2510 miles

It is the halfway point for the year.  So far I have ridden 2510 miles on my bicycle.  700 miles in June alone.   No wonder I am tired.

Other side of hayshed fence

A few days ago I posted a few photos of recent fence partial rebuild.  Here are photos of the front side of the fence.

Some of the rocks I dug up when I dug a hole for the railroad tie post.

Cutting hay and irrigation

I cut hay today with my haybine for the first time.  I didn't cut my field; I cut Donna's.  She has 20 acres.  Everything worked well.  I cut her field in 4 hours.  To ensure the grass's sugar count was low I cut as soon as the morning dew had dried.  I cut from a little before 10 am to a little before 2 pm.

The biggest challenge was driving the three miles from my place to hers.  I drove the tractor and haybine yesterday late afternoon and returned this afternoon.  Yesterday there were a number of cars on the road.  Because I take up more than one lane I would manoeuver the haybine into a driveway approach when meeting cars or when I wanted to let someone following me pass by.

I have been moving the irrigation pipes about every 20 hours, give or take.  Moving them every 12 hours, or twice a day is too much work right now, and every 24 hours is a bit long for a new field.   This morning I got up and opened and closed the valves at 7 am.  The dew was very heavy on the plants and my pants were soaked just from walking out and back from the valve openers.

I moved the pipes this evening after waiting for a light rain shower to pass by.  At 10:30 pm I closed and opened the valves to the moved pipes.  15 1/2 hours.  That works as I don't want to open and close valves in the dark.

Irrigation, spraying, rain, Daisy

Today's irrigation switch went smooth.  Only one sprinkler was not working.  The sprinkler was not level.  I straightened it and started the striker and the sprinkler worked fine after that.

I started spraying weeds.  I went through one backpack tankful.  The NE pasture used to be bad with yarrow until I got rid of most of it.  There was a little more yarrow than usual this year.  I think it may be old dormant seeds that were activated from all the irrigation water last year.

We had a thundershower around midnight last night.  It came up quick in the weather forecast as it didn't seem to have been predicted until less than 24 hours before it rained.  The rain caught a number of fields with their hay cut, or fields with small bales not picked up.

Daisy spent the night outside as it rained before she could get back home from her nightly patrol.  At 5 am she was at the door.  Also on the front step was a dead bat.  Good thing I keep Daisy current on her rabies vaccination.

Irrigation, grease and Daisy

The irrigation switchover went smooth and quick today just like it should be doing now.

Today's annoyance was my grease gun.  I am greasing the haybine and the tractor.  I ran out of grease and put a new tube into the grease gun.  To make this short: it then wouldn't work.  It shouldn't be complicated but still it wouldn't work.

Even Donna couldn't get it to work.   I am sure she rolled her eyes when I first told her I couldn't get the new tube to work.

I have a second grease gun and that worked when a new tube was put inside it.  Both grease guns were Dad's and are old.  The second gun has a bad hose.  Instead of the joint starting to leak when it gets full, the grease gun's hose starts to leak.

Still, I was able to grease the haybine and tractor.


Daisy came walking to the front step this morning.  When she got here she spit out a small live mouse she had been carrying inside her mouth.  She then laid down and in a bored and distracted manner occasionally 'played' with the mouse.  If the mouse got too far away Daisy would go over and pick it up in her mouth and drop it again near the step.  I was afraid the mouse would get away by getting into a crack between the house foundation and the flower bed.  One time I ended up moving some rocks on the front porch as the mouse was hiding under them.  After a short visit to a neighbor I found Daisy ready to come inside the house.  Whether she finished off the mouse, or it got away, I don't know.

More irrigation woes

What should have taken 5 minutes took 2 1/2 hours.  Earlier in the day I finished moving all the pipes for the next area to irrigate.  At 7 pm I went to open the valves to the next lines and close the valve to the old line.  Then I removed the old line's valve and carried it to the location for tomorrow's line.

I then saw the gusher.  The riser pipe for a sprinkler in the newer Wade Rain line had come out.  I walked back and reinstalled the valve for the original line and reopened it, then closed the line with the gusher.  I need a certain amount of sprinklers active else the water pressure can get too great and loosen the weaker connections.

I walked home and got a pipe wrench. At the riser I discovered the pipe's threads were shot.

I walked home to get another riser.  I had no 'free' risers, that is a riser without a sprinkler on it or a riser not in a connector.  I did have two risers with no sprinklers on them.  I wanted to use the sprinkler from the bad riser as I knew that sprinkler worked.

The first riser would not unscrew out of the Wade Rain connector.  The second riser unscrewed out of it's connector but I then discovered the riser's end was for a different type of sprinkler.

I found four risers with sprinklers on them and went back out to the irrigation line.  I put the first riser/sprinkler in the pipe.  Opened the valve and saw water come out of the sprinkler.  I then closed the original valve and removed it.  When I got to the sprinkler line I saw the 'new' sprinkler was not turning.

I went back and put the valve back on and reopened the line.  The second sprinkler I used was also bad.  This time I hadn't removed the original valve opener.  The third sprinkler worked.

Then I noticed the first sprinkler in the line wasn't throwing the water as far as the other sprinklers.  It may have been partially clogged.  I didn't have a wire to clean the opening.  But, hey, these are Wade Rain connectors.  One can switch connectors without switching pipes.  So after closing and opening the valves I did.  With the 'shorter' sprinkler in the middle of the line the adjacent sprinklers would cover for it.

But then now the third sprinkler I had just replaced, then moved, quit working.

I tried the fourth sprinkler to discover the riser pipe was bad and would not screw into the connector.

I went home and got another connector with a riser and sprinkler.  I was leery about using it as the connector's gaskets appeared dry.  Yup.  They were.  The pipe leaked bad at the connector.

I went home and switched risers and sprinklers to the original connector that had new gaskets.

The connector now worked and the sprinkler now worked.  But remember when I switched connectors because the one sprinkler didn't throw the water as far?  That connector was now leaking bad.  I went home and got some wrenches and tried adjusting the pipe position into the connector.  Didn't help much.  Tomorrow when I switch irrigation lines I will take the time to replace those connector's gaskets with my last two new gaskets.

And remember all the closing and opening of the valves?  Last year I replaced most, but not all, of the valve gaskets.  I only replaced them when they leaked.  Well... all this opening and closing over and over caused one of the old gaskets to start leaking.

So I had to replace that gasket.  Not an easy job when the water is flowing.  I walked home and got a board to block the water when I removed the valve without the valve opener.  The water gushed four feet high.   I quickly stood in lake.   Once I switched gaskets - and thankfully did not lose the cotter pin - I had to reach into the geyser to screw the valve back into the pipe.


All the above took over two hours to complete.


Then I walked the rest of the line. The previous time I used this line I had everything working.  Now one other sprinkler wouldn't work correctly.  The sprinkler would have a spot where it would get stuck each time after I helped the sprinkler past the spot.   The sprinkler worked the last time I irrigated with it but now the sprinkler location was on a slope and not on level ground.  The unlevel ground was enough to make a bad sprinkler worse.

So back home to get the sprinkler from the bad riser that started this entire mess.  I knew that sprinkler worked.  It did once I removed the sticky sprinkler.

One other sprinkler seemed suspicious but I decided it worked enough for me to wait until tomorrow to recheck it.

Why all the bad sprinklers and risers?  I had bought all of them used.  The previous owner didn't have the decency to toss their bad sprinklers and mixed them up with their good sprinklers.


By the time I was done I was soaked from head to foot.  While working on the sprinkler I was getting really annoyed and was swearing up a storm after a while.  What should have taken 5 minutes....

Irrigation and Fence work

Irrigation went much better today.  Late morning I moved the long line of irrigation pipes.  Much easier to move when one moves each pipe only 60 feet.  I also replaced the bad sprinkler and replaced a 20 foot pipe with a 40 foot pipe.  At the end of the day I had some energy left so I moved one of the two lines I will switch to using tomorrow.  The field wasn't as muddy as I expected.

The irrigated part of the field already looks to be taller and better.  It may be my imagination as this seems to quick too be true.

I also moved the haybine out of the path of the new sprinkler line.  No sense getting it wet.  I tested the PTO running the haybine.  It works.  I need to get the hydraulic couplers off the disc as the couplers on the haybine don't fit my tractor.

I also completed (for now) the fence rebuild between the corral and the hayshed.  The old fence was the worst fence on the ranch.  The fence was so bad that for the past year I have been using corral panels to shore up the fence. Something always came up to prevent me from rebuilding the fence.  I don't really have time now but I decided to rebuild part of the fence anyway.  I used the reason that I will place the stuff inside the hayshed south of the hayshed once I clean the hayshed out in order to place the hay inside there.  So I rebuilt the part of the fence next to the hayshed so I wouldn't have to move the stuff again once I do rebuild the fence.

Like everything here my short rebuild took longer than expected due to distractions and extra additions to the rebuild.

First, I forgot the railroad tie post I had placed next to the hayshed a few years ago when I first planned on rebuilding the fence, was a foot away from the hayshed.  A foot away in case I need to do work on the hayshed wall.  Therefore I needed longer boards as I wanted the boards to be inches away from the hayshed to prevent any cattle from trying to squeeze through a foot open space.

I work with the boards I salvaged.  I have 7 1/2 ft, 8 ft, 11 ft and 16 ft boards.  I found four 11 foot boards.

The second addition was adding a wooden fence post halfway in between the two railroad ties posts 10 ft apart.  The 11 ft boards are solid, but not that solid that I wanted to trust that long of a space to a cow pushing on the boards.

The third addition was seeing the gap between the boards and noticing how some cows or calves would put their head through the gap to eat grass on the other side.  I have a number of wire panels so I cut sections and nailed them up to the boards.

I only planned to make three fence section but having switched from using the 8 ft boards to using the 11 ft boards, I had the 8 ft boards there to use.  So I did.  I placed them on the other side - the side that starts at the gate.

Because the sprinkler line comes to the fence I wanted to finish the partial rebuild before turning the sprinklers on.

I did.  For the most part.  I have some finishing work to do once I get more fence staples.  I did take down half of the old fence before I decided to quit for now and finally turn this sprinkler line on.

Donna was surprised I was making the fence so strong here.  Was I planning to put bison in this part of the pasture?  No.... but that's an idea.


I forgot to take a photo of the front side of the fence.  It is nicer looking.

It is an optical illusion as the gap left to be built is 27 feet.  The three sections along the hayshed are also 27 feet.  The section on the right is 8 feet.

In the following photo you can kind of see the pathetic old fence.

Dad would 'patch' and reinforce old fences with baling twine.  I may still have a couple odds and ends of twine on other fences, but this fence was the last large twined area.

Added two sprinkler lines

My second day of irrigating.   Due to the field being seeded this Spring I wanted to lay out two additional sprinkler lines.  Once I am past laying lines in the NE pasture, my goal is to move the lines every 12 hours. (We'll see how that goes!)

The wet field is kind of muddy.  So four lines.  Two active.  Two can be moved some hours after they are turned off when the ground may not be so muddy.  We'll see how that goes.

Anyway... today I laid out two additional lines.  Last year I had at most three lines. Once I get past the NE pasture I will have four lines.  I am using the pipes I bought from Donna's mother for the fourth line. These pipes are the "Wade Rain" brand. They have a different connection setup.  It is a knob and latch style.  But I am able to hook one pipe up to my hook style valve opener.  I changed the latch for a knob to a hook on the end of one pipe.

Apparently the advantage of this style of Wade Rain is the connectors are separate from the pipe.  Or they were.  I forgot to take photos.  So I looked up online.  No double connectors now. A single connector which can be attached to the pipe.  Which makes sense as I found the Wade Rain style of separate connectors annoying.

I hadn't used the Wade Rain pipes and connectors before.  Some of the connectors' gaskets were dried and hard.  I found some connectors with decent gaskets; and I had to replace gaskets in several connectors.   Well... another "feature" of Wade Rain connectors are how difficult it is to replace their gaskets.  I had to pry the dried ones out using a screwdriver.   It took me over a half hour before I figured out (kind of remembered Carl showing me last year) how to put in a new gasket.  Later gaskets only took a minute to install.

I had to get a new gasket for one of my old style pipes.  Myron had some to sell me.  I had to wait till he got off work.  He was supposed to call but he forgot.  I rode my bicycle over and bought a few gaskets.

Because the field is new, I had to carry the pipes on my shoulders rather than drag them across the ground like I usually do.  My shoulders were still a little "raw" from when I had to carry the mainline and steel pipes.  I was getting cranky by the time I carried the last of the 26 pipes.

It took me less than two hours to assemble the old style line.  It took me 3 hours 45 minutes to assemble the Wade Rain line due to the extra connector and gasket and sprinkler work.

Yes, sprinklers.  Older sprinklers can quit. I replaced a few that seemed to have frozen up.  Once I released the water into the new lines I discovered three sprinklers were bad.  One sprinkler I totally missed seeing that the clapper was broken.  Fortunately it was the last sprinkler in the line.

I pried and popped the last pipe off and then I replaced the sprinkler. When I put the pipe back on I discovered this sprinkler was also bad: it wouldn't turn.  I took the pipe off and put the second sprinkler on.  It also was bad and would not turn.  Argh!. 

The third sprinkler did work.

Then it looked like all the sprinklers were working.  The other two bad ones seemed to have started working.  Opps... no, one of the two quit working again.  I walked back home and, after sorting though my extra sprinklers and avoiding ones that seemed to be 'sticky', I got two more sprinklers.

Walking back an old guy driving by offered to give me a ride.  Thanks, but no thanks I am almost to where I can cross my fence.

Lots of water was coming from the base of the riser.  I tightened it and much of the leak slowed and the sprinkler started turning.  No need to take off the last pipe, which was great as the rushing water would quickly make a mud pit there.  When I switch lines tomorrow, and this line is drained, I can replace the riser.

Of course the sprinkler replacement and pipe removal was a wet affair.  I got pretty wet.  With only 26 sprinklers running the water pressure is pretty good.  Each sprinkler is throwing water more than 40 feet.  When working on a bad sprinkler the next sprinkler still can reach me - and did.

So that was my day.  I had planned to do this, move part of the previous sprinkler line, move my haybine and test it, work more on a fence and get some bicycle miles ridden.

I started the sprinkler line work around 1 pm and finally finished at 9:45 pm.  So much for the other plans for the day.  At least once I get all the kinks worked out, moving the lines shouldn't take as long each day.

So you can see why I am currently sleeping 9 hours a day.

Started irrigating

Today I started up my irrigation.  While not really dry, it is dry enough.  The rain last week really helped the grass and hayfield crop.  So more water should be a good thing.

Today I finished laying the pipes with the sprinklers.  This time I am starting out differently.  I am laying just one row.  The row goes along the road and then turns and goes along the north side of the NE pasture.

Tomorrow I will lay two rows to the south and switch to using those lines.  This will give the field under the first line a little time to dry.  Because the hayfield is newly planted I am concerned the field that was irrigated will be muddy for a while. I'll see tomorrow.

Fortunately I have enough pipe to pre-position two more lines.

The moment of truth was when I turned on the irrigation pump.  Since last year I cut and split and intake pipe and put a union in the pipe.  This enabled me to drain the pipe for Winter but added a potential air leak.

Did I drain the pump correctly for Winter or would there be problems from unforeseen freezing?

Lastly, as time went on last year the pump got more finicky to restart each time.  Eventually I left the pump running and switched pipes as the water ran.

Donna pressed the start button and "voila!", the pump started up and began pumping.  The first time.  Fantastic.

This was first time use for the year so to make sure the water 'cleaned' the pipes I left the end caps off the mainline and sprinkler line.

And how do you get the end caps back on when the water is running?  I opened the three valve openers - one for the sprinkler line and the other two openers made two 'lakes'.  Once I inserted the mainline endcap I went to the end of the sprinkler line.  There I removed the last pipe, inserted the endcap, then inserted the pipe back into the line.  One has to be fast.  It took three tries as the pipe's hook didn't latch in time.

Naturally I got wet.

Tomorrow when I switch sprinkler lines I have to replace one sprinkler.  It sprays but does not rotate.  The spring is shot.

For now it is difficult to drive off the ranch as the sprinkler line crosses my driveway and other gates to the road.  The only way is a round-about way through my field into a neighbor's field then his driveway.

My planted hayfield crop of barley hay, oats and peas.

Road trip with cattle

Due to a bad fence and no time to fix it Dan and his son decided to sell the cattle he had bought from me last Fall.  They asked if I could haul the cattle to the livestock auction in Missoula for them.

Why not... I haven't been on a road trip for a while.   And what do I have to do around the ranch... other than a million projects!

Even though the auction is not until tomorrow it was easier for me to haul the cattle today. We loaded the cattle this morning and I drove to Missoula. 

The five cattle all did very well and gained lots of weight during the time Dan and his son owned them.  They were heavier than I expected.  I could feel their weight as I drove to Missoula.  With my underpowered pickup, on a few mountain passes I struggled to drive at least 40 mph.  My stock trailer felt very light on the drive home back to Kalispell.

The trip went well and I had no problems.  In Polson I stopped at my favorite Thai restaurant.  Even though the restaurant was closing their dining room for the afternoon at 2:30 pm, the owner let me eat even though it was 2:26 pm.  The owner does keep the restaurant open for carry out all afternoon.

Another excellent meal.

Once I got home I washed out the stock trailer.  It was filled with manure.  So much that some manure leaked out the side door.

Mission Mountains during the drive to Missoula.

View of the Mission Mountains on the drive back home.   The red arrow in the following photo points to Elizabeth Falls.  The water is running strong.   In July 2014 (almost 3 years ago!!!!  How time flies!) I hiked to Mission Falls (not seen) which is a little ways below Elizabeth Falls.  Maybe it is time for another hike there.

Mainline irrigation pipe laid

This afternoon I laid out the mainline irrigation pipe.  That was a job considering half the pipes were the 20 foot steel pipes.  Even though there was no rain in the weather forecast a few stray showers kept me under a large evergreen tree several times until the rain quit.

I mostly carried the pipes on my shoulders.  I could use either shoulder to carry the 40 foot aluminum pipes but I could only use my right shoulder to carry the steel pipes.  The steel pipes pressed my skin too hard against the plate holding my left shoulder's bones together.  The steel pipes - half the length - were more than twice as heavy as the aluminum pipes.

I was very tired when I was done.  After a late lunch I fell asleep for over an hour.  Later I laid out some of the sprinkler pipes.

I'll probably lay out the rest of the sprinkler pipes and start irrigating in a few days.


Buddy has been busy too.  Over the past several days I have seen him "courting" several cows each day.  Last night he was trying to mount Panda but number 80 was coming into heat and she wanted in the action.  She also was trying to mount Panda and following her all around getting in Buddy's way.  Buddy kept moo/grunting at number 80 to tell her to back off but she wasn't listening.  Buddy didn't run off number 80 though, unlike Panda's calf a little earlier.  Panda wanted Buddy as sometimes she was trying to mount Buddy.

So a little ménage a trios action going on a the ranch last night.  Today Buddy and the cows were all back to normal.

Calf photos, 1 irrigation pipe, no gates

It would be nice if my irrigation mainline was about 20 feet longer.  Recently I contacted a local irrigation supplier and he had a used 20 foot section.  He had to fix one end and make it 20 feet long.  Tonight I picked up the pipe. The pipe is aluminum.  It weighs much less than my 20 foot steel pipes.  The aluminum pipe fits nicely with the steel pipes.  Once I finish laying my mainline I'll see if the length is what I wanted.

With the recent rain the hayfield is growing very nicely!

At the bi-weekly online auction tonight they had a number of farm gates.  Initially the auction didn't list the gates' lengths.  This afternoon I went and checked the gates in person as I don't trust the online photos to show everything.  I also measured the gates.

There were a few gates I wanted.  Other gates I could maybe use and would get if the price was cheap.

To make this story short: I didn't get any gates.  The gates I wanted sold for too much and the gates I could maybe use sold for more than I wanted to pay for something I don't need right now.


The cattle and calves are doing well.  I have them in the north pasture the past few days.

Beulah and her calf.

Buster is growing and looking good.

Buster and Beulah's calf.

Hmmm... looking at his photos just now I think I can see his horns starting to grow.  They look still too small to band right now to remove them.

First pocket gopher of 2017

Even though it rained much of today I trapped my first pocket gopher this year.  The gopher was trapped in the hayfield along the fence next to the road.  The pocket gopher - a small adolescent - must have come from the field across the road.  I haven't taken the time to check the south pasture for pocket gophers coming in from Wyatt's field.  I suppose I should before letting the cattle back into that pasture.

Delimbing a fallen tree

At times over the past few weeks it has been very (for here) windy.  Two trees were snapped off.   Wednesday afternoon I removed the branches from the trees while the wood is still soft and it is easier to remove the branches.

One tree was thin and I got the work done in a half hour.  The second tree was larger and it took longer.  Also slowing me down with the second tree was my axe head kept coming off.  Every few strokes I had to tamp the head back down securely on the handle.

Eventually I got all the branches cut and carried away to a pile to dry.

Rainy Day

For once the timing went my way.  Last night I fertilized my hayfield and then needed water to dissolve the fertilizer.  And this past weekend I mowed the yard and the fruit tree and garden area cutting the grass for the first time this year and pulverizing the numerous cow pies.

So the half inch of rain we got today was perfect.  I didn't mind staying inside the house and reading.  Daisy spent most of the afternoon with me.  She did insist on going outside late afternoon when the rain slowed to a drizzle.  She just now came back inside the house - soaking wet.  She is now on my lap drying off.

Fertilizing the hayfield

Even though Chris had added some fertilizer when he planted my hayfield, he recommended adding a little more of some fertilizers. I meant to but other stuff had to be done first.  Then I bought the fertilizer spreader to mount on my tractor; then I had to find the tractor's three-point bolt.

I checked with CHS and learned it was not too late to add fertilizer this year.  This afternoon I mounted the fertilizer spreader to my tractor and tested that the PTO ran the spreader.  It did.

So I went to CHS to buy some fertilizer.  It turns out I needed 1,759 pounds of fertilizer.  484 lbs of potash, 600 lbs of ammonium sulfate and 684 lbs of urea (nitrogen).  Even though high nitrogen levels can happen with barley hay, Andy from CHS still felt I needed to add some nitrogen fertilizer.

1,759 lbs.  My fertilizer spreader can hold up to 750 lbs. That means filling it three times.  A problem. The price was based on filling one bag.  It cost $60 more to fill three bags.  Or for $30 I could rent their pull behind fertilizer spreader.  For an extra $30 I saved having to fill my spreader three times using five gallon buckets from the large bulk bag.

Another advantage of the pull behind spreader is that it threw the fertilizer 20 feet since it had two platform spinners.  My spreader, with only one platform spinner, would throw the fertilizer 10 to 12 ft.

While my tractor spreader is run via the tractor's PTO, the trailer's spreader mechanism is ground driven.  Below the spreader's box/container is a conveyor belt that moves the fertilizer dropped on it to the back and to the two platform spinners.

It didn't take long to drive around my hayfield and spread the fertilizer.  I ran out of fertilizer right at the end.  Still, I wonder if the same amount was spread at the end as in the beginning and middle.

Now to get water on the fertilizer.  Some of the chemicals dissolve into the atmosphere if water doesn't break down the fertilizer into the soil.  For the urea fertilizer I have two to four days depending on how warm the temperatures get.  The forecast is for rain tomorrow.  Hopefully the forecast is correct, unlike the past few weeks when forecasted rain didn't materialize, or when it did rain it barely got the ground wet.

If no rain, then I will be setting out my irrigation pipes and running my irrigation pump.

Missing tractor part found

If you remember from last Fall when I was disking my hayfield, the adjustable bolt for the tractor's three point hitch came off and was lost.  Several times I searched the hayfield I had disked that day, even using a metal detector, but could not find the adjustable bolt.

The past few days I have been searching the hayfield one last time.  I used the metal detector.  Last Fall the metal detector went off constantly.  So much so that the detector was pretty much useless.  In the past few days the metal detector worked better.  It would only go off when it found something of interest.  I think the difference is because the ground was soaking wet last Fall and dry this Spring.

I found a wire, a harrow's spike tooth, a horseshoe and a metal plate. 

The metal plate is interesting.  I don't know what the Anglo SL & Co. made.  They don't seem to be around anymore.  I did find someone on Ebay who sold the same plate (in better condition) for $45.00.  The article was sold from Lyndon, Washington.  The Pacific Northwest like where I am.  I wonder what this plate was from.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-ANGLO-SL-CO-UNITED-KINGDOM-CAST-IRON-NAME-BADGE-TAG-PLATE-1750-emblem-/391215287981?_ul=AR

The detector went off a few more times and I found nothing in the loose dirt.  Whether there was something deeper underground I don't know.  Probably.

Hours went by and I had covered two-thirds of the area I had disked when I lost the bolt.  I was starting to doubt I would find the bolt when I saw a small part of the bolt's flange in the dirt.  The metal detector didn't go off.  Then I noticed the detector was turned off.  Maybe it was because I hadn't found anything in a long time?

But it was my bolt with its flange.

Success!  

I cleaned the bolt and flange and put them back on the tractor's three point hitch.

Hauling horse panels

One of Donna's horses is foundering.

http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/pests-diseases-and-weeds/animal-diseases/horses/founder-laminitis-in-horses

While treating her horse - Donna is soaking hay to get the sugar washed out - Donna also plans to pen the horse up in a smaller area with no access to grass.  To do so she bought 7 horse panels.  The flexible kind.

I hauled the panels in my pickup.  The panels are 16 ft long.  If I laid them flat in the pickup's box the end of the panels would drag on the ground as the pickup's box and tailgate length is 10 ft.  The two Murdoch's employees and I bent the panels up and one worker closed the pickup's tailgate.

I drove carefully to Donna's place on back roads.

To get the panels out of the pickup I had to carefully open the tailgate.  With pressure against the tailgate it didn't want to open.  I finally triggered the tailgate's latch and then jumped back.   The panels shot out of the pickup's bed as the panels straightened out.

No one was injured.

Calf 13 - Day 2

This morning Donna and I banded/castrated the new calf and put an ear tag on him.

After I returned her calf to Beulah...

Here is a 51 second video of the calf: https://youtu.be/EYc7-8QfOJE


Also today I let Buddy out of the corral to join the cows.  If he breeds a cow today she would give birth next March 14.  I moved up the calving time by 10 days. Now that Buddy is reunited with the cows I no longer have to hear Buddy moaning and calling after the cows all the time.  Buddy is happier now.   And so am I.

Waiting in the corral

Heading out to rejoin the cows

Shortly after Buddy rejoined the cows and checked each one out, I called for the cows and Buddy to go into the middle pasture.  Everyone came and went through the gate except for Beulah and her new calf.  After I "messed" with her calf Beulah wanted to stay in the far corner of the north pasture away from me.  I let her and her calf stay in the north pasture for now.


Daisy joined Donna and I when we walked out in the pasture to band the new calf and then when we let Buddy out of the corral.  It had rained last night and the grass was still wet.  That explains Daisy's wet legs.

Calf 13 - Beulah's

Beulah finally had her calf this evening - shortly before 8 pm.  Earlier I was working on a few fence posts and noticed that Beulah's bag was fuller and that she separated herself from the rest of the cattle. I figured she would give birth by morning.  Later I noticed Beulah's tail was up and sideways. I changed my estimated time of birth to be before midnight.

Later I noticed a half dozen or more calves were buzzing around Beulah as she licked the ground.  I went around and around and finally chased the calves away from Beulah.  Whatever Beulah was licking was gone.  Perhaps her water had burst?

Beulah's tail was sticking straight out behind her.  I figured she would give birth soon, within the hour.  I plan to move the cattle from the north pasture to the middle pasture tomorrow and I needed to go and close the gate to the south pasture.  When I returned Beulah had already given birth and was licking the calf clean.  That was fast.

A few cows and calves were nearby but they were giving Beulah some space.

The calf is a boy.  I will band/castrate him tomorrow morning.

After I got my camera and returned the calf got up as I moved in to take photos.  I don't think he had drank his mother's milk yet as he wobbled around and around Beulah spending more time against her front legs or neck than back at her udder.  Beulah had enough of me being close and ambled off with the calf following her.

I watched from a distance.  While the calf spent some time around Beulah's front legs and neck, I think the calf eventually stayed near her udder, but from a distance I am not sure.   If not, he will find it.  He had the strength to walk partway across the pasture and therefore has enough strength to find her udder.

Here is a 1:14 minute video of the calf wobbling around Beulah.  This may be the first time the calf has walked. The calf has not figured out where his mother milk is located.

https://youtu.be/QC3cZSoh0f8


While I was watching the calf and Beulah walk off and group of ducks came walking up the river bank.  It looked like several families of ducks as there appeared to be six adults sheparding a long line of baby ducks along.  They crossed the river by the time I thought of taking a photo.  They are disappearing around the bend in the photo below.