Ultrablacks

J has been interested in Brangus and Ultrablack cattle for some time now.  He had purchased 2 Brangus bulls in the last few years and really liked them.  The young guy he got the bulls from was having some financial problems and was selling a few Ultrablacks and Brangus cows.  J like the Ultrablacks so they came home with him.  It is somewhat confusing about the breeding of Brangus and Ultrablacks.  For anyone interested here is a link with an equally confusing explanation. gobrangus.com

 The two cows look pretty nice.  A little thin, but J said they didn't have much pasture.  They were with a bull but not preg checked, so that was my job today.

 I love the tags J made.  I prefer thinking of them as "You be one, and You be two."

 It's a messy job, but someone has to do it.  Luckily, they were both bred.  That was a bit of a risk buying them without having them checked first.  But J felt bad for the seller and wanted to help him out.

 After that chore, J did a little Farmercising.

It's a lot of work keeping the house warm.

Happy Halloween

On our way to get the billy goats last week we pasted by this great display.  

 Luckily, I had my camera with me.  So one the way back I told J to slow down so I could get a picture.

Isn't is amazing.  I just love the full size horse skeleton.

Farmercising

I had my first visitors for the Farm Spa (thanks for that term A).

 M and V came to help do some farm work/yard work.

 V said it was much better for her back to do some physical work instead of sitting at a desk all day.

 J and I had already spread one load of mulch, but with such willing help, I got two more loads spread.

 M coined the term "Farmercising"  to describe the great workout you get from farm work.

Since M and J worked on it while me and V went to get the second load of mulch, I didn't get any pictures of M cutting and splitting wood.  I think that was maybe more of a workout than the mulch.  Anyway, we were able to get our stove started and now we have some real heat in the house.  J tried to start the stove a few days ago, but the blower didn't work.  The stove guy came out Saturday and replaced it along with fixing a leak. With the temperature not making it out of the 30's today, the heat is nice.   Hopefully, we are good for the winter.

Just Kit Sunday #124

I didn't realize it had been so long since I shared Kit Kat with everyone.  

Looks like he is getting ready for his next hunt.

Great Goat Day

Today was the day for the Great Goat Roundup. 

 We started at the crack of dawn.

 J as usual had done all the prep work yesterday and had all of the goats in the field behind the barn.

 This is what a 130 head goat herd drive looks like.

 Everyone was very cooperative.  Our new permanent fence lane makes things so much easier.

 They all went right into the barn lot,

 and on into the barn.

 We sorted out some nannies in the big part of the barn, then kept moving them to progressively smaller rooms.  This made catching and sorting easier.  When they are crowded, they can't run away from you.

 They also loaded on the trailer with no drama.  I think we might be getting this goat thing down pat.

 While J was hauling them to the market to get weighed, I took the opportunity while we still had the ones we were keeping up, to do a little herd maintenance.  I think this nanny missed out on getting her feet trimmed last spring.  This was before,

 And this was after.  I caught her, put a halter on and tied her up.  Then I just lifted her feet like a horse and trimmed them.  Those foot trimmers are from when my sister had sheep back in the late 70's.

After J got back from hauling the goats, we went to the farm where we got the puppies and picked out 2 billy goats.  The farm couple are in their 80's and still raise Great Pyrenees dogs, and Kiko goats.  The white one is a pure bred kiko, and the brown/black one is 1/2 kiko, 1/2 spanish meat goat.  We decided on two this year because we are upping our herd from 50 last year to 64 this year.  We culled 6 nannies, kept 20 female weanlings that should be suitable to breed, plus Tiny.  We ended up selling 59 kids that averaged 57 pounds.  Now we can start working for next year.

Water Gaps, Again

With 3 inches of rain falling yesterday, it was not a surprise that 3 water gaps washed out.

 And since this is where the cattle are now, it was imperative that they get put back quickly.

It doesn't matter how much grass is on there side of the fence, some cattle just go around looking for an excuse to cause trouble.  

 It looks like this clump of debris is what took out this gap.

 J tied a longer piece of wire to what was left,

and headed on across the creek.  

 One down, two to go, but the others can wait until the water goes down a little more.  This was the critical one for today.

Nature Confusion

I guess I could have titled this, In Bloom at the 4R''s. 

Because this day lily is really confused.  The rest of them finished blooming in June.  It's nice to be able to enjoy a little surprise every now and then.  

 It is also time to start working on mulch.  This is a monumental job for my yard.  Next to the house I use pine needles.  It would be nice to just go out and buy a bale of needles but that is just not in my nature when there are free ones to be had.  Unfortunately, the free ones are on the steepest parts of the farm.   And pine needles are really slick.  It is a work out carrying a bucket of needles up the hill to the 4-wheeler then heading back down for more.  I often think about how useless it is for people to work out in gyms.  There is so much work to do here.  Maybe I could find a way for people to pay me to come workout.

Anyway, it always looks nice afterwards.  I have gotten one truck load of regular mulch that J helped me spread, but it looks like I might be needing at least one or maybe two more.  Maybe next weekend we can finish that job up.