High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[CntryBoy777]

We got a bit of snow last year and the ducks went wild running around their yard eating the snow...crazy little things. That stove and the surround sure turned out really good....nice Job!!.....if it gets a bit warm just breathe the house a bit and open the front door some....no bugs will get in I promise...

 

[Baymule]

It snowed here in 2015. It was gone in a few days. Your horses are pretty!

 

[Latestarter]

Nothing better than a nice fire in the stove when it's blowing wet and cold outside. I set up a small fan at the base of my stove helps get more heat into the room so I can burn a little less and a bit smaller fire.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

We used to use a fan to push the air upstairs when it was in the basement. It does have a small blower fan in the back and that’s helpful. It definitely keep us warmer though I put the stove in the middle of the house so all the main space stays plenty warm while the bedrooms get a little heat but still remain comfortable sleeping temperature (for me, my wife insists on keeping our room ridiculously hot for sleeping.
Today I got to live vicariously through my friends and help with their cow and heifer auction. There’s something about hard work and smelling like cow excrement that makes one feel accomplished.
Bay what kind of hair sheep do you have? How do you like them?

 

[Latestarter]

Not many would say they feel "better" or accomplished, smelling like cow excrement... I like cows, but not the smell. I love the smell of horses (& hay together is like heaven)...

 

[greybeard]

Not many would say they feel "better" or accomplished, smelling like cow excrement... I like cows, but not the smell. I love the smell of horses (& hay together is like heaven)...

An acquired 'experience' I guess, but once 'on your boots', hard to shake off for the rest of your life (been on mine since I was 8) and I sometimes forget that some here with a Texas location aren't really from Texas but you can always tell it immediately.

A little sage advice at the end of this from someone that is.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Having been a truck driver I can certainly attest that I had much rather be riding behind a cattle hauler, than one with pigs or chickens....and have slept beside them at truckstops, but have awakened and moved my truck away from a hog haulers to be able to sleep because of the smell. Cow pies have never been obnoxious to me and stepped in my very first at 8 or 9 yrs old myself....

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

Something sad is that since I began running a pig farm I really can hardly notice they have a smell. If it wasn’t for the fact that I can still track food pretty good I’d think my olfactory senses had died. Boars are a different story though, they stink terribly. I can only imagine what a bunch of chickens would smell like.

 

[Baymule]

I have Dorper/Katahdin cross hair sheep. They are easy care, no shearing, no crutching!

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

That seems to be the popular cross, as that’s what I’ve found mostly in Utah. The hard part is they’re all up north about 4 hours. This year I’ll probably just end up getting what we call range sheep and start from there. There are numerous amounts in this area and are readily had at decent pricing, with plenty of opportunities for cheap bum lambs in the spring. I’ve thought about getting 4 or 5 of those and giving my kids some work, they can sell the whethers and keep what was gained on them and we can keep the ewes and breed them. Maybe I’ll drop the money on a katahdin ram lamb and have my mom bring it down in her minivan when she comes to see her grandkids. Do some crossbred until I can get some hair ewes. I’m still trying to piece all that together, but by spring we’ll be ready.