Baymule
Herd Master
Beautiful ewes! I'm getting excited too over them having lambs!
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
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- Start date
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Ridgetop
Herd Master
Ok. Up from the dust, got my labels printed for tomorrow's job, got lot of the hand tools sorted and put in drawers. Ordered a new hanging scale for my lambs. This one is rated up to 660 lbs. (way overkill - maybe it will last!)Has an aluminum case, and 178 people rated it at an average of 81%. Reead al the reviews, and several people said they weighed calves, (mini somethings), sheep and goats. Hope it lasts longer than the last 2 did. Got one from Jeffers and it didn't even last through lambing season. Replaced it with one from Premier and although it got us through lambing season, it broke apart about the time we sent the lambs off to the butcher. At least I was able to get a weight on them before they went off. I need to make sure that they are a minimum 100 lbs. for my buyers. I probably need to raise my prices this year - I am selling for $200 each live weight. I don't break even, but if I don't have enough to sell (we love lamb) that is ok too.
Anyway, this story I am going to relate (over the next several days) is one I wrote up for the Corral 30 ETI newsletter about 12 years after an El Nino year. It is about our fire clearance adventures, and was written for the Shadow Hills ETI Corral 30 newsletter. It is a true story, perhaps a little exaggerated, but definitely true. I still have the scars.
In southern California Fire Clearance is a way of life. For those of you who don’t have to do fire clearance, you are lucky. Fire clearance is not just a wicked way government has of hassling us. It is a necessity in a fire hazard area. Those of us who plan to survive and keep our property secure do fire clearance. Those who don’t, endanger themselves as well as their neighbors. Here in southern California we have heavy tropical rains interspersed with warm, sunny days. This means that our green stuff comes up and grows at a remarkable rate. If you have ever watched time lapsed photography of the desert after a rain, you will get some idea of how fast our hills turn green. The hills turn yellow and brown just as quickly, and our sunny weather turns it into tinder. Fire is our enemy here, and we clear to defeat it.
Shadow Hills is an agricultural horse area. Many people when we moved here kept sheep, goats, cows, etc. along with poultry. Most agriculture has left us, but there are still a high percentage of horse people here. Our topography is mountainous and steep although we are actually considered the foothills. The lots are not large enough to warrant anyone owning a tractor with a brush hog. We clear with weed whackers, on foot. Most of our roads are narrow single lane private roads. There are areas of unimproved land surrounding homes where it is difficult for fire fighters to access. In southern California the lots are all small. The San Fernando Valley has larger lots than the city proper of Los Angeles, but still to have a quarter acre or half acre parcel means you have a property about 2 to 3 times what anyone else in the city has. We have 6 acres, with about a half acre of flat on top of the ridge. Our barns and animal keeping areas are all carved out of the sides of the ridge. Shadow Hills is within 20 minutes of the Burbank studios, 30 minutes to Pasadena and Glendale, and is very central to everywhere because we have 2 good freeways on either side of our town. This article was written for residents who love Shadow Hills.
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF BRUSH CLEARANCE
Chapter 1 – February
It is hard to beat life in Shadow Hills with its large properties, killer views, proximity to trails, and seeming seclusion just minutes from every convenience. Summer shimmers under blue skies, winter brings purple clouds scudding over golden peaks, and the first rains bring magic to the hills, turning them green overnight.
But before you know it, your hillsides, so softly green yesterday, become towering thickets rushing to engulf your house. The Fire Department has started inspections and the brush clearance deadline is looming like an IRS audit. Panic stricken, you turn your horses out to eat the weeds and brush. As they start to gently graze you begin to relax. You have months until the deadline. Your horses will graze and clear it all for you. After all, it’s green. Horses eat green stuff, right? Wrong! Just because it is green does not mean that it suits the equine palate. Our 4 equine buddies (3 horses and a mule) do not relish the green wild mustard, the nettles, or other native plants that grow on our hillsides in such abundance. They want hay, expensive hay, carried to their stalls and placed reverently in their feeders. Their idea of grazing is to buck madly around the field upon being let out of their stalls. Then a quick gallop to the hay shed, where they stare at the door willing it to open and allow them access. A suggestion that they might like to stroll down the hill and harvest a few tasty green mouthfuls is greeted with derision. The occasional mouthful snatched from the rosebushes in bloom, especially when accompanied by a rollicking chase around the yard, is fun, grazing for a living is – well, work!
It is a scientific fact in Shadow Hills that large properties expand in size during brush clearance season. Hillsides get steeper, and the earth’s orbit shifts, causing increased gravity during the months of February through May. Clearing hillsides also gets harder as you get more mature. 20 years ago, as a young couple with 4 active kids, we bounded up and down our cliffside property with impunity. Regulations were less stringent. Having large 4-H goat and sheep projects ensured that everything within their reach was trimmed.
Alas, times have changed, years have passed. Being big DIYers we rarely hired anyone to do anything. We did it all ourselves. Now with our children grown we have less help with brush clearance. Bring retired we have less money to hire people to clear, and we resent parting with it to pay others what we can do ourselves. As we hobble out to our steep hillsides with our tools, we see our horses and mule relaxing in their stalls, chewing that expensive hay, and staring at us with interest. As we stand looking at the equivalent of the Grand Canyon that the Fire Clearance Code requires us to clear, we ponder how to get those four-legged freeloaders to earn their keep. If we want them to do the work for us, we will need to be clever. We will need a CUNNING PLAN . . . .
Chapter 2 – Still February
CUNNNG PLAN #1:
Day 1
Do not feed horses and mule. Turn loose on 4 acre field. Ignore equine complaints.
Day 2
Repair hayshed door and tie it shut. Leave horses and mule loose on 4 acre field. Continually shoo them down hillside toward area to be cleared.
Day 3
Replace hayshed door. Leave horses and mule on field. Tell each other that it looks like they have eaten some of the green stuff.
Day 4
Build fence around hayshed. Rebuild hayshed door and chain it shut. Swear at horses and mule. Try to chase them over to area to be cleared.
Day 5
Abandon Not So Cunning plan #1 and think of NEW CUNNING PLAN.
With our hay shed/fortress now secure from depredation, our trusty equines are still our best allies in the brush clearance war. The hunger plan failed but they have watched us bring food from the magic hayshed for years so it may not be entirely their fault. Maybe they need to be taught how to graze and forage like their wild ancestors. (For food that is growing from the ground that is, as opposed to foraging in the hay shed.) We decide to retrain them with our NEW CUNNING PLAN.
Chapter 3 – End of February
NEW CUNNING PLAN #2
Day 1 Scatter hay over weeds to be cleared. Lead horses and mule to scattered hay. Watch as horses and mule eat scattered hay and occasional weeds. Congratulate each other on success of plan. Watch as horses and mule leave area to be cleared, returning to practice mind control on new hay shed/fortress.
Day 2
Repeat
Day 3
Repeat
Day 4
Repeat
This plan works pretty well. We estimate that the horses and mule will have the 200 foot fire clearance area grazed off in 2 years. Regretfully, we decide to abandon Slow Cunning Plan #2 and think of a FASTER CUNNING PLAN . . . .
To be continued
Anyway, this story I am going to relate (over the next several days) is one I wrote up for the Corral 30 ETI newsletter about 12 years after an El Nino year. It is about our fire clearance adventures, and was written for the Shadow Hills ETI Corral 30 newsletter. It is a true story, perhaps a little exaggerated, but definitely true. I still have the scars.
In southern California Fire Clearance is a way of life. For those of you who don’t have to do fire clearance, you are lucky. Fire clearance is not just a wicked way government has of hassling us. It is a necessity in a fire hazard area. Those of us who plan to survive and keep our property secure do fire clearance. Those who don’t, endanger themselves as well as their neighbors. Here in southern California we have heavy tropical rains interspersed with warm, sunny days. This means that our green stuff comes up and grows at a remarkable rate. If you have ever watched time lapsed photography of the desert after a rain, you will get some idea of how fast our hills turn green. The hills turn yellow and brown just as quickly, and our sunny weather turns it into tinder. Fire is our enemy here, and we clear to defeat it.
Shadow Hills is an agricultural horse area. Many people when we moved here kept sheep, goats, cows, etc. along with poultry. Most agriculture has left us, but there are still a high percentage of horse people here. Our topography is mountainous and steep although we are actually considered the foothills. The lots are not large enough to warrant anyone owning a tractor with a brush hog. We clear with weed whackers, on foot. Most of our roads are narrow single lane private roads. There are areas of unimproved land surrounding homes where it is difficult for fire fighters to access. In southern California the lots are all small. The San Fernando Valley has larger lots than the city proper of Los Angeles, but still to have a quarter acre or half acre parcel means you have a property about 2 to 3 times what anyone else in the city has. We have 6 acres, with about a half acre of flat on top of the ridge. Our barns and animal keeping areas are all carved out of the sides of the ridge. Shadow Hills is within 20 minutes of the Burbank studios, 30 minutes to Pasadena and Glendale, and is very central to everywhere because we have 2 good freeways on either side of our town. This article was written for residents who love Shadow Hills.
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF BRUSH CLEARANCE
Chapter 1 – February
It is hard to beat life in Shadow Hills with its large properties, killer views, proximity to trails, and seeming seclusion just minutes from every convenience. Summer shimmers under blue skies, winter brings purple clouds scudding over golden peaks, and the first rains bring magic to the hills, turning them green overnight.
But before you know it, your hillsides, so softly green yesterday, become towering thickets rushing to engulf your house. The Fire Department has started inspections and the brush clearance deadline is looming like an IRS audit. Panic stricken, you turn your horses out to eat the weeds and brush. As they start to gently graze you begin to relax. You have months until the deadline. Your horses will graze and clear it all for you. After all, it’s green. Horses eat green stuff, right? Wrong! Just because it is green does not mean that it suits the equine palate. Our 4 equine buddies (3 horses and a mule) do not relish the green wild mustard, the nettles, or other native plants that grow on our hillsides in such abundance. They want hay, expensive hay, carried to their stalls and placed reverently in their feeders. Their idea of grazing is to buck madly around the field upon being let out of their stalls. Then a quick gallop to the hay shed, where they stare at the door willing it to open and allow them access. A suggestion that they might like to stroll down the hill and harvest a few tasty green mouthfuls is greeted with derision. The occasional mouthful snatched from the rosebushes in bloom, especially when accompanied by a rollicking chase around the yard, is fun, grazing for a living is – well, work!
It is a scientific fact in Shadow Hills that large properties expand in size during brush clearance season. Hillsides get steeper, and the earth’s orbit shifts, causing increased gravity during the months of February through May. Clearing hillsides also gets harder as you get more mature. 20 years ago, as a young couple with 4 active kids, we bounded up and down our cliffside property with impunity. Regulations were less stringent. Having large 4-H goat and sheep projects ensured that everything within their reach was trimmed.
Alas, times have changed, years have passed. Being big DIYers we rarely hired anyone to do anything. We did it all ourselves. Now with our children grown we have less help with brush clearance. Bring retired we have less money to hire people to clear, and we resent parting with it to pay others what we can do ourselves. As we hobble out to our steep hillsides with our tools, we see our horses and mule relaxing in their stalls, chewing that expensive hay, and staring at us with interest. As we stand looking at the equivalent of the Grand Canyon that the Fire Clearance Code requires us to clear, we ponder how to get those four-legged freeloaders to earn their keep. If we want them to do the work for us, we will need to be clever. We will need a CUNNING PLAN . . . .
Chapter 2 – Still February
CUNNNG PLAN #1:
Day 1
Do not feed horses and mule. Turn loose on 4 acre field. Ignore equine complaints.
Day 2
Repair hayshed door and tie it shut. Leave horses and mule loose on 4 acre field. Continually shoo them down hillside toward area to be cleared.
Day 3
Replace hayshed door. Leave horses and mule on field. Tell each other that it looks like they have eaten some of the green stuff.
Day 4
Build fence around hayshed. Rebuild hayshed door and chain it shut. Swear at horses and mule. Try to chase them over to area to be cleared.
Day 5
Abandon Not So Cunning plan #1 and think of NEW CUNNING PLAN.
With our hay shed/fortress now secure from depredation, our trusty equines are still our best allies in the brush clearance war. The hunger plan failed but they have watched us bring food from the magic hayshed for years so it may not be entirely their fault. Maybe they need to be taught how to graze and forage like their wild ancestors. (For food that is growing from the ground that is, as opposed to foraging in the hay shed.) We decide to retrain them with our NEW CUNNING PLAN.
Chapter 3 – End of February
NEW CUNNING PLAN #2
Day 1 Scatter hay over weeds to be cleared. Lead horses and mule to scattered hay. Watch as horses and mule eat scattered hay and occasional weeds. Congratulate each other on success of plan. Watch as horses and mule leave area to be cleared, returning to practice mind control on new hay shed/fortress.
Day 2
Repeat
Day 3
Repeat
Day 4
Repeat
This plan works pretty well. We estimate that the horses and mule will have the 200 foot fire clearance area grazed off in 2 years. Regretfully, we decide to abandon Slow Cunning Plan #2 and think of a FASTER CUNNING PLAN . . . .
To be continued
Mike CHS
Herd Master
I love your posts but I'm curious about a HANGING scale that is good for 660 pounds. Who puts the critter in the scale. 
We have a digital scale that we use in our chute system that is portable and not very expensive that we have used for two years.
We have a digital scale that we use in our chute system that is portable and not very expensive that we have used for two years.
Baymule
Herd Master
OMG!! I am crying! Gasping for breath! That is so funny!!! 
You told me that you would like a smallish Tennessee Walker.....well I do too.....and I bought one today. Going to get her tomorrow. She is coming from a Kill Pen, skinny, needs feed and TLC. I know it's buying a pig in a poke, but I'll take that chance. I can't wait until tomorrow morning, I hope I can sleep tonight!
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/meet-pearl-new-horse.38633/#post-576268
You told me that you would like a smallish Tennessee Walker.....well I do too.....and I bought one today. Going to get her tomorrow. She is coming from a Kill Pen, skinny, needs feed and TLC. I know it's buying a pig in a poke, but I'll take that chance. I can't wait until tomorrow morning, I hope I can sleep tonight!
https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/meet-pearl-new-horse.38633/#post-576268
greybeard
Herd Master
I haven't seen one in a long time, but the first livestock scales I ever saw used a set of scales where the animal walked over a big piece of belting on the ground, that was suspended from the weighing apparatus above.I love your posts but I'm curious about a HANGING scale that is good for 660 pounds. Who puts the critter in the scale.
We have a digital scale that we use in our chute system that is portable and not very expensive that we have used for two years.
A hoist just raised the belting up to the animal's belly, then took the weight off the animal's hooves and the scale and indicator above showed what the animal weighed.
For humans that can't walk, they're called a supine lift, and that old livestock scale was sort of like that.
- Thread starter
- #297
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Yes, this is a hanging scale rated to 660 that was designed to be carried by sportsmen for weighing fish, deer, etc. It is also designed to hook to a Troyer hoist which is a hoist that allows a small person to lift someone from a hospital bed, etc. That is why it is designed for 660 lbs. It was also used to hoist up larger amounts of weight in their shops using forklift prong to hang it from. I assume people hoisting heavier eights are using sine form of pulley hoist. I did not necessarily need to weigh that much, but the reviews stated that people had used it to weigh much smaller weights and it was accurate in 1/10th of a lb. There were lots of people reviewing it that used it to adjust the pull on their compound hunting bows. There were about 3 or 4 of the same scale made by the same people. I bought the heavy duty aluminum case which was $49.00 on Amazon Prime. I am anxious to see if it s as good as claimed since the last 2 hanging scales I purchased (to replace the one that we used for 25 years and I sold) broke almost immediately even though they were rated to weigh to 200 lbs. and came from well known livestock catalogs.
This scale is the Rural365 Digital Hanging Scale 660 lbs. hook mini Crane scale for fishing, hunting, farm, Troyer, etc. If you put it in the computer it will come up. There are several models and several prices ranging from about $30.00 to $49.00 on Amazon. I ordered the $49.00 model that was heavy duty but because I ordered the blue model it was only $47.00 Prime. Go figure. Anyway, I will let y'all (still practicing Texan) after the end of the lambing season. By the way, even the unhappy reviews rated the company as excellent service since when they complained about it not working the company replaced it immediately! The company is Modern Step. Some people complained that the scale did not work in weather under 44 degrees. Others said it did. Since I don't lamb in that temperature, I was not worried.
We only use the hanging scale to weigh our lambs every week from birth until slaughter weight at 100 lbs. It helps me keep track of rate of gain in the lambs for choosing keeper and replacement ewes, etc. Since I want the lambs in the freezer as soon as possible to cut my feed costs, I need to know as soon as they hit 100 lbs. Since the hanging scale and sling can be packed away until each crop of lamb comes along, I prefer it to the walk through scale due to lack of storage space in our barn. If I had more animals on which to keep track of the weight gains, I would invest on a walk across scale and build a chute. It would be easier since I have to get DS1 to lift the lambs onto the scale when they get larger. I should probably check out using a pully system - got lots of them in the Tool/Workshop. Just found them and the come alongs for stretching fence wire. I will be able to find them again too, since I labeled the bin where I stored them! LOL
We used to have a walk through scale for our sheep and hogs (remember Devil Pig?) when the kids were in 4-H but we sold it and most of our other livestock equipment. Storage is a problem for us since we live on a ridgeline with little flat space to put up buildings.
This scale is the Rural365 Digital Hanging Scale 660 lbs. hook mini Crane scale for fishing, hunting, farm, Troyer, etc. If you put it in the computer it will come up. There are several models and several prices ranging from about $30.00 to $49.00 on Amazon. I ordered the $49.00 model that was heavy duty but because I ordered the blue model it was only $47.00 Prime. Go figure. Anyway, I will let y'all (still practicing Texan) after the end of the lambing season. By the way, even the unhappy reviews rated the company as excellent service since when they complained about it not working the company replaced it immediately! The company is Modern Step. Some people complained that the scale did not work in weather under 44 degrees. Others said it did. Since I don't lamb in that temperature, I was not worried.
We only use the hanging scale to weigh our lambs every week from birth until slaughter weight at 100 lbs. It helps me keep track of rate of gain in the lambs for choosing keeper and replacement ewes, etc. Since I want the lambs in the freezer as soon as possible to cut my feed costs, I need to know as soon as they hit 100 lbs. Since the hanging scale and sling can be packed away until each crop of lamb comes along, I prefer it to the walk through scale due to lack of storage space in our barn. If I had more animals on which to keep track of the weight gains, I would invest on a walk across scale and build a chute. It would be easier since I have to get DS1 to lift the lambs onto the scale when they get larger. I should probably check out using a pully system - got lots of them in the Tool/Workshop. Just found them and the come alongs for stretching fence wire. I will be able to find them again too, since I labeled the bin where I stored them! LOL
We used to have a walk through scale for our sheep and hogs (remember Devil Pig?) when the kids were in 4-H but we sold it and most of our other livestock equipment. Storage is a problem for us since we live on a ridgeline with little flat space to put up buildings.
Storage is a problem for you? <scratching head> I've been reading about milking parlors and multiple storage sheds and conex containers (like 4 or more) and a barn and a porch/breezeway and gosh knows where all else you've got stuff stashed... You have a LOT of "STUFF"! 
- Thread starter
- #299
Ridgetop
Herd Master
YES! And they are all full of JUNK! - Well, tools, and animal equipment, and my kids' junk, and more tools, and feed, and hay, and furniture, and tools . . . . you're right, I have TOO MUCH STUFF!Really messy to partially cleared - Tool/workshop and milk shed -
But starting to get better!
Half the old milk shed with the shelves in place and contents labeled. Soon the Tool/Workshop will be cleared and sorted too. I hope I live long enough to see it! 
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Good golly Miss Molly! That is a LOT of stuff! Will you be moving most of that stuff with you? You might need several moving vans! If you'll be selling a bunch of it, it may provide the funding to move the rest!
