Yesterday, I mowed the whole center field. In the picture, it’s about half done. It doesn’t look too exciting from up top, but this grass was almost waist-high, so definitely needed a cutback before fall. My Farm Planner materials recommend doing your last mowing early enough in the fall that the grass has time to do its final sugar storage in its roots before going dormant for the winter. So, this seems to be a good time. It took me five or six hours to do this field. The first field, that’s completely fenced, I’m hoping will have sheep soon enough to maintain it during the winter so that it doesn’t need any more mowing.Â
My duck flock is doing well. This 5-week old batch of ducks seems to be a big enough group, and noisy and flighty enough, that the older ducks don’t pick on them much. So, I’m able to let them all loose during the day, so they can forage. They are even starting to loosely flock together. I haven’t had any more predation after losing one Magpie drake almost two months ago. I hope it stays that way!
We had a good dinner at the local Thai restaurant last night, and I spent a few hours at the fair getting the final information ready for state fair entries to be prepared. Fortunately for me, another volunteer handles that part!
August is the time for sunsets, and we’ve been getting a lot of fabulous ones lately. But, I’ve struggled to capture them in their full magnitude on camera. These modern day digital cameras–even with their special “sunset” and “night” settings–just don’t do them justice. This is the best one I came up with, and I admit, I digitally altered the colors a little bit to bring it closer to what it looked like in person.
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I have a four-day weekend ahead of me, with hopes of high productivity (as always). I came to realize that the tractor’s brush cutter is just fine and needs no adjustment– the blades I thought were “loose” actually are supposed to spin on their bolt axes. It took me a while to think that through, and then of course when I re-read the manual, it confirmed this. I just didn’t interpret the instructions correctly the first time. So, I’m good to go, I can mow again. And I have the $75 socket set ready for the time when I do need to remove the blades to sharpen them!
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Other to-do wishes for the weekend: smooth the driveway by the house and order gravel. Machete the blackberries around the duck pen. Build a sheep shelter in the pasture. Get ready for our weekend away next weekend-we’re going to Orcas Island.
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And, of course, the fair– I need to go there Fri, Sat and Sun to finish up press releases, state fair entries and anything else that needs doing. Sunday we plan to visit the Wensleydale sheep flock.
I have been feeling impatient lately with my slow progress on things. Being sick last weekend (and I’m still not feeling totally well), being busy with the fair, and reading a lot about sheep have left me feeling like nothing concrete is getting done. And, working a lot of hours at work takes its toll, especially since one of my peers at work has been caustic lately, making the hard work seem less worthwhile. I try not to let it get under my skin, but it does get me down sometimes; engineers can be a tough crowd.
I did manage to find a local dealer of the Wedge-Loc T-post brackets today, and purchased some parts that would enable me to fashion quick shelters for sheep. (The store owner did say that he sells quite a few of those things, and that they do make for good corner braces on short runs, or for quick, temporary fencing.) I am realizing that if I get a ram now, I need to make him separate quarters asap! I had hoped to buy bred ewes and worry about a ram next fall, but I may need to accelerate my plans if I do end up purchasing this whole herd.
I tried out my new gigantic socket wrench on the grass cutter to tighten the blades, and had no luck–the bolts won’t budge. I even stuck a 2-foot pipe on the end of the wrench for more leverage, and then Kirk tried-not a mm of motion! So, I’m stumped, I don’t know how to tighten those blades, the owners manual doesn’t have further advice, so I’ll have to call the dealership to ask for suggestions. I’m anxious to mow the center field before the rainy season, so this is becoming my top priority. Â
We are finishing up the movie series on John Adams and enjoying it. I like period dramas, and these kinds of movies fill in for my pathetic American education, which is totally lacking in history and geography-even though I always got excellent grades!
I probably need to slow down and enjoy life– things will get done, in good time. But, I really wish there were more hours in the day to finish all the things I’d like to be doing!
These days my mind is filled with sheep considerations. I am going to visit this Wensleydale sheep flock in a week, so I have been doing a lot of reading about them, and about sheep breeds in general. There is a huge variation in price between the breeds, and between registered purebreds and crossbreeds. And there are many proâs and conâs to weigh.
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I can get a plain olâ mixed breed wool sheep off of craigslist for easily $100, sometimes less. Wensleydales in general run from $800-$2000, by the looks of things; with maybe a poor-quality, low-percentage wether going for more like $350 (and that still seems too expensive to eat!!). Pro: This flock Iâm considering is discounted if I buy the whole lot of them, because the owners are retiring, they are offering financial incentive to take them all at once. So, if Wensleydales are what Iâm after, itâs a great opportunity price-wise as well as getting access to someoneâs choice breeding stock. This is opposed to having to breed-up from second-choice animals that someone else culled out of their flock.
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Pro: In theory, if they lambed a good crop next spring, the investment could not only pay for itself, but become profitable in the first year. Con: But, thatâs making a lot of assumptions: that prices hold, that I can find buyers, that coyotes wonât get any, that I wonât have to buy a lot of supplemental feed, that I donât have any horrendous vet bills, that the whole shearing thing works out, and that I wonât make some terrible management mistake and have a bunch of losses while Iâm learning the ropes.
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Pro: The owner reports that Wensleydale values have been staying strong, and indeed the few websites in the whole country where I can find prices, they are high! But, what I donât know is how long you have to hold animals to find buyers, and where you find buyers. So, that is something I want to ask more about. Â Con: And, then, there is the fact that sheâs not selling hers very fastâtheyâve been for sale for at least two months, and it doesnât look like sheâs sold a single one! Iâm not sure what to make of that!
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Pro: On the other hand– $100 sheep beget $100 sheep, and all qualities of sheep eat about the same amount of feed. So, if I can sustain expensive sheep on the same grass and find adequate market for them, the income potential for that piece of ground goes way up! Con: And yet, Iâll probably never feel I can afford to eat any of these expensive things, and part of the reason of getting sheep is to have lamb!
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Pro: I do prefer registered purebreds for sure. There are a lot of advantages to purebreds-they are predictable in size, temperament, appearance, health history and quality of carcass, wool, or whatever else you are breeding them for. Mixed breeds are a roll of the dice every time.
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And, more proâs: the sheep are beautiful, the wool is incredible, they are a âheritage breed,â which I favor over modern breeds. I enjoy having unique things, so it would be a novelty to be involved with such an unusual breed recreation project in the U.S. So, I am leaning towards âyesâ; but still have some thinking and research to do!
Kirk and I both got food poisoning, of course, there is now way to know for sure what the source is. Kirk became very sick Friday night, was up all night, and then slept all day Saturday and marginally recovered. I was mildly ill Saturday and thought I had escaped the full brunt of it that he had. But Sunday night, I repeated his Friday night, so Monday I was pretty shot.
So, that has interrupted my big plans for a productive three day weekend. That, and work interruptions. I did get a few things done though, I weed-whacked the septic drain field. And I ran a lot of errands.
I am ready to mow the center field, but realized the brush cutter needs maintenance, its blades have come loose. It turns out, it needs a 1-11/16″ socket to tighten the bolts, a wrench won’t work because there is no way to brace the rotary part so it won’t turn under the torque from the wrench. So, after calling around, I found a socket at Napa in town. That, plus an extension was $75! I was able to borrow a 1″ bar from my dad, but will probably need to get one of those too. I am finding that the tractor, though easy to work on, requires a whole set of specialized tools of its own.
I found an ad today from some sheep farmers who are liqudiating their flock of Wensleydale sheep. They have potentially fourteen of them left, including a very nice ram. I was really set on hair sheep, because I’ve always heard that it’s hard to find shearers and the market for wool is drying up as fewer and fewer people hand-spin. But, I talked to this woman today, and it sounds like the sheep more than pay for themselves, that their wool is highly valued (if you can find a good shearer). She is emailing me more complete information on the animals.
So, maybe I would consider wool sheep after all, it sounds like a nice opportunity to take over an already well-planned breeding program. She was very helpful and shared a lot of information on how she markets the wool and runs her operation. The downside is, they are expensive animals, I would really lose sleep if I lost any to coyotes etc. Food for thought!
I have been so busy lately. In trying to take three-day weekends in July and August to get more farm work done, I think it’s just resulted in my working longer hours during my four-day week at work to keep up! On Thursday, I had a 13 hour workday, including driving time! đ This morning I had to remote log-in to fix a software build breakage I caused- so much for sleeping in. I am thankful I can do it from home, however, that is sure a convenience.
My plan for the remainder of the weekend is to take Monday off too, and mostly work on the farm. The first field is officially fully fenced and ready for animals- so that’s another task, is finding someone who has sheep to sell! I would prefer to buy eight pregnant Katahdin ewes, but we’ll see what I can find. I am also considering a llama, that would hopefully serve as a guardian.
Other goals for the weekend: weed-whack the septic drain field, mow the middle field, smooth the driveway by the house and order gravel for it. And, prepare for the fair, it starts next Thursday! My mom and I are meeting tomorrow to print out the hundreds of pages of schedules, score sheet labels, armbands, “spirit of 4-H” voting ballots, and state fair entry forms necessary for the operation of our 4-H dog barn at the fair. I am looking forward to eating a Russian Pirozki or two! Yum! đ
Magpies, Swedish & One Cayuga
The photo above is the “new” view from the house-minus those scrappy, half-dead alder trees: Kirk cut them down last weekend. And, here is a photo of my purchased ducklings, now three weeks old and thriving. They are enjoying getting let outside in the grass, this is a new privilege this week. The two Swedish ducks have black on the backs of their necks, the solid black one is the Cayuga, and the other four are Magpies.
Last weekend I competed in an AKC herding trial with both of my younger dogs, Maggie and Idgie. The trial was lovely, well-run and organized, the weather was sunny but not-to-hot, and the Whidbey Island farm where we stayed is always gorgeous. I love the drive to get there too. Itâs a very nice weekend for camping in the trailer, and I rarely miss that trial because of it.
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My dogs, however, didnât perform as well as I might have hoped. Of course, it always comes down to oneâs training; there is nobody to blame but the trainer! J
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I ran Idgie on two different sheep courses- an open field course, and an arena course. She had nice outruns in the open field, but was way too pushy on both courses, moving the stock too quickly, which causes her to struggle to control them. And, she was âslicingâ, or cornering too tightly, instead of offering nice âsquare flanksâ where the dogâs turning does not affect the livestockâs course. Idgie ended up only passing one out of four runs, and her score was still not that great (though vastly better than last year at the same farm, so I guess she IS improving in some ways). But, Iâve hardly worked her on sheep in the last six months, so I guess I just need to brush her up on several things. She did call off nicely, every time, which I do appreciate. And, as always, she covers wellâshe will not lose an animal, which is something that many other handlers and other-breed owners cannot say about their dogs.
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I only put Maggie on arena ducks, because she is struggling with flat outruns right now, as well as being able to listen to and process my commands while simultaneously using her brain to read and respond to the livestock. She worked hard on the ducks, and almost passed on Sunday. But, the ducks were very dogged from being worked at multiple trials during the season, and they were challenging for even the most experienced dogs.
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Maggie does an excellent job of thinking on her own, she does not need me to tell her where to be or how to respond to stock movements, and she naturally gathers livestock together and moves them towards me if she is not given any instructions. Through much of her runs, I had few comments other than âgood dog, wise choices.â I have worked hard with both dogs to teach them âintelligent disobedienceâ which is to override a command from me if they perceive that a different action should be taken. This is an important skill for a Border Collie, to be able to cover livestock in an open field, they cannot wait for us to tell them what to do or which way to go.
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But, in young dogs, sometimes, they can take this freedom too liberally, it takes a long time to learn (and teach) good judgment. So, Maggie is going through a phase of using too much of her own judgment, and very frequently overrides my commands to push the stock in a direction I donât prefer (usually she resists moving them away from me, as her gathering desire is very strong). So, we will have to work on that too. She is such a stylish worker though, I really hope I can craft her into a good trial dog.
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So, I have my training work cut out for me. Hopefully getting my own sheep will really help. My fencing is just about done, so Iâm staring to shop, hoping I can buy eight or so ewes in the near future.
I got a few new fencing supplies via mail order today. The first was a one-hander gate latch, a style I’ve admired at several friends’ farms, but could not find locally. It was hard to search for it on the web, as I didn’t really know what to call it. It’s just a simple hook for a chain, but it’s easy to operate with one hand, while being difficult for clever animals to nose open. I imagine it’s only suitable for small, man-sized gates, but those are the ones you most frequently go through with your hands full, so it’s inconvenient to mess with a chain-around-post lock. I found these at Jeffers Livestock Supply, for $1.99 apiece. Nice!
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From Kencove, I got a batch of âWedge-Locâ brackets that allow you to use metal T-posts as diagonal and other kinds of braces. I am interested in using these for a small fenced area I have to create to protect the septic drain field from too much animal traffic and soil compaction. This area is probably only going to be about 60′ on a side, but I do still plan to tension the field fencing there, so I need some kind of corner bracing. Yet, I felt that full H-braces would probably be overkill on something like this. I thought these brackets looked clever, easy to install, and maybe cheaper than using wood, so Iâll give them a try. Though they are sold by many vendors, I couldnât find a lot of personal testimony on the web to verify how well they work.
 I was interested to see they have an example of using their brackets to make little loafing shelters out of T-posts and a piece of plywood for a sloped roof. This might be convenient for rapidly making inexpensive and moveable weather shelters for small animals or livestock. Hmm, food for thought.
This weekend I did get to dabble a little on the fencing; I have all but one gate hung, and all of those now latch. There is just the tiniest bit of work left to make that field livestock-ready: one 12′ section of fence to stretch, one more gate, and fixing some “airspace” under one gate that’s on a slope. But, I didn’t get to that.
I had to finish the tractor’s 100 hour maintenance list, which takes some time-oil change, grease the fittings, check all the fluids, clean the air filter, etc. And, then I worked on field mowing, which is about a 4+ hour job for each of the two mowed fields. I got more than half of the main field done.
Mowing is pretty relaxing, it’s enjoyable to see a local hawk taking advantage of flushed mice. And the swallows go bananas over the insects that mowing excites– I had several dozen birds swerving and swooping all around me. They are so acrobatic, it’s amazing they don’t hit the tractor, or each other, when they are in such a feeding frenzy. I love the smell of mowing too, its reminiscent of my days driving pea harvesters as a summer job in college- a mix of diesel, hot machines, and cut greenery. The noise and the slow pace are mesmerizing, it’s a good time to contemplate many things.
Sunday my mom and I also worked on dog 4-H fair entries-it’s almost county fair time for us. Years ago, I wrote an Access database to track all of the 200+ dog show entries for our 11-day fair, which helps with scheduling, score tabulation, prize calculation, and state fair qualification tracking. But, it requires about eight hours of data entry before the fair to transfer paper entries into electronic records-worth it for the time it saves in the office during the fair, when things are hectic.
Of course, I’m the only volunteer resource who knows how to really use the database, so I’ve signed up for a lifetime commitment at database maintenence, I think! But, I enjoy helping, and I enjoy the fair. Next year, I strive to make Excel spreadsheets where each 4-H leader can type in their own data, that would really save me time, as I could just import it.
Kirk has asked me about ten times about the Nubian goats at the fair, whether there will be some for sale at the Open Show. He has his heart set on a black Nubian doe. Our friend Lori also loves animals and goats, and aspires to own one, but doesn’t yet have the place for one. So, she offered to “fund” one that we’d house, and she could visit. We could use a blackberry eater that could be tethered on the slopes during the day to help with clearing. So, that may be a next project: making a night pen for a goat to stay safe so that we can add to the growing menagerie.
Kirk has made tons of progress on barn wood cleanup, I’ll have to snap a picture soon. This week, I have to finish mowing, and then prepare for one last herding trial trip for this year. Friday I’m headed to a beatiful farm on Whidbey Island, and will camp there in the trailer for the weekend during the trial.
On Friday, I picked up the newly ordered ducks from Privett Hatchery. Several people went in on an order of twenty or so ducks, so it saved us a few dollars each in shipping. I also thought it would save me a weekday trip to the Post Office during business hours, but it turned out they arrived on my day off anyway. In retrospect, it would have been simpler to have ordered my own, as I could have done the minimum of ten and not had the following difficulties…
We had a lot of trouble differentiating the breeds. The order contained (or was supposed to contain) straight-run Cresteds, Mallards, Magpies, Cayugas, Runners, Swedish, and Buff Orpingtons. I was expecting the Swedish to be blue (that’s the only “acceptable” color, but they do have black and silver in their gene pool), but all but a few solid yellow ducks, and the obvious Mallards, appeared to be black. The Swedish could have been mistaken for poorly marked Magpies, so it was difficult to pick them out for sure. If there were Runners and Cayugas in there, they all looked the same to us (but I suspect they were all Cayugas, because we just didn’t see any hint of Runner shape to any of them).Â
The other point of confusion was that we had ordered all females. Most of the ducklings had red paint on their heads. But, a few had blue paint, which we supposed may indicate males. We called the hatchery for help in confirming this, but they told us paint at all meant they were females. Ok. The phone advice on breed comparison didn’t help, so we finally just took our best guess.
I think those hatcheries handle thousands of hatchlings, and their accuracy isn’t real high when packing complicated orders. Their convention is to pack a few extra in an order as large as twenty, but they didn’t this time. And a LOT of the birds were not doing well, they were weak, with floppy heads. I imagine one can expect some mortality rate with shipping, heck, it’s gotta be hard on the birds.
New ducks
But also when I got there, the birds were not in a hatcher with food and water in front of them to recover from the trip, but rather were out on the lawn with a half dozen kids playing with them like toys. I know when I was that age, I surely couldn’t resist baby animals, and it probably would be safe to play with home-hatched babies that had a perfect start. But, it may not have been the best thing for these ducks after a long shipping journey, to endure the stress of childrens’ exuberance, and be away from their food, water and heat source during waking hours. I felt relieved that the ones I took seemed to still be robust (since they are $5 apiece, after all!). But felt badly that the ones left behind were all destined to be kids’ pets, since probably some of them wouldn’t be making it.
My intention was to get a combo of Magpies, Runners and Swedish. I got some nicely marked black Magpies, the Swedish are also black, which is ok, but not what I expected. And, the one solid black one I ended up with, I think, is a Cayuga, not a Runner. I don’t want them because they don’t lay well (<100 eggs per year), they are more of a meat breed. But, supposedly their eggs are quite blue, so unless the Swedish lay similar looking eggs, hopefully I can just make sure this girl’s eggs all go into dog food, not baby production.
Here are some pics of the new babies. The Swedish have darker cheeks compared to the Magpies, that’s the subtle way to tell them apart, as far as I know. You can see the one all-black baby, that has a small yellow haze on the chest; that’s the suspected Cayuga. Maybe I’ll grow to like her even though she’s not a runner.
These days my mind is filled with sheep considerations. I am going to visit this Wensleydale sheep flock in a week, so I have been doing a lot of reading about them, and about sheep breeds in general. There is a huge variation in price between the breeds, and between registered purebreds and crossbreeds. And there are many proâs and conâs to weigh. 
