Two Stags

J bought 9 cow/calf pairs last month.  There were 4 steers in the group.  

 J noticed a couple of them were looking more like bulls instead of steers.

 Any excuse to ride Otoelene and I'm in. 

J elected to stay on foot for the round up.  Then it was a matter of getting them in the lot and sorting out the 2 suspects.  And J was correct, 2 stags.  They had been banded as babies but one testical had been left behind.  This makes castrating them much more difficult because there is no longer any scrotum to cut off.  Because of the dangerous position and the fact that I am a big chicken, I did give them a light sedative.    They were both out grazing in the evening.   Anyone doing any banding, please make sure you can count to two.  Maybe this informative article (by a very special writer) could be of help.  HERE

Coupon Saturday #32

Dollar General is having a clearance event this weekend.  Usually, the clearance is marked down and extra 50%.  But today, at my local stores, it was 70% off. 

I had one more account with the Gain coupons that V never ended up doing, so I did it for her and took it by her house.  

She didn't even offer to pay me for it. 

I had some other good deals too.  The most expensive thing was the FurWizard.  Someone at the vet clinic will be winning this at the secret Santa. Our price limit is $10.  I lost the receipt for that transaction, but it ended up costing $4.00.

Everything else was basically free due to some overage from Whole Blends shampoo and conditioner and some awesome Osteo Bi-flex coupons I had.

Happy Couponing!

Button And Maggie, A "Tail" Of Two Sizes

J had a set of twins born last week, three weeks early.  He said the cow was mean and took off with only one.  So, instead of fighting with her over trying to make her take the other one, J just brought it home. 

 She is so tiny and cute as a button.  So now that's her name, Button.

 She is a perfect little calf, just really, really small. 

 We don't have a scale at the barn, but I am guessing she weighed in at about 25 pounds tops when she was born. 

 She is a good eater, so maybe she well grow quickly. 

 Then there is Maggie.  Yes, I finally named her.  At 5 months old I thought it was about time to take her in and spay her before she got any bigger.

 She wasn't too happy with the car arrangements.  When I got her to the clinic she tipped the scales at 60 pounds.

After the surgery, I left her at the clinic for a couple of days so she could recuperate.  Can you tell she likes to eat?   She fell asleep with her head in her food bowl.  Everything went well, and now I just need to take her stitches out.

Horseless Cowboy

We are having a run of respiratory problems going through our spring calves.  They are not in a field near the barn where we can catch them easily. 

 So J has been going out in the mornings to observe them and spot the sick ones. 

 On this morning, he had just put out some salt so all the cows were crowded around.

 This made it easier to get closer to the calves.

 This one was one of the easy ones.  Some that have been out in the open have taken a few more tosses.

Then once the rope is on, J wraps it around a tree to help hold the calf while I swoop in and give the antibiotic injection.   So far, the ones we have had to treat are perking back up nicely.   But I'm about ready for this thing to have run its course.

Coupon Saturday #31

There are some awesome Gain digital coupons this month at Dollar General.  There is a $5 off $20 in gain scented items which will combine with the $5 off $25 regular Saturday coupon.  Plus there are coupons for each individual item.  

All of this adds to $21.95.  I just add at least $3.05 in other items, either things I was getting anyway or something with a good coupon.  That makes all the gain stuff  95 cents, in addition to what I was already getting.  I have 5 different accounts, so I did this 4 times.  I saved one for today and V is going to give it a try.  Good Luck V!  I had never used the Swiffer wet pads because I thought they were too extravagant.   I will have to say, I am hooked on them now.

Parasite Plague

Once again, wet weather means worms. 

 We have lost several kids to the infestation again this year.

 Instead of getting all of the goats up and stressing them more, we have been walking through them in the mornings and evenings, catching the ones that are puny looking or have messy rear ends, deworming them, then marking them so we don't catch them again.

 J asked the other day if I had a new marking crayon.  Yes, I have had a new one in waiting for a couple of years now.  When I pulled it out, J went to throw the old one away.  I said, let me keep it, I think there is still some good left in it.  Waste not, want not.

 Just thought this was a cute picture, My Pillow, yet it is sleeping on rocks.

Then on a different plague-
For the last couple of weeks, we have had a fence crew in building almost a mile of new fence.  There were 4 once beautiful but now dead ash trees along this section that we went ahead and had cut so they wouldn't fall on the new fence.  They just died this year, most likely due to the Emerald Ash Borer.  Yet another invasive species from Asia killing our stuff.  Does anything from over here go there and kill their stuff? Not that I want that to happen, just frustrated at the loss.

Helicopter Spraying

I went to ride Draper a couple of days ago and this was going on. 

 There is a feedlot across the creek from us.  They have about 50 acres of corn out.  And there was a helicopter spraying the corn field.   

 The horses were interested in the noise, but luckily it wasn't close enough to spook anyone.  My bigger concern was how breezy it was that morning, I wonder how much blew over to us.

So, we have had the feedlot smell, seen the runoff going into the creek and now pesticide drift.   Sometimes bigger isn't alway better.

In Bloom At The 4Rs

The yard has been beautiful this year.  It has been a real pleasure going out and pulling weeds and dead heading flowers when everything around is so vibrant. 

 This is the best my black-eyed-susans have ever looked. 

 Japanese beetles have usually eaten all of the petals off by now.

 This zinnia came up between the yard and the walk.  J weedeated around it.  I think the petals are very unusual. 

 This is where the zinnias are supposed to be. 

 I can't remember the last time I planted marigolds.  I usually don't like them, but I saw the yellow ones and though, why not?  I have been enjoying their sunny blooms at the edge of the garden. 

Lots of blooms on the hydrangea. 

 And I am still loving my pink mandevilla vine.

 Even the bush type mandevilla is growing on me. 

 I know I have shown the wheelbarrow before, but it is just so pink, I couldn't help showing it off again.

 I also found a dahlia to plant this year.  I use to have several, but one year I didn't dig them up for the winter and they never came back.  But I couldn't pass up this pretty purple one. (I know it looks more pink in the picture but it looks closer to purple in real life)

 The cone flowers are about done.

 But I dead headed the phlox and it is taking a second run at blooming.

 Really hard to make a butterfly bush look good in a picture.  But this one is just full of blooms. 

 I have one late blooming daylily still at it. 

And not really a bloom, but I picked 27 cucumbers yesterday.  Took them to share at work today.  I just can't eat that many.

Oregon Trip Pictures #7

We made it to Oregon! 

 First stop was the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  There are 3 units to the park, but we only made it to 2 of them.  First was Sheep Rock.  The Thomas Condon Paleontology and Visitor Center was located here. 

There was also an old ranch, complete with farm house,

 and barns. 

 It was a nice historical perspective of the changes in ranching.

 There were some beautiful views here and we saw several bird species.

 Then it was on to the Painted Hills,  one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon.

 For some reason, all the flowers that were blooming were yellow.

 Lots of variety,

 but all yellow.

 The yellow does make a nice contrast.

 I thought this was interesting.  Looks like since it is so rocky with very little topsoil, they have to improvise with fence posts.  Yet another use for a gabion.  Who knew I could learn so much from watching Monty Don.

 After leaving John Day, we headed to Prineville.  This is where Emily is now working.

 But she is living in Redmond.  We found this cute park and playground. 

 I thought brother M might like this bench. 

And the house E is renting a room in. 

We spent the night here, then one more full day before heading home.