Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along

[farmerjan]

Been re-reading some of the thread... Erick may have had a "clostridium bloom"... sometimes the spores will suddenly proliferate... and they will seem fine one day and dead the next. We lost a couple calves out to pasture one time... and the vet said back then, that was it.
I think that is what your CDT shots are for.... maybe they were at the "end of the time frame" and they got exposed in the environment... and maybe they were exposed to other than the common type clostridiums... our cattle get a 7 or 8 way because it can be a real problem...... the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a "blackleg" outbreak.

 

[Baymule]

Erick was going through this at the same time I was losing lambs. It was during the incessant rains and our famous heat. I heard from other people who lost sheep and goats. I have NEVER had 2 month old lambs with loads of parasites. Never. It was either the worms were gonna kill them, or worming them with the toxic worm die off was going to kill them. It wasn’t a good place to be. I had to wean early because the ewes were wormy and getting dragged down by the worms and nursing lambs. It was only the ewes with lambs that got hit so hard. The ewes that were open were fine. I never want to see those days again.

 

[Ridgetop]

I think that is what your CDT shots are for.... maybe they were at the "end of the time frame" and they got exposed in the environment... and maybe they were exposed to other than the common type clostridiums...

Erick doesn't vaccinate for CDT. A clostridium bloom with no vaccinations would certainly be a problem.

Had trouble getting on BYH and had to change my password. I had run a scan on the computers for viruses and malware. DH's computer had malware problems. It took 3 days for his comuter to complete the deep scan! DS1 had to talk me through setting it up over the phone.

Just as well we did not get a sofa since DD2 found one for free and doesn't want the loveseats anymore. I have decided not to buy a leather sofa anyway since most of them are ground up leather that is glued onto fabric. The leather eventually sloughs and peels off in bits like sawdust. I am thinking that a fabric sofa may be better with real leather recliners eventually when we replace our furniture. A fabric sofa will look better and give more color to the room since the walls are panelled in oak. Unless I decide to put a whitewash on the paneling the room is pretty dark. Not having to buy new furniture yet will allow us the extra money for other stuff.

 

[Ridgetop]

DS1 removd Patton from the ewes today. He has been with them for about 8 weeks. Hopefully they are all bred. In a month we will harness Junior and run him in with the ewes with a red crayon as a catch up ram. When DS1 put Patton back wth the rams, he smelled so like the ewes that both Patton and MoyBoy tried to tempt him into a "relationship". Then they went to head butting for seniority. LOL

DS1 also wormed the rams yesterday. One of the youngsters lpked like he had a slightly swollen jaw the day before they were wormed, but when DS1 wormed them it had disappeared. Possibly a bug bite or something.

DS1 picked up a hay spear and will be trying to move the round bales. He also went to Atwoods to get the supplement blocks and found that they had the 125 lb tubs. Since the weather has cooled down some, he got them instead since they won't melt in the heat. They are much cheaper than the solid protein blocks. We will use them during the inter and switch back t the blocks in the summer. Erick uses them but said that he had a big problem with thm during the heat. The young goat kids would jump on top of them and then sink into the tubs, getting trapped in the sticky molasses!
This little kid was trapped all night! Took Erick 30 minutes to finally get her out of the sticky protein molasses tub in the morning. The Anatolians cleaned her off afterwards. LOL The goat kids are slightly smaller than the lambs so can get into the tubs easier but I plan to avoid using the sticky protein tubs during the hottest months and will switch over to the harder protein blocks during the summer.

DS1 says the sheep are eating the Bahia now and seem to be staying behind the electric netting. He will be emptying the side barn out and moving all the remaining corral shelter frames and 24' horse corral panels to the outside of the barn. He is considering lashing tarps to the pipe frames to make quick cheap sheep shelters for the fields. We have some pipe dog run frames from which I removed torn up chain link fencing. We used the panels for 30 years for everything from dogs, poultry, pigs, goats and sheep to fencing off the hay barn. The chain ink was so torn up and bent that I removed it before we transported them to TX. Now DS1 said he ight use them with tarps for shelters too. The best thing would be to replace the corrugated roof panels on the shelter panels, but tars would be cheaper for now. He wants to clear out the side barn so he can level the ground in there (where the dogs have dug cool nap spots) and start putting up the jugs. We will have to buy more jug gates before lambing starts although we can use some of the lightweight Jeffers panels for gates. Lambing season will start in January. Already?!
I will get home to TX just in time for the wet weather! DS1 wants to get some of the heavier panels put in place for the jugs for me. He is so good to me.

 

[Baymule]

Your DS has it going on! Sounds like he’s doing a great job with the ranch. I know you can’t wait to get back home.

Are those protein tubs for sheep? I’ll have to check them out at the Atwoods in Lufkin. I just bought their brand of blue jeans (men’s) for $12 a pair. Had to try on every pair, sizes don’t run true. Kinda “roomy” definitely not tight jeans, but will work for me as farm jeans. You might want to point your menfolks in that direction.

 

[Mini Horses]

Next time check boys sizes.

 

[Baymule]

Next time check boys sizes.

They don’t have their brand in ladies or boys, just men sizes

 

[fuzzi]

He is considering lashing tarps to the pipe frames to make quick cheap sheep shelters for the fields. We have some pipe dog run frames from which I removed torn up chain link fencing. We used the panels for 30 years for everything from dogs, poultry, pigs, goats and sheep to fencing off the hay barn. The chain ink was so torn up and bent that I removed it before we transported them to TX. Now DS1 said he ight use them with tarps for shelters too. The best thing would be to replace the corrugated roof panels on the shelter panels, but tars would be cheaper for now.

Just a thought...I put tarps on top of my cattle panel hoop coop. They started to wear so I placed some shade cloth on top of the tarps. It's keeping the tarps from disintegrating further so my chickens will continue to have a cozy place to roost.

 

[Ridgetop]

I like that idea.
000
DS1 got the rear mount hay spear for the blue tractor and hooked it up yesterday. Today he moved a bale for the lambs. He said it takes some maneuvering to get the bale off the spear and tipped from the side to stand upright, but he can make it work. Hay spear $350 - new tractor $35,000 We will have to get a "newer" tractor eventually with a front loader but for now we can do everything with this one and Baby 'Bota.

We got the quote from the well testing people in Greenville to replace the tank(not the pump), add a filtration system, and hopefully make the water run clean. They would not be replacing the line into the aquifer, just a section of piping to the pump. They are not replacing the pump. The pump is old too but not being replaced (arund 30 or so years old). The parts, labor, filtration system and water softener come to $10,272.60! (Water softener for livestock?)
The Greenville water place said that without filtration systems our water would have a lot of iron etc. in it. They don't drill wells. They also said that there was no way to tell whether we would drill and hit the aquifer. 5 wells on this protperty over the past 200 years tell me different. Also local people told us we were sitting on top of the aquifer. Carrizo Aquifer is a huge aquifer so I doubt it s so spotty we would not hit water 400' down. I read that the bottom of the aquifer is 600'. Surrounding neighbors with wells said their water is good without filters so . . . . The Carrizo acquifer does have a high alkaline and iron content, but a couple years ago the big rush was to buy bottled "alkaline" water for health reasons. LOL

Digging a new well will cost about $20,000. New piping, pump, holding tank, etc. I think the new well will be the way to go.

 

[Ridgetop]

DS1 moved a new hay bale into the lambs' pen today.
Then he counted how many hay bales we have left. We have over 50 round bales. I will probably have to buy more before the winter is over although we still have some pasture left. Cody said he had put up a lot of hay but I probably should give hm a call abd make sure tht he wil have some more for me.

Anyway, back to the well, etc. Since we don't have to buy a new tractor yet, we can put in the new well. We will need another truck eventually as well as a newer tractor. Twinkles won't last forever in spite of the good care DH takes of her.

Our bridge 4-some has lost a person so we are not playing except as subs. We played today and wll probably play next Wednesday. Then we have to drive to Middle TX, meet with DS1, and switch vehicles. We need our truck in CA or when we make the fial move in November. We will be pulling the stock trailer with the rest of our stuff. We still need to use DS3's flatbed trailer to bring back the rest of the corral covers and fencing.

Once I get back to Texas I can start on the master BR and bath - stripping wallpaper, painting etc. I need to do some touch up painting on the woodwork in the main bath which got damaged when working on the new shower over the tub. We won't replace the carpeting until next year when we save up more money.

OMG! Got the insurance bill on the ranch from Germania and it has gone up $1200 to over $5000! I will check with the Farm Bureau when I get back to TX on another policy. The insurance on the 3/2 rental house in Fort Worth has also gone up - almost $3000 on that.

After the ewes lamb in January I will be sorting and cutting down on the flock. I have too many brood ewes and have to sell some. I also have several good young rams to sell after I do the codone testing. Depending on how they look and their results, I will either sell them at auction or advertise them. I should have already done it but it is hard to decide what to keep when you are several states away from the flock! I was planning to sell off some ewes after the flock was inspected and graded last May. I was scheduled but unfortunately, the grader had to cancel due to surgery. The inspections take place every other year so I don;t think there will be any inspections this year. Most of the older ewes were inspected and graded in 2022 and I only kept the best. DS1 and I will have to do it ourselves. Luckily he has a good eye for a sheep so hopefully we won't choose too badly. I plan to keep most of the Lewis sired ewes anyway since most of his get turn out very nice and MoyBoy has given me a lot of excellent sheep too. On the other hand, Lewis' son Junior also threw some good stuff this year. Decisions, decisions . . . . I wonder what the new embryo ram will throw. LOL It was so much easier when I was growing the flock and just kept all the ewe lambs! At least 4 of the 2024 ewe lambs are going in the freezer in November/December. I have the slaughter dats reserved already.

Well, Robert (3 1/2) can open the freezer to get ice cream bars and popsicles. We close and hook the laundry room door but the other day his mother found him standing on a stool trying to push the hook up with a stick. Two days later I heard the fridge door alarm goig off and walked into the kitchen to find the upper fridge door open and robert standing on the lower freezer door trying to get something out of the fridge. Reminded me of his father (DS2) at that age climbing onto the top of the refrigerator in the old house to get the cookies! Nicholas is just as bad since f he sees hs brother do it, he copies him. LOL Nicholas will be 2 the beginning of December. He and Robert play together instead of just beside each other. Yesterday Robert and Nicholas went down the front of the property below the lawn and over into the pasture. They had a lovely long wander around whie their mother was searching for them! They really need a dog here.