Canadiannee - "These Old Ways"

[Canadiannee]

Four Winds Ranch... nope, lol, I can not say your methods are old fashioned, indeed, I think you and I might be "kinfolk" in many ways! Little Alice has been thru every bag desensitizing trick in my 40 "something" years in the horse industry... I won't tie her to a solid object tho, her reaction and fear of bags is too over the top... I've had to rehab a few horses that were sent to us after tearing neck muscles from a solid tie, so we always train by hand or by a special hitch ring that is designed to release pressure on the line (give them slack) if the animal reacts, and therefore takes away that fear driven "fight or flight" response... but other than having a different approach on this part of the equation... lol, everything else you suggested is "spot-on" to where we've gone with this wee black beauty.

She spends her day in a small paddock with bags of every shape, colour and size tied around every fence post and top rail, she has same pony eating bags hanging in her stall... she gets rubbed down daily with bags (a permenant part of her grooming kit), we have put her in a surcingle and tied bags to her, walking her by lead and also letting her run loose in the arena to work it out, she's been walked thru narrow gates with bags on gate and posts... we have put bags in her corner feeder and dumped in her feed (she won't touch it), we have sliced open feed bags and stuffed them with her night hay... lol, the hay is always still in the bag, and the bag is exactly where it was put in her stall the night before... I'm starting to believe I won't ever need to invest in fence posts and wire to contain her in the new paddocks being built at the big barn... just stake bags into the ground in a large square and she will not cross the line! *laughing* I know I am making humour out of the situation, but in 6 months, there hasn't been much we haven't tried... It doesn't mean we're not going to nip this in the butt, it just means we have to find that overly reactive switch in her brain and turn it to OFF, OFF, OFF! She's a very sensitive girl to begin with, not very confident and always attaching herself to your hip and seeking reassurance... she's done beautifully with every other aspect of her training these last 6 months... from a 3 year old who had never been halter broken or handled (running wild in a pasture with other ponies) to sheer delight to work with (other than this bag issue) each day... but until we get this bag worked out, there's no way I'd even consider hitching her to cart.

The running joke in our circle of horse people is that I have been bested by a "pony"... you see, I have never much liked ponies or miniature horses for that matter, and my friends and aquaintences have known my views for decades... and please no offense to those who love 'em, because I myself have now converted! lol, I love, love, LOVE my pony! However, in the past, I just found them to be rather expensive lawn ornaments... but life changes, situations happen, and even the most unrelenting and vocal views (as my own were) have the ability to be altered... so yes, I am taking a good hearted razzing over my exploits with Alice, and after allowing me to flounder and wallow in what was once smugness, the calvary are descending, and hopefully with all our combined experiences and methods, we'll find something that works for wee Alice. LOL! I have no problem admitting when I'm tapped out of knowledge!

Thank you Pearce Pastures for your kind compliment... I was extremely happy to finish that belt for my husband, poor man... husband to a leatherworker and he's got his pants hitched up with a Walmart Special! Oooer... 3 years on your barn project?! Golly, I'm hoping in 3 years I'll be finished this one and preparing to build off-grid on some sweet little acreage on the east coast, sleeping in my little Tumbleweed home and living off love and the land! And on the serious side... I "get" the 3 years and still going at it... Holy Krumba, open up one wall to fix one structural issue and find a kazillion other issues that need to be addressed first! But yes, there is something oh-so rewarding about breathing life into these old barns isn't there? I stand in the hay mow and gaze up at the holes in the roof and can't help noticing every notch in those big hand hewn timbers and being in utter awe over the structure and the craftmanship... it's a far cry from our cute modern horse barns, but the big old barn suits my personality much better... as ugly as unkempt as she is right now, she feels more like "home" I'd really love to see pictures of your barn!

The Soot and Smudge are still improving... we're not moving them back to the barn for a week or so... I don't want to stress them out after recovering from enteristis and here at home I can keep a better eye on them should one or the other regress... It's not a barn day for me today, nope... it's bread day! Although, I'm not being very quick to get my dough started and rising because I've been too absorbed in catching up on recent posts at BYH this morn... lol, you wonderful people are soooo distracting! (in a great way of course!) I think today also calls for chocolate cake! Nothing like chocolate cake to sooth the Monday ho-hums... or is that the Wednesday hump-days... gosh, perhaps I should bake two!

So as always wishing you all the BEST in your day!

 

[Pearce Pastures]

LOL, yeah three years. It is a two story,150 year old wooden peg building and it had been neglected for awhile. Year one was practically just cleaning it out (it was loaded with old hay, animal remains, junk and garbage from previous owners). It was a mess. Now the roof has been replaced, walls rebuilt, support beams installed, and we are on to saving for siding and paint.

So how long does a belt like that take to make?

 

[promiseacres]

Makes me jealous to hear about your barn! I gave up 2 horse barns when we moved....we too did a ton of work to make them. usable again.... but maybe someday we will either build one or move somewhere with one already there. For now will make due with shelters and sheds. Alice sounds fun i hope you can get thru to her about the bag thing. Never fun to sell a friend but sounds like you mare has some good options

 

[Canadiannee]

150 years old... gosh where's your "brag album" Pearce Pastures? Old wooden peg barn, c'mon no teasing... show, show, show... I want to see what you've accomplished thus far! Ouch, one full year to clean her out? UGH, I can only imagine what you were finding in the debris just going by the decades of stuff we've been finding... lol, I haven't found any buried or hidden treasure yet, but I'm still fantasizing about what I'd do with it if I did!

Tooling my husband's belt took maybe 10 hours... a little longer than normal because I was working on it between projects, but it's just a simple straight leather piece... he didn't want any bling or pizzazz, no fancy belt buckle or belt tips, no silver, no stitching... just his geldings name, and a simple oak leaf and acorn design... Depending on how intricate the design, or whether you're designing in cut-outs, backing and stitching, many more hours can go into a belt.

But I enjoy it immensly... I use to be a 1/12th scale doll artisan, put to mold and then poured in porcelain... Leatherworking is much more useful to a larger range of clients then designing doll art to sit on shelves and become dusty! *laughing*

These are just two examples of my dolls... this first one is Lucille O'Ball, and the second one is Motor Molly... both these dolls stand 5 1/2" and were both designed for my International online workshops... I retired from doll art in 2006, lol, and had to find something else do to... leatherwork just seemed to fit my lifestyle better!

Promiseacres.... ooer, don't I just love your username! There HAS to be a story behind it... do tell! Gosh, I so hear you on the "giving up" part... it's truly a kick in the pants when you move, and you have say goodbye to all the hard work you put into a renovation to make an old barn uniquely your own... Lucky for us, we're not going into this barn renovation with any notion of permanance, it's just part of a 3 year plan in getting ready for the retirement years. And hey, I like shelters and sheds... I find my critters to be healthier running them in pasture all year round rather than to cooping them up in stalls or in a barn during the cold months... specially our horses.

And speaking of horses... Saturday was a gorgeous day... it wasn't a working day for the horses, but who could resist romping in the snow on a day like this? This is my red-head mare Lady, and the girl riding is the young woman who is exercising her and handling her showings and sale... Lady's not doing too bad for an equine babe who's been on a rather long hiatus, she still knows her stuff, a little rusty, but she's been eager to get back to work... it'll be sad to see her go, but watching her this week has done nothing but strengthen my decision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tof9jfEsbx0

I decided against baking two chocolate cakes... instead, I made one cake, and baked two loaves of chocolate swirl bread, along with my regular white loaves... hungry boys and neighbours came over, and the cake and one loaf of chocolate bread disappeared faster than you could say "Rumplestiltskin"... I then made the mistake of mentioning the words "homemade pasta" and my boys have decided to hold me to it for tomorrow night's dinner... lol, I dehydrated about 100lbs of tomatoes last year along with the usual canning, so I think I'm going to make a tomato pasta with a light cream sauce... and if I change my mind by mornin' (which I often do!), I can switch it around to regular pasta with a tomato cream sauce!! Don't you just love having all this knowledge of self-sufficiency and a stocked pantry to boot! *laughing*

And as I always say - here's to wishing each of you the BEST in your day!

 

[Canadiannee]

Seriously? More snow?!?! Ok... albeit, not a LOT of snow... a smattering of maybe 1/8th of an inch of the ground.... but still, we're mere days away from April 1st, and I'm craving green grass, warm temperatures, daffodils and tulips... no more of this white stuff please!

Haven't journaled in a couple days... not much going on here... ok, re-evaluate and re-phrase, always heaps going on, just nothing that is incredibly newsworthy!

Soot and Smudge have recovered from their 'bout of enteritis... Smudge is full of vim and vigor, back on her pellets and ready to go back to the barns this weekend... Soot however, is coming along a little slower... it took him a couple days to get his full appetite back after treatment, and he's just started to eat pellets today... an extra week at home should bring up to picture perfect bunny health and then he can return to the barns too.

First time Momma "Lightening" is doing wonderful with her kits... she had a litter of 9, but we lost two within a few days of kindling... she's such a friendly doe, almost proud to show off her babies, and always at the cage door waiting for someone to stroke her head and scratch her ears before she scampers off to eat her morning hay or evening pellets... so unlike an up and coming "savage" doe our son named "Ms. Toffee" (we could have 10 does or 100, and Sawyer always has names for each of them) I've sworn a few times she's going in the slow cooker... You open that cage door and she comes at you with claws out and teeth bared (not a pleasant experience 2x per day) just nasty and vicious that one! While thinking of rabbit stew for her, I am reminded of how much feed dollars have gone into her to bring her up to breeding age, and thus I'll try breeding her once, maybe twice and if she's a lousy mommy, her new name will be "Dinner"!

Pygmy goat Prudence was moved to a kidding stall two days ago... She is my mystery birth, with no idea when she was bred, I have nothing to go on but to watch for the signs of impending labour. Having purchased her 4 months ago... it could be next week, or we could be playing "maybe today or maybe tomorrow" for a few weeks yet... There's signs that it may be soon, her utter is dropping, her ligs are very soft and almost non-existant some days and she's laying down more often and getting very cuddling with a much cooing... but her va-j-j is still tight and pink, and no signs of a discharge... she's just getting bigger and bigger by the day. Apparently her first kidding was a single and I look at her now and am thinking we're probably having twins... lol, probably twin bucklings with my luck this year... seems all my critters are producing boys this season. Not that I'm complaining... I always hold back the girls and the boys go to pay for the expenses of feeding everyone, but for increasing stock, it kind of sucks doesn't it?

I traded off two young muscovy drakes I had from last years hatch for 3 New Zealand/American Chinchilla 6 week old rabbit does a couple months ago and they're growing up to be very nice girls... small, compact, but weighty... I've always bred Californias and New Zealands and thus I'm interested to see how this cross grows... so far I like these girls.

Hatchery order dates are coming up... I think I'm going to increase my pheasants this year... I'm a little perturbed that my quails stopped laying when I moved them from the horse barns to the big barn... They were laying prolifically over there, and although I expected them to stop laying for a week, it's been four weeks now and not an egg in sight. The last time I moved them, the Manchurians came back within a few days, the Corturnix were longer... but this time nothing.... I have no idea what has changed, other then maybe the water... if anything, they're getting more light at the big barn and now the daytime hours are longer... fickle little birds anyways, but no eggs means no pickled egg sales, and a drastic drop in my weekly "pin money" (or cookie jar money as my Gram use to call it) If they don't come back soon, I'll probably dispell of them and pick up day olds from a friend...

I was considering adding some Emden geese to my home "poultry and fowl" flock... I've never had geese before and quite frankly all my experiences with them have never been pleasant ones... I remember an old friend of my fathers had a huge gander that use to protect his salvage yard... most people were scared of the giant German Shepherd he had, until they met that gander... it wasn't uncommon to see people running down the driveway as that big bird came running at them with it's enormous wings flapping, it's neck stretched out and honking louder than a car horn... I was petrified of it, I'd face a kazillion guards dogs then one enraged goose anytime!

I'm excitedly waiting for May when my two newest boer doelings from my friend Luanne's stock are ready to be weaned and come home... I've already named them Agnes and Minwinta, so they'll be Aggy and Winnie... Luanne always produces very nice stock, both in size and friendly attitudes, and her and her husband are just plain "good people" which makes purchasing from their stock even more enjoyable.

I almost bought a herd of 13 yearling boer does and 1 two year old buck the other day, but decided against it... Most of the commercial job sites my husband is working on are being held up with inspection delays, which means days off here and there in the work week... that tells me to keep my cash monies close to my chest until everything is up and running smoothly again... And of course, bringing in another 14 goats means shuffling around the big barn again, and by doing so, it would mean adding more to our already over-loaded plate... beloved husband, as amazingly wonderful and good sported about all barn activities that he is, just might start exhibiting signs of having a coronary if I throw an increase to our goat herd at him right now... Starting tomorrow, we're beginning to tear down the 3 car garage at the horse property to recycle those materials for the big barn renovation... between plywood, 2x6's, 2x4's, roof joists and vinyl siding, I should have enough material there to finish the structural repair to an outer wall in the back half of the addition (where the horse stalls are going) plus build a fairly sizable outdoor shelter for the horses, and a couple outdoor shelters for the goats... lol, I don't think 14 goats would be cause for divorce, but I'm fairly certain it may just push him towards the edge of insanity for a couple weeks!

And thus as always - here's to wishing everyone the BEST in their day!

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Thats awesome about Soot and Smudge!!!!!!
How many breeding does do you guys have? About what weight and how old do you butcher? I raise Standard Rex for meat, but would like to get something maybe a bit bigger! Lol, I have a ferocious doe too!! I always wear gloves when feeding her, and even then she tries to rip my gloves apart! I have found the viciousness is hereditary!!!
Lol, I have a the bad habit of springing new animals on my DH I am afraid! He gets home and is informed of 20 new rabbits, or 50 chickens, ect,ect........., he just stands there with his mouth open, poor guy! I secretly thing he has come to expect it now!!!

 

[Canadiannee]

Yes, I am absolutely thrilled about Soot and Smudge, and will be one very happy camper to get them back to the barn... not that I don't like having a bunny or two at home to remind me when I arrive back to "city life" after a full days work at the barns that I am indeed a "farmer"... but man-oh-man, to be changing bedding in cages every night... it's not like you can keep them on wire and just let the poop fall on your laminate floors!

Post-recession rabbitry... we're only back up to 15 breeding does as of this week... I honestly thought when the recession hit and I had no choice but to sell out (save for our 3 personal horses) I'd be able to retire peacefully from livestock and be ok with just the 3 horses... 2 years of not knowing what on earth I was going to do with all this new spare time on my hands was enough to convince me that once you've lived this life, it's very difficult to let it go...

I started back by bringing in the quail... husband and son missed their pickled quail eggs too much, but after the quail came... then it was, I miss rabbit stew, I miss lamb chops, I miss chickens, I miss goats cheese, I miss, I miss, I miss... and what-do-you-know, we're back at it again! Do wonders ever cease?!?!

Funny, alot of people ask me about weights and at what age we butcher, and I don't go by ages as much as I go by weight anymore (unless they're going over the 12 wks because some depots in this area don't want fryers over 12 wks of age)

If we're sending them to a depot... as soon as they start weighing between 4.5 and 5lbs, we make plans to ship them on the following shipment week ... Ideally I'd like to see them at this weight by 8 wks of age, and that gives me 1 or 2 weeks to get them somewhere between 6-7lbs by the next drop-off date. And of course, another consideration is that our depot pays approximately $1.60 per lb (live weight) between 5-7lbs... over 7lbs drops to 0.50lb.

For my own freezer, 10lbs is good, but it's my personal observation that I spent a great deal more in feed costs to get those few extra lbs on them by keeping them back longer... I try and look at raising livestock as a savings for my family, (sell livestock to pay for the livestock we eat) if I had to go to the market and pay $3.99 and up per lb for rabbit gussied up on a styrofoam tray, we probably wouldn't be eating rabbit frequently... lol, it wouldn't be in my grocery budget and thus if they're slow growing and costing me more to get them up to a higher weight, then I'm satisfied to put them in the freezer between 6 and 7lbs.

haha... you don't know how thrilled I am to hear you have a vicious doe too!! Honestly, not something you'd want to wish on anyone, lol, but misery loves company right? I've maybe had one or two unfriendly does, but nothing like this hellion... How is your vicious doe as a Mommy? Does she get worse when she has a litter? So far my leather gloves are holding up, but I'm thinking perhaps chain-mail might be a better investment!

Oh I was going to post on your journal that you MUST have a very understanding spouse with the 50 chickens you just sprung on him last week... God Bless a good man!!! Do you really think he's secretly come to expect it, or perhaps he's just come to the conclusion that he's got no hope in heck of fighting it?!

There's only one time that I can ever remember that I almost pushed my beloved husband close to hauling my backside into divorce court over one of my "surprises"... funny though, I knew it wasn't going to go over well... but I bought "him" anyways! HIM being a 2 year old 1800lb 17hh Percheron stud colt... hmm... who hadn't been halter broken!

It was a moment of insanity on my part... I just remember the hauler pulling thru our farm gates behind my car and watching my husband come out of the house with "the look" as he eyed the rocking trailer and heard the thunderous banging of giant hooves striking the trailer sides... and when I got out of the car with a big cheesy smile on my face (I had kind of expected him to be at work and not home early when I snuck the big black monster in) beloved husband wasn't smiling back at all... instead his gaze was locked on the trailer and I'm pretty sure his head rotated 360 degrees as he swung between gazing at me and gazing at the beast tearing up the trailer... I can't recall his exact words after "You didn't...." but umm, I knew I was in deep do-do... lol, I also knew he'd forgive me... maybe not that week, or the next, but sometime in our wedded future...

That was many years ago... and we're still married! But no more stallions for me!

 

[Canadiannee]

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! The sun was shining and the temperatures rose to 8 degrees C... a wonderful day to start tearing down the garage at the horse property and recycling the wood. Unfortunately though, our deadline has been changed... instead of two weeks, we now have one week to salvage what we want before the demolition crew comes in next Friday to bring the rest of it to the ground and break-up the concrete pad it rests on... It means no Easter celebration for us, we went from dawn to dusk today, and will do the same tomorrow and Sunday...

The shingles are off, most of the vinyl siding and eavestroughs are down, and by nightfall we had the entire roof off the garage and had bagged the ceiling insulation... I know there's no way we're going to get it down before the demo crew comes in... but we're going to give it the old "college try" I've pretty much given up on saving the plywood sheets, we're just going for the 2x4's and 2x6's, and the old clapboard siding that was under the newer vinyl siding... the old clapboard with be set aside for siding the goat shelters at the big barn...

Front of the Garage

Side of garage (3rd car)

Beloved husband and son starting on the roof

I was very excited to see green grass today... what I wasn't excited about was the mess the dirt paddocks are in! In the spring, summer and fall, I spend two hours a day picking up the manure in each paddock and raking the dirt... in winter, forget it! The snow does a wonderful job of hiding it... but the downfall is, that when the snow melts in the spring, we have to plan an entire weekend to rake up 2 tons of winter manure! Not my idea of a good time!

Coco Blue coming up to investigate (the sand arena behind him is still snow ladened)

A nice trek of hay and straw droppings making a path from the lower barn to the upper barn was uncovered in the melt... UGH!

Not much different in the lane between the upper barn and the lower barn

I'd much rather pick manure then draw straws for the chore of raking up 4 months of soggy wasted hay and dropped straw... so I'm going to pull the "Mommy card" on Sawyer this week!

A very exciting find yesterday at the big barn... my first Pheasant egg for the season! That has to be a sign that old man Winter's finally gone to bed!

Sawyer's last litter of bunnies came out of the nest today... and upon checking the goat pens, I found one of the inherited barn cats had just finished giving birth to 6 kittens in my doe kids pen... obviously she felt very comfortable in with my young girls, but we quickly built her a box with a little cat size opening and put it over her and the babes... I could see my little Calpurnia getting quite cuddly with Mommy cat and trying to snuggle in with the kittens... and where Calpurnia beds down, wee Elspeth isn't but an inch away... I was a tad fearful these that my two goat tots might smother the newborn kittens.

Caught up Prudence and checked her over... the kid or kids were more active tonight and seemed to have shifted a bit, but nothing else has changed since the other night, so I'm fairly confident we're not going to see any babes this weekend, and I have my doubts we'll see their arrival this upcoming week... I'd really like it if I was wrong, it's so easy to feel kind of left out when everyone is posting pictures of their precious newborn arrivals and you're kind of sitting in the waiting room! A bit of that green-eyed jealousy monster I suspect!

Well, the time is in the wee hours of the mornin' and I have to grab a couple hours of shut-eye... I have to empty the stock trailer of wood at the big barn and then go pick up a couple rounds for 8am... then it's back to the garage! How can anyone not love this life?

ishing everyone the BEST for their day!

 

[promiseacres]

Good luck on your projects this weekend!

 

[Four Winds Ranch]

Love your barn!!!! I have to say, my barnyard is no were as clean as yours!! I just leave all the manure where ever it falls, and once a year, the barnyard gets dug out with the tractor into a big pile.
Good luck on your busy weekend!!!!