Five management tips to use on the ranch

We all discover a little tool or helpful hint that makes our life a little easier each day. Here are 5 of my favorites so far:
1. an old tire around a 5 gal bucket I use to water the animals (keeps alpacas from kicking them over and chickens like to stand on tire and drink from the bucket too)
2. A little keychain penlight/alarm holds exterior building keys (the light is handy to light my way and check on the chickens after dark); bought at Dollar Tree for one dollar
3. plastic tubs also bought at Dollar tree for one dollar each; used as nesting boxes (husband built a frame with the cut out narrow enough that the box drops into and hangs by the lip surround; easy to take out and easy to clean)
4. A big thermometer bought at Dollar Tree for one dollar; hangs inside each chicken coop and the barn to keep an eye on hot or cold temps and monitor animal health
5. old unusable metal water troughs salvaged from our pastures; I keep all my feeds in these; mice cannot climb up and into and the feed stays organized and dry; they are not pretty (bent and dented) but that’s okay, they are in the barn storage area

Spring is springing

Spring is my favorite time of year. Who can resist the little daffodils?  They grab my attention.  But ususally I see flowering quince first.  I want to plant some of that.  At our other house I planted a row of Bardford Pear trees and I loved seeing them all in bloom.  I want to plant a row of those here too.  The David Austin roses are leafing out and soon I should have some pretty blooms, I hope, like last year.

the form is perfect

 

The alpacas are out grazing almost all day; not much brome grass has sprung up yet but what is up they are really working to munch on.  I was out in the pasture yesterday filling in holes in the ground (rabbits,mice?) so they wouldn’t trip or worse, break a leg, and noticed the grass is coming in really nice. Tthey have not been chowing down on the hay as much.  I just restocked but I think maybe have overstocked a little. 

I worked on cleaning the chicken coops; they really aren’t terribly bad.  My first flock of chickens and they have been delightful.  I have 3 coops in separate pastures so they will spread out and eat bugs galore.  I have used the deep litter method, and sprinkling with Stall Dry to keep down any odor, absorb moisture, and lay down diotomaceous earth to help eliminate bugginess.  They are all healthy and active.

my pretty Partridge Silkie bantams

And I really like that here in north Texas spring arrives earlier than it does in Kansas.  We may have a late, errant cold snap around Easter but starting in February we can usually count on mild days sprinkled in with some colder ones.  The warm, windless days are the best and we take full advantage by getting out and doing as much as we can around the place.  Today I am off to get more chicken feed and then do some more “pasture maintenance” (alpaca’s poop pile cleanup).

Australian bushfires appeal

The Australian bush fires have claimed lives, towns and wildlife.  People are missing.  This is the worst bushfire in Australia’s history.  It is still burning.

 The Red Cross is appealing for money, not goods.  I have a site link to this Australian based company trying to raise money and you get 5 of their  PDF books for $29.95, regularly $149.95, and they will donate the ENTIRE $ 29.95 towards the Red Cross fund. The DEADLINE is  this FRIDAY, FEB. 13.   I have chosen my 5 PDF books and paid by Paypal.  You can also pay by credit card.In 24 hours they have exceeded their $50,000US goal and are on their way towards $100,000US.

 

Here is the link; see if you can help them.  If not, please consider donating to the Australian Red Cross. A link also below.

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/02/11/70000-usd-in-the-bag-with-two-days-to-go-%e2%80%93-help-us-hit-100000-usd/

http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm

From The Australian Red Cross Website:

Red Cross response (2pm, 11 February)

• Over 160 lives lost with the number expected to increase as authorities access more homes and discover vehicles in which people attempted to escape the fires.
• Currently we are involved in the response phase providing temporary accommodation and food in around 20 evacuation centres. We have registered 7,500 people and provided 4,500 first aid treatments.  
• We have a team at Kinglake with medical supplies and food — they are visiting a community who chose not to leave when the fires came through and who have not had any contact since. Priorities will be medical help, food and registering their names so family and friends know they are safe and well.
• Another team are focusing on the Whittlesea evacuation centre as people are able to return to their homes for the first time. Our team will be offering personal support as this is going to be a very difficult time for those returning.
• People from around Australia and around the world are phoning through to our Inquiry Centre to check on family and friends.  Volunteers who are trained in personal support are relaying heartwarming as well as heartbreaking, stories as the calls come in. In the past 24 hours alone we have answered 6,000 enquiries.
• Over 400 volunteers and staff continue to work in rotating shifts. Red Cross call centres in WA, ACT and NSW have opened to help deal with the volume of calls from people checking on the welfare of evacuees.

 

Checking on friends and family in the area

• people should ring 1800 727 077 if they are unable to contact someone in the affected areas
• for people overseas enquiring about family and friends in the bushfire affected areas, please call +61 3 9328 3716 or
  +61 8 9225 8880. 

These lines are very busy, so we ask that people please be patient when calling.

Making hay while the sun (doesn’t) shine

Old Sayings. Wise Words. Idioms.  I just love these. I have actually put a link under blogroll in the left column and you can see others or sign up to have some delivered daily.

 

Make hay while the sun shines

Take advantage of favorable circumstances; they may not last.	1

I used this particular one because on Wednesday evening as I was feeding alpacas and shutting in the chickens, the weather was so nice.  The wind was calm, the temperature was warm enough I was getting warm to the point of shedding my jacket, which I finally did. 

I knew it was supposed  to turn bitter cold the next day so I took advantage of the moment and did some pasture maintenance.  That is what I meant by using the idiom in the title today.  The sun was not shining but I decided to take advantage of the great weather.  It was dark but the lights on our barn light six pastures quite adequately out several hundred feet.  The alpacas in most of those pastures have a  poop pile somewhat near to their barn entrances and I have great access to quickly clean up.  As you may or may not know, the alpacas create one communal dung pile in each of their pastures and clean up is required to help control  parasites.  I was so glad I did take that little bit of time because it really is cold these past two days.  Luckily it will not last, and this weekend will be back into the 60’s and next week into the 70’s.

Look up some of your favorite idioms.  Some other favorites since I have chickens, is: ” don’t count your chickens before they hatch”, and “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.

The week before Christmas

In Texas sometimes it is hard to get into the holiday spirit when there is no snow and it’s warm out.  My husband and I are from Kansas but have lived in Texas since 1982. 

We love Texas but I miss the winter snow sometimes.  What I love about Texas is that when it does get cold, down into the 30’s, it doesn’t stay there long.  This past week we had an ice day and some temps down below 30, but Saturday they are predicting we will hit 70, but Sunday will be in the mid 30’s for a couple or so days again.  It is a challenge keeping the water buckets de-iced and the chickens with water to drink.  I hand carried some warm water from the house out to the barn to help refresh everyone. 

We took advantage of the nice temps on Saturday and after we got back from participating in a 9 a.m. Christmas  parade by the city of Sachse (we rode in the Sachse  Historical Society float; we are still involved with that org. after living in Sachse for several years) we  gathered more firewood back in the trees that line our 100 acre property.  We cut up the fallen trees and stack them out of the way of the cows and load up what we need in our polywagon pulled behind the lawntractor.  We had one or two that had been hit by lightning; others just naturally died and fell and have seasoned.  By Sunday we were ready to throw some of those logs on the fire  and boy did they burn nicely.  We are ready for the next round of bad weather coming Sunday.