- Thread starter
- #211
SageHill
Herd Master
Good for you -
, though a bit sad that they so easily sell out, at least they've kept some of it - and what they sold to you continues in being farm .
SageHill Ranch Journal
- Thread starter SageHill
- Start date
, though a bit sad that they so easily sell out, at least they've kept some of it - and what they sold to you continues in being farm .- Thread starter
- #212
SageHill
Herd Master
Merry Christmas to everyone. 'Tis a blessed day.
The weather here is unseasonably warm/hot - I'll tell it to move east for the rest of you.
Things hare have been pretty normal with the icing of Christmas time, eats, presents, and great friends.
This morning I took three of the dogs with to the barn - Obi, Ree and Zo (Zo the Obi wanna-be).
When I opened the stall door to the bigs this is what I saw::
It looks like they had a Christmas party of their own, and NO ONE is 'fessing up to who brought the Flamin' Hot Tostitos!!!
.
.
.
(no I didn't put it in there, it wasn't there when I put in the hay last night, it's super flat. Yeah probably in the hay flake. Such is life - and no one ate. smothered or choked on it - thank God. But it did make for a good funny pic.
The weather here is unseasonably warm/hot - I'll tell it to move east for the rest of you.
Things hare have been pretty normal with the icing of Christmas time, eats, presents, and great friends.
This morning I took three of the dogs with to the barn - Obi, Ree and Zo (Zo the Obi wanna-be).
When I opened the stall door to the bigs this is what I saw::
It looks like they had a Christmas party of their own, and NO ONE is 'fessing up to who brought the Flamin' Hot Tostitos!!!
.
.
.
(no I didn't put it in there, it wasn't there when I put in the hay last night, it's super flat. Yeah probably in the hay flake. Such is life - and no one ate. smothered or choked on it - thank God. But it did make for a good funny pic.
Baymule
Herd Master
You should send that picture to Tostitos!
- Thread starter
- #214
SageHill
Herd Master
Good idea! Done
- Thread starter
- #215
SageHill
Herd Master
I did - and they sent this back:
"We're so glad you took the time to tell us how much you enjoy Tostitos Bite Size Rounds. Loyal fans like you keep us energized, so you can imagine how pleased we are to hear from the people who are most important to us! We think the sheep ate them lol."
Baymule
Herd Master
That as funny as the picture you sent! Hahaha!
- Thread starter
- #217
SageHill
Herd Master
Been a bit of a busy couple of days. Rain in the forecast and cooler temps - yay - or perhaps it's what @Alaskan sent down this way. Snow on our mountain! The forecast was for rain Tuesday-Sunday/Monday but I think the weatherman was just trying to grab fame time as it's changed once again rain Tuesday night stopping by 6am Wednesday. So far it looks like that's what will happen. Rain gauge says over half an inch from what I can see from the house.
Got out and grazed yesterday - between Christmas doings and Obi scraping up the backs of his pasterns it had been awhile. It was good to get back out there. I SOOO need that - it's my personal sanity check.
Love the light.......one of those moments as the sheep move into the graze area.....
Got a lot done yesterday - typical Tuesday stuff - clean the stalls - I had curious helpers...
.
Shredded the leftover alfalfa stems - only 4 flex bushel tubs - then went and added that
to the kitchen garden boxes after cleaning them out - though leaving still producing tomatoes, peppers, etc.
Harvested marigold seeds and almost forgot to broadcast them - got that done at sundown and a bit after.
Did the sides of the driveway to the house, along the road inside and outside the fence, on the fill slope to the barn, and the cut and fill slopes to the small arena. I'll be happy if ANY comes up and flower, though in my mind I see beautiful carpets of marigolds
. As I was spreading those seeds it tried to rain on me - a drop here and there. The rain didn't really start until around 8 - but it did do the little stuff - I'm guessing that should be good for those seeds 
Spent most of the time yesterday getting things ready for the rain - waddles hopefully set in the right places and drains that weren't quite right last time hopefully "fixed". Rain on Saturday (per the ever changing forecast) will be the test.
Got out and grazed yesterday - between Christmas doings and Obi scraping up the backs of his pasterns it had been awhile. It was good to get back out there. I SOOO need that - it's my personal sanity check.
Love the light.......one of those moments as the sheep move into the graze area.....
Got a lot done yesterday - typical Tuesday stuff - clean the stalls - I had curious helpers...
.
Shredded the leftover alfalfa stems - only 4 flex bushel tubs - then went and added that
to the kitchen garden boxes after cleaning them out - though leaving still producing tomatoes, peppers, etc.
Harvested marigold seeds and almost forgot to broadcast them - got that done at sundown and a bit after.
Did the sides of the driveway to the house, along the road inside and outside the fence, on the fill slope to the barn, and the cut and fill slopes to the small arena. I'll be happy if ANY comes up and flower, though in my mind I see beautiful carpets of marigolds
. As I was spreading those seeds it tried to rain on me - a drop here and there. The rain didn't really start until around 8 - but it did do the little stuff - I'm guessing that should be good for those seeds Spent most of the time yesterday getting things ready for the rain - waddles hopefully set in the right places and drains that weren't quite right last time hopefully "fixed". Rain on Saturday (per the ever changing forecast) will be the test.
- Thread starter
- #218
SageHill
Herd Master
A quick one today - the forecast was just for clouds. HA! Not so (but I'm not complaining). Once again the forecast was wrong
. Got the sheep out and grazed the outsides of the "pasture/turn out" under heavy gray skies. Those areas are getting rather "lush". Did a little roadside grazing too. When the sheep decided they'd had enough we went back to the barn just as ..... fat raindrops started to fall - "rain" for us - leaving spots all over the ground. Judging by the clouds and the smell of the air there is a lot more soon to follow. Emptied out the "leftover" alfalfa straw from the bins and put fresh flakes in.
Of course the plan to do all the dragging of the arenas and ranch road is on hold. I was hoping to get that done before the forecasted ( ) big rains for Sat-Thurs set in. Oh well. Such is life. Looks like inside stuff for the day is in order. (if I can just stay away from all those Christmas cookies and snacks 
I'll be doing good).
.
Future green goods ....
. Got the sheep out and grazed the outsides of the "pasture/turn out" under heavy gray skies. Those areas are getting rather "lush". Did a little roadside grazing too. When the sheep decided they'd had enough we went back to the barn just as ..... fat raindrops started to fall - "rain" for us - leaving spots all over the ground. Judging by the clouds and the smell of the air there is a lot more soon to follow. Emptied out the "leftover" alfalfa straw from the bins and put fresh flakes in. Of course the plan to do all the dragging of the arenas and ranch road is on hold. I was hoping to get that done before the forecasted (
) big rains for Sat-Thurs set in. Oh well. Such is life. Looks like inside stuff for the day is in order. (if I can just stay away from all those Christmas cookies and snacks I'll be doing good)..
Future green goods
....
Ridgetop
Herd Master
What do you use to shred the alfalfa stems?
I was able to get some chopped alfalfa once from a hay grower and had NO WASTE!!! He didn't have any after that though so only that one ton. We used to feed the stems to calves but without our dairy goat flock no more bull calves. If we could chop them the sheep would eat all the hay, not just the choice leafy bits. Less waste, more feed for our $$.
I was able to get some chopped alfalfa once from a hay grower and had NO WASTE!!! He didn't have any after that though so only that one ton.
We used to feed the stems to calves but without our dairy goat flock no more bull calves. If we could chop them the sheep would eat all the hay, not just the choice leafy bits. Less waste, more feed for our $$.- Thread starter
- #220
SageHill
Herd Master
I bought an electric leaf shredder mulcher on Amazon. I was having probably close to 50% waste on the previous load of alfalfa. I got the shredder to hopefully feed the shred to the sheep or worst case cut the volume down.What do you use to shred the alfalfa stems?
I was able to get some chopped alfalfa once from a hay grower and had NO WASTE!!! He didn't have any after that though so only that one ton.
I tried feeding the shred to the sheep - but they really didn't eat much of it and it was very dusty - so two strikes and I shred to reduce volume so I can use green bins to toss it. Though I've recently been adding it to the gardens and giving it to the chickens. Bay suggested adding molasses to the shred - gave it some thought - then thought I could be making my sheep even pickier eaters !
Thankfully the current load of alfalfa is really nice I'd guess I'm under 10% waste now.
