Baymule
Herd Master
So beautiful now, hard to picture it as brown and dry.
SageHill Ranch Journal
- Thread starter SageHill
- Start date
Mini Horses
Herd Master
I have grass coming on now, with warmer than norm temps encouraging growth. Glad to see that as it will allow me to reduce some hay -- save $$$ -- and graze limitedly for another month. So about 4-6 weeks ahead of usual, if things continue this well. Advance reports show it will 
I could use both Zo and Obi fences right now
several goats graze the winter fallow field adjacent, was corn this past summer. So they're grazing the wild grasses an I don't charge for free fertilizer. 
but will need to stop them before farmer plants in another month. There's that fence thing 
I could use both Zo and Obi fences right now
several goats graze the winter fallow field adjacent, was corn this past summer. So they're grazing the wild grasses an I don't charge for free fertilizer. but will need to stop them before farmer plants in another month. There's that fence thing - Thread starter
- #293
SageHill
Herd Master
Ohhh boy!! Yup - that "fence thing"will need to stop them before farmer plants in another month. There's that fence thing
I'm sure my neighbor with the avos and flowers was none to happy when he heard I was bringing in sheep. I think he thought they'd be pillaging his crops. Which of course they never have. He's not very chatty, (at all) and I ~think he topped his fence with a hot wire - looks like it to me - but I'm not one to test touch it!
Mini Horses
Herd Master
I have 13 in the field chowing down right now. I can watch from my kitchen or lvgrm windows. 5 do it every day, so friends went to dinner with them tonight. . Guess I better buy a few more posts this week. Have enough fence, I think. Get this working...won't be long. Right now he doesn't care. But....later is different. Don't want to loose a good thing. Hey warm weather brought on grass. They walk right thru better, thicker stuff of mine. 
. Maybe they're saving it. 
. Guess I better buy a few more posts this week. Have enough fence, I think. Get this working...won't be long. Right now he doesn't care. But....later is different. Don't want to loose a good thing. Hey warm weather brought on grass. They walk right thru better, thicker stuff of mine. . Maybe they're saving it. - Thread starter
- #295
SageHill
Herd Master
Had more rain Tues/Wed with hellacious winds again. Total rainfall from the last storm 3.8 inches. Once more picked up :green gold" on the driveway from the neighboring grove. Ground fall not allowed to be sold, and it was on our drive. Yum for us.
Back out grazing Thursday and Friday --- oh geeze it feels so good to have the sun out. Pulled a ton of wild cucumber the last two days. This time in an area that I had not worked on last year. I had no idea what the sheep were up to - that is Obi's job. In the end I think they ate, and I know they didn't leave the slope I was working on.
Also found another avocado tree deep in the gulch. And it's thriving - even has avo's on it! Score. The ranch continually offers surprises.
Still need to drag the arenas and fix portions of the ranch road. It'll be a busy weekend
.
And we have snow in our local mountains (though I need to get to our mailbox
a mile away to see that).
But further away there's snow in mountains that I can see from the house....
AND --- FYI this snow is normal for us, unlike what the media is telling everyone.
Normal in non-drought years.
Back out grazing Thursday and Friday --- oh geeze it feels so good to have the sun out. Pulled a ton of wild cucumber the last two days. This time in an area that I had not worked on last year. I had no idea what the sheep were up to - that is Obi's job. In the end I think they ate, and I know they didn't leave the slope I was working on.
Also found another avocado tree deep in the gulch. And it's thriving - even has avo's on it! Score. The ranch continually offers surprises.
Still need to drag the arenas and fix portions of the ranch road. It'll be a busy weekend
.And we have snow in our local mountains (though I need to get to our mailbox
a mile away to see that).
But further away there's snow in mountains that I can see from the house....
AND --- FYI this snow is normal for us, unlike what the media is telling everyone.
Normal in non-drought years.
- Thread starter
- #296
SageHill
Herd Master
A good day today -
Took the sheep out and grazed down outside the pasture. I couldn't really go anywhere else - the ranch road has (now had) leg-breaking ruts from the rain. If someone got stupid it could've gotten ugly - so I kept it simple. Used Obi - but looking back Zo would have been a good choice - I think. I'll probably have him work tomorrow.
Spent the rest of the day on the UTV dragging arenas and on the tractor fixing those nasty ruts on the ranch road - and groomed the whole thing with the box blade. It was cool, cloudy and breezy - perfect for what I was doing.
.
Deep eats!!
My "Green Acres" view
Took the sheep out and grazed down outside the pasture. I couldn't really go anywhere else - the ranch road has (now had) leg-breaking ruts from the rain. If someone got stupid it could've gotten ugly - so I kept it simple. Used Obi - but looking back Zo would have been a good choice - I think. I'll probably have him work tomorrow.
Spent the rest of the day on the UTV dragging arenas and on the tractor fixing those nasty ruts on the ranch road - and groomed the whole thing with the box blade. It was cool, cloudy and breezy - perfect for what I was doing.
.
Deep eats!!
My "Green Acres" view
- Thread starter
- #297
SageHill
Herd Master
Looking to be another day to get things done at least weather-wise. Overcast to slightly overcast with a high of 54.
If I get enough done maybe I'll take the boys Obi and Zo for a ranch walk.
Yesterday I thought that Zo could've done the grazing job, so I took him today. Poor Obi - he was sad he stayed behind. Maybe someday I'll work both - but first Zo needs to learn what to do.
He did a really good job with the road work moving the sheep along the ranch road. He worked the sides as he should (not the most intuitive way to work) as well as the rear (fetching), and would venture ahead just to remind those pesky sheep they can't run ahead. All in all he did that very well. The grazing, well, he's learning. He "gets it", then he doesn't. Then he stops, and thinks, and does the right thing. It's got to be hard for him as he wants to move the sheep, but the grazing is definitely not a "move the sheep" thing. He's learning, and even better he's thinking . That is something than can not be trained - the thinking part. This is what separates the Tervuren, Laekenois, and Groenendael from most of the Malinois (the four Belgian shepherd breeds). They see something, think, then react. Whereas the Malinois sees reacts, then maybe thinks. Granted that is a generalization but after working with the all of the Belgians since the 80's that is what I see. But I've digressed. Alot of times when livestock is involved the thinking part goes out the window for all of them.
Zo also found out that some sheep can be opinionated - The younger black ewe has a touch of attitude at times. Personally, I'd rather have that than the "get the heck out'a here for no reason". So today she decided to give Zo a piece of her mind. Zo had no idea that sheep did this! He was working a narrow graze area between a fence and the ranch road, and he was doing a good job staying out of the graze area and keeping the sheep in the graze area and eating. This particular ewe likes to eat the goodies on the edge of the road. She eats while whichever dog works the road boundary. So this morning that is happening and I was just starting to take some pic of Zo working the roadside graze and she decides to let him know that the roadside is hers.
Here's the lucky series of photos......
Zo - minding his own business and working on the road. Black ewe deciding the road belongs to her....
Black ewe thinking this is my chance to claim the road...
Black ewe saying "Hey buddy ......this is .......
.... my road"
If Zo had retaliated either by nipping her or pushing her/chasing her into the area I could not have faulted him. He did neither - he flipped around stood his ground and stared at her. She in turn stepped a little more into the graze area and continued eating. This to me is huge. Something that can not be taught, something that can not be "set up". Zo has shown me many times that he is an Obi-wanna-be -- well, looks like he's going to be just like Obi. He's got a long way to go - but at 16 months I can't ask for more.
If I get enough done maybe I'll take the boys Obi and Zo for a ranch walk.
Yesterday I thought that Zo could've done the grazing job, so I took him today. Poor Obi - he was sad he stayed behind. Maybe someday I'll work both - but first Zo needs to learn what to do.
He did a really good job with the road work moving the sheep along the ranch road. He worked the sides as he should (not the most intuitive way to work) as well as the rear (fetching), and would venture ahead just to remind those pesky sheep they can't run ahead. All in all he did that very well. The grazing, well, he's learning. He "gets it", then he doesn't. Then he stops, and thinks, and does the right thing. It's got to be hard for him as he wants to move the sheep, but the grazing is definitely not a "move the sheep" thing. He's learning, and even better he's thinking . That is something than can not be trained - the thinking part. This is what separates the Tervuren, Laekenois, and Groenendael from most of the Malinois (the four Belgian shepherd breeds). They see something, think, then react. Whereas the Malinois sees reacts, then maybe thinks. Granted that is a generalization but after working with the all of the Belgians since the 80's that is what I see. But I've digressed
. Alot of times when livestock is involved the thinking part goes out the window for all of them.Zo also found out that some sheep can be opinionated
- The younger black ewe has a touch of attitude at times. Personally, I'd rather have that than the "get the heck out'a here for no reason". So today she decided to give Zo a piece of her mind. Zo had no idea that sheep did this! He was working a narrow graze area between a fence and the ranch road, and he was doing a good job staying out of the graze area and keeping the sheep in the graze area and eating. This particular ewe likes to eat the goodies on the edge of the road. She eats while whichever dog works the road boundary. So this morning that is happening and I was just starting to take some pic of Zo working the roadside graze and she decides to let him know that the roadside is hers.Here's the lucky series of photos......
Zo - minding his own business and working on the road. Black ewe deciding the road belongs to her....
Black ewe thinking this is my chance to claim the road...
Black ewe saying "Hey buddy ......this is .......
.... my road"
If Zo had retaliated either by nipping her or pushing her/chasing her into the area I could not have faulted him. He did neither - he flipped around stood his ground and stared at her. She in turn stepped a little more into the graze area and continued eating. This to me is huge. Something that can not be taught, something that can not be "set up". Zo has shown me many times that he is an Obi-wanna-be -- well, looks like he's going to be just like Obi. He's got a long way to go - but at 16 months I can't ask for more.
Baymule
Herd Master
That is one of those moments that makes Momma so proud! Way to go Zo!
- Thread starter
- #299
SageHill
Herd Master
Wow - this week has flown by. How can that be??
Got out and grazed most mornings this week. Glad that I got the ranch road fixed up - no way we could've gotten down to the meadow or most parts west of the barn. Well, we could've but it would have been dicey in a few areas with really deep ruts.
The vegetation is changing. In spite of all the rain and cool temps I can see subtle changes in colors. Lush green starting to show tints of red. It did this last year, the "grasses" top off and start to turn a little red at the tips, then the green fades to yellow then brown. We'll see how that plays out this year with the rain. So far it's looking very similar. Purple flowers are all over - the wild California lilac, wild geranium and the filaree are starting to show off - not quite covering the ranch yet - but some areas are getting there. The purple flowers are what my sheep LOVE the best. (don't count thistle, it's not out now anyway - they hate that).
Today it's raining fairly hard. I did make it to the neighboring town's feed store to get shavings - they have the best price. Tomorrow for them is "Chick Days" -- they have OMG a thousand?? 1,200?? Something like that - chicks. Bins and bins and bins. It's a huge deal and gets bigger every year. It's more of a suburban location now - so they get all the townies. This deal is huge for them and I'm sure goes a long way to keeping them afloat. Heck - tonight is their Peep Show - for a $50 you and a friend can go and partake of the festivities and first pick of the chicks. Over 100 different breeds. DS and DIL are going. Maybe I should have them pick some chicks for me - I don't need more chickens, I don't need more chickens (ha so the saying goes).
Going down the ranch road to the meadow
Tasty purple posies (wild geranium)
munching in the meadow
low level purple posies (filaree)
A separate trip down to the trees in the UTV - it's that time of year for the freshest sweetest orange juice ever
Got out and grazed most mornings this week. Glad that I got the ranch road fixed up - no way we could've gotten down to the meadow or most parts west of the barn. Well, we could've but it would have been dicey in a few areas with really deep ruts.
The vegetation is changing. In spite of all the rain and cool temps I can see subtle changes in colors. Lush green starting to show tints of red. It did this last year, the "grasses" top off and start to turn a little red at the tips, then the green fades to yellow then brown. We'll see how that plays out this year with the rain. So far it's looking very similar. Purple flowers are all over - the wild California lilac, wild geranium and the filaree are starting to show off - not quite covering the ranch yet - but some areas are getting there. The purple flowers are what my sheep LOVE the best. (don't count thistle, it's not out now anyway - they hate that).
Today it's raining fairly hard. I did make it to the neighboring town's feed store to get shavings - they have the best price. Tomorrow for them is "Chick Days" -- they have OMG a thousand?? 1,200?? Something like that - chicks. Bins and bins and bins. It's a huge deal and gets bigger every year. It's more of a suburban location now - so they get all the townies. This deal is huge for them and I'm sure goes a long way to keeping them afloat. Heck - tonight is their Peep Show - for a $50 you and a friend can go and partake of the festivities and first pick of the chicks. Over 100 different breeds. DS and DIL are going. Maybe I should have them pick some chicks for me
- I don't need more chickens, I don't need more chickens (ha so the saying goes).Going down the ranch road to the meadow
Tasty purple posies (wild geranium)
munching in the meadow
low level purple posies (filaree)
A separate trip down to the trees in the UTV - it's that time of year for the freshest sweetest orange juice ever
SA Farm
Herd Master
Yes, you do! Of course you do
