Summer's here!

You know all those happy ice-filled-chests-everywhere commercials with everyone outside staying cool and beating the heat? That don't happen 'round here. Summer hits and everyone just turns into slugs. The horses keep moving to find the best shade and Moo won't even come out of the chicken coop. I've offered to put the sprinkler out for the boys so maybe they'll take me up on it this afternoon. Truth be told, I'm the one wanting to play in the sprinkler. We've managed to hold off turning the a/c on but I'm not sure we'll make it through the week. When it's over 85' inside for the majority of the day I usually cave in and flip the switch. And then memories of my own childhood flood in with mom saying, "Shut the door, the air conditioner's on!" flash into my head. Three boys on a farm, it aint easy keeping the cool inside. I guess I should be thrilled, there have been years when we had the a/c going in May!

Our mama hen has only lost one baby chick so she's still walking around with 14. It's amazing to watch her show them where to eat, decide when they should nap, and round them up for a drink. They're too big to all get under her now so they often nap while sitting on her back - it's so cute! I'll see if I can get some pictures.

Well that was a much needed break. I wish I could say that I treated myself to spa-like activities, lounging around while painting my nails but...... no such luck.

Ed has worked every night on replacing our "livestock safe" (HA! yeah right - they lied) field fencing with smart looking 4 wire for the feeding paddock. As is always the case, what seems like a couple hours of work drags into weeks of evening devotion. First we had to dig out a post that was over FOUR FEET in the ground. After much banging with a car, digging, cursing, sweating, and kicking we finally just carried the old swingset over to the hole to serve as a hoist and yanked the sucker out with a come-along. Then we had to rehash the "gate" discussion. Remember my lovely arial view of the farm where I plotted out the new pasture fencing and gate system leading to the feeding paddock? Yeah well apparently Ed didn't either. Now, more than ever, I'm convinced that I must keep a tight handle on my man whenever he starts a project lest a disaster be the result. Whatever part of "Honey, the back part of the fence should be done first because then I can contain or separate the horses in the corral - the sides can wait" he didn't understand is beyond me. As I'm mowing the back pasture (mowed right through two of Midnight's halters - bad horse) he proudly tells me that he's just about done with the first side of the 4-wire fence on the paddock. Silly me, didn't even think about asking him if he meant the back side. I'm envisioning much needed corraling space for my convenience and when I arrived several hours later I see him on the front side finishing up. I know, I know, you're asking "why did he start there?" just like I did. His answer? This is rich. This is from the man who arranged boxes in our moving van all facing the same way because it looked better. "Well, this way the side you see as you approach is already done. So it looks better." Never mind. He just doesn't get it.

Then he tells me the next side he's going to do which is into the newly planted pasture and I innocently ask where the gate will be. He looks shocked and tells me there won't be a gate. He points towards the main gate and tells me there's a perfectly fine gate already there. Keep in mind the feeding paddock is adjacent to the pasture and the main gate for the pasture is about halfway down our driveway.

"Well yes honey, there surely is. However, with anywhere from 6-13 horses needing to get into that pasture, which is 2 inches from where we're standing, I'll have to individually lead them out of the paddock, across the house field, down the driveway, open the gate, put them in, close and lock the gate, walk back to rinse and repeat. Not only that, but we have no water access in the pasture so I expect I'll need to bring them back every hour for water."

And he just stands there looking at me going, "Well...... yeah."

I continued, "As opposed, just as a suggestion, that perhaps I walk into the paddock where you and I are and......... just open a gate?" I was this close, this close, to my head exploding. I was as delicate as I could be but after about 45 minutes he changed his mind.

The manure pile outside the barn has been moved. Don't ask. You don't want to know. Seriously, you don't want to.

Remember the something getting into the barn and killing my chickens? Yeah, well that something appears able to move a 50 lb container full of catfood, drag it across the entire barn, open it, and eat half the contents. I'm afraid to even go there wondering what this thing is. Obviously I need to move the container into the locked grain room.

We had a new boarder horse arrive via transportation truck last Friday and the poor guy is covered in bumps from an allergic reaction to either fly bites or the fly spray. I feel so awful for him. He's a mustang and it's really interesting how differently he's built than the quarterhorses on the property.

Moo and Sparky are just doing great. Sparky runs around each evening trying to get away from mom and inspect everything, loves chasing chickens, but Moo calls her back. Moo is back to her normal spoiled diva self and follows me around looking for scratches when I'm trying to work. That's one spoiled cow.

Burn piles are huge, trash piles are huger, and the scrap metal found on the property pile is getting hugest. The wheat harvest has started and all the farmers are working late into the evening. We fall asleep by the hum of their combines. There's nothing prettier than a field getting cut - well actually there is, a field of HAY getting cut. Seeing all the beautiful round bales of hay in the field is really and awesome site. I just get discouraged because very little of it is for sale and what is has maintained the highest rates in record. We're currently paying about $125-150/ton here in the center of hay country. That's just unbelievable! And every poor guy putting "good hay for sale, $50 for large bale" in the paper tells me not only is he sold out but his phone's ringing of the hook. I've resorted to stopping by and asking farmers if they're selling. They're not. So we were smart to plant our own along with the oats right? You'd think! And you'd be wrong.

We walked the field yesterday to check the oats and it's just beautiful. So I do some talking and searching wondering when we can just "open the gate" and turn the horses out for an afternoon. "Oh nooooooo, young lady (I did like being called young though since I'm 40 now). You've got yourself a lush pasture now and you don't want those horses out there more than about 30 minutes a day until they acclimate to it." Oh. My. God. So now, because the gate isn't installed yet, I really WILL be catching them one by one and yada yada yada as I walk beside them to hand graze each one in 30 minute intervals.

Ed just laughed.

I wanted to bop him upside the head.

I'll be offline for about a week - major outdoor projects going on around here!

Well chalk one up for Ed.

His idea of using the corral panels to create stalls in the barn was simply fantastic! Not only is graining time 100% smoother and less traumatic, but I discovered an unexpected bonus just now. These panels have two "loops" on them where a chained bolt attaches. You place the panels end to end and slide the bolt through. So he attached the ones at the walls with eye bolts and then created three 10'x10' stalls but had the foresight to make the end one 20' (two panels) long. So we end up with something like this...

Obviously this isn't to scale and it really does all end up nice and stright.

This arrangement works because Bull gets the larger stall and should we need to give them shelter we can have several in there. But here's where it gets interesting. Today is overcast with rain off and on but I wanted to work with Fire and really miss having that round pen. Wouldn't matter because the round pen is exposed to the rain so there goes that idea. So I realized that these are all portable and swing easily. With a few simple moves and less than a minute I opened the back stall up and ended up with this.....






which gave me a 20'x20' area to work in! And should I need more space I could even open up the next stall and have a 30'x20' area! I won't be able to lunge or anything but I can groom them and work on simple things. With the dirt floors there's no distraction of grass and with the tops of the dutch doors open Fire could still see his buddies. We just had a very enjoyable 30 minute session in out of the rain! The more I work with him the more he seems to want to learn and I just couldn't be happier. I think after we geld him next month he'll get even more cooperative but he's so much better at focusing on me and trying to please. Today he learned to move his hindquarters away from me no matter where I was standing, to come with a hand movement, and to back up when I say "back". I'm just thrilled with his progress. Yesterday I even gave him a bath by myself and he stood totally still the entire time. I'm sure it helped that it was 90' and the water felt great, but considering a few short weeks ago he was trying to go up and over Brian at just the sound of the water, I'd say he's coming along quickly.

Sparky is finally venturing out of the coop on her own and Moo has learned that she can graze a distance away from her without a lion coming to attack. She still hasn't gone away as far as her favorite mud hole or the pond, but she's doing just wonderful.

The hens are in trouble. After they saw the one hen hatch the 15 chicks there's about 4 that decided to go broody. They keep talking all the other hens into laying on there clutches, which leaves us with about 5 eggs a day. And one clutch is now at about 30 eggs!

Ed has spent the weekend doing cosmetic things to the outside around the house - he cleared away a trellis that was probably 40 yrs. old and cut out metal posts that were just sticking willy nilly in the ground all over the place. It's amazing what a difference clearing out some of that stuff and trimming tree limbs can make! The patio area looks so much better now.

Heaven help us, the boys have discovered climbing. Climbing HIGH stuff. Trees, basketball goals, you name it. I hope there isn't a broken arm in our near future.

Today is a rainy dreary day and I'm going to do some housecleaning before our BBQ porkchop dinner and the evening show. Tonight's the last night of Sopranos so we'll be tuning in for that.

After a day in the barn stall Moo was ready to be let OUT. I led her out and then shoo'd Sparky along where she followed Moo right back into the coop. We're not sure Moo even came out of the coop yesterday except for a drink as I filled her water bucket. Since the flies are out in force I wanted to get her sprayed today and called her out so I could get some fly spray on her. Then I went in and led Sparky out. Once outside Sparky took off running with Jack close behind. She fell into every tree, tripped over a chicken, and ran smack into every fence while mama ate her grain and watched. After a few minutes Moo decided enough was enough and got between Jack and Sparky. Jack tasted defeat and headed to the patio - we felt sorry for him so we let the goats out and he started butting heads with Spot then ran off for a game of chase. Sparky continued to run, kick, and inspect every crevice of every thing with Moo slowly following behind her. Moo just looks positively svelte in her postpartum state.

I didn't post details of the other afternoon because.... well several reasons. Mostly I feel so inadequate and clueless around the farm that I'm sure most people get quite a chuckle at my mishaps. My biggest fear is that I will screw up big. Big. And end up damaging an animal. Goats are one thing, but caring for other people's horses and getting into cattle is just a whole other world and one I freely admit knowing nothing about. When I realized Sparky hadn't nursed I started calling around for advice. The vet told me to just milk Moo and feed the calf, online articles stated getting colostrum in her was most important even if it meant using a tube, and Ed said one way or another I had to get something in her tummy before we lost her.

When I went in the coop to check them, they were at opposite ends and Moo had quit calling to her at all. Sparky was just laying limp and showed no energy whatsoever. I ran to town for colostrum and a bottle which I figured Sparky would run up to me and eagerly devour in no time then we could deal with getting the nursing thing figured out. Wrong. I guess it's fairly common that some calves just don't know how or won't nurse which leaves the owner with two choices, let it die or intervene. When Sparky refused to take the nipple I worked with her for nearly an hour before I realized it was probably futile -- I'd gotten maybe a tablespoon in her. So I called Ed and told him this may be a lost cause. Ed always makes everything sound so simple, "No, you can't give up. One way or another you've got to get that bottle into her or get her nursing." I tried to explain that this tiny little calf weighs about 60-70 lbs and can nearly swing her head in a full circle a la Linda Blair to get away from me. Feeding the calf was not that simple. I think I kept hoping he would just take the afternoon off to come home and deal with this. Not so much.

Ed decided to put the situation into terms I'd understand. "Lisa, that calf is potentially worth $30,000 or more to us. I don't care what you have to do, you get some nutrition in her. Tie her up, sit on the floor and have the boys hold her hooves, feed her with a syringe squirting in her mouth, or whatever but you feed that calf." He was right. You hope to get 10 calves or more from a heifer so each one of her calves will be $3,000 worth of meat in the freezer as steers, or even more is she has a breeding heifer. Those terms, I could understand. This calf was getting fed.

The coop wasn't comfortable and stunk so I figured I'd get her in the barn. I can load, unload, move, and carry 50 lb bags of grain like nobody's business. It's nothing for me to manage 500 lbs. before lunch but let me tell you, a 70 lb. squirming calf without handles is not that easy to carry! I did get them into the barn and after about 30 minutes I had about half the bottle into her before she actually started looking for it and taking it on her own. So then I led her to Moo and squirted Moo's udder. That's when I realized Moo was kicking her and backing out of reach. Sparky gave up and came back to the bottle. Great. Solve one problem and then you get another! So I backed Moo into the corner and hollered for the boys to get me a bucket of grain with armfuls of hay to get Moo standing still. Finally, after several tries and yelps from Moo she stood still and let Sparky nurse. Once she got a taste from mama, there was no stopping her.

At this point I was an hour late with lunch for the horses, the 60 mph wind gusts had put an inch of dirt (not dust, I'm talking dirt) over every surface of my house, nothing was set out for dinner, breakfast dishes were still on the table, my body was about to give out from exhaustion, and I was covered in, well you can imagine. I called Ed to tell him the good news and then mention that not a single thing had gotten done and he came through as usual. "The calf is nursing Lisa. Right now, that's all that matters. Rest, have a coke, and I'll bring home pizza then help you with the evening horse feeding." How on earth did I luck out and find this man?

Later that night I was feeling quite proud of myself and he asked me why I never seemed to have more confidence around the farm. I really don't have an answer. I feel utterly useless most of the time and I'm not really sure why.

He talked with a guy at work who had run cattle with his stepfather while growing up and he said this is why so many people just hate having livestock. I can imagine. The idea of venturing out during calving season with 100 head or more and dealing with having to rope the calves while an angry mama, or bull, stood watching would squash all the fun right out of it. I can't imagine a farm wife back in the day hauling water to the house, cooking for who knows how many hands, and dealing with the issues around the farm while her husband worked in the fields all day. No wonder all the old timers I talked to always mention how hard farm life is. I'm beginning to get a small taste of it. We have nothing, nothing near the operation of what some folks had but I know what "too tired to sleep" means. There's been so many times that I'm scared to stop moving or sit down because I know I'll just fall asleep I'm so tired. I'm starting to understand that knowing look that country folks give city people when they talk about moving to the country with a far-away look of romance on their face. I was one. I figured it was all flowery meadows, playful livestock that all got along, sweet moments of birth that either went off without a hitch or Ed would deal with then fill me in later, and lush landscaping throughout the property. I'd be in the adorable old farmhouse baking bread while Ed tended the animals and came home to an, as usual, pristine home.

A couple years later I realize how silly that vision was. Animals fight, often to the death. Predators leave nasty presents for me often. We have much better luck growing weeds and the one time we tried to plant anything else I rode on the back of an open tractor for two full days getting so bruised I expected the domestic violence officer to show up any moment from someone thinking the worst. The wind is so powerful that it completely destroys any and all hope of maintaining a clean home -- even Ed acknowledges this. There are 20 acres of mud out here and every drop tries to find a way into my home on a daily basis. It usually wins. Chickens will clean up waste and keep the bugs down but you can forget gardening or landscaping the house. And don't even get me started on what goats can to to fences. You can have a business plan that depends on hay running $35/bale and within a year the drought drives the cost up to $100/bale leaving you rethinking the whole thing. And never in my life did I figure my day wouldn't be determined by my planner and sense of priorities but rather the weather and temperments of livestock.

Living in the country is hard. I mean hard. You can't explain it, you really can't. I think it's impossible to formulate into a logical reason other than simply, it's freaking hard.

But you know what? I feel more a member of the "community" that I ever have in my life. When I started calling the neighbors for calf advice the instant the women realized the situation they started offering their husbands cell phone numbers and said if I couldn't get it solved they'd send someone over. A friend was emailing and calling after checking with all the folks she worked with and offering lots of good advice - heck one of the guys even took a phone call from me because "just milk the cow" sounds good but I've never done it and the cow was kicking which means she didn't want me touching her there. He talked me through it and I actually did milk Moo just a bit this morning to make sure I could. And we have met people that truly understand the meaning of "help your neighbor" There's not a doubt in my mind that should something happen to Ed and a call went out I'd lose count of the number of people who would show up here to get me through a spell.

I don't think I could ever live in town again. And now it's me who's starting to give folks that knowing look when they talk about moving to the country. I used to be insulted by that look but I damn sure understand it better now.

It's a girl!

Sparky was born at 9:15 last night. She's all black with one small white patch on her private areas. Moo took to mothering like a champ and started her cleanup less than a minute after calving. I noticed this morning that Sparky wasn't nursing at all and so we moved them both into the large barn stall where I learned the problem - Moo backed away and kicked her when she tried to latch on. We backed her into a corner and bribed her with buckets of grain and a large hay pile. After letting out a startled cry the first time Sparky latched on she calmed down and let her drain all but one of her bag sections. Geez, for being as full as they were it didn't take but just a minute or two and they looked like deflated balloons. That picture's not very good but I was backed against a wall. I'll get a better one later.

I had checked on Moo a little before 9:00 when we were heading in from chores and saw her contracting, even pushing. We all got chairs and sat quietly outside the coop for the next half hour and got to see the entire birth. Thank heavens it went well because I'm not sure how the kids would have reacted had there been a problem. They were all just in awe of the calf! It was interesting that her hooves were neon white when she was born but by morning were totally black. I'd never heard of that.

She's in labor! Two little black hooves poking out. Hopefully we'll be back with wonderful news soon!

Here are the new baby chicks. All the other hens came to inspect them and apparently only one posed a threat which caused an uproar from mama.

She led them into the coop but rested directly in the middle of the floor where you can see Moo laying in yesterday's post. Sometimes Moo has to enter the coop at a trot to make it through the door so I thought they may not be the best spot for the babies and herded her under the laying boxes where she called them all to her for the night.

See? Look at that udder! Surely that's as full as it can be? I'm running errands today and hopefully I'll come home to find a calf.

Moo has never given up her dream of taking all the water from the horses to force them off the property, even if it means damaging a fence. And yes, she does have a full bucket of fresh water right on the patio away from the horses. She seems to enjoy drinking all their water though. That trailer was parked directly behind the mower in a useless attempt to block her from doing this. She simply nudged it out of the way. Subborn cow.

If you haven't checked out Sugar Creek Farm at the right side in my links you simply must to over for a visit. Scroll all the way down to the post titled The Bachelor and then scroll back up, reading along the way. You will not believe your eyes.

And, in other news........

As usual, you never know what you get when you have a day out here at the Crazy Cow. A boring day progressed (I even took a mini power nap) and we all just lazed around in a day like all the others. And then it was like, "Gentlemen, start your engines!"

I was outside looking towards the south pasture when I noticed a bunch of birds on the ground following one of my hens. Then I realized they weren't birds, they were CHICKS!!!! Real chicks! Hatched right here on our farm! The first! I hollered at the kids and grabbed the camera (I remembered to take the lens cap off this time) and we went out to check them over. The hen hatched 15 little ones in a mix of colors and breed and man is she protective. Holy toledo she went after Jack, Moo, me, and even one of the horses when they got to close! I've seen roosters try to flog people but I've never seen a mad mama hen until today. She makes her point quite clear. I took the chicken waterer out there for them and she taught the all to drink, making sure each one watched her and then dipped in on their own. I watched her call them all under her wings and then take a nap and then watched her point at the ground - they all came running and scratched right where she told them to.

No sooner had I gotten my pics (I'll post them tomorrow) when Brian arrived bringing feed for his horses. After helping him do some bathing he mentioned putting a saddle on Smoke and off we went. We saddled her up and got no reaction. So we walked and he lunged her a little - with no reaction. So we added a 50 lb. bag of feed and still got no reaction. So Brian tentatively asked, "How brave are you with your kids?" We discussed the situation with Kenny and he jumped at the opportunity to be the first to ride his horse, and that's just what he did.

Brian lifted his up and gently put him down in the saddle while hanging on to him ready to pull him off in a flash - and we got no reaction. So we stood for a few minutes and then started walking - and we got NO REACTION! Brian still maintained a good hold on Kenny and we walked him around for about 20 minutes or so then switched to Vincent. The only thing Smoke did was when she caught Vincent going up and over her back she widened her eyes - but still, she never flinched a bit. Brian had Kenny rein her in and she did just awesome! I think I was the most nervous of the entire crew, truth be told. It won't be long and she'll be ready for adult weight.

Now THAT was an exciting afternoon!

Finally!! No, no calf yet - but I've got pics!







Here's big pregnant Moo laying in her chicken coop. She simply cannot get any bigger - no way.



















Here's Smoke without her winter coat. She is just a beautiful lady.

Fire is our two yr. stallion and I think he's looking fantastic!

Here's the barn with the gate across the front so we can leave it open without Moo or the goats getting in. It's much easier to work in throughout the day open but not worth fighting grain-seeking livestock.

Ed worked in the barn all weekend re-arranging and organizing. I swear that man is a freak when it comes to organization! Everytime I think I've got a handle on something, he spends two hours re-doing it and son-of-a-gun improves the system tremendously! He's so awesome. All our supplies are neatly shelved with several boards covered in nail-hooks for the boarders to hang their tack. He's nearly got my grain room finished and it will be wonderful to actually stock up on sales without worrying about chickens pecking the bags open! I tell you, those girls make a great clean-up crew and we love the eggs, but they are a real pain to coordinate around. We talked about penning them, but the bug control and poop issue around the house keep them free-ranging.

I'm late with chores, but will post some more pics as I can.