Greener pastures

It was time to move the cattle from the wooded side of the property (their winter quarters, since they have access to the barn awning for shelter and feeding) to the pasture side, which is now lush with grass.

But we had a few adjustments to make first. Our remaining herd matron, Jet, and her calf Tarter, had been in with Samson, our bull, all winter. The reason for this is because Tarter is a steer and thus wouldn't tempt Samson's hormones (putting a young heifer in with Samson for the winter would guarantee a much-too-early teenage pregnancy).

The question was, who would be Samson's new pen-mate? We decided upon Shadow.

Shadow, if you recall, was the cow who lost her calf a year ago. We thought she was bred and due a few weeks ago, so we separated her and tucked her in the barn; but nothing happened, so apparently she wasn't pregnant and we let her rejoin the herd.

So it looks like Shadow may be barren. The question is, is it worth keeping a barren cow around?

Actually, yes. Samson will always require a pen-mate, and if it's the wrong time of year to breed a cow (if we don't want a calf born in the middle of winter), then Shadow's usefulness can be in keeping Samson company until we want another cow bred.

So we had to let Jet out of the bull pen, and put Shadow in. The question was, which one is Shadow? She has a virtual twin (Sparky) and it's almost impossible to tell these ladies apart.

So one day I happened to notice a bunch of critters relaxing in the corral, including Shadow and Sparky. And I actually had a smart idea (a rarity).

The animals were quiet and calm, so I grabbed a can of spray paint and sprayed one of the cows' rumps. I didn't care which one -- I'd figure that out later -- but meanwhile at least one of the "twins" was marked. (Dark blue spray paint wasn't the greatest color to use on a black cow, but it was all we had.)

The marked animal turned out to be Shadow, barely distinguishable from Sparky because of a few white hairs scattered on her nose.

So we scooted Jet and Tarter out of the bull pen, and pushed Shadow in. Here Samson investigates the relevant end.

However, with Jet and Tarter now rejoining the herd, we didn't push the animals down into the pasture for a couple of days. The reason is, we wanted Jet to get a chance to readjust from dry grass hay to fresh green grass. We've been tossing small amount of lawn clippings into the bull pen to get her system primed, but if we overwhelmed her with too much green grass all at once, she'd bloat.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the wooded side of the pasture was pretty much eaten down. This was good for Jet and Tarter. They got some greenery, but not too much at once. (We were still "token" feeding the animals grass hay morning and evening to supplement their grazing.)

Now compare this to the lush grass in the pasture, and you'll understand why bloat is a possibility.

So Jet (with the horns) grazed with the herd on the eaten-down side of the property for two or three days.

(Notice all the yearling calves sniffing at her.)

While Jet and Tarter were adjusting their digestion, Don did some work on the fence that divided the pasture in half. It had taken a beating over the years, and needed a tremendous amount of repair work.

Our goal is to be able to rotate the cattle between two sides of the pasture and the woods (three locations total) throughout the summer, causing less stress on the pasture and providing better foraging for the beasties.

When a few days passed and neither Jet nor Tarter suffered any ill effects from fresh grazing, we decided it was Moving Day. First we tied a cattle panel (sometimes called a hog panel) on the back side of the bull pen. Until it dries out enough that we can scoop away a winter's worth of compacted hay and manure, the elevation on this side of the pen is high enough that the bull could easily jump with the right incentive. (And the right incentive would be seeing all his ladies heading away from his august presence.)

I walked down and closed the driveway gate (in case of wayward calves), then started calling "Bossy bossy bossy bossy BOSSY!" That's our universal cattle call, and everyone knows what it means. Immediately the animals began heading toward the feed lot.

As they came in, Don opened the gate.

In no time flat, we had critters pouring through and high-tailing it around the back side of the barn where the pasture gate is located. They know the routine!

The animals literally kicked up their heels as they ran, they were so excited.

They took every opportunity to snatch mouthfuls of the tender grass as they went.

But soon enough we got them all shooed into the field, and closed the gate.

Samson, as you can imagine, was pretty unhappy to see his girls disappear. He was vocal about it for a few hours.

So was Shadow. But they settled down when they realized they could still see the other critters, since the water tank is close by.

But our job wasn't quite finished yet. First we put a bloat block out in the field to prevent the cows (especially Jet and Tarter) from bloating up on too much greenery. (Bloat block is something like a bovine Pepto Bismol).

It's got molasses in it, so Jet went for it right away. (She's also had no bloating issues at all since being in the pasture.)

We also got a water tank moved and filled.

We've hardly heard a peep from the critters in the last three days.

Here's Rosy and Dusty. They're almost identical in appearance except for color. Very cute.

Polly and Petunia.

Yes, we have some happy cows. Must be spring.

Battening down the hatches

The fall of the year is the time to batten down our farm in anticipation of winter. We never know whether we'll have a bad winter or not, so we always try to prepare for the worst.

A few years ago, we had two winters in a row that were remarkably harsh. One winter yielded a lot of snow; the next winter was a dire combination of snow and high winds. Our non-county-maintained road drifted shut so many times that it took a heroic neighbor eight hours to dig out our neighborhood, and there were nine-foot walls of snow on either side of the road. We plowed out our driveway (about 300 feet long) so many times that there was nowhere else to put the snow, so when another storm drifted it shut we had the foresight to park the car at the end of the driveway and skidded a sled over the length for about two months before we could park in front of the house again.

We always need to make sure we have adequate supplies of firewood, dog and cat food, chicken feed, hay, and (of course) people food before winter hits. We also try to clean up, so things like tools or random pieces of equipment don't get buried for six months.

Anyway, we've spent the last three weeks doing all these things to batten down. Today we expect our first really wintry storm (heavy rain, some snow, high winds) so we wanted to make sure we were ready.

Firewood has been a big preoccupation lately. Don cut the remains of the logging-truck load we brought in two years ago. We had a little over a cord left from this load.

We split and stacked this remainder. We needed to get this log yard cleared to make room for another logging-truck load.

Found an interesting fungal growth. Anyone know what type?

Over a couple of days, we split the rest of the wood...

...and stacked it on the porch.

With the help of a friend who stopped in to visit...

...Don got the awning roof finished.

Later he built a "pony wall" over the awning and below the eaves.

We also turned the spot adjacent to the awning into what we're calling the "feed lot." It required drilling some holes to put in a fence and gate.

Moving a railroad tie into place for a fence post...

...and cementing it into place.

Don mounded up some compost for me conveniently close to the garden gate in anticipation of next spring.

The girls worked at gathering more branches for a burn pile.

Later they helped me pluck pinto bean pods from the plants we pulled up. We'll let the pods dry and shell them later.

We got more tractor tires in, ready to expand the garden next spring.

I drained and coiled the hoses to store away for the winter.

The chickens, meanwhile, took advantage of some sunny weather to take dust baths.

We got a burn pile going, to get rid of some waste wood, bark, shop debris, and other burnable material.

This burn pile is where the new load of logs will be put, so we needed to get it burned, cooled, wetted, and otherwise done and out of the way.

The blueberry leaves are all red.

I gathered all the remaining pumpkins from the garden and put them in the barn. I've been giving a lot away, and we'll cut these remaining pumpkins up for cattle food.

Now that the awning is finished and the feed lot fence is made, we moved the animals from the pasture side of the property. A call of "Bossy bossy bossy bossy bossy!" brought the whole gang up fast. They know what's up!

Little Amy, Matilda's calf, was in calf-heaven. All these new playmates! She and Matilda have been in the driveway area of the house all by themselves since Amy was born. This is because I'm milking Matilda every day and wanted to keep her conveniently close.

She's met everyone through fences, of course, but now she got to introduce herself in person.

She and Tarter -- who are only four days apart -- have become fast friends. Very cute.

Over a period of days, the girls and I also sorted out a massive pile of haybale twine that had accumulated -- a couple thousand strings, I'm guessing. We divvied them into large and small widths.

We discarded the twine that was frazzled, short, knotted, or otherwise not worth salvaging.

Hay bale twine is tough as nails and has a zillion-and-one uses, so it's well worth keeping. The biggest problem is where (and how) to store it. After some debate, we suspended bundles of twine from the barn rafters.

They sort of look like freaky mutant Halloween wigs or something.

Thursday we got our firewood in!

I wasn't home when it arrived (Thursdays are my "city days") so I didn't get pictures of the unloading.

But what a pretty sight when I got home! Coupled with the trees we took down last week, this should be enough wood for three, maybe four years.

The last task Don wanted to do before today's storm blew in was make a door for the south side of the barn. For the last couple of years when winter came, he just nailed up a sheet of OSB to block the wind, rain, and snow (this door faces the prevailing wind direction). This year he wanted a proper door.

He used rollers from a friend's barn we dismantled and salvaged many years ago, so the door is a rolling rather than a swinging door. The task took him beyond nightfall, so he rigged up lights in the barn to finish.

With such a clear beautiful sky, it was hard to believe we had wind and rain moving in today.

But it did. We've had a fair bit of rain, but more than that we have high winds today. Because it's not unusual to lose power (which also means we lose water, since our well pump is electric), we topped off every livestock water tank, caught up on laundry, dishes, and showers, and have oil lamps standing by.

Don has more work to do on the barn door, but he decided against it. "I think I'm going to leave the barn alone today," he said. "I'm barned out."

We're pretty much ready for both this immediate weather, and for winter. It sure feels good to be prepared!