Mystang's Homesteading Circus

[mystang89]

These are some pics I took this morning of the light.

That is the whole assembly. You should be away able to see the wires.

This is the wiring upclose. Nice duck tape, coming off. The bolt that you see was the only thing holding it to the rotting piece of wood. You can also see the hole which the pole goes through in the roof, allowing for much rain water to soak the wood.

I'm still in the thinking phase of fixing this one.

 

[RollingAcres]

Kudos to you for making repairs on the barn. I hate to see old barns in disrepair.

X2! I love old barns and it's sad to see some of them just sitting there rotting away.

 

[greybeard]

The pigs were thrilled to see me. The started chewing my shoes to show me how much they love me.

Remember, they are omnivorous, and will eat you if they get the chance.

 

[mystang89]

Remember, they are omnivorous, and will eat you if they get the chance.

 

[Baymule]

It's a wonder that your barn hasn't burned down. It's just been waiting on you to come save it.

 

[mystang89]

Been a few days since I updated and my memory is such that I really don't remember much of the past few days but I'll give what I can.

Few days ago our troublesome buck, Bruce, decided he wanted to try something different for his food and ate some Jimmyweed or something like that. I made a post about it in the emergency area with a video. Turns out he poisoned himself and got a bit tipsy at the same time. Fortunately he ended up only with a bad hangover and nothing else. He's all fine now and back to his normal evil self.

Today was spent traveling. The family went on a small road trip to pick up a 5 Wheel hay rake. It was in decent condition, only had 2 teeth missing, a few half teeth, and a spring ended up breaking when we were loading it up in the trailer. Fortunately I had a few springs at home to replace it with. The drive home wasn't all that fun. Should have made a wide load sign because the tongue of the rake was sticking out about 5 - 6' off the side of the trailer and one wheel was about a feet out the other side. We tied flags all over it and took the back roads home. Only took out 1 stop sign and 1 speed limit sign. Pretty good all things considered

We don't have a sickle mower or a baler so I'm just going to take the side off the bush hog and, after the grass is dried, shovel it on a trailer then into the hay loft.

Someone also came out and sheared the sheep today. I feel better with them having all that wool removed. He wasn't the most personable guy in the world but it was outrageously hot today and he'd been outside shearing sheep most of the day so I'll give him a bit of lee way. He definitely knew what he was doing. All 3 sheep were done within 15 min and some of that time was spent trying to get the sheep to him. I was impressed. They even gave me pointers to what I was doing wrong.

With all the wool gone it was much easier to see the condition of the sheep. I was pleased with all but one. My milker isn't looking great. She's real bony. Right now she gets 2 coffee cans of feed at night before I put them up but I think I might give her some in the morning. I just don't know if her stomach would get upset with all the feed. She's eating the grass well and has a healthy appetite. Her stool is looking good too. (Who'd have thought you could say poop looks good lol ) My wife wonders if putting some hay in the stall at night might also be good for her. I don't know. I'm not apposed to it per say, just if I don't have to use the hay I have for winter, then I'd rather not. I'll continue to look for other ways to recondition her though. She's the star of the show right now.

I'll leave you with some pics of them.

Apparently don't have any updated of the lambs so I'll try for those tomorrow. The large picture is my Betsy Mae. She's my milker and, even in the bad picture, you can tell she needs some fat on those bones.

 

[Mike CHS]

She does need some work, hope you can get her back in condition.

 

[Baymule]

I have a ewe that always has twins and gives them everything in her milk. I give her about 3/4 cup of corn twice a day to help her out.

 

[mystang89]

Thanks Bay. I think I'll give her 1 cup in the morning and 2 at night at first, then once her stomach gets used to it I'll give her 2 in the morning and 2 at night.

 

[Baymule]

Thanks Bay. I think I'll give her 1 cup in the morning and 2 at night at first, then once her stomach gets used to it I'll give her 2 in the morning and 2 at night.

That might be overdoing it. Remember, their stomach flora and bacteria can be seriously disrupted with too much grain. Better to gradually bring her condition up than to try to do it too fast.

The 3/4 cup of corn is given to the ewe that is nursing twins. While it doesn't pack weight on her, she is able to hold onto what she has. Once the lambs start eating, it gives her some relief and she gains weight.