Tuesday, May 29, 2012

It Rained A Little

And then it rained a lot!
I think we are out of the woods.  I'm still waiting to hear how last night's thunderstorm turned out in relation to the fires.  It was pouring buckets here, pounding on the roof.  Excellent.  But also a lot of lightning.  Bad.  Everything is well drenched this morning.  I think we are safe now.

Mindy is doing ok, mostly back to her former self.  She won't allow us to milk her, but the engorgement has subsided.  She jumped the gate (4 feet high) to escape the milk room.  She's not looking for her baby, and looking thinner.  Whatever may have happened, I'm not expecting her to be raising a calf this year.

Dorie still looks quite hefty, but not as big as she was. Sharlotte is doing well. She's very energetic, and oh so cute. Very shy though.
Rear view of Dorie still shows quite a bulge in the belly, but she's lost weight in her hips since winter.  I will probably keep watching and waiting all summer.
4 days of steady fencing, and Casper is still escaping. We've got three strands of barbed wire above the field fence on the south side, and uncrinkled the field fence where it was smooshed up. We replaced 10 posts so far, that were broken, damaged, or weak. The west side has two strands of barbed wire above the field fence, and one below. There were a couple of low spots  that he may have been going under. The north side is still good and solid from when we fixed it two years ago.

 The east side still needs a couple more new posts. There were about 8 posts that the critters had managed to push the staples out of at the bottom, so the field fence was hanging loose. That's all fixed, and two strands of barbed wire above. We'll put a third strand up before we call it done, although I can't believe he's getting out there. #2 keeps joking that it's starting to look like a prison fence.

Which brings us to the mess around the barn. The fence that they all wreaked havoc on throughout the winter. There's field fence, with chain link attached to it right around the barn. The previous owner raised turkeys where we have the hay lean-to. There's one strand of tight barbed wire, and about 6 strands of loose, patch worked barbed wire over the bad spots. I don't believe he's getting out there either. Time will tell though. Another week at most, and it will all be repaired/replaced. If he's still getting out then, my suspicion will be confirmed. I believe he's jumping the fence. And if that's the case, he will be living in his own paddock around the barn, once we get the winter sacrifice area fenced off eight feet high.

 The bad news to all of the fence repairs- particularly over those low spots on the west side- is that the goats appear to be trapped. They are supposed to go out the back and browse through the day, cleaning up the brush and reducing our fire risk. We're making plans to install a goat gate for them- a narrow opening in the fence with a bend that the bigger critters shouldn't be able to maneuver.  In the meantime they're stuck eating hay and grass, which really isn't an ideal diet for a goat.

7 comments:

  1. sooooo glad to hear about the rain - that HAS to help with the fires! that little Sharlotte sure is a cutie! thank goodness you have your work crew - that sounds like a lot of posts and fence work!

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. It poured again this afternoon. I'm sure it is helping the fires, but the only news I've been able to find is a couple of areas that they are ending the evacuations on. It's more hush hush now than when it was raging. Weird. Maybe they're hoping to report that everything is under control. Now THAT would be news!

      Thank you. I think she's adorable. I want to pet her and play with her, but she just runs away. :( lol.

      Yes, lots of fence work, but I will be so much happier when I'm no longer chasing cows up the road!

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  2. Aren't kids great work crew. My brothers and I help our folks build a house (wiring, plumbing, etc everything except the roof). Turned out great and I still feel that sence of acomplishment all these 35+ years later. Your boys are learning so much more that kids these days are lacking. And if your haven't heard it lately, You're good folks!

    So, who all do we think is still preggers? Nelly? Dorrie?Wonder?
    Inquiring minds wanted to know!

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    1. They are amazing! I must brag a little, lol. That sounds like a hefty job, building a whole house! What an accomplishment!

      I'm having doubts about Nelly. She doesn't seem to be getting any bigger. I'm pretty sure that Mindy is not. Dorie is up in the air. Wonder should be hatching her eggs around June 7th, lol. That's by the date we first saw them locked together. She's already getting milk in though, so it might be sooner! I'm sure she'd like it to be sooner!

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  3. Wendy,
    I am still perplexed about the two-mothers situation. Do cows ever steal a calf? Could the one with bloody stuff hanging have lost her calf (dead) and left it outside the fence?

    It's great the rains came. Even if there are still fires, I supposed it is peace of mind to have a waterlogged place!

    Your boys are wonders. I suppose it is parents who actually teach them that are wonders. At least, they aren't growing up clueless.

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    1. Linda, I replied to your questions on that post. This is our first year with more than one pregnant cow, so I can't tell you any more than that. Pretty near anything is possible. She may have aborted out of fear- being lost overnight. She may have delivered still born. She may have delivered and lost it to wild life. She may have delivered and abandoned it. We may never know. Unless Dorie delivers another calf. Then the answer will be obvious.

      Waterlogged is better than burning, although it's really not waterlogged. The ground is happily soaking it all up.

      Thank you. I'm sure there are a million other things that they are clueless about. I taught them how to learn. The rest is up to them.

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  4. Wendy,
    Giving kids a start in the right direction is a wonderful thing. You and your husband are obviously there, taking them around and modeling behavior. I had a friend who was clueless about gardening. I asked him did his parents not have a garden. He said his father had a huge garden every year but yelled at him for doing things wrong. My friend said he wanted to learn but his father never taught him, just yelled when he did something wrong instead of showing him the right way...no patience or willingness to teach a child. That is what I meant--a good foundation and liking the task at hand come from parents or parent surrogates.

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