SageHill Ranch Journal

[SageHill]

A busy day at the ranch today. Busy is always good. Though it was a slightly slow start because it was sooo dark I managed to still get things done. Finished up rain-prep for what is supposed to start tonight or tomorrow mostly done by DH and helpers. Some concrete "curb" along the paved road to help direct water along with a couple of waddles on the ranch road. It will be interesting to see the results.
Got our grazing in mostly on the lower northside slope. According to the sheep it was primo eats. We tried the meadow and sigh - they were not much into eating and barely a nibble. Sigh. They and Obi are better at the green management than I am. Sure looked lush and tasty, even like what they were enjoying on the slope.

Walking over to the barn - God - I love it here......
:

Munching on the lower northside slope:

Ol' Spot - one of the wethers - he's hilarious he always seems to either have
a goofy/funny expression or is doing something silly. He's been on many of
my "Six Silly Sheep" cards. (Though the current number of sheep is 12).

I'm not one for naming livestock - but somehow some of the sheep have acquired
names along the way.
Got my delivery from TSC - how cool - free delivery! Of course a one time thing,
but still!! All set to putting up some more chutes and blocks to keep the lambs
from venturing into areas that are not good (though Obi will bring them back) -
just better and easier to throw up a panel.
Was checking an irrigation valve and pulled the cover of the box -- it was FILLED
with dirt!! Grrrr and some very sluggish lizards. Evicted the lizzies - quick toss
with a trowel, and then emptied the box of the dirt - LOTS OF DIRT.
Got a few other little things done and will plant beets back at the barn when I
put the sheep away. Which may be soon as it's darker out than normal for this
time --- heavy clouds abound.
Oh and a couple observations - the new sheep (the four I got in Aug) are much better
at getting to the business of grazing. Hmmm could that be because they were trial
sheep at one time?? Not used for a lot of dog training?? Interesting to think about.
I knew this from last year - but sheep prefer to graze going uphill rather than downhill.

 

[SageHill]

The forecast for today was rain around 4pm. HA HA HA --- it started while I was out grazing. Very glad I decided to stick with the jacket and not just a vest. But the sheep were more than happy to eat today. Nothing like ultra fresh water with your salad . We were on the south ranch road slope - and they thought that breakfast spot was a good one. So we spent all the graze time there, adjusting a little every so often to get the "good stuff" according to the sheep and Obi (who has a second sense of when the sheep will get tired of an area).
The plan for today was to finally get into the arenas with a harrow before the rain set in - fat chance of that happening. Looks like the "conditioning" will take longer than planned. I wanted to get the ground there opened up a little so it would take in more of the rain to make for softer footing. Sigh - the best laid plans ..... oh well.
While I was out, it looks like grazing will once again become a 'caring for the fields' opportunity. The same thing happened last year (though about two months later). The Wild Cucumber is at it again. It's a nasty and stinky vine that quickly covers anything around it. Even though I pull it, it will always come back because it grows from a tuber -- I dug one up a couple years ago - it was huge, bigger than my two feet put together - and it was easily 10-15 ft away from it's vine - attached only by underground runners.
Last year I "punked" the sheep out and put vines on their backs to carry back to the barn where I green-binned them.
Wild Cucumber on a CA Live Oak..

.
Tasty breakfast ... ... (and a greenhouse going up in the background - at least it's ag and not houses)...

Sugar bush for desert....

..
With a wild buckwheat chaser....

 

[Ridgetop]

We get that Wild Cucumber vine too. To me it smells like rancid peanut butter.

We had a shredder once that we lent to a friend (who broke it and did not offer to replace). I might get another in Texas since you can shred all the garden stuff into soil improving mulch. If you shred the drier alfalfa (sometimes you can't get the good stuff) before letting the sheep pick out the leafy bits, maybe they would eat all of it. Otherwise shredding it for the garden will improve the soil since all that nitrogen from the alfalfa will go into the soil. You can also collect the dry alfalfa leavings and feed calves.

 

[SageHill]

If you shred the drier alfalfa (sometimes you can't get the good stuff) before letting the sheep pick out the leafy bits,

I'll give that a try next go around when things get stemmy. LOL though no calves here so far.

 

[SageHill]

Another wet, windy rainy day here.
The sheep are all nestled warm in their stalls, while visions of tasty purple flowers dance in their heads. Oh wait - it's not a bedtime story.
(this from last year - Pretty Purple Posy Eaters cards I made)...

It'll be a lot of work ahead once the rain stop and we have days or a week to dry out.
The rain is good and we need it. I'll use the rain time to get inside stuff done.
Thinking about setting up a sort chute or packed pen in the barn aisle to try and stay on
schedule for worming etc. Mama ewe needs a pedicure - damn those hooves grew fast
once she lambed! She looks like the only one who needs hooves done.
I don't think I can rig the deck chair in the aisle though, so she may be waiting for a nice
sunny day.

 

[Baymule]

Sometimes a rainy day is a welcome time to get other things done. It’s been sunny the past 3 days and I just can’t stay inside!

 

[Ridgetop]

It has been raining here since Christmas - off and on. Raining very heavily for the past couple days. The sheep pen is flooding. However, I will set up some sort of additional shelter for the ewes as soon as it dries out a day or two. Problem with southern California drought is that you don't bother with any animal cover since the weather is nice. As long as they have shade in summer you don't have to worry about them having a barn until EL NINO arrives with a vengeance. Then those tropical downpours really catch you by surprise. Most people here don't have barns or even shelters for their horses. As long as they have shade in the summer, they don't need shelter from the rain since we seldom have any! I have mentioned for many months now that our teepee shelter is too small for our sheep but since they are only in that pen during the night it has fallen on deaf ears - my own included! I can't lift the corral cover panels myself anymore, so unwilling males in my home sabotage me. I found a couple stock panels at the end of the field, and will drag one over and see if I can do some sort of Quonset hut shape shelter like @Baymule has built. That is the only pen that really needs more water cover. Mainly because we have a lot of ewes and young stock in it.

 

[Baymule]

Cow panel hoop shelters are da’ bomb! Quick, easy, cheap, temporary so not taxable. What’s not to like?

 

[SageHill]

It has been raining here since Christmas - off and on. Raining very heavily for the past couple days. The sheep pen is flooding. However, I will set up some sort of additional shelter for the ewes as soon as it dries out a day or two. Problem with southern California drought is that you don't bother with any animal cover since the weather is nice. As long as they have shade in summer you don't have to worry about them having a barn until EL NINO arrives with a vengeance. Then those tropical downpours really catch you by surprise. Most people here don't have barns or even shelters for their horses. As long as they have shade in the summer, they don't need shelter from the rain since we seldom have any! I have mentioned for many months now that our teepee shelter is too small for our sheep but since they are only in that pen during the night it has fallen on deaf ears - my own included! I can't lift the corral cover panels myself anymore, so unwilling males in my home sabotage me. I found a couple stock panels at the end of the field, and will drag one over and see if I can do some sort of Quonset hut shape shelter like @Baymule has built. That is the only pen that really needs more water cover. Mainly because we have a lot of ewes and young stock in it.

Yup! The reason I have a barn is for night protection from the coyotes. Yeah -- most livestock here don't have barns because we've got "great" weather. Of course I'd like a horse - but at the cost of hay now I'd rather have a few more sheep.

 

[SageHill]

It's a gorgeous day today - 43-61 clear and sunny and a light gentle breeze.
Got out and grazed - it felt great to be outside. The sheep were pleased to be out of the barn and munched down on almost everything out there. The meadow was a hit - today it was tasty treats for them. Spent a lot of time in the meadow and truly grazed them all the way back to the barn catching some of the fresh green on the south slope.
Taking the ranch road to the meadow...

Munch, munch and munch some more...

.
Also "patched" a ranch fence where coyotes had dug under - basically just extended the lower part of the fence with left-over fencing, matching the "weave" and using hog rings. I'll be on the look out for more spots like that.
Set up two of the hog panels that were delivered last week to prevent the lambie-kins from getting into trouble when we take them out to graze. They like to slip around the corners of the pasture when we first head out.
More stuff to get done - but I'm whittling away at "The List".