Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[Ridgetop]

Been doing PT. DH leaving with DD2 tomorrow moving her to Wylie, TX.

Been having a few earthquakes. Funny thing is that just like hurricanes in Florida and blizzards in North Dakota, earthquakes here are pretty common. Forgot to even mention them!

Went to the funeral on Wednesday. The Archbishship did the funeral, along with about 5 other Monsignors, and half a doen other opriests. The youngest priest was about 50. There were a couple from the retirement home where Fr. Larkin had retired to. Marv didn;t wabt to go so I went alone ad met up with DD1 there on her lunch hour. Also met up with 3 other families that we were pretty tight with when kids were small. All good Catholic families - smallest number of kids 3, largest 8! LOL The 4 of us were together from preschool through grade school, our kids were all around the same ages. All getting more Prime of course! The luncheon after the funeral was Jersey Mikes sandwiches. When our families were active we would have all been in the kitchen cooking for the funeral reception along with a couple other families. Young moms these days are all working I guess. It was nice to see those famiies again. One has a son in Tennessee, another has a daughter in Austin.

 

[Ridgetop]

Not much going on here. DH and DD2 made it to Kingman yesterday and Annabel threw up several times. The motel would not give any fresh bedding to DD2 saying the maids had locked up verything and they did not have the keys to the cuboard. Ridiculous excuse! Either switch them to another room or take the bedding from an unoccupied room and give it to them. Tonight they are in Santa Rosa. At least because they are sharing a room and Annabel has to go to sleep early, DH is getting a good night sleep. Tomorrow they should make it to Wylie and Monday will unload. DH plans to only stay in
Texas for a couple days before coming back.

DS1 called today and is switching the sheep onto protein tubs to see if it saves money on suplemental feeding. The sheep tubs are 33+ lb. for $15. He is doing the math to see if the tubs will be cheaper that the pellets. He had to get replacement mineral salt blocks for the sheep and saw the protein tubs. We will try them and see. He is also going to change out the crayon on the ram. He said that he thinks nothing showed as being marked because the temps dropped and the ram still had a hot weather crayon on. The temps are supposed to go back to the 90's and he will change the crayon to a green-hot. If no one else marks, then we can suppose everyone is bred. In another month or so we will turn in the catch up ram to make sure everyone is bred. I wait a month between rams to make sure I know who sired which lambs. I am sending in the last of the registration paperwork tomorrow. The lambs are almost 5 months old now, and after 6 months old the fee doubles.

DS1 made some covers in the ram and lamb pens using the 8' x 12' corral covers. He said that by leaning the corral covers on the 5' tall fence panels between the ram and lamb pens and clamping them to the top rails made a decent sized shade cover in each pen. The rams and lambs went in during the heat and it also works for rain. He is going to put the mineral blocks and protein tubs under the covers too. We have several frames that need to have corrugated roofing put back on ad we can add more shelter space for the winter. DS1 says that the ewes have regained their condition. The rams, lambs, and ewes are all looking to be a good weight although there are still a couple lambs that look undersized. I made 2 different appointments for slaughter (2 lambs each) so when we get back there, we can cull out any lambs that don't look good and they can go in the freezer.

DS1 said that he used all the panels up making fencing so hopefully he has emptied the side barn area (10' x 60') which we can use for the jugs in January. We need some more jug panels and gates though since we don't have enough for all the ewes. By keeping them in the jugs for only a week before turning them into the creep pen, hopefully we can juggle them around.

 

[Baymule]

Where did DS1 find the sheep protein tubs?

 

[SageHill]

Is it difficult to change the crayons?? Any since I'm the newbie - either is there a harness that can hold two crayons OR can a second harness also be used at the same time? With fluctuations in temps it seems something like that could be done or possible?? Since I haven't gotten that far into the process (one ram show here) I'm only guessing that the crayons are similar to wax used on skis (do they even do that any more?) different waxes for different temperatures.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have a harness hanging in the barn. Don't even use it any more. Just too lax . I know basically when they're bred and group size not an issue. Used to be, not right now. The crayons for mine are about 4x6 ish, as I recall...kinda flat like a slab of Crayola.

 

[Ridgetop]

Is it difficult to change the crayons??

The best marking harness is by MatingMark which is an Australian company. The straps are much wider than other harnesses which keeps the harness in place. Other brands have narrow straps that tend to slide out of the holders. The Mating Mark harness also has snap in crayons. Others have crayons that fit into the holder on the brisket and then have a metal pin that holds them in place. That type is harder to use than the MM type since the pin is like a cotter pin and needs to have the ends bent to keep the crayon in place. The MatingMark crayons slide in and snap into place. They are easier to remove and replace the crayon. Mating Mark crayons are also one of the cheaper crayons on the market, and come in cold, medium and hot temperatures. Also come in yellow, orange, green, blue, red, and purple colors. We prefer the red, blue and green colors for our white sheep. Both the harness and crayos are easy to find.

The MM harness has snap in clips to attach it to the ram and is sturdy enough to hold the ram with when catching hm to replace the crayon. Then slip on a halter, tie him up, unsnap the old crayon and put in the new crayon. If your ram is flighty, or not used to this, you can remove the harness to replace the crayon and then replace the harness easily with the large plastic snap in clips.

Where did DS1 find the sheep protein tubs?

Not sure. He found them whioe picking up either the pellet or the medicated lamb grain, and the slt blocks. I will ask him but maybe at Atwoods? I will check and let you know. I will also have him take a photo of the ingredient label.

 

[farmerjan]

Protein tubs need to be out in the open so that any moisture .... not monsoon rain though... will soften them. If they are the "cooked" protein tubs, they will be harder, last longer... The softer ones that are just "poured" with more molasses... will get eaten faster. Tubs are not as economical for animals as actually feeding them grains... they will eat more with the tubs than necessary for the protein consumption... but are a convenience thing rather than feeding grains.
I use them for the cows sometimes when it is easier to do that than to feed grain... but lb for lb with consumption rates, they are USUALLY not as cost effective as feeding grain. The cows can "eat" / lick , one in a couple days...ours are 250lb I think..... and they will go crazy for them when you first put them in there, they will consume twice what the label says... until they get enough and get accustomed to them...
They do nothing for fattening... should only be used when the hay/forage is low protein/mature or otherwise less than desirable.... great for times when it is not convenient to feed daily.
Our feed stores have them, TSC has them here... many places are starting to stock them, with the increase in people keeping small stock on smaller acreages.

 

[Ridgetop]

These are protein blocks not tubs. They are not the tubs with molasses but are compressed into hard blocks similar to the salt blocks. He got them at Atwoods. DS1 is trying them out to see how they work in our feeding program. It is possible tht they will be eaten too quckly to be worthwhile. In fact, DS1 said he put 2 out for the 40 ewes and went out later to find that one was completely gone! He said that if they went through one in just an hour or so they wuld not be worth the money. Then he realized that they had knocked it out of the pan he set it in and it was still there laying on the ground behind a tub. LOL

DH arrived at the ranch tonight. He went to Wylie first and met DSIL2 to unload. He left the trailer there and drove to Yantis to sleep in his own bed and have some dinner since they hadn't bothered to get any food in. He and DS1 will drive back to Wylie after breakfast tomorrow to finish unloading and bring the trailer home to Yantis.

The well is still having a problem with water clarity so we will definitely have to drill a new one. Tomorrow DH will get to see all the work DS1 has been doing at the ranch. Tuesday or Wednesday he will take the tractor and mow the goat weed. Tusdsy the tree trimmer is supposed to show up to trim the trees and take out the 2 dying trees along the driveway before any winter storms can take them down on the house or vehicles. That is, if the guy shows up. He has not been very reliable, having set several dates to come and then not showing up.

I figured out how we can put a Connex on the ranch and not have a problem wth it getting too hot inside. Since we have a separate electric meter and feed for the barn and well, we can use that meter for electricity to the Connex and put a small window style AC in it. DS1 can use the Connex as a shop building with the AC. We don't have to use the AC during the winter, only from April/May to September/October. I think you can buy Connex containers with AC and windows already installed.

 

[Weldman]

These are protein blocks not tubs. They are not the tubs with molasses but are compressed into hard blocks similar to the salt blocks. He got them at Atwoods. DS1 is trying them out to see how they work in our feeding program. It is possible tht they will be eaten too quckly to be worthwhile. In fact, DS1 said he put 2 out for the 40 ewes and went out later to find that one was completely gone! He said that if they went through one in just an hour or so they wuld not be worth the money. Then he realized that they had knocked it out of the pan he set it in and it was still there laying on the ground behind a tub. LOL

DH arrived at the ranch tonight. He went to Wylie first and met DSIL2 to unload. He left the trailer there and drove to Yantis to sleep in his own bed and have some dinner since they hadn't bothered to get any food in. He and DS1 will drive back to Wylie after breakfast tomorrow to finish unloading and bring the trailer home to Yantis.

The well is still having a problem with water clarity so we will definitely have to drill a new one. Tomorrow DH will get to see all the work DS1 has been doing at the ranch. Tuesday or Wednesday he will take the tractor and mow the goat weed. Tusdsy the tree trimmer is supposed to show up to trim the trees and take out the 2 dying trees along the driveway before any winter storms can take them down on the house or vehicles. That is, if the guy shows up. He has not been very reliable, having set several dates to come and then not showing up.

I figured out how we can put a Connex on the ranch and not have a problem wth it getting too hot inside. Since we have a separate electric meter and feed for the barn and well, we can use that meter for electricity to the Connex and put a small window style AC in it. DS1 can use the Connex as a shop building with the AC. We don't have to use the AC during the winter, only from April/May to September/October. I think you can buy Connex containers with AC and windows already installed.

Problem with window units is they change size and only last so long which means going to be fighting changing that hole size or trying to fit in the window. Think of window AC versus mini split AC as store bought generator versus commercial generator. Other benefit, you can heat with mini splits which means all in one unit that lasts a long time. They make ones with precharged lines for those not savy with pulling a vacuum and such to purge lines.

 

[farmerjan]

The protein blocks are like a salt block, only 33# instead of 50#. They are still molasses based in order to get the sheep to eat them. They will gnaw at them with their teeth as opposed to cattle preferring to lick them. We use "rabon" blocks for feed through fly control on the cattle and they really work... fly eggs laid in the manure that comes from the cows that have eaten/licked them, will not hatch out...

Hope they work for you economically.

Glad they made it out there okay and hope that he is impressed with what DS has been working on.