Weldman
Herd Master
Propane generators keep forever.
Baymule’s Journal
- Thread starter Baymule
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #4,032
Baymule
Herd Master
I finally got power on this afternoon! The AC is wonderful. The sound of the icemaker dumping ice made me giddy. It’s the little things……
Mike CHS
Herd Master
We appreciate the little things. We just found out last week that we can watch Swamp People on our Roku so we have been binging at night. 
Mini Horses
Herd Master
Have you talked to @Ridgetop or DH....know how she's doing??? Geesh. Long time with nothing.
- Thread starter
- #4,035
Margali
Herd Master
Pass on all our well wishes!
- Thread starter
- #4,037
Baymule
Herd Master
I sure will!
murphysranch
Herd Master
I was worried too. Glad to hear that she's out of the woods so far.
- Thread starter
- #4,039
Baymule
Herd Master
Yesterday morning Bennett came over with his tractor to help me flip the shed roof over. It landed with metal side down. Metal had to come off first before taking wood apart. He lifted it with tractor and it broke in two, so he just flipped it over on top of the other half. Then with straps, he dragged it off. We took the corrugated metal off, wrecked out some of the wood. Then he dragged the other half closer and we took that metal off. I have more of the wood to take apart. A lot of it is splintered and broken, but I got some good pieces and put them in a shipping container. He left around 10 AM. I worked on stuff until 12 and it was too hot.
I went to the feed store and didn’t take Carson. AC in truck doesn’t work and it’s too hot for him. This is my third summer with no AC. I spend my money on other things…..
Came home, by then it was after 2, unloaded feed and put in metal trash cans. The portable building was cooking in the sun and suffocating inside. Plus there was a big wasp nest in one corner so I moved slowly and tried to be quiet. Thought about @Mike CHS and Teresa and sure did want to get stung! Was going to spray the nest about dark, but by then I’d had a shower and was stick a fork in it done. Plus I forgot.
I sat on the porch to dry out several times yesterday. Only changed clothes once and that was to put on dry clothes to go to the feed store. Sweated all the way there and back. LOL
I did evening chores, Chase came over and got his feed. He’s coming over Thursday morning to help me load up ram lambs, bottom cut of the ewe lambs and three grown ewes. I’ll take them to auction. Was planning on keeping the black and white spotted ram lamb as a wether, he’s so sweet, and make him a companion wether. But he has bottlejaw AGAIN. I’ve wormed him almost weekly and have thrown everything at him I have. Yet he still stays wormy. He will go on the trailer, it makes me sad. It’s another one of those practical decisions and I can’t keep him. Evidently he’s so damaged that I’ll never get him past this. It sucks. I’m keeping 2 strong ram lambs to wether for the freezer.
After Thursday, when the dust settles, I’ll see what I have left and go from there.
Cooper has had ladies with him since first of April. NOW he’s breeding them. There goes my October/November plans for lambs. He bred ewes last year in July. They threw themselves against the cow panel divider, so I opened the gate and shoved them in with him. He partied until his tongue was hanging out. One day he had two and I thought he was gonna die happy with a massive heart attack. So, he is not an early spring breeder. Getting a head start on fall breeding maybe? Next year I’ll put ewes next to him, not with him, and work out the details of their rendezvous.
I went to the feed store and didn’t take Carson. AC in truck doesn’t work and it’s too hot for him. This is my third summer with no AC. I spend my money on other things…..
Came home, by then it was after 2, unloaded feed and put in metal trash cans. The portable building was cooking in the sun and suffocating inside. Plus there was a big wasp nest in one corner so I moved slowly and tried to be quiet. Thought about @Mike CHS and Teresa and sure did want to get stung! Was going to spray the nest about dark, but by then I’d had a shower and was stick a fork in it done. Plus I forgot.
I sat on the porch to dry out several times yesterday. Only changed clothes once and that was to put on dry clothes to go to the feed store. Sweated all the way there and back. LOL
I did evening chores, Chase came over and got his feed. He’s coming over Thursday morning to help me load up ram lambs, bottom cut of the ewe lambs and three grown ewes. I’ll take them to auction. Was planning on keeping the black and white spotted ram lamb as a wether, he’s so sweet, and make him a companion wether. But he has bottlejaw AGAIN. I’ve wormed him almost weekly and have thrown everything at him I have. Yet he still stays wormy. He will go on the trailer, it makes me sad. It’s another one of those practical decisions and I can’t keep him. Evidently he’s so damaged that I’ll never get him past this. It sucks. I’m keeping 2 strong ram lambs to wether for the freezer.
After Thursday, when the dust settles, I’ll see what I have left and go from there.
Cooper has had ladies with him since first of April. NOW he’s breeding them. There goes my October/November plans for lambs. He bred ewes last year in July. They threw themselves against the cow panel divider, so I opened the gate and shoved them in with him. He partied until his tongue was hanging out. One day he had two and I thought he was gonna die happy with a massive heart attack. So, he is not an early spring breeder. Getting a head start on fall breeding maybe? Next year I’ll put ewes next to him, not with him, and work out the details of their rendezvous.
farmerjan
Herd Master
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2016
- Messages
- 11,172
- Reaction score
- 43,551
- Points
- 758
- Location
- Shenandoah Valley Virginia
You have to realize that even though Katahdins are a hair breed, and they are normally less "seasonal breeders" than many wooled breeds, they are still polyestrus, and therefore affected by the daylight cycles. Unless you manually "interfere " with their cycles, with CIDR's or shots, MOST will not cycle until the length of the day starts to decrease... which is after the longest day of the year, in June, the 1st day of summer ... ESPECIALLY adding in the summer heat. It depresses the reproductive cycle.
Keeping the rams away from them... out of sight and smell, then using them to start to tease them, will help to get them cycling some... but you are still fighting nature. Mother nature affects the hormones and they get triggered by shortening daylight cycles. Add in the heat there in Texas, and you are fighting on 2 fronts so to speak. Nature says to have lambs when the food sources are optimal to feed the ewe so she can make milk... having babies in Oct when the growing grass cycles are winding down, are just going against nature... Some individuals are going to be more or less seasonal.. and if breeding for having lambs born in the fall is what you want, then that is what you have to focus on with the sheep. One thing with cows, when breeding AI or even with a bull.... you have to concentrate on improving 1 or 2 traits.... you will see little progress if you try to improve on 5 things at the same time... So, your more flexible breeders might not be your better structured ewes... or something to that effect.
You may have to back them up and breed even earlier... but then you are going to have BIG lambs by the time you want to sell...
Nearly all breeders that want to have optimal lambs to sell in the early spring, in bigger numbers, are doing some sort of synchronization to achieve that.
Remember, also, the quality of the semen is much lower in the heat... both in number and in actual quality of the sperm. You get alot more head and tail abnormalties in semen, in hot weather . You are also fighting against the fact that you do not have trees and other shady areas where they can get body temp cool down like say @Mike CHS with the much greater area of tree shaded pastures. NOT criticizing... just a simple fact. They are "baking" in the flat, hot, treeless, terrain there, compared to heat, but with trees and hills and dales that also afford some cooler breezes.
Keeping the rams away from them... out of sight and smell, then using them to start to tease them, will help to get them cycling some... but you are still fighting nature. Mother nature affects the hormones and they get triggered by shortening daylight cycles. Add in the heat there in Texas, and you are fighting on 2 fronts so to speak. Nature says to have lambs when the food sources are optimal to feed the ewe so she can make milk... having babies in Oct when the growing grass cycles are winding down, are just going against nature... Some individuals are going to be more or less seasonal.. and if breeding for having lambs born in the fall is what you want, then that is what you have to focus on with the sheep. One thing with cows, when breeding AI or even with a bull.... you have to concentrate on improving 1 or 2 traits.... you will see little progress if you try to improve on 5 things at the same time... So, your more flexible breeders might not be your better structured ewes... or something to that effect.
You may have to back them up and breed even earlier... but then you are going to have BIG lambs by the time you want to sell...
Nearly all breeders that want to have optimal lambs to sell in the early spring, in bigger numbers, are doing some sort of synchronization to achieve that.
Remember, also, the quality of the semen is much lower in the heat... both in number and in actual quality of the sperm. You get alot more head and tail abnormalties in semen, in hot weather . You are also fighting against the fact that you do not have trees and other shady areas where they can get body temp cool down like say @Mike CHS with the much greater area of tree shaded pastures. NOT criticizing... just a simple fact. They are "baking" in the flat, hot, treeless, terrain there, compared to heat, but with trees and hills and dales that also afford some cooler breezes.
