farmerjan
Herd Master
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Milestone, 5,000 posts and page 500 !!!!! for @Ridgetop
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
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- #5,002
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Christmas decorating all finished. Christmas shopping all finished. First batch of Christmas cookie dough made and in fridge. Will bake next week since I don't have enough freezer space to put any Christmas cookies.
This is our second Christmas here in Texas. Last year DH and I reyurned to Texas in November just in tme for DS1 to leave for CA for Thanksgiving and Christmas. DH flew out to join him right after Christmas. Then they drove back together 2 weeks later. The day DH left the ewes started lambing. By the time they got back I had 20 ewes in jugs in the barn, no barn water, no barn lights, snow on the ground, and was breaking ice in all the buckets and troughs! LOL This year we have lights in the barn and frost free barn water hydrants. As long as we don't forget to unhook the hoses we have water for the livestock without having to drag 5 gallon buckets out to the barn. The sheep are also lambing in a very spread out manner this year. BL16 lambed 4 days ago wth twin ram lambs.
Thursday DH, DS1 and I drove to Rockwall where we went to Burington and returned the jacket I bought for DGS1 and DS1. DS1 found 2 other lightweight sweatshirt jackets he liked. The $25 jacket I foud for DGS1 was going cost $32 to ship to him. He was going back to college before we arrived in CA so I returned it and sent him prepaid Visa cards. His mother can buy him a heavy snow jacket at the Buringtons in Burbank. After Burlingtons we went to Costco where we did another shopping. Finalalay on the way home we went to Brookshires where I bought groceries and another Visa card for DGS1. It is true that if you buy gift cards at Brookshires they count toward the $.10-$1.00 discount on buying gas. DS1 suggested we buy try buying the Brookshires grocery gift cards which don't have a fee to purchase. That way we get the gas discount without spending the fee to purchase the cards.
Yesterday DS1 and DH unrolled more of the old hay in the pasture. We still need to seed over it. I dd laundry and different chores in the house. Today after church we spent the day in the barn. We had made a creep pen but blocked off the creep openings to make sure the lambs learned where the creep food and heatlamps were located. We put the 3 ewes wth their lambs in for a week. Today DH reasembled the jugs and built another ewe/lamb creep pen. We moved the older lambs and 3 ewes into the new creep for the night. Tomorrow we will turn those mama ewes out with the pregnant ewes and open the creep slots for the lambs to go in and out. Then we moved the next set of 3 ewes and their lambs into the first creep pen from their jugs. We put flock tags on 2 of the ram lambs that we really liked and docked them. We will keep one for ourselves but will sell one - last year we had calls for rams but didn't keep any. I am waiting to see what a couple of the others look like before deciding whether to keep any others.
While DS1 moved around the jug panels and set them up I raked and shoveled out the jugs. DH wheeled the heavy wheelbarrows of soiled bedding outside and dumped them. Tomorrow he will pick them up in the Kubota and take the stuff over to the manure pile we started. I got 3 jugs emptied and after we finished the vaxing/tagging/docking/worming, we moved the last 2 ewes over into 2 clean jugs. Both of those ewes have twins. Tomorrow we'll go out and finish cleaning the last 3 jugs. We still have 8-9 ewes to lamb. A couple of the yearlings don't look pregnant, but are starting to develop tiny udders.
The well water seems to have finally cleared up. Mr. Folmar called to check on it and told me to be sure to let him know immediately if it clouds again. It seems to be running clean now and DS1 put a filter on the pump so we will check to see if the filter shows any dirt or particles. Hopefully we now have good water.
Even though we have city water in the house, a the good well is insurance.
OZEL HAS A BROKEN PAW! She wouldnt put any weight on it so DS1 took her to the vet. They xrayed and found that she has broken a bone in her foot Not a toe, which wouldn't have been a problem, but one of the bones up in her foot.
She is now in a cast and splint to make sure that she doesn't move the bones out of position. She has to wear it for 6 weeks! This certainly messes up our trip to Calfornia. I might have to stay here while the fellows go back. Then I will go back with DS1 to finish clearing out the house in April. Have to talk it over with the fellows.
This is our second Christmas here in Texas. Last year DH and I reyurned to Texas in November just in tme for DS1 to leave for CA for Thanksgiving and Christmas. DH flew out to join him right after Christmas. Then they drove back together 2 weeks later. The day DH left the ewes started lambing. By the time they got back I had 20 ewes in jugs in the barn, no barn water, no barn lights, snow on the ground, and was breaking ice in all the buckets and troughs! LOL This year we have lights in the barn and frost free barn water hydrants. As long as we don't forget to unhook the hoses we have water for the livestock without having to drag 5 gallon buckets out to the barn. The sheep are also lambing in a very spread out manner this year. BL16 lambed 4 days ago wth twin ram lambs.
Thursday DH, DS1 and I drove to Rockwall where we went to Burington and returned the jacket I bought for DGS1 and DS1. DS1 found 2 other lightweight sweatshirt jackets he liked. The $25 jacket I foud for DGS1 was going cost $32 to ship to him. He was going back to college before we arrived in CA so I returned it and sent him prepaid Visa cards. His mother can buy him a heavy snow jacket at the Buringtons in Burbank. After Burlingtons we went to Costco where we did another shopping. Finalalay on the way home we went to Brookshires where I bought groceries and another Visa card for DGS1. It is true that if you buy gift cards at Brookshires they count toward the $.10-$1.00 discount on buying gas. DS1 suggested we buy try buying the Brookshires grocery gift cards which don't have a fee to purchase. That way we get the gas discount without spending the fee to purchase the cards.
Yesterday DS1 and DH unrolled more of the old hay in the pasture. We still need to seed over it. I dd laundry and different chores in the house. Today after church we spent the day in the barn. We had made a creep pen but blocked off the creep openings to make sure the lambs learned where the creep food and heatlamps were located. We put the 3 ewes wth their lambs in for a week. Today DH reasembled the jugs and built another ewe/lamb creep pen. We moved the older lambs and 3 ewes into the new creep for the night. Tomorrow we will turn those mama ewes out with the pregnant ewes and open the creep slots for the lambs to go in and out. Then we moved the next set of 3 ewes and their lambs into the first creep pen from their jugs. We put flock tags on 2 of the ram lambs that we really liked and docked them. We will keep one for ourselves but will sell one - last year we had calls for rams but didn't keep any. I am waiting to see what a couple of the others look like before deciding whether to keep any others.
While DS1 moved around the jug panels and set them up I raked and shoveled out the jugs. DH wheeled the heavy wheelbarrows of soiled bedding outside and dumped them. Tomorrow he will pick them up in the Kubota and take the stuff over to the manure pile we started. I got 3 jugs emptied and after we finished the vaxing/tagging/docking/worming, we moved the last 2 ewes over into 2 clean jugs. Both of those ewes have twins. Tomorrow we'll go out and finish cleaning the last 3 jugs. We still have 8-9 ewes to lamb. A couple of the yearlings don't look pregnant, but are starting to develop tiny udders.
The well water seems to have finally cleared up. Mr. Folmar called to check on it and told me to be sure to let him know immediately if it clouds again. It seems to be running clean now and DS1 put a filter on the pump so we will check to see if the filter shows any dirt or particles. Hopefully we now have good water.
Even though we have city water in the house, a the good well is insurance. OZEL HAS A BROKEN PAW! She wouldnt put any weight on it so DS1 took her to the vet. They xrayed and found that she has broken a bone in her foot Not a toe, which wouldn't have been a problem, but one of the bones up in her foot.
She is now in a cast and splint to make sure that she doesn't move the bones out of position. She has to wear it for 6 weeks! This certainly messes up our trip to Calfornia. I might have to stay here while the fellows go back. Then I will go back with DS1 to finish clearing out the house in April. Have to talk it over with the fellows.
Poor Ozel! Good thing she's not expecting.Christmas decorating all finished. Christmas shopping all finished. First batch of Christmas cookie dough made and in fridge. Will bake next week since I don't have enough freezer space to put any Christmas cookies.
This is our second Christmas here in Texas. Last year DH and I reyurned to Texas in November just in tme for DS1 to leave for CA for Thanksgiving and Christmas. DH flew out to join him right after Christmas. Then they drove back together 2 weeks later. The day DH left the ewes started lambing. By the time they got back I had 20 ewes in jugs in the barn, no barn water, no barn lights, snow on the ground, and was breaking ice in all the buckets and troughs! LOL This year we have lights in the barn and frost free barn water hydrants. As long as we don't forget to unhook the hoses we have water for the livestock without having to drag 5 gallon buckets out to the barn. The sheep are also lambing in a very spread out manner this year. BL16 lambed 4 days ago wth twin ram lambs.
Thursday DH, DS1 and I drove to Rockwall where we went to Burington and returned the jacket I bought for DGS1 and DS1. DS1 found 2 other lightweight sweatshirt jackets he liked. The $25 jacket I foud for DGS1 was going cost $32 to ship to him. He was going back to college before we arrived in CA so I returned it and sent him prepaid Visa cards. His mother can buy him a heavy snow jacket at the Buringtons in Burbank. After Burlingtons we went to Costco where we did another shopping. Finalalay on the way home we went to Brookshires where I bought groceries and another Visa card for DGS1. It is true that if you buy gift cards at Brookshires they count toward the $.10-$1.00 discount on buying gas. DS1 suggested we buy try buying the Brookshires grocery gift cards which don't have a fee to purchase. That way we get the gas discount without spending the fee to purchase the cards.
Yesterday DS1 and DH unrolled more of the old hay in the pasture. We still need to seed over it. I dd laundry and different chores in the house. Today after church we spent the day in the barn. We had made a creep pen but blocked off the creep openings to make sure the lambs learned where the creep food and heatlamps were located. We put the 3 ewes wth their lambs in for a week. Today DH reasembled the jugs and built another ewe/lamb creep pen. We moved the older lambs and 3 ewes into the new creep for the night. Tomorrow we will turn those mama ewes out with the pregnant ewes and open the creep slots for the lambs to go in and out. Then we moved the next set of 3 ewes and their lambs into the first creep pen from their jugs. We put flock tags on 2 of the ram lambs that we really liked and docked them. We will keep one for ourselves but will sell one - last year we had calls for rams but didn't keep any. I am waiting to see what a couple of the others look like before deciding whether to keep any others.
While DS1 moved around the jug panels and set them up I raked and shoveled out the jugs. DH wheeled the heavy wheelbarrows of soiled bedding outside and dumped them. Tomorrow he will pick them up in the Kubota and take the stuff over to the manure pile we started. I got 3 jugs emptied and after we finished the vaxing/tagging/docking/worming, we moved the last 2 ewes over into 2 clean jugs. Both of those ewes have twins. Tomorrow we'll go out and finish cleaning the last 3 jugs. We still have 8-9 ewes to lamb. A couple of the yearlings don't look pregnant, but are starting to develop tiny udders.
The well water seems to have finally cleared up. Mr. Folmar called to check on it and told me to be sure to let him know immediately if it clouds again. It seems to be running clean now and DS1 put a filter on the pump so we will check to see if the filter shows any dirt or particles. Hopefully we now have good water.
OZEL HAS A BROKEN PAW! She wouldnt put any weight on it so DS1 took her to the vet. They xrayed and found that she has broken a bone in her foot Not a toe, which wouldn't have been a problem, but one of the bones up in her foot.
Maybe you need to be in Texas for a reason...
Baymule
Herd Master
Oh no Ozel! Poor baby. I expect her to milk this for all she can and get LOTS of tummy rubs. And you were worried about her having puppies. Looks like you will be staying home and taking care of Ozel and ewes. At least you have lights and water in the barn now.
SageHill
Herd Master
OH no!! Poor Ozel. It ain't fair.
Obi Wan broke two toes at once cast up to his elbow --- he sends Ozel special healing vibes.
Obi Wan broke two toes at once cast up to his elbow --- he sends Ozel special healing vibes.
- Thread starter
- #5,006
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Ozel is hobbling around learning to use her splint leg. The splint keeps any pressure off the bones in her paw so they can heal. I had to take her back yesterday to have them rebandage since the foot was swelling up. We were told to bring her back straight away if there was swelling of the paw since it meant the bandages were too tight and cutting off blood supply. She will go back the day after Christmas for a recheck.
Still cleaning out the jugs. I hate using the old hay for bedding since it gets compacted into the mud like adobe. I dig the rake in and pull toward me. A layer will come up and I use the rake to peep it rolling into a ball. I did 3 wheelbarrow loads full yesterday and that was all I could take with the torn muscle in my gluteus. The jug is only half cleaned. I decided that I wil have to clean the jugs to the ground every day to avoid this massive cleaning. Then I fed and watered. The fellows came home from getting their Christmas haircuts and picking up the car from the oil change. DS1 came out to see if I needed any help but I was almost finished. The first little lambs and their mothers were turned into the field with the other pregnant ewes yesterday morning. When I went out in the mornig I noticed a couple had already ventured out into the main barn through the creep. Last evening three came back in the creep to eat alfalfa. Then they all ran out to try to eat the grain i fed to the ewes in the main barn. The ewes are back on grass hay with a grain feeding at night. The lambs are eating the new grass that is coming up from the rain and warm days we have had.
I can't believe it is only 2 days to Christmas! We are going to the Christmas Eve mass. There is a Children's Concert right after mass that we will stay for. If DSIL2 isn't home (currently in CA driving) by Christmas Eve she will come out to spend the night with us and Annabel will have Christmas here. DGD Maysie is flying in on the 26th so both girls will be able to open their Santa gifts together then.
DS1 says the ewes are waiting to all lamb at once during Christmas dinner and all lambs will need to be pulled!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Still cleaning out the jugs. I hate using the old hay for bedding since it gets compacted into the mud like adobe. I dig the rake in and pull toward me. A layer will come up and I use the rake to peep it rolling into a ball. I did 3 wheelbarrow loads full yesterday and that was all I could take with the torn muscle in my gluteus. The jug is only half cleaned. I decided that I wil have to clean the jugs to the ground every day to avoid this massive cleaning.
Then I fed and watered. The fellows came home from getting their Christmas haircuts and picking up the car from the oil change. DS1 came out to see if I needed any help but I was almost finished. The first little lambs and their mothers were turned into the field with the other pregnant ewes yesterday morning. When I went out in the mornig I noticed a couple had already ventured out into the main barn through the creep. Last evening three came back in the creep to eat alfalfa. Then they all ran out to try to eat the grain i fed to the ewes in the main barn. The ewes are back on grass hay with a grain feeding at night. The lambs are eating the new grass that is coming up from the rain and warm days we have had. I can't believe it is only 2 days to Christmas! We are going to the Christmas Eve mass. There is a Children's Concert right after mass that we will stay for. If DSIL2 isn't home (currently in CA driving) by Christmas Eve she will come out to spend the night with us and Annabel will have Christmas here. DGD Maysie is flying in on the 26th so both girls will be able to open their Santa gifts together then.
DS1 says the ewes are waiting to all lamb at once during Christmas dinner and all lambs will need to be pulled!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
I'm glad Ozel is able to get around and is healing. 
That's some positive thinking...lol
Mini Horses
Herd Master
Me, too! But sometimes the waste hay is already there from sloppy eating
Then, there are those who show so little sign they go to worst place to kid/lamb 
sometimes right next to clean bedding 
we can't win! I do use shavings, under straw/hay if possible...it helps.
Baymule
Herd Master
I hope the ewes at least let y'all eat Christmas dinner before they hit the emergency room!
Finnie
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