High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[farmerjan]

Not trying to be critical..... I just wanted to make sure that you were thinking of it.... and yeah, I do refer to things sometimes by what my mind has "called it"... Just knowing that she would not have anything to do with the milk, and it having more nutrients....
Glad that she is now eating both mixed together....

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Don’t worry I didn’t take it as critical. Part of the benefit of being on BYH we have this awesome community of people who care about animals and want the best for them.
Got some cleaning done today, cleaned out the garage so I can actually get to my stuff and moved some of my animal equipment to the silo. Now I can get to my generator so shearing should happen this weekend if nothing else gets in the way. The sheep spend most of their time in the shade anymore it suddenly got warm.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Funny how times flies. It’s been two weeks so today I checked Dolly’s leg to make sure everything was healing as it should and to adjust the PVC cast to allow for a little growth. Everything looks pretty good so I wrapped it it back up for another two weeks. She walks on it a fair amount within her little area.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Working 6 days a week plus training horses four days a week has kept me busier than I ever intended to be! Some updates for our area.
Dolly the lamb is doing great, after 4 weeks of the PVC cast her leg set nicely. She doesn’t even have a limp. Bad part is she’s as bad as her mother now in letting me know when she needs to be fed.
We have chickens now, got a new batch at the end of May. 5 barred rocks, 5 austrolorpes, 5 true blues for fun, a silver laced Wyandotte and a blue Cochin. Little beggars are growing fast. I have half the silo converted to a chicken coop with a run around the outside of it. I got to build my roll away nesting boxes but we’ll have to wait a while yet to see if they work. Preliminary tests with store bought eggs indicated they should.
Horses horses horses! I’m riding 4 times a week now but they’re not mine! I’ve been meaning to get my horses over to the arena with me if nothing more than to get some time on them. They don’t seem to mind not being ridden too much. Easy life of eating ridiculously expensive hay and hanging out, life is hard right?
it is ridiculously hot for this area at this time of year and its only going to get worse. With limited water this year and this heat hay prices are through the roof. I’ve got a mixed assortment of hay coming next week, stuff that was affordable and can be mixed to get us by. Before we moved up here it was a bale of three way and a bale of alfalfa mixed so I’m not too worried and the price was right. My horse training earnings will probably just keep going to paying for my hay.
So that’s our update. I’ll need to spend some time to get up to speed on everyone’s journals but I hope all had been well for you lot.

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to see the post and that Dolly's leg is healed and doing good. That is wonderful.

Riding riding riding is good if you are at least getting some pay or whatever to help you pay for the cost of your hay for your own.
Have been reading and hearing from others in western TX and other areas about the deepening drought conditions. Ranchers selling down on animal numbers to help extend what little grazing there is and to anticipate having to buy less hay for the winter.
I am sorry for you and others with the drought conditions. I realize that you are a "dryland farming area" .... but the horrible drought and all the lake levels getting so low everywhere is heartbreaking. Although we had alot of rain earlier this year, we are not super wet now. Not hurting, but the hay crops are lighter in some fields I think. And we will not get a 2nd cutting if we don't get some decent rain in July. I look at the drought monitor that you can pull up on the internet and it is horrible to see. Scary to see pictures of the few big lakes and reservoirs and they are at 35 and 40 % capacity.... that is unreal.

 

[Baymule]

Do you have somewhere to stock in a lot of hay? Fill the barn if you can! We raised Cornish Cross chickens and sold quite a few of them. Chicken meat bought our hay. LOL Horse training is buying your hay!

 

[Ridgetop]

Our Utah sheep breeder friend usually farms a lot of hay, alfalfa, triticale, and other types. He runs commercial sheep operation, as well as his show Dorpers, and sells hay as well. The reservoirs went dry last year and he lost a lot of his crop. This year he only planted 2 hayfields and is not selling any. He needs it all. He said it is lucky that he doesn't depend 100% on his sheep and hay farms. He owns a custom butcher shop too. Farming family land helps his bottom line too. Way too dry. The entire western states are hurting.

Most true scientists are saying that this is a normal weather pattern that occurs every so many generations. Ignore the liberals and their howls of climate change. This will eventually pass and the rains will return. It will just be a long dry patch. Remember the dust bowl when drought caused thousands of sharecroppers to lose their crops several years in a row? These drought episodes have happened throughout history. Archeologists and anthropologists are now blaming the desertion of the cliff dwellings throughout Arizona and Colorado on a sustained drought period making it impossibility for the Anasazi to raise enough crops to live on.

 

[Bruce]

5 barred rocks, 5 austrolorpes, 5 true blues for fun, a silver laced Wyandotte and a blue Cochin.

I got 2 Australorps, 2 Ameraucana, a Silver and a Gold laced Wyandotte 3 weeks ago. The Wyandottes are SO much slower feathering out. They still have fuzzy backs and no tail feathers, the other 4 all have decent feathering all around. Do you find that to be true of your Wyandotte chick as well?

 

[Mini Horses]

Good to see you post! We always like to know you're "alive"...busy or not!

 

[Baymule]

@Bruce Wyandotte’s are slow to feather out, they look scraggly and ugly, leading one to wonder if you got stiffed with some mixed breed mutts. Then one day, they are beautiful!