Month: September 2024

Winter hay ready

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Yesterday was the start of the Pendleton Roundup. The Gingerman and my wife were in the parade playing with the mounted band. I opted to go out and work on the Abbriata M50 round baler. I still need to get the chain sprockets replaced. I had more parts sent last month so I was going to install them. I could not get this double sprocket assembly off of the drive shaft. I had the gear puller maxed out! I finally took the gear puller off, separated the gears, as I had managed to move them 3/8”. I then pulled off the first gear and it had a key! But the second gear did not have a key, so I was trying to pull the rear gear against the key. It came right off after I removed the key. There is not a written instruction manual.

I went to put the new gear on and it doesn’t fit. I need a 2.5 cm hole in the gear not a 3 cm. Also, after closer inspection all of my large gears should only be 2.5 cm deep not 3 cm. I think they will work but the nut holding them in place used to be flush with the bolt and now it will be 1/2cm out from the end of the bolt. My dad was a machinist and he used to tell me that you only need the nut to go on far enough to be 1/2 the diameter of the bolt and you have gained maximum strength from the nut. That is exactly what I will have if I have to use those. I am calling the parts place tomorrow so we can go through the list again! I am going to send some parts back. As always I hate being a mechanic. I am capable of figuring it out but it’s never easy. Luckily, since all the equipment is made in Italy and no one else knows I am in good company. I have one more tool box coming so that I can create a Metric and nonmetric (US standard) tool box. I am tired of digging around and trying to find the right size and type.

Once the Gingerman showed up with his large tractor he started to stack the bales into the machine shed. While he did that I started to stack the extras on the backside of the machine shop. It took a couple of hours to get the bales loaded up. He was able to get half the bales into the machine shed. I will use from the outside pile first and by January I will be able to use the protected bales from the machine shed.

Gazebo ready for roof

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Well it was time to make some progress on the gazebo. The final step in the assembly process is to get the roof up. Since the crane thing was not an option for me, I needed to use Plan C. I mounted the two ten foot posts on the front of the pallet forks on top of a pallet. I drilled a hole in one and attached a bolt with a hook thinking I could somehow attach it to the fork railing. Instead I ended up running a tie down through the upper slats and cranking it tight. I used a chain around the bottom of the post tied to the fork. I did not want the bottom to give out at all. I then drove over to the Gazebo opening and tried to get the posts through the opening. I could not tilt the platform enough to get the posts inside the Gazebo. So I had to tear down my post setup, toss the posts to the side and drive the tractor into the Gazebo. Once inside I mounted the two posts then proceeded to use the scraps of 2×4 from the house window trim to stabilize the posts and to build a top that is hollow. This is because we will need to put a ladder up through the middle to bolt the center roof pieces in place.

Once I had the platform built I went over to the pile of roof pieces and dug around and tried to figure out how to attach the roof to the outer wall. There is a weird small attachment piece that is bent on three angles. I could not figure out how it went onto the gazebo edge. Gingerman helped me roll the center piece over to the gazebo and then lift it up onto my fancy dancy platform. This would not have been possible to do alone it weighs too much. We took the pickup and trailer over and loaded up the roof pieces. Because I have the tractor with the pallet forks all tied up! I should have moved the roof pieces over with the tractor before building the platform.
I went inside for the day and was talking to Annmarie while she made homemade tomato paste. This is not super easy and not very much is obtained but it tastes great! We were talking and I told her I was unsure how the gazebo roof kept birds out of the tall peaked ridges between each piece. Then it dawned on me, the little weird triangle piece on the roof attachment is the part that goes up into the ridge! Now it will be super easy to get all the roof pieces installed.

Gingerman and I got an impact driver, drill and some large head treated wood anchors. The floor in the barn is coming up in a few places as the old screws have rusted off. It was perfect time to work inside as it rained for a whopping 15 minutes. The rain gauge did not even register the rain. Once we had the floor repaired we set up the sorting chute and unwrapped the old hay so the sheep can tear into it and create bedding. They will spread it out as they tear through it. We will need the chute to tag and band the lambs in a couple of weeks.

Predators 6, Farm 8

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The sheep are still giving birth one at a time on the occasional day. The one a day trickle is very annoying. We are only two weeks into this birthing process. The rams only had eight weeks with the herd so we should only have about 8 weeks left as we should take into account any late births.

Newborn about two hours old

I lost more chickens again to the raccoons. The weird part is they did not kill them at night. They came up the dry creek bottom and killed them in the morning, three chickens gone. Mr Rainman managed to shoot at one as they were running away. They have not returned but since there was no body we don’t get to count them on the predator dispatch count. Otherwise, it would be artificially inflated! The predators are coming in closer to the barn and house. I had two lamb corpses to go up to the boneyard that I had placed over the fence. Mr Rainman went to take them up to the boneyard the next day and the coyotes had come down to the gate and taken them. There were no bodies. We use woven fence to keep the sheep in but it also helps keep the coyotes out. They usually have to dig under the fence to get past it. This is why it is recommended that you run a single strand of barb wire at the ground level on a sheep pasture fence. I don’t do this but it is the recommendation. I usually just fill in the hole but after losing so many sheep last year I put a snare in the crossing now.

Last night when the progeny was returning home after dark she spotted a possum leaving the mother-in-law’s back yard. The Gingerman jumped out and dispatched the possum. I had been noticing a steady decline in eggs recently and figured there was a possum around. They will sneak into the coop during the day and eat the eggs. They rarely kill the chickens but they love the eggs! They are super hard to get rid of because we are gone during the day usually or out and about on the farm.

It is dove season now so we are starting to thin out the doves. There are over a 100 now on the place and they are competing with the quail. We like the quail over all other birds and have worked for the last 20 years to protect and grow them. There are several coveys on the farm but we won’t know how many are on the place until it starts getting cold and they all come down to the houses to winter over. They know where the easy food is located. Hopefully, the population is over a 200. It waxes and wanes pretty significantly. We have had as few as 30 and over 200 over the years. The last few years we have managed to keep over 100 at any time on the place. But this is the most doves we have ever had on the place. Only about 25% of them are the ring neck version. These are invasive and quite a bit larger than the native doves.

We are now seeing bunny rabbits on a regular basis but still only seeing one at a time and only in a couple of places on the farm. They are the dwarf bunnies native to Oregon. I think the owls and hawks love rabbit and they just cannot reproduce fast enough to get ahead of the depredation. They are maintaining a small population.

Cow hay now on the farm

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It never fails, when I need to do anything with the hay it always rains. Labor Day was no different, just as I was finishing up transporting the last load to the farm it started to rain! This is great timing as it is going to sit out for a week until it can be loaded into the machine shed.

I have been trying to get last years big bale discards from a source all summer long. It was going to be discounted and I wanted enough that I was hoping to have it delivered. This did not work out at all. Annmarie has been “reminding” me all summer that the cows need hay for the winter and I am being a cheapskate. There is nothing wrong with being a cheapskate when possible but she was right it was getting late in the season to be buying hay. The real problem with buying hay is I only have a 7500# 16’ bumper pull trailer. So I can only fit four large bales at a time on it which causes problems when you want to pickup 60 bales of hay.

Normally, I purchase all of my hay from Bluview Farms. I always wait until September to purchase it. So I went with this option again as it fits the bill nicely. They are only four miles from where we live so I can take an entire day and just run back and forth with four large bales at a time. Unfortunately, they are selling their farm and moving which is going to cause me issues next year. I really need two semi truck loads delivered. The second problem is that I do not have a tractor large enough to unload the hay and restack it. I am not buying a third tractor to use once a year. The third problem is our old pickup may not be able to haul a large gooseneck trailer if I have to pickup the hay myself.

So that being said Mr Gingerman is coming over today to stack all of the large bales into the machine shed. I think we can get 50 bales, stacked four high in the hay storage area. I can toss a chain around them and pull them down with the little tractor. Once they are down my new Kubota 3301 can lift a bale about 4-6” off the ground and I can drive it anywhere on the property fairly easily. This is much better than pushing it along the ground which is only what the little John Deere 2520 can accomplish. Mind you, I have fed the cows large bales almost exclusively but I keep hoping to make it easier.

What does this mean? I need to find a source of hay that can deliver it by the semi load and unload and stack it into the machine shed or I need to purchase a larger pickup and trailer so that I can haul 10-14 bales at a time. Fortunately, I was able to pickup a F350 Diesel this week for a steal. Again, the Dodge 10 cylinder is a beast but it is starting to show its years and it has 180k miles on it. I just purchased tires for it at the beginning of summer but they are the same size as the new Ford so I will get them swapped out. The Dodge is rough on the exterior and rough on the interior, a true farm vehicle. Once I get the tires swapped I will be offering it up for sale, cheap!

I have the new truck, now I may need a new trailer, gooseneck. I do not want anything fancy. I want it very functional and capable of hauling a lot of weight. I can even rewire the lights and brakes if necessary. So if you know of anything “cheap” let me know I would appreciate it.

Summer 2024 Lamb Productivity

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Well summer lambing started on August 15 2024. In the last 18 days we have had 12 ewes give birth. It has not gone smoothly, as it is summer. Surprisingly, having lambs in the dead of winter is easier. The sheep are all in the barn and tend to deliver in the middle of the night almost without fail. We can then catch them, put them in jugs and leave them to bond for 2-3 days. This is not possible in the summer. For one, they don’t always give birth at night, about 30% of the lambs have been born during the day. The lambs are pretty dang spry by the time we get out there to put everyone in for the night. Which means you cannot always catch them. The space we put them in is very large compared to the amount of space they have in the barn. They are just dumber in the summer.

The stats are not very good but they are the facts so here they are:

  • Date of update- Sept 3 2024
  • # of Lambs born – 16
  • # of ewes who have delivered babies – 12
  • # of ewes still pregnant – No clue, I think between 23-33 but I am guessing
  • # of single lamb births – 8
  • # of twin lamb births – 4
  • # of triplet lamb births – 0
  • # tagged male (weathers-neutered) lambs-none yet
  • # tagged female lambs- none yet
  • # of bummer lambs – 1
  • # of lambs who died in first two weeks – 3
  • Total # of lambs on farm -12
  • % birthing rate- 133%
  • % production rate -100%
  • % survival rate at birth – 100%
  • % survival rate at 2 weeks (bummers count as death as they need help and leave the farm) – 75%

Mr Rainman finished digging out the barn today. I put straw in the momma/baby area and opened it up so the sheep could go into that little area of the barn. They can shelter in the barn or over in the lamb shed. For the most part they sneak in with the horse, help her eat her hay and let her watch their babies. She likes the lambs and is very careful with them.

We went to take a couple of dead lambs up to the boneyard Monday morning and they were gone! Annmarie had us out at bedtime looking for coyotes as she could hear them. They were up in field one at the far end of the property. They came all the way down to the barn lot but did not get into the actual barn lot. The corpses were outside the barn lot. We, of course, have not seen a coyote in weeks. We have not lost a sheep that we know of yet this year. There is a skeleton in the orchard but it’s down in a hole and it was all bones. Mr Rainman swears it is new. We had so many deaths last year I am not sure we found them all. So I am not counting it as a loss for this year. We only kept the rams in with the ewes for 8 weeks so we should only have six weeks of lambing left!