Today was the last day for the cattle in the front yard. The grass is mostly eaten down. The taller pieces left were from tall stemy grass and the cattle aren't too keen on eating all of them all the way to the ground. Instead some of the cattle are looking at other things to eat. Beulah tried to reach the caragana bushes but after last year I wised up to her. This year I added chicken wire over the fence wire so she could not get her tongue through the wire to reach the bushes.
Number 7 was the problem cow today. She is usually the bad girl of the herd. I caught her eating lilac leaves after she pushed the field fence down and got into the patio area. Then later I heard a loud crack. Number 7 again! This time she reached through some boards to reach the grass in the hayfield. She cracked to almost breaking one board - even though I had earlier pounded a metal t-post on the other side of the long board to help support the boards. She also pushed the t-post back.
I spent the evening in the back yard splitting a few logs so that I could keep and eye and ear on the cattle. Later I saw number 7 on her front knees so she could reach the hayfield grass through a log fence in the back of the yard. She didn't break any of the logs.
Tomorrow I will open up my front gate and take down the protection for the trees, flowers and shrubs.
This evening when riding my bicycle to get the last of the miles in for the month of May, I saw an animal in the middle of the south bound lane of the road near Donna's pasture gate. I thought it was her cat. Then I saw a larger animal move to the side of the road. A small object remained in the center of the lane. I thought it was some small animal her cat was playing with.
Wait a minute.... it is black and white. It was a baby skunk and its mother. Oh boy. The mother raised her tail as I approached but she remaining facing me. Apparently she didn't want to take her eyes off - or spray - her baby. I was able to get away before the mother could turn around to spray me. Mother and baby then ran into Donna's front yard. The baby was very cute.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Monday, May 30, 2016
Cattle in yard, day 3
A mostly uneventful day with the cattle in the yard - which is good. A few hiccups... one is a shrub I apparently forgot to cover. Some of the shrub is still there when I discovered my mistake. Another is Rose sticking her head through some field fence to reach a dozen or so tall blades of grass near the ornamental trees by the patio. When I came out to chase her off I didn't realize she had her head through the fence. When she quickly backed up her head was caught in the fence and she started pulling the fence away with her. I had to jump on the fence until she turned her head and got free of the fence.
I also hung some old baling net wrap on the lower lilac bush. The cattle love the leaves and the field fence wasn't protecting the leaves much once the cattle found the leaves.
Once the cattle finish eating down the yard, and their large bale of hay, I will let them into the NE pasture. Today I build fences around four of the trees to protect them from the cattle. I had fences around these trees in the past but they outgrew those fences.
I also hung some old baling net wrap on the lower lilac bush. The cattle love the leaves and the field fence wasn't protecting the leaves much once the cattle found the leaves.
Once the cattle finish eating down the yard, and their large bale of hay, I will let them into the NE pasture. Today I build fences around four of the trees to protect them from the cattle. I had fences around these trees in the past but they outgrew those fences.
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| Sunset this evening. |
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Cattle in yard, day 2
Beulah and Rose were laying near the gate this morning waiting for me to open it to let them back into the yard.
First I had to fix the fence that Buddy broke yesterday.
Since I plan on rebuilding this section of fence after Buddy is released from the corral later this month, I mostly patched the fence. Hence the board on top of the one section. I should have put another board on the section to the left as early this evening I found Buddy had broken that log. I had to put a board across that section as a patch.
Here is a 1 minute 31 second video of the cattle when I let them into the yard this morning: https://youtu.be/IulLRQrtUNY
As you can see in the video Buddy has gotten rid of most of his Winter fur. This evening while filling the cattle's water trough I used a rake to scratch him where he still has some Winter fur. He loved it and forgot about the cows while I scratched him.
Late afternoon, now that the yard has been gone over once, some cattle are getting picky and are looking for other stuff to eat instead of the remaining grass. Here Beulah is eating the lower leaves on a box elder tree.
I have enough grass for one more day tomorrow. However I will have to watch them like a hawk as some of the cattle will try to eat items they shouldn't or try to eat over the fence.
First I had to fix the fence that Buddy broke yesterday.
Since I plan on rebuilding this section of fence after Buddy is released from the corral later this month, I mostly patched the fence. Hence the board on top of the one section. I should have put another board on the section to the left as early this evening I found Buddy had broken that log. I had to put a board across that section as a patch.
Here is a 1 minute 31 second video of the cattle when I let them into the yard this morning: https://youtu.be/IulLRQrtUNY
As you can see in the video Buddy has gotten rid of most of his Winter fur. This evening while filling the cattle's water trough I used a rake to scratch him where he still has some Winter fur. He loved it and forgot about the cows while I scratched him.
Late afternoon, now that the yard has been gone over once, some cattle are getting picky and are looking for other stuff to eat instead of the remaining grass. Here Beulah is eating the lower leaves on a box elder tree.
I have enough grass for one more day tomorrow. However I will have to watch them like a hawk as some of the cattle will try to eat items they shouldn't or try to eat over the fence.
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Annual cattle in front yard
It is getting close to letting the cattle out to pasture. First a few things to do.
At 1 pm Donna came over to help me with the cattle. I let them into the loading corral part of the corral. I had kept them out of there so far this year so they gladly went in there to eat green grass and weeds.
Donna handled the gate and in ones, two, or threes we got the cows into the loading ramp part of the corral. Once in the ramp I was able to spray their back with a pour on solution of Privermectin, which contains ivermectin. This is a parasiticide that kills roundworms, lungworms, grubs, lice, mites and horn flies.
I also put cow #7's ear tag back on. Last Summer she snagged it on some dead tree branches and pulled the tag out of her ear. I had to put the tag in her other ear. I also put a second tag on one of the two black cows whose tag number faded/washed off last year. Maybe the number will stick this year. If not I can tell the two cows apart because now one has an ear tag in each ear.
Once the cows were done I let them into the front yard. The past few days between rain showers I "wrapped" the front yard to protect the shrubs, bushes and flowers. I also wrapped the pump house to protect my new shingles and other areas the cows can't eat but in the past have caused mischief when bored. Because all my corral panels are being used in part of the north pasture I had to protect stuff with field fence and other wire fencing. My heart isn't into this as much this year. I have so much permanent work to do that this temporary works seems to be pointless, even if for a good cause.
We then let the steer/bull calves out to join their mothers. Because it is too late (or would be a lot of work) to number the ear tags to match the calves to their mothers, this year I decided to ear tag just the heifer calves. I bought orange calf ear tags for this purpose. I did the heifer calves because there were less of them and also so I can quickly tell the heifers from the steers this Summer.
Donna has a better eye than I do when it comes to telling the steers from the heifers. One steer had already lost his balls so I had to double and triple check before I was satisfied it was a steer and not a heifer and we should let it out of the loading corral.
Because the main head gate is too big for the calves I used the calf table. The table has a head gate at one end where I could hold the calf's head still so I could tag its ear.
Hmmmm... I bought orange tags because they would stand out on a black heifer. But some of my heifers are red and the tag blends in.
Then everyone was out in the front yard.
Buddy was concerned when Donna and I were working the cattle as some the cattle made noise. Once the cows and calves were in the yard he was worked up and was at the east corral fence watching and moaning. The east corral fence is not as tall as the other corral fences and he is able to get his head on the top board to look out. Especially this year and Buddy seems even bigger and taller than last year.
I ended up bracing one post (as it is not a railroad tie) to prevent Buddy from pushing it too far over. Eventually Buddy settled down and laid in the corral and watched.
Once the cattle ate their fill they laid down and chewed their cud while their calves slept. Everyone was happy.
In the evening I went over and visited Curtis. He and another neighbor were using Curtis's newly bought used portable sawmill. They were making boards from some very large diameter logs Curtis had bought. I stayed for some Papa Murphy's pizza they had gotten and baked.
When I got back home I herded the cattle back into the corral for the night. I am taking no chances for the cows and calves to get up to mischief overnight. They weren't too keen on going back into the corral; especially the calves.
Once the cattle were back into the corral I noticed Buddy had broken a couple logs in the east corral fence. He had not gotten out of the corral though he could have with a little more effort. Even though all the cattle were in the main corral (I counted) Buddy thought a few more were still in the yard and he put his head up on the last good log section of the east corral fence and looked out into the yard and moaned. Eventually the cattle made their way back to the new large hay bale I had placed in the pasture this afternoon. Buddy finally went to the back part of the corral to watch them.
Tomorrow I have more fence to fix before letting the cattle out of the corral to eat more front yard grass.
At 1 pm Donna came over to help me with the cattle. I let them into the loading corral part of the corral. I had kept them out of there so far this year so they gladly went in there to eat green grass and weeds.
Donna handled the gate and in ones, two, or threes we got the cows into the loading ramp part of the corral. Once in the ramp I was able to spray their back with a pour on solution of Privermectin, which contains ivermectin. This is a parasiticide that kills roundworms, lungworms, grubs, lice, mites and horn flies.
I also put cow #7's ear tag back on. Last Summer she snagged it on some dead tree branches and pulled the tag out of her ear. I had to put the tag in her other ear. I also put a second tag on one of the two black cows whose tag number faded/washed off last year. Maybe the number will stick this year. If not I can tell the two cows apart because now one has an ear tag in each ear.
Once the cows were done I let them into the front yard. The past few days between rain showers I "wrapped" the front yard to protect the shrubs, bushes and flowers. I also wrapped the pump house to protect my new shingles and other areas the cows can't eat but in the past have caused mischief when bored. Because all my corral panels are being used in part of the north pasture I had to protect stuff with field fence and other wire fencing. My heart isn't into this as much this year. I have so much permanent work to do that this temporary works seems to be pointless, even if for a good cause.
We then let the steer/bull calves out to join their mothers. Because it is too late (or would be a lot of work) to number the ear tags to match the calves to their mothers, this year I decided to ear tag just the heifer calves. I bought orange calf ear tags for this purpose. I did the heifer calves because there were less of them and also so I can quickly tell the heifers from the steers this Summer.
Donna has a better eye than I do when it comes to telling the steers from the heifers. One steer had already lost his balls so I had to double and triple check before I was satisfied it was a steer and not a heifer and we should let it out of the loading corral.
Because the main head gate is too big for the calves I used the calf table. The table has a head gate at one end where I could hold the calf's head still so I could tag its ear.
Hmmmm... I bought orange tags because they would stand out on a black heifer. But some of my heifers are red and the tag blends in.
Then everyone was out in the front yard.
Buddy was concerned when Donna and I were working the cattle as some the cattle made noise. Once the cows and calves were in the yard he was worked up and was at the east corral fence watching and moaning. The east corral fence is not as tall as the other corral fences and he is able to get his head on the top board to look out. Especially this year and Buddy seems even bigger and taller than last year.
I ended up bracing one post (as it is not a railroad tie) to prevent Buddy from pushing it too far over. Eventually Buddy settled down and laid in the corral and watched.
Once the cattle ate their fill they laid down and chewed their cud while their calves slept. Everyone was happy.
In the evening I went over and visited Curtis. He and another neighbor were using Curtis's newly bought used portable sawmill. They were making boards from some very large diameter logs Curtis had bought. I stayed for some Papa Murphy's pizza they had gotten and baked.
When I got back home I herded the cattle back into the corral for the night. I am taking no chances for the cows and calves to get up to mischief overnight. They weren't too keen on going back into the corral; especially the calves.
Once the cattle were back into the corral I noticed Buddy had broken a couple logs in the east corral fence. He had not gotten out of the corral though he could have with a little more effort. Even though all the cattle were in the main corral (I counted) Buddy thought a few more were still in the yard and he put his head up on the last good log section of the east corral fence and looked out into the yard and moaned. Eventually the cattle made their way back to the new large hay bale I had placed in the pasture this afternoon. Buddy finally went to the back part of the corral to watch them.
Tomorrow I have more fence to fix before letting the cattle out of the corral to eat more front yard grass.
The broken logs were the top log on the right section and the second from top log on the left section.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Mud and cattle
After all the rain this past weekend we finally caught a break. Tuesday was dry; and today was mostly sunny and dry, except for a brief shower in the evening.
Tuesday I was able to move a large bale of hay out for the cattle. The pasture - with grass - is more dry than the corral. Most of the main corral is grass-less and therefore a mud pit.
Today it was time to move a large hay bale into Buddy's part of the corral. This meant driving through the corral, which while drier, is still muddy. The tractor had no problem driving through the mud. While the mud is many inches deep the ground under that layer is thankfully solid.
Here are photos of the cattle after I let them out of the corral so they could eat from the new bale.
A video of a cow and her calf. 43 seconds long. https://youtu.be/0Cnb2VVw35Q
A video of some of the calves. 2 minutes 18 seconds long. https://youtu.be/guoE8kBLAFY
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Tuesday I was able to move a large bale of hay out for the cattle. The pasture - with grass - is more dry than the corral. Most of the main corral is grass-less and therefore a mud pit.
Today it was time to move a large hay bale into Buddy's part of the corral. This meant driving through the corral, which while drier, is still muddy. The tractor had no problem driving through the mud. While the mud is many inches deep the ground under that layer is thankfully solid.
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| On Tuesday much drier than when it was raining - but still muddy. |
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| By the end of the weekend a lake was around this feeder. |
Here are photos of the cattle after I let them out of the corral so they could eat from the new bale.
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| At the new bale |
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| The calves eat the remnants from the site of the previous hay bale. |
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| Dirty face |
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| Calf 13 |
A video of a cow and her calf. 43 seconds long. https://youtu.be/0Cnb2VVw35Q
A video of some of the calves. 2 minutes 18 seconds long. https://youtu.be/guoE8kBLAFY
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Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Online auction buys
A local auction house appears to now do only online auctions. There were a few items I was interested in and I bid. This was a first for me. The nice part I was at home on my computer and could do other stuff too while waiting for my item to come up for final bidding. The closing of the items started at 5 pm.
Each item 'closed' for bidding every 30 seconds so there was an accurate time when each item would be closed for bidding. If someone bid in the last minute the item's bidding window would be extended one minute. This could go on as long as someone bid in the last minute.
First up for me were irrigation connectors and sprinklers. They were 3 inch connectors and they matched the irrigation pipes I bought from Donna's mother's estate last year. Her mother had the 3 inch connectors but they were stolen between the time I looked at the pipes and the time Donna and I got the pipes.
After I picked up Donna from the airport after her vacation we drove out to the auction barn to look at the connectors. No, they were not the connectors stolen from her mother.
One can bid anytime before the final countdown. The bid at 5 pm was $7. I bid $8. Another person was also interested in the connectors and by the time the item got to the final window at 7 pm we had traded quite a few bids. I believe one or maybe both of us bid in the final minute and extended the clock. I won the bid, and with the extra 15% auction commission, paid $138. More than I hoped to pay but much cheaper than if I bought new.
While new connectors have good seals, unlike the dried ones in these used connectors, new connectors cost around $39 each. I bought 22 connectors, two "t" connectors, and a two or three end plugs. And the same number of sprinkler heads (though the sprinkler heads looked to be very worn and I may only get a few of them be any good). So... much less than buying new.
Then three hours after I bought the connectors my other item of interest came up: an electric cattle prod. New, the cheapest one I found was about $60. Again I had traded a few bids before final window at 10 pm, though not near as many as for the connectors. The other bidder quit bidding before the final window so all I had to do was sit and wait in case he bid at the last minute. He or she didn't. I paid a little over $25 for the cattle prod. Now to get some C batteries and see if it works.
Each item 'closed' for bidding every 30 seconds so there was an accurate time when each item would be closed for bidding. If someone bid in the last minute the item's bidding window would be extended one minute. This could go on as long as someone bid in the last minute.
First up for me were irrigation connectors and sprinklers. They were 3 inch connectors and they matched the irrigation pipes I bought from Donna's mother's estate last year. Her mother had the 3 inch connectors but they were stolen between the time I looked at the pipes and the time Donna and I got the pipes.
After I picked up Donna from the airport after her vacation we drove out to the auction barn to look at the connectors. No, they were not the connectors stolen from her mother.
One can bid anytime before the final countdown. The bid at 5 pm was $7. I bid $8. Another person was also interested in the connectors and by the time the item got to the final window at 7 pm we had traded quite a few bids. I believe one or maybe both of us bid in the final minute and extended the clock. I won the bid, and with the extra 15% auction commission, paid $138. More than I hoped to pay but much cheaper than if I bought new.
While new connectors have good seals, unlike the dried ones in these used connectors, new connectors cost around $39 each. I bought 22 connectors, two "t" connectors, and a two or three end plugs. And the same number of sprinkler heads (though the sprinkler heads looked to be very worn and I may only get a few of them be any good). So... much less than buying new.
Then three hours after I bought the connectors my other item of interest came up: an electric cattle prod. New, the cheapest one I found was about $60. Again I had traded a few bids before final window at 10 pm, though not near as many as for the connectors. The other bidder quit bidding before the final window so all I had to do was sit and wait in case he bid at the last minute. He or she didn't. I paid a little over $25 for the cattle prod. Now to get some C batteries and see if it works.
Monday, May 23, 2016
Another broken corral fence board
Rain! Rain! Rain!!! Some parts of the valley are getting flooded. My property is fine, except for the corral. The loose grass-free ground in the corral is a mud pit. The rain is supposed to start ending tomorrow - thank goodness.
This morning when I checked on the cattle I saw that Buddy broke another board in an effort to smell a cow possibly in heat.
So... in the rain I fixed it.
The bottom new board is one I initially used on top. After nailing it there I felt it was too narrow and found another wider board. I nailed the extra board down low where the fence board is thinner.
Buddy laid out of the rain while I fixed the fence. Which was nice as then he wasn't underfoot.
For those interested in calf 13, here is photo of him and another calf taken last week before the rain took off.
This morning when I checked on the cattle I saw that Buddy broke another board in an effort to smell a cow possibly in heat.
So... in the rain I fixed it.
The bottom new board is one I initially used on top. After nailing it there I felt it was too narrow and found another wider board. I nailed the extra board down low where the fence board is thinner.
Buddy laid out of the rain while I fixed the fence. Which was nice as then he wasn't underfoot.
For those interested in calf 13, here is photo of him and another calf taken last week before the rain took off.
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| What a difference a month makes in the size of calves. |
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Bigfork auction
There were several auctions around the area today. The closest one in Bigfork looked interesting.
Saturday was supposed to be rainy but the rain held off until the evening. Even so, in the morning, I took my time deciding whether to go. I was so-so as I didn't want to drive the distance and then waste my time by not getting anything. The corral panels interested me. Finally I decided to go. I didn't arrive until noon.
Arriving at noon was a good thing. I missed their selling crap I wasn't interested in. They got to the stuff I was interested in just after 1 pm so I had less than an hour to wait.
They had gates - not corral panels. The auctioneers were still confused as they sold two of the five gates as corral panels.
I am looking for a 12', a 14' and a 16' gate. I measured one gate to make sure and it was a 12' gate. The other two were 10' gates. The three HW green gates were very heavy duty and my bull would not bend them. I definitely wasn't interested in the two "coral panel" gates.
I was shocked I was able to buy the gate I wanted for $37.50. At that price each I bought all three HW gates.
New, the 12' gate sells for $160. The 10' gates sell for $135 each. $435 new and I bought them all for $112.50. I was willing to pay $100 just for the 12' gate.
While I have four water troughs, if the small one they had for sale went for as cheap, I was going to buy it. But only for $20 or less as I do have three extra water troughs. Several people wanted the water trough and it sold for $28. If I needed a water trough I certainly would have paid more for it.
That's all I bought. The rest of the stuff was old and most I had no interest in. Buildings were filled with stuff and it looked like it had sat there for decades. Later when loading my gates into the pickup I spoke with a relative of the sellers. William and Guy were father and son. The father was a pack rat. He died and his son inherited the stuff but didn't do anything with it. When the son died his son didn't want any of it. He just wanted it cleaned up. Hence the auction.
Earlier, as I wasn't confident I would buy anything, when I realized while driving there that I had forgot my checkbook, I didn't turn around for it. I had $102 cash in my pocket - another reason for the $100 limit on buying the gate. But - $37.50 each - I would be stupid to not buy all three gates.
The auction company didn't take credit cards so I had to drive the 25 miles back home to get my checkbook.
As you can see much of the equipment was very old.
The view of Mud Lake from the site of the auction. The Swan Mountain Range is in the background.
So... for once I was successful at an auction.
Saturday was supposed to be rainy but the rain held off until the evening. Even so, in the morning, I took my time deciding whether to go. I was so-so as I didn't want to drive the distance and then waste my time by not getting anything. The corral panels interested me. Finally I decided to go. I didn't arrive until noon.
Arriving at noon was a good thing. I missed their selling crap I wasn't interested in. They got to the stuff I was interested in just after 1 pm so I had less than an hour to wait.
They had gates - not corral panels. The auctioneers were still confused as they sold two of the five gates as corral panels.
I am looking for a 12', a 14' and a 16' gate. I measured one gate to make sure and it was a 12' gate. The other two were 10' gates. The three HW green gates were very heavy duty and my bull would not bend them. I definitely wasn't interested in the two "coral panel" gates.
I was shocked I was able to buy the gate I wanted for $37.50. At that price each I bought all three HW gates.
New, the 12' gate sells for $160. The 10' gates sell for $135 each. $435 new and I bought them all for $112.50. I was willing to pay $100 just for the 12' gate.
While I have four water troughs, if the small one they had for sale went for as cheap, I was going to buy it. But only for $20 or less as I do have three extra water troughs. Several people wanted the water trough and it sold for $28. If I needed a water trough I certainly would have paid more for it.
That's all I bought. The rest of the stuff was old and most I had no interest in. Buildings were filled with stuff and it looked like it had sat there for decades. Later when loading my gates into the pickup I spoke with a relative of the sellers. William and Guy were father and son. The father was a pack rat. He died and his son inherited the stuff but didn't do anything with it. When the son died his son didn't want any of it. He just wanted it cleaned up. Hence the auction.
Earlier, as I wasn't confident I would buy anything, when I realized while driving there that I had forgot my checkbook, I didn't turn around for it. I had $102 cash in my pocket - another reason for the $100 limit on buying the gate. But - $37.50 each - I would be stupid to not buy all three gates.
The auction company didn't take credit cards so I had to drive the 25 miles back home to get my checkbook.
As you can see much of the equipment was very old.
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| My three green gates, and the water trough I did not buy. |
The view of Mud Lake from the site of the auction. The Swan Mountain Range is in the background.
So... for once I was successful at an auction.
Thursday, May 19, 2016
Tree stump 5
I am done with tree stump 5. Last Wednesday I finished digging around the stump, pulled it out with my tractor, and filled the dirt back into the hole.
As I dug around side roots I was able to use my tractor to pull them from the ground. The above photo is a "before" look and the following photo is an "after" look.
Now that I dug all the way around the stump, the following photo shows in the tractor's bucket the last of the side roots pulled out of the ground.
The main root remains.
The hole after the main root was pulled out of the ground.
For those of you who don't follow Daisy the Cat's blog, as you can see in the previous photos, she 'helped' me with the tree stump. Here is a link to the post with photos of her and the tree stump as I was digging around it:
http://tallpinescat.blogspot.com/2016/05/working-on-tree-stump-5.html
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| Here is tree stump 5 before I started to dig around it. |
As I dug around side roots I was able to use my tractor to pull them from the ground. The above photo is a "before" look and the following photo is an "after" look.
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| Here are the side roots I just pulled out from the one side. |
Now that I dug all the way around the stump, the following photo shows in the tractor's bucket the last of the side roots pulled out of the ground.
The main root remains.
The hole after the main root was pulled out of the ground.
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| Main root - before. |
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| Main root - after. |
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| Half of the main root. The other part is still laying in the hole as the root broke in two as I pulled it from the hole. |
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| After the hole was filled back in. |
For those of you who don't follow Daisy the Cat's blog, as you can see in the previous photos, she 'helped' me with the tree stump. Here is a link to the post with photos of her and the tree stump as I was digging around it:
http://tallpinescat.blogspot.com/2016/05/working-on-tree-stump-5.html
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Lilacs and bicycling
Last night when I was out on a bicycle ride at sundown I came upon a skunk running along the side of the other side of the road going the same direction as me. When I caught up to the skunk it heard me and spun around to face me. I could hear its claws skitter on the pavement as it spun around. I kept going and was out of there before it could turn around to spray me.
Earlier that afternoon when riding my bicycle I was surprised by a guy on a motorcycle. I was riding on the shoulder of the highway and made a right turn. Because of the rough road at the intersection I was a couple feet from the side of the road when I turned. In the middle of my turn a guy on a motorcycle rode between me and the side of the road a few feet away. Crazy! I almost collided with him. The last thing I need is another broken collarbone. Between the highway traffic noise and his coasting in to the turn I didn't hear his motorcycle. As he accelerated away his little motorcycle went "Rrrrrwwweeee" in a high pitch whine. I yelled out at him a few choice words at his stupidity. Yet another example of why car insurance rates are so high in Flathead County - the high number of idiots here driving vehicles.
Lastly.... on a more positive note. The lilacs and flowering shrubs are in bloom. A few weeks early this Spring due to the warm weather.
Earlier that afternoon when riding my bicycle I was surprised by a guy on a motorcycle. I was riding on the shoulder of the highway and made a right turn. Because of the rough road at the intersection I was a couple feet from the side of the road when I turned. In the middle of my turn a guy on a motorcycle rode between me and the side of the road a few feet away. Crazy! I almost collided with him. The last thing I need is another broken collarbone. Between the highway traffic noise and his coasting in to the turn I didn't hear his motorcycle. As he accelerated away his little motorcycle went "Rrrrrwwweeee" in a high pitch whine. I yelled out at him a few choice words at his stupidity. Yet another example of why car insurance rates are so high in Flathead County - the high number of idiots here driving vehicles.
Lastly.... on a more positive note. The lilacs and flowering shrubs are in bloom. A few weeks early this Spring due to the warm weather.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Jailbreak leads to fence work
When the hay gets down to the stemy stuff in the metal feeder some cattle get verbal and moo their annoyance at eating the stemy stuff. That was going on a little bit this morning when got up. I went to the bathroom and washed my face before going outside to check on the cattle. By the time I was out of the bathroom the cattle had started to loudly moo up a storm.
When I went outside I found eight cows in the hayfield by the yard fence. What?!!!
In the pasture area they have access to there is an old short section of four strand barb wire fence along the hayfield. An old rotting wooden fence post had been broken off at the ground. That gave a little more slack to the wire where the cattle could reach a little more of the grass on the other side of the fence. The top two strands of barb wire broke and the eight cattle jumped over the fence. The remaining cows and all the calves were in the corral very unhappy the other cattle were out in the tall green grass.
Donna had an appointment shortly and would help me after her appointment. I shut the yard gate at the road and opened the yard fence to the hayfield. While the cattle were just outside the gate, the grass was longer in the hayfield. From past experience I realized that while the cattle were next to the open gate they would instead run out into the far hayfield if I tried to herd them through the open gate. I needed a second person. Curtis wasn't home but Calvin said he would help when he finished helping his wife.
Donna decided to squeeze in a few moments before her appointment and came to help. I tossed a small bale of hay to the cattle in the corral to distract them and it worked.
The eight cows had taken off to the far hayfield when Donna showed up but quickly ran back to the corral fence when we walked out to them. As I herded them they ran along the fence instead of going through the open gate. They thought about running around me but then saw Donna behind me. They turned and ran to where they had earlier jumped the fence. Seven of the eight cows jumped the broken fence back into the pasture then ran into the corral where the other cows were eating. The eighth cow - number 7 - didn't go over the broken fence. She wouldn't go through the open gate. I opened the small gate to Buddy's part of the corral and she ran through the gate just before Buddy was able to run to the gate. I slammed the gate shut just before Buddy could reach it - barely.
Once in Buddy's part of the corral Donna handled a gate and I herded the cow to and through it so she could rejoin the other cows at the hay feeder.
Whew!
In the afternoon I worked on fixing the fence. Rather than repairing the broken strands of barb wire I found four 14 ft pieces of board I had earlier rescued from the neighboring business's burn pile. Using a railroad tie and a fence post I replaced the corner section of broken barb wire fence. Once the fence was fixed I was able to use the six corral panels that my previous corral panel re-do had freed up and cover the area between my fence fix along the hayfield fence over to the other corral panels.
Now that should keep the cattle in place. (I hope).
The broken barb wire is between the wooden post on the left and the metal post in the middle. The broken fence post(s) are the two on the right side.
Here you can see how the cattle had been reaching through the barb wire fence to eat the grass on the other side.
Then it was finally back to my planned work for the day, what little I was able to do before dark.
When I went outside I found eight cows in the hayfield by the yard fence. What?!!!
In the pasture area they have access to there is an old short section of four strand barb wire fence along the hayfield. An old rotting wooden fence post had been broken off at the ground. That gave a little more slack to the wire where the cattle could reach a little more of the grass on the other side of the fence. The top two strands of barb wire broke and the eight cattle jumped over the fence. The remaining cows and all the calves were in the corral very unhappy the other cattle were out in the tall green grass.
Donna had an appointment shortly and would help me after her appointment. I shut the yard gate at the road and opened the yard fence to the hayfield. While the cattle were just outside the gate, the grass was longer in the hayfield. From past experience I realized that while the cattle were next to the open gate they would instead run out into the far hayfield if I tried to herd them through the open gate. I needed a second person. Curtis wasn't home but Calvin said he would help when he finished helping his wife.
Donna decided to squeeze in a few moments before her appointment and came to help. I tossed a small bale of hay to the cattle in the corral to distract them and it worked.
The eight cows had taken off to the far hayfield when Donna showed up but quickly ran back to the corral fence when we walked out to them. As I herded them they ran along the fence instead of going through the open gate. They thought about running around me but then saw Donna behind me. They turned and ran to where they had earlier jumped the fence. Seven of the eight cows jumped the broken fence back into the pasture then ran into the corral where the other cows were eating. The eighth cow - number 7 - didn't go over the broken fence. She wouldn't go through the open gate. I opened the small gate to Buddy's part of the corral and she ran through the gate just before Buddy was able to run to the gate. I slammed the gate shut just before Buddy could reach it - barely.
Once in Buddy's part of the corral Donna handled a gate and I herded the cow to and through it so she could rejoin the other cows at the hay feeder.
Whew!
In the afternoon I worked on fixing the fence. Rather than repairing the broken strands of barb wire I found four 14 ft pieces of board I had earlier rescued from the neighboring business's burn pile. Using a railroad tie and a fence post I replaced the corner section of broken barb wire fence. Once the fence was fixed I was able to use the six corral panels that my previous corral panel re-do had freed up and cover the area between my fence fix along the hayfield fence over to the other corral panels.
Now that should keep the cattle in place. (I hope).
The broken barb wire is between the wooden post on the left and the metal post in the middle. The broken fence post(s) are the two on the right side.
 |
| The fixed fence |
 |
| Back side of the fixed fence |
Here you can see how the cattle had been reaching through the barb wire fence to eat the grass on the other side.
Then it was finally back to my planned work for the day, what little I was able to do before dark.
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