to the height I want them at. We'll see how long that lasts.


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## Bruce (Apr 24, 2020)

Dang, you showed us too soon! I was next going to guess "table saw insert"! 



mystang89 said:


> What was supposed to be a 15 minute job turned into a days worth.


Isn't that ALWAYS how it goes?


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## thistlebloom (Apr 24, 2020)

Well at least you took care of that annoying slow leak!


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## mystang89 (Apr 24, 2020)

Bruce said:


> I was next going to guess "table saw insert"!


Lol, funny you mention that. I tried making 3 of my own and they don't look too different from that tire.


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## Baymule (Apr 25, 2020)

You are a man of many talents. What an extraordinary job of wrecking out a lawnmower wheel. I am in awe...…..


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## Ridgetop (Apr 25, 2020)

That quick job that will "only take a minute" always takes several hours, and then you realize you have to run to the hardware store for a part or a tool!


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## thistlebloom (Apr 25, 2020)

Ridgetop said:


> then you realize you have to run to the hardware store for a part or a tool!



And at least twice!


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## Bruce (Apr 25, 2020)

Ridgetop said:


> That quick job that will "only take a minute" always takes several hours, and then you realize you have to run to the hardware store for a part or a tool!


Which you already own but can't find. Anyone need a chalk line? I now have 2.


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## Mike CHS (Apr 25, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Which you already own but can't find. Anyone need a chalk line? I now have 2.



That is one problem I don't have.  I'm OCD enough that I put everything away as soon as a project is done.  I also have a huge tool cabinet that used to be a Navy Avionics shop tool chest that weighs 350 pounds before you put anything into it.


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## mystang89 (Apr 25, 2020)

Baymule said:


> You are a man of many talents. What an extraordinary job of wrecking out a lawnmower wheel. I am in awe...…..



Lol, thank you. If there is one thing I'm good at it destroying things. Remember that concrete silo? What I'm definitely not a pro at is putting things back together well. It's like climbing a tree. Going up the tree is easy! Going down CORRECTLY is the hard part. (Going down is real easy. Still not sure which is more painful afterwards though, the broken back or the hospital bills.



Bruce said:


> Which you already own but can't find. Anyone need a chalk line? I now have 2.



I know! I must have at least 6 different tape measures on this property! Where?! I don't know!!


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## CntryBoy777 (Apr 25, 2020)

What I like is when I go to get a tool and someone else moved it, but they can't remember what they did with it and certainly isn't on the "priority list" to help find it.....kinda like a Family Circus strip.... 🤣


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## Ridgetop (Apr 26, 2020)

You can never have too many tape measures!


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## mystang89 (Apr 26, 2020)

CntryBoy777 said:


> What I like is when I go to get a tool and someone else moved it, but they can't remember what they did with it and certainly isn't on the "priority list" to help find it.....kinda like a Family Circus strip.... 🤣


I couldn't count the amount of times I've gone out and found my told just lying in my yard rusting because one of the children decided they needed it.


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## thistlebloom (Apr 26, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I couldn't count the amount of times I've gone out and found my told just lying in my yard rusting because one of the children decided they needed it.



Toolbox with a lock, or at least some mild current running to the lid!


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## Bruce (Apr 26, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I must have at least 6 different tape measures on this property! Where?! I don't know!!


I do know where my tape measures are since I use them with some frequency. Not so much the chalk line. And the reasons I couldn't find the chalk line are:

I'm not Mike, I don't have "a place for everything"
I had to pack up all the stuff at the old house where I actually had a pretty good idea where most things were and bring them to this house. Now there are all sorts of "hard to categorize" things in various boxes in the barn workshop. Which is a MESS. Need to take some days and sort some of it out ... and make it so the work table actually is a surface one could work on.



CntryBoy777 said:


> kinda like a Family Circus strip....


"Not Me"


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## Ridgetop (Apr 26, 2020)

Remember a year or 2 ago when I organized the tool shed?  DS2 decided to make his own chest of drawers.  His work hours are long and his time is short.  The partially constructed chest of drawers is now in my tool shed OVER A YEAR, along with the solar panels from the barn roof.  We had to remove them to replace the roof which the wind took off.  OVER A YEAR AGO!  When I question them about these items, they assure me they will get to it soon.  I finally insisted that DS2 remove the dresser  portion to the lower shed.  The drawers, finishing lumber and moldings are still stacked in the tool shed.  His tools are scattered over the table we put up as a work bench.  The solar panels and attachments are stacked on my counters.    It is about time for another assault on the tool shed.  Tthis time I need to attach a hasp and padlock to the door!


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## Bruce (Apr 26, 2020)

Better make sure they don't have bolt cutters in their shed!


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## Ridgetop (Apr 26, 2020)

Bolt cutters will be in the shed.  Behind the door with the hasp and padlock.  I just need to have several spare keys.  Of cirse, DS1 and DS2 both keep some tools in their bedrooms so could remove the hasp.


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## Bruce (Apr 27, 2020)

You have to get the kind of hasp that closes over the screws (and frequently check under their beds and in their underwear drawers for their bolt cutters.


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## Ridgetop (Apr 30, 2020)

LOL


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## mystang89 (May 1, 2020)

We bought ducks a few weeks ago and they've been under a heat lamp with a few chickens.  The ducks grow like weeds, much faster than I thought they would. This made me start to look up the best ways to feed and water them.

After a bit of research it turns out they are very messy eaters and that is exactly what I saw in the heater box. Their water was disgusting and their food was all wet all the time. We had to change it constantly.

Lots of googling later I found a self cleaning feeder so I put one together.








						(Almost) Self Cleaning Duck Waterer
					

gawl=hysem




					www.backyardchickens.com
				




I took a few pictures and videos of my set up for anyone looking for something.





That hoes comes from my garden waterer set up which can be seen in further pictures.



At the back of it you can see a discharge valve and pipe. This helps to enable it to clean itself. By turning the release valve to open, the water flow out taking food and dirt with it.



In this picture is seen the discharge pipe on the left and the hose on the right.
A few videos incoming showing how it works.






That one should be it filling up.






That should be emptying. Not the greatest of quality sorry. There's a reason I'm not on the film making business lol.

This is a pic of my rain barrels in the garden which are hooked up to the duck Waters.



Yes, still needs some TLC. I'll get to that sometime haha. Right now I'm in the "work with what you got" phase.

And finally a few pics of their new house.



It was an old playhouse that the children never used so we decided to repurpose it. The windows are all framed over with hardware cloth which you can see in one of the pictures. It also had about 5 inches of saw dust as bedding which is what I've used for the chickens. Turns into great compost!




The next picture is how I've secured it. The duck house is in my lean to which is fairly protected as is but I've learned to not take chances.



The windows are simply secured by the eye hook latches but, again, behind them is the hardware cloth wire frames. The door is locked by a turn style nob which then had the latch you see on it. It takes 4 different operations to open so I'm hoping a raccoon gets lazy after the 2nd or 3rd time.

I'll update later on with other happenings.


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## Ridgetop (May 1, 2020)

The reason ducks' water is so dirty is that all waterfowl need to wash their food down by submerging their heads and beaks in water.  This also washes some of their food into their drinking water.  Without water they can't eat.  

I like your self cleaning waterer.  Can you hook the drain line up so it eventually flows into their pond?  If you use some kind of filter, or larger tubes and pipes, can you use the water to water fruit trees in the duck yard?  Traditionally, orchards were weeded by geese that actually graze the grass under the trees.  The ducks eat slugs and snails.  In an established garden, ducks usually won't eat the plants, unlike chickens that can decimate the garden by pecking plants and scratching them out.  I won't vouch for the safety of strawberries though.  It would be nice if you could salvage the water runoff into a watering system for an orchard.  

Here in southern California I always think of water.   Rabbits are sensitive to the heat so we used misters on the outside to lower the temperatures in the barn.  It saved the lives of our rabbits often. Once I saw misters on the outside of a rabbit barn with berry bushes planted on the outside of the barn under the misters.  The misters watered the berries.  Sadly our rabbit barn had asphalt on 2 sides and the goat pen on the other.


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## CntryBoy777 (May 1, 2020)

We had 12 we brooded and cleaned their area twice a day for 3wks before we put them outside in their pen....we used rubbermaid containers with the lids cut  on 2 corners...the water was kept in a plastic tub, the food was outside the tub....
..
They can sure be messy, but it is worth it....they grow extremely fast and the mess is much less when they get outside....any water they can reach they will muck it up quickly....ducks can't climb steep angles so put other waterers higher than they can reach....a kiddie pool is a necessity....


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## Ridgetop (May 1, 2020)

I like ducks.  They are very cute and friendly, especially when you have your kids go out after dark with flashlights and hunt snails in the garden.  Pop them into a coffee can and feed them to the ducks.  They love you when you hand feed them with treats like that.   Custard made with goat milk and duck eggs is super rich and so goooood! Duck meat is also tasty, all dark meat. Not much breast meat though. Roast ducks or geese in a brown paper bag to control grease spatter. Muscovy are best eating ducks around! I used to skin them instead of plucking, then roast under cover. German fruit stuffing is good for waterfowl - cuts the greasy taste.  Yum Yum now I'm hungry!


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## Ridgetop (May 1, 2020)

I like your super cute duck house.  Repurposing things is always good.  My DIL in Nipomo turned their old Rubbermaid type storage shed into a chicken coop similar to yours.  It has held up for several years now.


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## mystang89 (May 1, 2020)

Thanks for the replies and tips everyone. Much appreciated!



Ridgetop said:


> Can you hook the drain line up so it eventually flows into their pond?



I wouldn't be able to drain it into their pond as the pond is a stream that goes through my property. I have one in both the front pasture and back pasture thankfully so they have access to water wherever they go.



Ridgetop said:


> especially when you have your kids go out after dark with flashlights and hunt snails in the garden. Pop them into a coffee can and feed them to the ducks



That is a GREAT idea! I love it. That'll probably be something I do in the next few days. Fun!



Ridgetop said:


> Muscovy are best eating ducks around! I used to skin them instead of plucking, then roast under cover. German fruit stuffing is good for waterfowl - cuts the greasy taste. Yum Yum now I'm hungry!



Mmmmm that sounds delicious. I don't know how to sex these birds and I've never been successful at sexing chickens but I really do hope that one of them is a male so I can have more little ducklings.

Also thinking about getting a rooster too but that's neither here nor there.


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## Ridgetop (May 1, 2020)

The kids will think hunting snails by flashlight is a great adventure!  Mine loved it.  It also kept the vegetable garden clean.  


mystang89 said:


> Mmmmm that sounds delicious. I don't know how to sex these birds and I've never been successful at sexing chickens but I really do hope that one of them is a male so I can have more little ducklings.


I never learned to sex a chicken.  I just waited for the embarrassed soft crowings coming from the roosters  they started through puberty.  Sort of like boys when their voices change.  LOL  Sexing ducks and geese is easy.  The first one may be hard but after you learn it you never forget.  Wear old clothes though because they often poop on you.  You can't really sex them much before 6 months anyway.  However, here is a secret to sexing ducks without having to offend their modesty.  Once they are mature the drakes have an upward curling tail feather while the hen duck doesn't.  Crazy but it is true.  LOL  You can always tell the difference that way.


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## farmerjan (May 1, 2020)

And some breeds of ducks have different color patterns for the male and female at maturity.  Mallards, rouens, and some of the colors of little call ducks , and aren't the Khaki Campbell males marked a bit different from the females?  It can change during moulting.  But, you are right @Ridgetop , the curling feather(s) are called the "sex feathers"  and only the male has them.


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## Ridgetop (May 2, 2020)

*Mystang:  *You are off the hook!  Do not share this secret with your children and you will be their knowledge guru.  At least until they learn it from someone else, or enter puberty.  LOL 

 Just don't buy any geese.  Although the gander usually is loud and the goos is quiet.  Also the gander walks with his head erect and neck stretched high while the goose keeps hers seductively curved in an S shape.  Some breeds of geese also have sex related color patterns.  Also back to ducks, the females are supposedly loud and quack often, while the drakes are quiet.  The reverse of chickens where the hens only cackle when they have laid an egg or are arguing over a bug, but have loudly crowing roosters.


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## mystang89 (May 2, 2020)

These ducks are definitely fun to watch as they dip their heads into the water them splash it around with their bills. Fun little things. Also, i didn't mention yesterday @Ridgetop but where there water is draining from is going to be a flower bed. I think I'll make some kinda irrigation channel so the water can flow or something. May just make a bucket for it to flow into and use that to water the flowers. Not sure, but definitely have plans on not wasting this God given water.


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## Ridgetop (May 3, 2020)

Great idea.


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## mystang89 (May 9, 2020)

Remember that large load of logs I had sitting at the gate which Mr. Sunny decided to destroy. We finally cut and split all those and stacked them. Our wood shed is the fullest it's ever been actually being filled to capacity. That's a good feeling as we shouldn't have to worry about next year's winter. There was one particular log I was wanting to make 2*4 out of but for some reason my mill kept binding about a foot into the log. Still haven't figured it why nor had the time, though I did keep a 2ft section of the log unsplit so I could test the mill when I get some free time.... Some....sweet... free....time......





We also mucked out the Rams stall. Smallest stall there is but it still took all day, which is fine. That kept people busy and out of trouble. Unfortunately now we don't have enough wood chips too do the main ewes stall so I had to contact the man who brings them and see if he's bring another haul. Thankfully he said yes but that it would be next week, which is fine since I have plenty of other things to keep me busy till then.

Work on the lean to shed is coming along. Being able to Mill my own boards helped much more than I actually thought it would. We almost finished running the rafters all the way down but had to stop when I thought we had run out of 2x4s. Took me a couple days to remember what they did in the old tobacco barn and simply tied 2 boards in together. I'm only missing 4 rafters so I "should" hopefully have enough so u can start nailing in the runners. If a carpenter came over to take a look at this shed we'd end up have to take him to the hospital because he'd have a heart attack.





Ducks are growing quickly and well. Right now I'm just trying to get them used to me and food train them to come when they hear me banging on the tin can.

Filled up almost the entire compost pile with what we mucked out of the Rams stall. Not real sure what I'm doing to do with the manure from the ewes stall now lol. I wasn't expecting it to be filled so quickly. It actually worked out real well being able to drive the tractors loader in and simply dump out the manure though.


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## Bruce (May 9, 2020)

Not concerned about snow load on the shed? 



mystang89 said:


> There was one particular log I was wanting to make 2*4 out of but for some reason my mill kept binding about a foot into the log.


Could you pound a wedge in the back after you get started?


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## Ridgetop (May 9, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Filled up almost the entire compost pile with what we mucked out of the Rams stall. Not real sure what I'm doing to do with the manure from the ewes stall now lol. I wasn't expecting it to be filled so quickly. It actually worked out real well being able to drive the tractors loader in and simply dump out the manure though.



Do you have an area that would make a good garden plot?  If so, just start dumping your compost there and next year run the cultivator over it to till it in.  WHAT!  No cultivator or rototiller?  Fence it in and put a feeder pig in.  The pig will root everything under quick as a wink.  Better yet, raise 2 pigs and sell one for pork.


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## mystang89 (May 9, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Not concerned about snow load on the shed?



Not particularly. We don't get heavy loads of about normally and when we do they "normally" melt fairly quickly. I say this now and next winter is guaranteed to be the worst winter snow storm we've ever had. Sorry anyone who lives around me.



Bruce said:


> Could you pound a wedge in the back after you get started



I'm taking from VERY limited experience here so if I'm doing something wrong then please speak up. The two logs I milled previously to this log went smoothly with the same set up. When I began the cut I wouldn't place any wedge in the cut till I was about 3 feet in. Then after that first wedge I'd place I've every 3 - 4 ft after. When I was having trouble with that log I hadn't thought about putting a wedge at the beginning of the cut. If I have a problem with this piece I saved that's definitely what I'll do and see if it works better.



Ridgetop said:


> Do you have an area that would make a good garden plot?  If so, just start dumping your compost there and next year run the cultivator over it to till it in.  WHAT!  No cultivator or rototiller?  Fence it in and put a feeder pig in.  The pig will root everything under quick as a wink.  Better yet, raise 2 pigs and sell one for pork.



That's probably what I'll end up doing minus the pigs. I will NEVER raise pigs again. I will buy them, kill them, and eat them, but not raise them lol. 

Speaking of the tiller and cultivating the soil, I'm actually going to start a no dig garden and see how that works out.


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## Mike CHS (May 10, 2020)

We have a tiller but rarely use it. We use a Broadfork to open up compacted soil and then a hoe to loosen the surface.


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## Bruce (May 10, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I'm taking from VERY limited experience here so if I'm doing something wrong then please speak up. The two logs I milled previously to this log went smoothly with the same set up. When I began the cut I wouldn't place any wedge in the cut till I was about 3 feet in. Then after that first wedge I'd place I've every 3 - 4 ft after. When I was having trouble with that log I hadn't thought about putting a wedge at the beginning of the cut. If I have a problem with this piece I saved that's definitely what I'll do and see if it works better.


I have even less experience than you, like ZERO. The best I can do is say I've seen a few YouTube videos of people with chainsaw mills. My GUESS is that the tree grew with some sort of stress that is causing it to want to bend in one direction. I wonder if you flipped it 180° if the slab would try to curve up rather than down and pinching. You could also try turning it 90° and see how it cuts.  Of course if I'm right you are going to have a lot of curved boards no matter how you slice it.


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## mystang89 (May 10, 2020)

Happy mother's day to my most beautiful wife, @mrs.mystang89 . She is the most wonderful person I know and I thank God constantly for giving me her to help me in this life and to reach the next. I thank her for accepting life and birthing all my children. For working while this chaos is going on even while pregnant. She's my hero, not because she does some job. She's my hero because she takes all the virtues I love in a person and combines them.

Also, happy mother's day to all mother's out there!


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## thistlebloom (May 10, 2020)

Awww, that's sweet!


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## mystang89 (May 11, 2020)

Can't bought another lawnmowers tire and was trying to get it on the rim today. Was going gre.....no, it was terrible. I couldn't get it seated or anything. After an hour of trying I looked up how to put a tire on and found this video.






What kinda of crazy half brained person thinks that's safe enough to do?! What have we come to!? I DO NOT endorse this video at ALL!

Anyway, after I watched that video I went ahead and tried what he said and it worked! Yey for crazy people and being one of them!


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## CntryBoy777 (May 11, 2020)

Ya oughtta see em do a big truck tire....it doesn't have the little wind sound...it Booms....just like a blowout..... 🤣


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## Bruce (May 11, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> What kinda of crazy half brained person thinks that's safe enough to do?! What have we come to!? I DO NOT endorse this video at ALL!


"Just watch out, it is a bit dangerous"

No sh1t.
But apparently it works.


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## mystang89 (May 11, 2020)

As you know I finally put the wheel on and started mowing. I was able to outline the fence when my mower suddenly does. Has gas etc. 

I finally started it back up and it sounded like it was at 1/2 throttle.
Moving the throttle doesn't make the engine sound any different.
The choke plate is being moved by the throttle control.
The governor doesn't make the engine change sounds.
The when I engaged the blades, they engage fine, but the engine doesn't rev up so cutting grass is.....just not going to happen.
No clue what happened


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## CntryBoy777 (May 11, 2020)

Have ya checked the air filter or fuel filter?....mine will do that if either needs changing or cleaned....try shaking the fuel filter to dislodge particles to see if it runs right....it'll work for a short while, but will need to be replaced soon.....


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## mystang89 (May 11, 2020)

CntryBoy777 said:


> Have ya checked the air filter or fuel filter?....mine will do that if either needs changing or cleaned....try shaking the fuel filter to dislodge particles to see if it runs right....it'll work for a short while, but will need to be replaced soon.....


I looked at the gas filter and it's ugly in there. I sprayed it out with carb cleaner but it didn't really do anything. I might run the gas straight to the engine for the time being too I can get to a mower store and purchase a filter. The air filter doesn't look too clogged but it's not in the best of shape either.


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## farmerjan (May 11, 2020)

If the gas filter is crummy, and you take it off and run the line directly, you could be setting yourself up for some other major problems if there is any junk that gets through into the engine.  That is why there are filters, to keep the sediment out of the engine.  You don't know what is in the gas tank and just a little bit of dirt or whatever can get into the engine and then OOPSSSSS.... That has been preached to me for years. 
Air filter you could take off, try blowing it out with an air compressor, or just really banging it out good and use for a little bit.  That is easier to "cheat a little" ..... don't cost yourself more by running the mower without the gas filter.


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## farmerjan (May 11, 2020)

Even our Farmall H has a glass sediment bowl that sits below the gas tank.  The gas is gravity fed from the gas tank to the motor.  You would not believe the gunk that just settles into the bottom of that bowl.  All we do is turn the little cutoff wingnut,  take the bowl off ...looks like an old fashioned "bale top" on a canning jar,  dump it out and swish a smidgeon  of gas around in it to clean it,  and put it back on, "turn on the gas" with the wingnut adjuster,  and off we go.   But that is still a VERY critical part of keeping junk out of the lines into the engine.  Original engine in this tractor.... made in the 40's and early 50's.....


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## Bruce (May 12, 2020)

I agree with Jan, you do NOT want to run that junk straight to the carburetor. You can likely buy the gas filter at a hardware or auto parts store, they are pretty generic.


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## mystang89 (May 12, 2020)

Yeah, I went out this morning and bought one to replace it. Mower still doesn't work. Used the tractor to mow but I hate doing that. Dad is supposed to come over Thursday to help. He's pretty good with mowers so maybe he'll be able to figure it out.


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## Bruce (May 13, 2020)

Hopefully your Dad can get it running right. I have little knowledge of engines other than changing the oil and filters. Another possibility is the spark plug. Can you pull it and see if it looks good and the gap is proper for the mower? Sometimes it helps to run very fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth over the surfaces to shine them up and make sure it can get a strong spark. Not likely the problem in this case though given it ran OK for a time before it went wonky.


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## mystang89 (May 13, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Hopefully your Dad can get it running right. I have little knowledge of engines other than changing the oil and filters. Another possibility is the spark plug. Can you pull it and see if it looks good and the gap is proper for the mower? Sometimes it helps to run very fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth over the surfaces to shine them up and make sure it can get a strong spark. Not likely the problem in this case though given it ran OK for a time before it went wonky.


That's definitely one thing that wasn't passed down from my father to me, mechanical knowledge. I try but mostly fail when it comes to that. 
I did check the plug though and had cleaned it and gapped it but the same problem persists. We'll see tomorrow.


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## mystang89 (May 14, 2020)

Parents came over. We looked at it, fiddled around with it, adjusted the linkage carriage up and that seemed to make it run..... satisfactory. I'll look around here for sometime who can do a long term fix.

Went outside to let the sheep out. 




Give you a sec to guess who that was. My son is trying to fix it now, I'm to tired. That animal will be going back into the barn... Ever. I have a silo out there for him. If he so chooses to let himself out of that, ok.

The children and I mucked out the ewes stall, well at least half of it. We'll finish the other half and fill it in with wood chips (which the kind man brought over today). My compost of overflowing. Anyone want some sheep manure mixed with wood chips that are mostly disintegrated?


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## CntryBoy777 (May 14, 2020)

.... how long before ya are shipping to Florida??....


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## mystang89 (May 14, 2020)

CntryBoy777 said:


> .... how long before ya are shipping to Florida??....


LOL, anytime now  

So I put Sunny in the silo tonight. We didn't even get back to the house before he had rammed his way out. I feel sorry for the coyotes.


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## Bruce (May 14, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Anyone want some sheep manure mixed with wood chips that are mostly disintegrated?


Well darn, I checked the "as the manure flies" distance and @CntryBoy777 is 50 miles closer to you so I guess he gets it.

Sounds like Sonny needs a solid poured and reinforced concrete enclosure. Not sure how you get in to feed and water with no doors.


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## farmerjan (May 14, 2020)

Sorry, Sunny needs his throat cut.


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## Baymule (May 15, 2020)

Ever thought about renting him out to a demolition company?


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## mystang89 (May 15, 2020)

I went out today to check on everyone. All seen ok. The barn is still intact. No dead sheep. No dead coyotes. I don't have to fix anything for the first time in a while. Just a stall that needs to be finished mucking out. Life is good.


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## Baymule (May 15, 2020)

I like to try to match names to personality. Your ram should be named Bam Bam. LOL


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## mystang89 (May 15, 2020)

Baymule said:


> I like to try to match names to personality. Your ram should be named Bam Bam. LOL


I LOVE it! LMBO


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## Mini Horses (May 15, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Anyone want some sheep manure mixed with wood chips that are mostly disintegrated?



I have a barn full of that from my goats!   Need to take the tractor in to shovel it into the FEL, take to garden.  At least it can be used straight up!   There is plenty composted under there.   It's a job!!   I have to move the goats to another field to do, so I can leave gate open for a while.   

ANY day I find everyone in their own field/barn, without issues, is a good day!      Saves time & keeps our plans on track.


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## mystang89 (May 16, 2020)

Round three of planting the same plants in the garden lol. Third time's a charm?

The drive shaft fell out of the van today as we were driving down the road. Thanks be to God we were right next to a repair shop and they hadn't closed yet. They were due to close 15 min later. Wife called a friend who was fortunately able to pick the family up and we fairied the children home that way. 

This happened after we left O'Reillys to get a new battery for the van. Took off to leave this morning and the van wouldn't start. Had to use the tractor to jump it. 

After that it was grocery shopping, planting garden and mowing, all while dodging rain clouds. Finally finished the morning around 9:30ish.

I had taken the shroud off the mower while I was working on it a few days ago. To take it completely off I needed to take off the oil dipstick part as well. Put everything back together and put it up till I could try it. As I was mowing today it looked like I struck liquid gold as all that oil started spraying out.  Thought I'd blown a rod, (honestly it wouldn't have suprised me with the way today went.) Turns out I forgot to bolt the dipstick past back on the shroud and it had just been wedged in by the o ring at the base. Good times. You know, after writing all this I'm fairly worn out. Good night


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## Baymule (May 16, 2020)

Days like that make you appreciate boring days.


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## Bruce (May 17, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> You know, after writing all this I'm fairly worn out.


That is a day you NEVER want to repeat!


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## mystang89 (May 21, 2020)

Went out yesterday to see about mowing the lawn since it was supposed to be over of the few days without rain. Turns out my other tire is now flat. ...   .....   ..... I'll, uh, come back to that another day 

I did however get half the roof on for the hay equipment shed. Would have gotten all of it but my math was somehow off, which isn't suprising since I've always been terrible at math, but I didn't bring enough sheets of roofing. Maybe someone who is better at math can show me where I went wrong. To see how many sheets of metal I need to cover a roof I need to find the area of the roof which, for a rectangle, is length x width. 30ft x 10 ft = 300ft. Then I need to divide that by the amount of area which the sheets cover. The are 2ft x 8ft =16ft.  300/16= 18.75 round that off to 20 pieces. I took 21 pieces with me because I wanted to make completely sure I'd had enough so I wouldn't have to go back. That only covered half the roof. My wife said maybe it's because I have to overlap the sheets which I guess could be but I only have to overlap about 2in. I don't know. I'll bring another 10 or 20 tomorrow and go at it again. 
I also finished the garden gate as well, for the most part. The hinge hole on the actual gate which slips over the lag screw gate hinge were too small so I needed to take the lag screw and grind them down. After about an hour of this they were finally small enough to fit inside the hinge hole. I went ahead and began to screw the lag bolts into the locus post that I had put in the ground. The initial hole I bored out for the lag screw was a bit too small so I took a wrench and began twist it the rest of the way in. This worked well enough until about half way through and then I had to get a cheater bar and begin again. This worked great!.... Up until the part of the bolt which slips into the hole snapped off because I had ground too much metal off. Now was the time for the pipe wrench and cheater bar to back out the lag screw I had worked so hard in getting to go into the hole. At this point I just found another lag screw that would slip into the bored out hole so I could at least hang the gate and protect my garden from the lovely Rams that were stalking me.
Why can't life ever simply be.... simple? 

I've order the type of lag bolts which go completely though the post and have nuts on both sides to finish the project. I'm sure I'll have to grind those down as well but it shouldn't be that bad. (Famous last words)


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## Jesusfreak101 (May 21, 2020)

Because then we wouldn't lean on  God or learn patience and perseverance. 😊


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## CntryBoy777 (May 21, 2020)

Just an observation....the area formula is 30'x10', but your tin is 2'x8'...that is a 2' difference and with the 2" overlap...and any overhang that ya may have....could explain your shortfall....also, when ya multiply "feet times feet", the answer is Square feet...not linear feet...


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## mystang89 (May 21, 2020)

You're right, sq ft. 

I'm sorry I'm slow on the uptake. The tin is 2x8. So the total sq footage would be 16sq ft right? Then I need to divide the sq footage of the building, 300 sq ft by 16 sq ft right? Always did poorly in math, suppose she hasn't helped that any lol.


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## Bruce (May 21, 2020)

Given the roof is 30' wide you would need 15 of the 2' wide sheets with NO side overlap but of course you do need some so figure 17 sheets to cover the top 8' of roof with 2" overlap. Then you need more to cover the extra 2' of roof "depth". But you probably have some overhang, let's say a nice 1' overhang and a 1' overlap between the upper and lower pieces. Thus you need to cut 9 more sheets in half to get 2 pieces 2' x 4' from each. Seems like 26 sheets would do it.

If you have to resort to a cheater bar, the pilot hole was too small  You should be able to twist them in just by using a box end wrench over the "hook". There isn't a lot of lateral pull on them when the gate is hanging.

And yes I wouldn't bother with the hooks that screw into the wood even though they come with a new gate. I got the through bolt type. Why? Because they are infinitely adjustable. Things shift and the gate gets unsquare. Loosen the nut on one side and tighten the nut on the other side and you can square the gate up again. You can move the gate toward or away from the gate and strike posts as needed. Instead of filing down the "pin" on the bolt hooks, see if you can't find one the proper diameter as they do come in several sizes. It would be better to replace the clamps on the gate than file the hooks.


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## mystang89 (May 23, 2020)

Everything done with the hay equipment shed except for trying to put silicone in the holes which were already in the roof (it was a previously used tin roof) and need a few more pieces on the side.




Had a good storm blow through right after we finished putting the roof on. Strong winds enough to blow over an apple tree. Roof is still there though. Monday we'll try to finish it up.


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## thistlebloom (May 24, 2020)

Good job. It looks like it's always been there. I bet that was reassuring to get out after the storm and see it holding fast.


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## Bruce (May 25, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Strong winds enough to blow over an apple tree. Roof is still there though.


And the structure as well! That will keep the rain and sun off the equipment.


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## Baymule (May 25, 2020)

Good work! Wait, you mean there is metal roof material that doesn’t already have holes in it? Whaaaat??


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## Bruce (May 25, 2020)

Some foolish people buy NEW materials Bay!


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## Baymule (May 25, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Some foolish people buy NEW materials Bay!


Well I guess somebody has to buy new stuff so I can reclaim it later.


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## mystang89 (May 25, 2020)

Bruce said:


> And the structure as well! That will keep the rain and sun off the equipment.


Hopefully. Tomorrow I will put the rest of the metal on the sides then caulk the roof. After that we'll move the rest of the hay equipment in. Probably move on to the compost pile and tidy that up a bit.

Today was spent looking for a van. Sunday the radiator blew up in the van so no more money being out into that one. Found one and will try to finish on it tomorrow too. 

It was mainly just a date day with @mrs.mystang89 . The children were watched by my parents. We visited her mom and sisters since she hasn't seen the in a few months because on the virus circus going on. Got some nice Mexican food and enjoyed each other's solitary company. Then came home to chaos, which helps us appreciate the quiet time were got to spend with each other.


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## mystang89 (May 26, 2020)

The hay equipment shed is finished finally. My son and I caulked all the little holes that we saw and nailed on the sides. The only thing I might end up doing one day before or after my death is mill some wood slatting and make the sides wood instead of metal.

Since I already had the tools or for working on the roof I decided to have a look at the lean to roof of the barn that has been leaking very badly in one specific spot especially. On the roof I couldn't tell where the leak was coming from at all. I've no clue. Everything looks fine to me but I put 2 more metal sheeting up there, caulked some more, sprayed some more Tough Stuff and called it a day before it began to rain. And yes, there is so much wrong with the previous sentence that you probably don't even know where to start. I do know this, if I ever have the lean to roof professionally done, the roofers will absolutely HATE me lol.


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## CntryBoy777 (May 26, 2020)

So, I guess it is a good thang ya didn't hang around and checkout your "handi-work" during the rain burst, huh??...... 🤣


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## mystang89 (May 28, 2020)

I cut out a door going from the lean to to the garden so now we don't have to go through the back pasture and deal with Rams at all if we only want to water or pick the vegetables! Just need a latch for it then we'll be good to go.

Bought a new to us 2001 dodge ram wagon. Had 50000 miles on it for $3500. It's probably going to need a new vacuum hoes but other than that it's not a bad vehicle. Sold the other one today for scrap since that's about all it was worth. 

Oh, and my walk behind 48" mower engine blew up....

Good day, all things considered.


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## CntryBoy777 (May 28, 2020)

....just cause I been there....


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## Mini Horses (May 28, 2020)

Isn't Mrs Mystang89 due to have a baby this summer?  Hope all is going well.


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## mystang89 (May 29, 2020)

Mini Horses said:


> Isn't Mrs Mystang89 due to have a baby this summer?  Hope all is going well.


She is due on June 7th and for the past 8 children hasn't gone early, (and only in her due date once). I'm expecting her to produce the fruit of our love and the 9th of June but either way, she is going to start her maternity leave in her due date. Thanks for asking and great memory!


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## Mini Horses (May 29, 2020)

So we will all be waiting, along with her!      

Hey, on a farm, no one gets nervous about a calendar date -- it happens, when it happens!  It's a guestimate.


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## Baymule (May 29, 2020)

June 7 is our oldest granddaughter’s birthday.  It is a wonderful day for us, hope it’s a wonderful day for you too!


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## mystang89 (May 29, 2020)

Mini Horses said:


> it happens, when it happens! It's a guestimate


Coming from a city mentality for most of my life I've had to change my thinking to this and it's proved much more relaxing


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## farmerjan (May 30, 2020)

Hope all goes well... do you know what it will be (a baby of course) or are the just waiting to see....? What are the others, evenly distributed between girls and boys??


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## mystang89 (May 31, 2020)

farmerjan said:


> Hope all goes well... do you know what it will be (a baby of course) or are the just waiting to see....? What are the others, evenly distributed between girls and boys??


Nope, no clue lol. She's prepared for either since we have totes fill of either boys or girls clothes ranging from new born to 13 y/o. I figure when the baby arrives it'll be the good ol "It's a (insert sex)!" Unless it's gender neutral. Then I'll say, "it's a thing!"   
We have 6 girls and 2 boys and I'm really hoping this one is a girl too. SOO much easier to raise. At least for the first 13 years of life. The next 5 might be terrible but that's a better ratio of 13 years of good to 5 years of bad (girls) to 13 years of bad to 5 years of good (boys). At least this is my experience so far.


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## thistlebloom (May 31, 2020)

I love surprises!


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## farmerjan (May 31, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Nope, no clue lol. She's prepared for either since we have totes fill of either boys or girls clothes ranging from new born to 13 y/o. I figure when the baby arrives it'll be the good ol "It's a (insert sex)!" Unless it's gender neutral. Then I'll say, "it's a thing!"
> We have 6 girls and 2 boys and I'm really hoping this one is a girl too. SOO much easier to raise. At least for the first 13 years of life. The next 5 might be terrible but that's a better ratio of 13 years of good to 5 years of bad (girls) to 13 years of bad to 5 years of good (boys). At least this is my experience so far.


 Laughing at your comparisons...... Hope it is healthy and let's hope not a "gender neutral" thing!!!!!!!!


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## mystang89 (Jun 9, 2020)

New born girl. 4am. 9.8lbs. only 2 hour labor. Born at home.


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## Mike CHS (Jun 9, 2020)

Congratulations on this happy day!!!!


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## thistlebloom (Jun 9, 2020)

So sweet! Congratulations to you and your wife . Especially your wife, that's a healthy baby girl!


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## Baymule (Jun 9, 2020)

Congratulations on the new baby girl! She is a beauty. Sending hugs to your wife and you.


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## mystang89 (Jun 9, 2020)

Thanks, updates will follow.... Someday when I don't feel dead.


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## Bruce (Jun 9, 2020)

Congratulations.
And OUCH! 
Get some rest.


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## mystang89 (Jun 15, 2020)

Lots of updates, one question to those who might know. What causes a knife head on a haybine to break? The haybine is a sickle bar type.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Jun 15, 2020)

No clue but had to chime in your daughter is stunning and tell your wife congratulations and tell her to get some snuggles. From one momma to another. Baby's are a delight . The older ones arent so bad either but we won't tell them that atleast not mine they would let it go to their heads lol. They already know they are cute. Anyways God Bless.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 15, 2020)

Huge congratulations!!!    Sweet baby breath.   (we won't talk about the other end


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## Bruce (Jun 15, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Lots of updates, one question to those who might know. What causes a knife head on a haybine to break? The haybine is a sickle bar type.


Maybe see the WTFarmGirl YouTube channel? She bought a used haybine and had to fix some stuff. I don't remember if she talked about breaking a knife head. 

My GUESS is there is something bent that it is hitting. I guess another option is hitting a rock or something though the part that sticks out in front should protect them from that.


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## mystang89 (Jun 15, 2020)

I actually just watched that video of her replacing the sickle bar yesterday. She never mentioned what caused it to break.

When I raise the haybine up if I'm having to run over a spot which I already have a row made, (so the PTO is still on and spinning) it makes a loud rattling noise. Well it did. Haven't a clue if it still does lol. Think I'm going to walk around the spot where it broke when I get home tomorrow and just see if something is there.


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## farmerjan (Jun 15, 2020)

Sometimes there is an obvious reason.... like has been said, hitting a rock.  The guards should protect it though. The most often reason is just age and the metal gets brittle.... especially if left out in the weather over the years.  And the idea that it might have been bent so that you heard it when it was lifted up to make a turn for the next row.  Also, make sure that one of the guards wasn't loose.... when just running back and forth with no hay being cut... a loose guard could cause it to hit just wrong ( you were hearing a loud rattling) and the speed and all will make it snap.  Where on the bar did it get broken?   There could be many reasons.  Also, if one of the triangle "teeth" (blades) came loose, it could have caused it to jam into a guard and hit it just right( or wrong)  to cause it to snap.  Doesn't happen often.  Mostly I used to have to replace where a blade would come off, or loose on one side,  because the little rivets will wear and/or pop out


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2020)

farmerjan said:


> Where on the bar did it get broken


It broke on the knife head where the bolt connects it to the arm which cycles the bar back and forth.


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## Baymule (Jun 16, 2020)

If it wasn’t for breaking stuff and having to fix it, we all would get all caught up on our chores.


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2020)

Lol! Thank you @Baymule ! That is a most beautiful way of looking at it. I'm glad I've been given a chance to relax and did something instead of being absorbed by my chores lol


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## thistlebloom (Jun 16, 2020)

So where's the pics of your new baby girl? You now have broken equipment so lots of time to post pictures! 😄


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## Bruce (Jun 16, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> It broke on the knife head where the bolt connects it to the arm which cycles the bar back and forth.


Might just be brittle old metal like Jan suggested. Can you move the bar back and forth by hand to see what is happening in that area? 



Baymule said:


> If it wasn’t for breaking stuff and having to fix it, we all would get all caught up on our chores.


That is just too dang true!!!!!!
Speaking of which, I picked up a new chain for my big saw today


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2020)

.... Another day... Done. Still living. Tomorrow is almost here. Must prepare beforehand


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## Bruce (Jun 16, 2020)

That sounds a bit ominous!


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## mystang89 (Jun 16, 2020)

Bruce said:


> That sounds a bit ominous!


Today was "bale the hay" day. It something could go wrong, it did. I only have 4 (four) acres to hay. I got maybe a third done and put in the hay loft. 

After, this well I'll probably try to do a dump of info.


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## Bruce (Jun 17, 2020)

Sounds about right. We would think the world had ended if we went out to do a project and nothing went wrong.


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## CntryBoy777 (Jun 17, 2020)

Another way to look at it is....ya faced "adversity", overcame it, and persevered to completion.....and that most certainly should spur the feeling of accomplishment....  ....yeh, it will wear ya out, but it allows ya to appreciate the "uneventful" days soo much Better....


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## mystang89 (Jun 18, 2020)

Ok, so the last few weeks have been a blur but I'll try to recap what I remember if them. Also, excuse the more than usual typos, my children busted the screen on my phone so it's a bit....touchy, for lack of a better word.

As you know we have a new child in the house.




Beautiful little girl. Nice head of hair. First one we've had that actually had hair when she came out. Hasn't shut up since she's been here   If she's not attached to mom she's screaming. She was much quieter in the womb. Tempted to see about a refund from the mid wife. This one seems defective.
It was a relatively quick birth. Wife said she was having contractions, 3 hours later she was laying in bed with her baby.
Fairly large for us too. 9.8lbs. Only a day late.

On to date things. Hmm. First up - children's bathtub had a clog. The way it was installed was that the clean out was placed at a 90° angle from the drain so my snake couldn't make the turn. That meant I had to go in the crawl space. Here the crawl space is supposed to be 18" deep. That's luxury space. I had about 12" in the largest part. Found the spot I needed and tried to get the pipe wrench in. Nope. Adjustable wrench. Nope.... Hand? Nope. K



I finally finegled the wrench in somehow only for the pipe to come out of the pipe it draied into. That pipe happened to be in an area I couldn't access. Btw, code has it that ALL areas of crawlspace are to be accessible. Must have gotten glossed over.




See that hole? That's what I was expected to for through. Now listen. I'm not a big guy. I'm only 148lbs, 5' 11", and I can normally shimmy my way through some small spots but this was a no go. I had to get my 9yo daughter to crawl where this pipe was, slather the pipe with PVC primer, then the inside and outside of the male and female end of the PVC pipes, then for them together, telling her to hold them for at least 30 sec. Sight unseen. Just saying, "here ya go. Have at it."
She did a remarkable job though. I went back to my spot under the tub after about an hour and started to tighten things up there which I had loosened. While down there I decided to make sure there weren't any leaks I could find so I had the children start taking showers. Turns out, because of the lack of wiggle room, there was a leak. I try to fit the screw back on the threads and the jarring of the pipe caused the same area to come out of its drainage pipe again. Many things were said in that time. Things I'm not so proud of. Things I regret. I then asked my 9 year old to crawl back in there and redo the job she had previously finished. Without a word of complaint, probably because it was safer in the spot I couldn't fit in than any spot I could, she resealed the pipe. I got everything on my end working well and there are no leaks or clogs to speak of now. And if there are, DON'T TELL ME ABOUT THEM! On the flip side, my daughter is already on her way to becoming a great plumber. Not I just need an electrician.

Up next, gardening.



We've been wanting to get a green house for a while now and went ahead with it. This is just a harbor freight one but it should suit the job. Of course it's all put together now but this was the only pic I had. Hopefully we'll get some seeds started on there before next summer.

Next up, fishing. Indiana had a free go fishing day so we decided to take advantage of that. We went to a near by state park and stopped at a lake. My wife was still pregnant at the time.



Sometimes it's fun to be me.....an.  I think the home up this hill is what helped make the delivery so quick lol.

I can't remember if I mentioned it away but we did purchase that van with 50k miles on it. Runs well. Few problems, most things I should be able to fix. We still haven't been able to get new tags or plates or transfer things into our name because of this.....virus thing. All the BMV places are either shut down, only taking by appt and those appt dates are completely filled up for the next few months literally. We'll get it done when things stop being stupid.

Today we went to pick up a sickle bar from a place an hour and a half away. Bar costs $400. A part that's for a piece of equipment older than myself. Ok. I had talked to the guy on the phone and he was saying depending on how we paid for it we'd get so much percentage off. Ok. It seems the policy changed in a days time, cause nothing like that happened. At least it was time well spent with the family. Not money well spent, but time.

And for the grand finale, it's haying season! I have been at for about a week now. My poor wife is at her wit's end but I had to get the hay done before rain.  I really only had about 11acres to do. That's not much. If everything went well it would have taken maybe a day to cut, a day to flip and then a day to bale. Things don't go well though.
Sometime last year a kindly older gentleman asked me if is like to come bale his alfalfa and clover this year and split the difference with him. I said sure. So The time comes and I make sure he's the first one I do so he doesn't take a chance on losing anything due to unforeseen rain.
I've never cut alfalfa or clover before. Just regular ol prairie grass. So I come through with my haybine low to the ground expecting to skim right through it. It was like the haybine hit a wall. The rake wheel stopped turning. I didn't know what the problem was and didn't really want to look any dumber than I already was so I took another stab at it. To me three tries to realize this wasn't my normal grass. I finally raised my blade and after careful monitoring I was able to make it through.
Well, after his was done I decided to go over to my neighbors field and cut his. Same reason as before, finish others before starting on your own. Here's the thing though. Last year my neighbor had really let his field go... Until I went over there in the fall and bush hogged it, then finish mowed it. He said I could hay it this year if I wanted and take all the hay for myself. Sure thing buddy! This year rolls around and I go to cut it. Lots of very thick stalks. I thought it would cut like my field since it was the same grass type. Oh boy was I wrong. I raised the bar up on the one too.  It felt like ibush hogged it with my haybine. If the field was kept maintained then it would have the same grass as mine. I'll need to take a bit of care for this field if I expect a good haying next year.
Ok, finally get to my pasture. Maintained, simple grass. I cut through my large front pasture with no problem. Ahhh, this is more like it. Relaxing and easy. I go to my smaller side pasture. After a single pass I look behind me to see half of the pass not cut. Why. Why me lol. That's when I found the sickle bar broke. I went through and looked at the pass today and I guess it may have it the ground because it seems where the grass began not to be cut was in a dip in the ground. So that area never got cut. I'll go through with the bush hog then finish mow it and probably continue to finish mow it till the end of the year.

Now comes baling.  Ok, no problem. I've got it down now. I know what I'm doing. Everything is OK! That was what I was thinking until I went back to the gentleman with the closer and alfalfa. First row and the bales aren't tying. I have no clue what the problem is. He starts to look at it (I'm trying to look at it with him but mainly just trying to learn from him) and he finally gets it working. GREAT! On to the baling now. Continue on with that and pass until a shear pin breaks. I honestly don't remember why it broke. I remember we came back to my place, picked up a shear pin, drove back to his, put it in, fiddle with it for a bit, and it worked. Now... on to baling??? Everything went off without a hitch, thanks be to God. We ended up getting 14 bales total I think and he only took 4, telling me to take the rest. He really is a nice guy, for reasons other than because he have me the hay. He's just one of those country people who stop what they're doing to help. Glad I met him.

Now on to my neighbors field. Yes, I did bale his even though it's really only good for bedding. One, because I needed experience. Two, because of number one. Yeah, I think I went through 3?ish shear pin when I started out on his. I finally got it down though. The speed. How much it could handle etc. Three shear pin isn't bad right? Lol
By this point I'm over it. I just want to be done but I still have my pasture. I start baling. Pop! Shear pin breaks. Oh come on. By this point just laugh with me. It's either laugh or cry and tears are a waste of water. I hadn't a clue why it popped it. Put another in. Same thing. Ok. Why. This is just regular ol grass. Nothing stuck in the shoot. As I'm looking at this machine if mine that same country gentleman comes driving by, stops and gets out just to see if he can help. He wasn't able to figure out the problem but if he hadn't stopped by, he wouldn't have told me about someone I could call who could help me. So I'm grateful he stopped. The guy I called talks me through it and said for me to take all the hay out of the baler. I do this and as I do the country gentleman looks at it and says, "this is wet." Wet? How? It's regular flipping grass that's been sitting out for 3 days with no rain. We still don't know why it was wet but I did take the hay take to it again, wait for that to dry and came back later on. Worked a charm. Not another shared pin.



As I'm baling I've got my hay wagon coming along behind me with my daughters on it pulling up the hay. They scoot it to the back and come back to the front for more. The hay comes out the shoot, they take it and start scooting it to the back only to find that the bales they placed there are now in the field lol. I never built a back stop gate on the trailer because I never knew what the reason for them was. I do now hahaha. One of them stayed in the back to keep the bales from jumping ship and the other would put them where they belonged. On top of this, the sting would fail to tie ever so often so we would have to let it fall to the ground and run it back over. Many bales failed to tie. Others would be to loose. Having to go from baling thick grasses or clover or alfalfa to baling thin grass really takes knowing where you need to have things set up at. We finally got all the settings correct and established a routine. I think we baled around 50 or so from my pasture (I forgot to count) and 60ish from my neighbors. (My daughter counted, I forgot. Are you seeing a trend here?)
Yesterday we put all our bales from our pasture in the barn. No reason chance and everything went fairly well. The day before things didn't go fairly well. Things happened. I believe I've blocked then from my memory because all I remember was saying some words that my mother would be quite ashamed of again.
We had left the bales from my neighbors in his pasture overnight and came back for them today. Learned something new! Bales that have been in the pasture overnight need to be turned before picking them up because the bottom is now wet. Yey for new things learned! ....sigh. so my 11yo drove the tractor with the trailer attached around the pasture while I turned all the bales so they could dry. After that we, (by we I mean "I") picked up the bales and placed them in the trailer. Again, she drive the tractor around so I could simply pick them up and place them on the trailer. She was a tremendous help. I'm truly blessed to have them all as my children. Here's a pic of her driving our load home.






That was her after she conquered the hay trailer. Also, no one ever said I was a pro at stacking hay bales lol.

So last year when we placed the bales in the loft I had to be in that bucket you see with about 3 bales stuffed in there with me, my wife lift me up almost to the hay loft and then I had to pick them up and toss them into the loft. That wasn't fun. That wasn't fun at all. This year I bought a hay hook or it's known as a hay claw too. It was completely rusted through. The person I bought it from thought I was going to be using it as an ornament or something. When I told him what I was really using it for he simply said, "Good luck". I fixed it up and it works perfectly, thankfully.
The hay claw is what we used this year. After learning much we were successful. This first video, we were not LOL.




The rope came out of the trolley which then ended with the hay claw tumbling down after the hay. I thought the rope had snapped. Thankfully, it didn't. Also, glad no one was under that as that claw is about 60lbs of pure iron.

The second video is more of what was supposed to happen. For anyone who would like to see how hay used to be hauled into this hayloft 100 years ago, this is how it was done. Well, substitute the tractor with a horse... and people who have no clue what the are doing with people who did this for a living. You get the point though.






There was a chance of rain today so we were watching the black clouds start rolling in. We had about 6 more bales to go and I started making mistakes, not parting attention to what I was doing etc because of fear of that rain. Then this showed up.



It was almost like He said, "calm down and remember who's in control here. I'll take care of you son." So I did. Everything went smoothly from that point. Not a drop off rain fell until all the hay was put up and the hay loft door shut. Then He let it come down. I've a kind Father.
Also found the end of the rainbow but never saw the pot of gold.


Just had to be in the OTHER field, didn't it.


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## mystang89 (Jun 18, 2020)

Here's a shot of the newly built shed with all the hay equipment in or around it, where it'll be staying


I think tomorrow will be bush hugging that side pasture then finish mowing it and the neighbors. That should give me plenty to do.


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## animalmom (Jun 19, 2020)

You sir are truly blessed.


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## Bruce (Jun 19, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> The second video is more of what was supposed to happen.


Unfortunately it looks to be the same video as the first but I'll take your word for it that the process improved to where it worked as it should  

You did have quite a set of trials but you had some all new to you "environments" and things to learn. Hopefully you or one of the kids took notes on how to set up the equipment for various grass types so it will be easier next time around. 

All in all, a job well done. Now, when are you going to jack the house up 2 feet so you can get to the next plumbing problem?


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## mystang89 (Jun 19, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Unfortunately it looks to be the same video as the first but I'll take your word for it that the process improved to where it worked as it should



 this is what I get for posting this at 12am after a day of work lol. Thanks for the notice. It's been corrected and here's the correct one.







Bruce said:


> Hopefully you or one of the kids took notes on how to set up the equipment for various grass types so it will be easier next time around.



Excellent advice! That is definitely on the to do list as soon as I get a few moments. I was thinking of doing just that. Having a journal for tractor settings, garden times, hay times etc. This will help me and the children in the future.



Bruce said:


> Now, when are you going to jack the house up 2 feet so



When I'm 6 feet under, this that crawl space will then be 7feet above me.😁


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## thistlebloom (Jun 19, 2020)

Mystang, I sure enjoy reading your journal! I love your perseverance and your humor. Sorry about the plumbing issue. My husband would rather walk over hot coals than deal with plumbing. He does do the plumbing of course, but it makes him very grumpy. 

You have a fine family. Loved the videos.


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## farmerjan (Jun 20, 2020)

I am in AWE of your perseverance through the trials.  And yes, every field is different, every type of hay/grass is different, every time you cut it will dry differently, especially with the varying humidity levels.  Yes they pick up dew from the ground, and are "wet" .  
Your cutter does not "crimp the hay" as it goes out the back I am sure.... so the thicker stalks will not respire as fast, will not dry as fast.
Older balers will have problems with the knotters.  They wear.  We had ours completely reworked and spent over $500 but it ties like it should now.  When you are doing 2-3,000 you just don't have time for it.  We were having about every 10-20th bale not tie on one side, had to take it apart and rebale.  I can fully sympathize.  

My boss in Ct  when I went to work on the dairy, and learned to mow then bale hay.... told me something VERY HELPFUL and IMPORTANT.  Keep your RPM'S UP and SLOW DOWN YOUR GROUND SPEED.   He said, gear it down while keeping the rpm's up will make the baler work faster as you are going slower and it will not get clogged up nearly as fast.  Some balers can tolerate some "wetter" hay.... meaning higher moisture in the hay, not actually wet.... Some balers will not tolerate any moisture. 

Yes you will have to readjust the tension for each different kind of hay, and even different moisture in the air.  Bales need to be a little looser if the moisture is higher so they are not as compacted.  They will heat and cause a fire if they don't stop up the baler as you found out.  
The hay grabber/forks is different from any I have ever seen.  But it did seem to work pretty good once you got it figured out.  I like it.  BUT again, it is ALOT OF WORK.  As you are finding out. 

If I had known you were going to try to cut a field that had been bush hogged, I would have told you to keep the cutter up high as there is so much "junk" from the bush hogging that will just jam it up, and get all caught up in it.  All that dead grass/hay/weeds will make it a mess to try to cut through.  The best thing to do now that you have cut and baled it, go back over it with a bush hog at very slow ground speed, bush hog running fast,  and try to chop the left stuff up into smaller pieces...like grinding it up.... cut it as close to the ground as you can.... like mulching it more.  It will eventually rot down into the soil.  
Yes, cutting a field that you don't know, with low spots, swales, gullies and ROCKS, will tear up equipment.  A new bar is very expensive as you had to find out.  The best thing you can do is to make a "diary" of each field.... and if you aren't good at remembering,  as I am not, then to even draw yourself a map to try to jog your memory before you go in there again.  We have gone so far as to use old "cones" that they use on the roads for the state workers, like to make you go into one lane and such..... and perched them on top of rocks in some fields.  But when we tear up a set of cutters on a discbine.... it is 1,000 a set where the turtle shell they attach to gets busted up.  8 sets to our discbine.... blades are a couple hundred a set.... but you can turn them around and use the other side if they only get the edge chewed up or they get dull.  Can't do that when they get broken off.  If you go to any farm sales, look for old cutter bars, most farms had a couple for spares, and try to pick a couple up. 

Your daughter looks so proud of herself driving the tractor.  Good for her and good for you in letting/teaching her to do it.  It will make driving a car, a lot easier down the road.


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## farmerjan (Jun 20, 2020)

We buy shear pins by the dozen or by the box.  Don't feel like you are the only one.....they are supposed to break so you don't tear up something really expensive in the flywheel or pick up or the sweep..... be thankful they are breaking.  It is telling you that something isn't right.  As you found out about there being some "wet hay" in it.  We call it "green hay" or green spots...... EVERYONE GETS THEM. 

Also, congratulations on the new baby.  So sorry she seems to be "defective"..... maybe you just haven't found the proper button to push to hit the "mute"..... 
God Bless you both.... but especially your wife because that will wear you out and work on your nerves.


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## mystang89 (Jun 20, 2020)

farmerjan said:


> When you are doing 2-3,000 you just don't have time for it.



Wow! I couldn't imagine doing that many plus having the twine break or not tie on you then having to redo them again. It already takes forever just with 100 ish. There's simply no way you'd be able to finish before it rained.



farmerjan said:


> Keep your RPM'S UP and SLOW DOWN YOUR GROUND SPEED.



I learned that one through trial and error. I keep it in low first gear full throttle. Only time I do different is when I'm just picking up the straggling hay.



farmerjan said:


> But it did seem to work pretty good once you got it figured out. I like it. BUT again, it is ALOT OF WORK. As you are finding out.



Compared to having to take 3 bales in a front loader, be lifted up almost to the hay loft door, the try to lift up one at a time and toss it over the lip. This is much easier lol.



farmerjan said:


> The best thing to do now that you have cut and baled it, go back over it with a bush hog at very slow ground speed, bush hog running fast, and try to chop the left stuff up into smaller pieces...like grinding it up.... cut it as close to the ground as you can.... like mulching it more. It will eventually rot down into the soil.



That's exactly what I've done. I went over his pasture with a finish mower and will continue to for the rest of the grass season. This will weaken the weeds and stalky grasses and encourage the prairie grass to grow in it's place. Might have to do the same to half the pasture next year as well but time will tell.



farmerjan said:


> We have gone so far as to use old "cones" that they use on the roads for the state workers, like to make you go into one lane and such..... and perched them on top of rocks in some fields



That is a great idea!



farmerjan said:


> It will make driving a car, a lot easier down the road.



Lol, perhaps in a few years. She had it in first gear low with no gas, just troggling along. Even then she would daze off or look at the neighbors and start to drift towards the side of the road lol. 



farmerjan said:


> We buy shear pins by the dozen or by the box.



The baler came with a bunch of shear pins when I bought it and I didn't know why. I took them out and thought I'd use them for some projects around the house.... They are now back in the baler lol.


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## farmerjan (Jun 20, 2020)

Just a  bit of advice.  Make sure you buy shear pins.... so they do break.  They are designed for that.  Do not ever use a hardened bolt, did that once in desperation and nearly tore the baler apart because it did not shear off.


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## Bruce (Jun 21, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> It's been corrected and here's the correct one.


Looks like everything is working as it was designed to do over 100 years ago  I assume the hay door also works as designed? Nice that you had your hay stackers up top. 



mystang89 said:


> When I'm 6 feet under, this that crawl space will then be 7feet above me.😁


I had a crawl space like that at this house. In places it was "Army style" belly crawl only. Occasionally push a piece of ancient firewood out of the way. Never enough headroom to actually crawl on hands and knees. Then we found out there were so many problems with the foundation and other parts of that piece of house it was totally gutted and a new foundation dug. It is now comfortable "knee crawl" height. The only original parts of the house are the 5 sided hand hewn ridge pole, 5 hand hewn posts, the 2 hand hewn top plates, 1.5 of the beams that tie the sides together and most of the angle braces. This, of course, was NOT the plan when we bought the place.


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## Mini Horses (Jun 21, 2020)

I built my current house and knew I would be the one going under there most of the time.   I have a height that I can sit up under!   Lovely & dry. Also had a way wider & deeper footing put in.....just not wanting settling issues.  So far, so good.   20 yrs.   Hard to believe i's been that long.


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## thistlebloom (Jun 21, 2020)

Ours is 4' deep. I've never been down there, just hung down far enough to hand dh necessary tools. The entry is in the MB closet floor.


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## Bruce (Jun 21, 2020)

The access to our crawl space is by climbing up from the basement under the original house. As near as I can tell the part we replaced was originally a barn that was dragged from somewhere else and attached. Unfortunately we now have some fairly serious foundation problems with the original house as well (*). Most likely both structures were built before 1860 given the hand hewn posts and beams. It wasn't until after the Civil War that steam powered saws came into being. Water powered saws apparently couldn't handle big beams.

* Because some many years ago a genius decided to remove some of the field stone a foot from the corner to put in a door. It is actually amazing it held together as long as it did but finding people who can deal with such things isn't easy.


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## mystang89 (Jun 21, 2020)

Bruce said:


> I assume the hay door also works as designed?



Hay door works great so far. Only thing that it's a bit of a mess to fiddle with us the rope system. For some reason when I'm raising the door or hay claw the rope being to twist making it sometimes very difficult to lock the center pulley into the trolley system. Might be the rope itself. Might try some jute rope for instead of the nylon.



Mini Horses said:


> So far, so good. 20 yrs. Hard to believe i's been that long.




That's awesome! It sounds like you made that nice and solid. Time really flies. Its the one commodity that everyone wants more of, never has enough of but yet wastes so much of and is so sad when it's gone.


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## mystang89 (Jun 21, 2020)

Bruce said:


> The access to our crawl space is by climbing up from the basement under the original house. As near as I can tell the part we replaced was originally a barn that was dragged from somewhere else and attached. Unfortunately we now have some fairly serious foundation problems with the original house as well (*). Most likely both structures were built before 1860 given the hand hewn posts and beams. It wasn't until after the Civil War that steam powered saws came into being. Water powered saws apparently couldn't handle big beams.
> 
> * Because some many years ago a genius decided to remove some of the field stone a foot from the corner to put in a door. It is actually amazing it held together as long as it did but finding people who can deal with such things isn't easy.


It sounds like your house has a colorful history to it. That's one of the things I really love about old houses, figuring out the history of them.

By the way, happy Father's day to all you dad's or expecting dad's today!


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## farmerjan (Jun 21, 2020)

Mini Horses said:


> I built my current house and knew I would be the one going under there most of the time.   I have a height that I can sit up under!   Lovely & dry. Also had a way wider & deeper footing put in.....just not wanting settling issues.  So far, so good.   20 yrs.   Hard to believe i's been that long.


Smart woman to think those things through ahead of time.


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## Bruce (Jun 22, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> Might be the rope itself. Might try some jute rope for instead of the nylon.


Is it twisted or braided? Braid is less likely to twist. Of course there was no braided rope when that system was first installed. If gathering up braided rope (not being wound on a reel) it should be allowed to fall into natural figure 8 loops, not given the half twist used with twisted line to make a round coil.  Rope, like wire, wants to be unrolled, not unwound which causes it to kink. Though I would think once it is all out and straight then run through the pulleys it would not matter how it was "unbound".


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## mystang89 (Jun 22, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Is it twisted or braided?






This is the rope we're using right now which is giving all the trouble.


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## Jesusfreak101 (Jun 22, 2020)

That looks braided to me. But I am no expert.


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## Bruce (Jun 22, 2020)

Definitely braided. 

Is it twisting/kinking while being raised such that it won't go through the pulley??


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## farmerjan (Jun 22, 2020)

It is a braided rope.  You may find that you have to go to a sisal or hemp type rope, not a "plastic" one.  They  do not seem to feed through the old type pulleys as well for some reason.  There might be something to do with some sort of friction;  I don't know.  I just know that they  just don't work as well.


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## Baymule (Jun 22, 2020)

Your 9 year old daughter crawled through that tiny hole and worked on plumbing? I think that is awesome. And your 11 year old drove the tractor? Totally awesome. Your kids are getting an upbringing that sadly, very few children will even come close to. You are a good Dad.


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## mystang89 (Jun 23, 2020)

Bruce said:


> Is it twisting/kinking while being raised such that it won't go through the pulley?



While the center pulley is being lowered or raised the rope twists around itself. You may be able to sort of see the rope twisting around itself in the video when I'm raising the load.

EDIT: I just looked at both videos and the failed attempt sort of shows what I mean. The ropes are wound around each other as I lift it up.


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## Bruce (Jun 23, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> While the center pulley is being lowered or raised the rope twists around itself. You may be able to sort of see the rope twisting around itself in the video when I'm raising the load.
> 
> EDIT: I just looked at both videos and the failed attempt sort of shows what I mean. The ropes are wound around each other as I lift it up.


User error!!!!!  

Notice in the first video how the lower pulley is 180° to the upper pulley, the ropes are already crossed. Nothing to do with the type of rope but the position of the lower pulley and hooks as they were put into the bales. That isn't the case in the second video. The load couldn't rotate as it rose up until it got to the opening but didn't have time to do that. Had you known to look for that and could have stopped pulling while the twist undid itself (possibly with assistance from the hay stackers) it wouldn't have been twisted when it hit the upper pulley. 

Hopefully that will save you the cost of a very long length of new rope.


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## mystang89 (Sep 20, 2020)

It's 5:30am so this won't be long. 
One of the lambs from this year died half unexpectedly. She was good one day, next day she would graze away from the herd, next day dead. Another of it ewes from original stock lost tons of weight and can't seem to get it back. Still alive but I might have to put her down. 
Garden did well this year. Still need to harvest sweet potatoes. Will try no dig method next year.
Wife quit working at the VA because the world is full of stupid people and she didn't want to catch what they had - a case of stupidity. This was with my full support. At the same time I came upon a job working construction with a couple of Amish so now I'm working full time and she the stay at home, teaching homeschooling etc. She works more now than she ever for before. I feel like I go on vacation everyday especially since I don't have to deal too much with the stupidity virus going around. When I do find myself around it I normally let out my opinion which, as they say, are like farts - everyone does it but noone wants to smell it. They smell my opinion and leave. Win win.

In search of a new truck right now so I can carry the trailers around but finding time to go check out what there is seems the problem. I'm working 6 says a week at the moment from 6 - 6, then come home and try to get something done here so we've been using the family can to haul work trailers. Hopefully I'll find something soon enough.

I've put one of the ram in with 3 of my ewes for mating. Since I'm not good with telling when they are ready to be mated I'm just going to leave then together for a couple of months. Take THAT nature! My other ram has a very severe case of footrot made worse because of the boots we put on him. These were supposed to be boots you put on sheep hooves to allow them time to start clean and dry; time to heal. You can do a search for them if you don't know what I'm talking about. I didn't even know something like this existed before. These boots held moister which got in somehow then the entire foot, flesh, hair and all, started to rot. When I took those shoes off it was like I had walked into a morgue which had lost electricity. He's now in a make shift dry lot. When he's all better I'll put him in with the other girls for a couple of months.
Our hens are defective. 9 hens and for 3 months we've been getting 0 - 2 eggs a day. Now we are getting up to 3! That's right, you read that correctly. Woohoo..... Useless chickens. They are a year old and completely useless. Haven't killed and eaten them yet because we at least get something and I haven't had time to find any other chickens.

Ducks are great. Fun little things. Turns out we have 2 girls and a drake. Thanks for telling us how to figure out who was a male. They lay 1 to 2 eggs a day. 1/2 of the ducks are laying eggs.....1/4 of the chickens are laying. Stupid chickens.

Think that's all, at least all I can think of. I posted something on here a couple days ago about something. Can't remember what it was about: too early still.


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## farmerjan (Sep 20, 2020)

WOW, sounds like your world and your wife's both did the 180..... glad that it is working out for both overall.... 

Did the chickens go through a molt???? If so they will not lay for 4-10 weeks during that losing feathers and getting new ones in.  Plus you can tell which ones are laying.... first off they will have a nice redder comb than the others as theirs will sort of get pale and shrivel up a bit while molting.  Then you can pick up the chicken.... hold her so that your hand is under her body with a couple of your fingers between her legs, squeezing a little so you can hold her securely,  head like under your arm(towards your body.)   Then take your other hand and, then feel the 2 pelvic bones right at her vent hole (egg laying and poop hole).  If you lay your hand basically flat against her , see how many fingers will fit between the bones... If you only have the width of one finger, she is not laying.  If it is 2 or more, most often 3 fingers for laying hens, then she is laying.  If you do a couple, you will find the one or 2 laying and feel the big difference between them and the non-laying ones. Also, sometimes a fat hen will not lay either.... great soup.....

Glad that you posted and to know that you are okay if crazy busy.  And I don't blame your wife one bit for not wanting to catch  "stupid".... there's a lot of that going around these days.


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## Bruce (Sep 20, 2020)

mystang89 said:


> I'm working 6 says a week at the moment from 6 - 6, then come home and try to get something done here


Bad time of year for outdoor work at home after working 6-6!!! Sun isn't coming up here until after 6 and the chickens have all gone to roost by 6:45.


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## Baymule (Sep 21, 2020)

You and your wife always do what is best for the family, neither one of you is selfish and concern and love for each other is at the top of the list. There is so much stupid going on, it may be awhile before your wife can go back to work, Work that is away from home! Keep us updated!


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## mystang89 (Sep 26, 2020)

Nothing new really happening still working. However I will be putting down Clara Bell tomorrow. She's been the one acting strange for a while now.


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## Baymule (Sep 26, 2020)

What is that?


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## Mini Horses (Sep 26, 2020)

Sorry about the sheep.  Agree on moulting hens.   I have about 25 or more molting.  They eat and not laying.  It's annual.  Hard to get used to feathers everywhere!   You start to look for a fatality at first.   Also,. They will loose feathers enough to be bald in spots then you see the pin feathers and finally all new feathers -- then red combs and eggs!!

Your family has some adjustments but, I'm sure you will all work through it!   Glad u found a few minutes to connect.  We miss your posts.


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## thistlebloom (Sep 27, 2020)

Good to hear from you Mystang. Sorry about the livestock issues. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate working 72 hour weeks. Hang in there.


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## mystang89 (Oct 10, 2020)

We brought home a dog for my daughter today. A reward for all her hard work around her. It's an 11 month old Akita. Seems like a good dispositioned dog. She had been purchased previously but the owners didn't really know anything about Akita's and wanted a lap dog so they returned her. She's not trained so we have our work cut out for us there. I told her no on something, can't remember what she did but I simply used a firm voice, no yelling or anything, no hitting. Just no, and when she obeyed I told her she was good and loved on her. When I loved on her she submissively peed which I find normally happens when a dog is trained with corporal punishment. If that's the case then we have an even more difficult if a time training her.

We picked our sweet potatoes. Well the children and wife did, I was at work. Seems weird not being the one to do that. We ended up with a decent amount. One of them was about the size of a football. 

Nothing else new. Work 6 days still. Try to spend a much time with family etc. Hope all is well with you all.


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## farmerjan (Oct 10, 2020)

Glad to hear the update.  I hope the dog will learn quickly.... and will realize that the "love" you give her will be a great reward for her good behavior.  She'll get it figured out.  Had a friend have several Akita's .  Loved them.  Big dogs, very family "pack" oriented so ought to be a good protector also.  Sorry you are still working so much, but make hay when the sun shines.  It will probably slow down some in the winter.  Sad to miss out on the sweet potato digging.... a football sized one is HUGE!!!!  Understand the wanting to spend time with the family when you are off....just drop a line and let us know things are okay with everyone.


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## Mini Horses (Oct 10, 2020)

Good job!  Akitas are generally protective and with that, be aware that strangers are a concern for them.    As to the pee response, my DD had a doberman once who did that from excitement....talk about a big puddle!   

Like @farmerjan ,  I think you might get a little slack in the winter.  AND you need to spend time with family -- tap out a note after the kids are in bed...   we miss you all and worry when our family members "disappear".   Love to just hear a quick update.


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## mystang89 (Oct 18, 2020)

Update on the dog. Killed one of my ducks. Suppose it was to be expected since she's young and had never been trained so can't be angry with her. 

I was out feeding the animals sometime last week and she was out with me when she touched the hot wire.  She started yelping and whining. I came and told her she was good girl etc. I guess she associated me with the pain because now she cowers wherever I'm near, doesn't come when I call her name and worst of all submissively peed wherever I walk near her. I won't ever take treats from me. She simply puts her head down and pees. I just don't know what to do know. I've never once even raised my voice with her, much less hit her. I'm at a loss. My only thought is to hope time makes her forget about it and I'll continue to clean up her pee when I walk by.


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## Baymule (Oct 18, 2020)

Put her on a leash and sit on the ground or floor. This puts you at her level instead of towering over her. You won't be so intimidating. Speak softly, high pitched baby talk, pull her to you with the leash. Just a little at a time, until she is right up to you. Pet her, scratch her, talking to her. Rub her ears. Release the leash, but don't let go. Repeat several times. You may need to do this for several days or even weeks. She has no confidence and is frightened of you. As she progresses, call her and gently tug the leash. It will take time to build her confidence.


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## mystang89 (Oct 19, 2020)

Update...

Peanut butter - the great remedy for anything that ails a dog's relationship.

Tom about an hour yesterday with her on a leash teaching the come command and rewarding with peanut butter.

Then took her into the pasture with me, ran seeing with her, have get peanut butter, praised her etc. 

Took some more time and protected her from the ram... Don't ask.

Woke up this morning and we were best friends. We'll see what it's like after I get home from work.


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## thistlebloom (Oct 19, 2020)

That was quick! You discovered the key to her heart! 😄


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## farmerjan (Oct 19, 2020)

Hoping for continued progress with her


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