Mini Horses
Herd Master
I have 3 good vets, have used them like, 20 yrs. One gave up farm calls but, can trailer to her...8 miles. Other 2 still do primarily farm work -- one 20 miles with big operating facilities!! I'm fortunate.
Canesisters 2023 journal - turning my Disasters into Delights
- Thread starter canesisters
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #912
canesisters
Herd Master
Just 'cause....
I was out in the Piney Woods garden & decided to take picts of 'art' that the stumps have become.
Plus a poorly focused shot of a visitor to the back pasture
I was out in the Piney Woods garden & decided to take picts of 'art' that the stumps have become.
Plus a poorly focused shot of a visitor to the back pasture
SageHill
Herd Master
NICE!!!! 
Baymule
Herd Master
Nature’s art work! So detailed and so breathtaking. Lovely pictures.
The deer is framed by the trees and branches. Perfect shot!
The deer is framed by the trees and branches. Perfect shot!
- Thread starter
- #915
canesisters
Herd Master
Started that most dreaded winter chore this afternoon - digging out the piled-up, pooped-on, ammonia lasagna, back-breaking pile-up of waste hay from around the cow's hay feeder. 
I need @Baymule 's root-digging energy!
.... I made it about 2hrs & gave up.
It's down to ground level in the corner of the feeder & the fence and there is an almost complete 2' wide trench to (maybe) help the rain drain.
I'm calling Tuesday to see stay a 1 day skidsteer rental would cost
I need @Baymule 's root-digging energy!
.... I made it about 2hrs & gave up.
It's down to ground level in the corner of the feeder & the fence and there is an almost complete 2' wide trench to (maybe) help the rain drain.
I'm calling Tuesday to see stay a 1 day skidsteer rental would cost
SageHill
Herd Master
Oh man - you need a tractor!
Mini Horses
Herd Master
I thought that BUT only for a day most often. Less expensive to rent for that. You and I USE our expensive toys. 
For days and days...not just 2X a year.
Sometimes a neighbor hires me for a couple hrs. It costs less than just the delivery for a rental unit.
For days and days...not just 2X a year. Sometimes a neighbor hires me for a couple hrs. It costs less than just the delivery for a rental unit.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
You should take that digital card and have those stump pictures blown up and framed! gorgeous art that you normally pay big bucks for.
farmerjan
Herd Master
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Since you are very talented with a camera... have you looked into possible selling some of the pictures... I know nothing about how to go about that... but even calendar companies have to pay for pictures for the calendars... and think of how many different "varieties" of calendars there are nowadays... Maybe it would translate into a little "extra cash" doing something you like to do...
Anyone in the neighborhood with a tractor and front end bucket willing to get paid to clean it out twice a year???
Yeah, "mechanical" power is a smarter way to get it done at this point... it is one thing when we are 20-30 and brawn is more available than money... but like @Baymule with the fence... she got a nice fence, in record time... and did what was comfortable for her with the root digging... and the sheep already out utilizing the grass she had been looking at for months..... if it takes a year, or even 2, of saved money on hay.... buying, hauling, moving out to the animals; she is better utilizing her time for other things and can enjoy the sheep better... so even if your money is still not very available, getting it done in short order leaves you to do something that is more productive for you overall...
What about the farmer you buy the hay from? Close enough to offer him a fair price to clean it out??? Figure out what a rental will cost and then figure out a fair price from that to offer someone close..
Just an idea/possibility.
Anyone in the neighborhood with a tractor and front end bucket willing to get paid to clean it out twice a year???
Yeah, "mechanical" power is a smarter way to get it done at this point... it is one thing when we are 20-30 and brawn is more available than money... but like @Baymule with the fence... she got a nice fence, in record time... and did what was comfortable for her with the root digging... and the sheep already out utilizing the grass she had been looking at for months..... if it takes a year, or even 2, of saved money on hay.... buying, hauling, moving out to the animals; she is better utilizing her time for other things and can enjoy the sheep better... so even if your money is still not very available, getting it done in short order leaves you to do something that is more productive for you overall...
What about the farmer you buy the hay from? Close enough to offer him a fair price to clean it out??? Figure out what a rental will cost and then figure out a fair price from that to offer someone close..
Just an idea/possibility.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Absolutely! With the steep hills here we have had to do everything by hand. Digging out the barns everal times a year is the worst - used to be even worse with the dairy goats when we bedded the kidding does and the newborns on straw. One El Nino year it never dried out and the water ran into the barn through the retaining wall. We couldn't clean out the stalls since they were an inch deep in water underneath so just kept putting fresh straw on top. In the spring we had at least 24" of packed straw and manure to dig out with picks, load into wheelbarrows and trundle up the steep ramp to dump on the hillside. Our flat Texas ranch and the ability to use a tractor gets more and more appealing.
