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Post by Blessings Farms on Mar 16, 2016 9:11:01 GMT
Pasture and yard are turning green , trees are budding , and spring flowers
are sprouting . Only problem the insects are out too .
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 13:33:10 GMT
yep mosquitoes are coming out here. Several days of rain have left it a muddy mess here again. Calves start coming here in a couple of weeks.
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Post by genebo on Mar 16, 2016 19:13:58 GMT
I always love it when spring comes. Everything looks so pretty, with the green, green grass competing for my attention with the early blooms.
The pear trees that line my lane are snowy white.
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Post by jamshundred on Mar 16, 2016 21:27:25 GMT
I have a fever!
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 17, 2016 3:19:23 GMT
It's beautiful here too. Way early, but we're not complaining....  The Dexters are loving it. We were watching the girls zip all around last eve. Even the cows joined in! |
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 17, 2016 15:03:34 GMT
I still have snow piles, and lots of mud, probably the worst ever. It poured rain here yesterday. I think I'll switch from Dexters to a fish hatchery.
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Post by lonecowhand on Mar 17, 2016 17:45:15 GMT
Judy, I also have a fever, the only cure is more Cowbells!
It is beautifully green out here, grass is all a foot high.
I havent wanted to mention it while all you all have been in the mud and cold!
We had our second storm out here since the start of the year, and for the first time in 4 years the lake (Lake Oroville) will be full. its been climbing 3 feet a day, Which is 42000 cubic feet per SECOND, and theres still all the snow melt up there in the Mountains, nice and white. So if the drought isnt over , we have a respite.
Glad to hear its getting nice out thataways! Happy St. Patty's Day to you all!
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 17, 2016 18:20:31 GMT
You no longer have an excuse Bill. I have a livestock hauler this coming Sunday going from Michigan to Loveland CO. I'm sure I could talk her into California from there.
As far as our snow, rain, and mud....I could use a hug about now. It isn't fun at all. At least it's supposed to get cold again for a few days starting tomorrow
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 17, 2016 22:24:40 GMT
LOL Bill!! We need more Cowbells!
It is great too hear that things are getting better for you all out there. That's alot of water! Great News
Judy, so sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well. The pollen is starting up. Hope you feel better soon.
Hans, I don't know what to say. It just sounds awful. MUD Sending hugs
Everything is starting to come out here. After this beautiful weather even the fruit trees are coming out way early. They are saying snow/colder coming in a couple days. Hopefully it won't get too cold and freeze us out. Fingers crossed we'll be OK.
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Post by Blessings Farms on Mar 18, 2016 7:52:56 GMT
Our lows are in the 30's the next week . Hope the bugs are all out
of hibranation and freeze . Strangest thing we lost the last of our
muscovys 6 of them along with 4 hens a week ago . We are down to 6
hens left . Nancy found all of them in a group in their pen and we
could not find any real cause of death . I burnt them but should
of had them tested . We are within 6 mile of this bird flue thing .
We cleaned and disenfected the barn areas . We have 12 new muscovies
bought but dont know if to bring them home or not yet .
We sure miss watching the muscovies . They are sure a sight to see
jumping on the livestock eating insects and pecking the manure piles .
Only problem is they love to bath in the water tanks and make a huge
mess .
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 18, 2016 13:11:45 GMT
We'll have lows in the teens, and highs around 40 for the next few days. The best part is that they are not calling for any measurable precipitation. We desperately need some dry weather to get rid of some of this mud. Being so close to the lakes we rarely get sunny days in the spring to dry things out, so when it gets wet it seems to stay wet for a long time. I'm starting to worry, we timed our calving for mid-April to avoid the sloppy weather. The weather is cooling down just in time to prevent us from having some problems with our fruit crop, so at least that will be ok this year. I hope it doesn't get too cold for your trees Karrie. From my understanding if we got to 10 degrees here it could cause some problems with our early bud development on our trees. For those of you farther south the trees that are just starting to blossom it is 24 degrees. I'd guess that is your stage of development? Our apple trees normally don't blossom until May 20th or so.
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Post by jamshundred on Mar 18, 2016 14:21:14 GMT
LOL! Sorry Karrie. I am NOT sick. I meant SPRING FEVER. I get spring fever the minute the temperature crosses the 60 mark. I do NOT care if they are calling for a wet slushy now this weekend, I am convinced it is spring and will continue accordingly. The Cherry trees in DC are blooming a couple weeks early. Hope we do not have windy days or the tourists who have scheduled for the projected outbreak of blooms will be sorely disappointed. The trees are bursting with blooms, the spring bulbs are stretching for the sun and the cos are wandering around looking for grass tall enough to grab.
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 21, 2016 12:28:51 GMT
Arggghhhh.....From the National Weather Service office for our area on Wednesday....Our last snow pile melted on Saturday and the tractor finally doesn't have to be in four wheel drive all the time.
TAKEN AT FACE
VALUE, THE LAST SEVERAL RUNS OF THE ECMWF SUGGEST THE SNOW LINE WILL
SETUP INVOF THE M59 CORRIDOR. EARLY THOUGHTS WITH REGARD TO SNOW
TOTALS ARE THAT LOCATIONS THAT REMAIN ALL SNOW, MOST LIKELY FURTHEST
NORTH AND WEST, WILL HAVE A GOOD CHANCE TO PUSH A FOOT.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 21, 2016 15:00:58 GMT
It was cool here this weekend but not to bad. spent much of the weekend spreading manure on the hay fields( it was a pile from last year current years is still in soup consistency). Had to stop on Saturday when the snow got to heavy but was able to finish up on Sunday after it dried out a bit. Also got the bull calves in halters and started training in prep for Ohio. I did video it hopefully it came out well enough to post the training video. rain and snow foretasted for us here on Wednesday Thursday.
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 21, 2016 15:34:25 GMT
Smiling here!! First off Judy glad to hear you are not sick. LOL - Spring fever is good, me too!
We lucked out with the weather. Snowed, but it stayed pretty warm here, and didn't stick. We only got down to around 30 at night so everything is good. It's a different story further up, but we are fine.
Hope it dries out before your calves start coming.
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 21, 2016 22:04:52 GMT
I just got 20 large round bales of straw delivered yesterday in anticipation of calving season. If necessary I'll roll them out in the sacrifice areas so they have a good spot to calve in. I guess those types of expenses go along with having as many cows as we have when the weather, etc. doesn't cooperate. At least this year we'll have a fairly defined start date for calving. The shorties are up near the building, and they have the large lean-to area where I store hay in the winter months (all that hay is gone now) along with an outside area that I have better than a foot of nice sand on top of the pavement. That's where I feed them, but they almost prefer it out there when the weather is dry. The poor shorties would be up to their bellies in mud if I had them out in the sacrfice areas for the non-carriers and Highlands. The straw will mostly be for those herds, and they'll eventually stomp it into the soil and when I move them onto the pastures in mid-May, I'll till it and broadcast some annual rye that they should be able to graze later in the summer.
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 24, 2016 18:03:28 GMT
Ugh...Snow yesterday and last night, then freezing rain, and now it's just pouring rain which has melted most of the snow. And the same weather predicted for later this weekend once again. It looks from the forecast that we are going to get 2-3" of liquid water equivalent out of this storm, on top of already saturated ground. You all have not seem mud like we have here, I guarantee it! We better get a fair bit of rain this summer after putting up with this snowy, rainy, muddy, warm winter we've had. If we get a drought I'm going to be in a foul mood!
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Post by genebo on Mar 25, 2016 1:27:03 GMT
I am sunburnt! A predator has figured out how to get into the chicken house at night and has killed a new bird for 4 nights in a row. I worked all afternoon on blocking the rafter spaces, so it can't get through there. Winds were up to 24 mph and the sky was cloudless. I got home at suppertime, wanting just to go to bed.
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 25, 2016 1:58:39 GMT
Hans, I was worried for you all when I saw the weather channel this morning. You are really getting it. I can't imagine that kind of mud without a hill to get them up out of it. Hopefully it will dry out soon.
Oh no Gene, that's a lot of chickens. Are they peeps or layers.
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Post by genebo on Mar 25, 2016 2:09:46 GMT
They are layers. It has put a big dent in my egg production.
It kills like a possum or a skunk. It can't be a skunk and climb those tin walls. Someone said it might be a marten. I've never seen one of those. I didn't even know they live around here.
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 25, 2016 2:51:53 GMT
I've never seen a marten either. Hmm
That is something losing layers. I was thinking maybe they were little ones, but it takes a lot of effort to get to roosting hens. Hopefully whatever it is Won't be able to get back in after all the work you've done closing it up. That is so frustrating..
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 25, 2016 11:38:33 GMT
Do you have Weasels down there? Good thing we don't have chickens, or the Piranhas might get them. Well, not this morning, they'd be frozen in the ice from all the snow and rain of the past two days. I think it's supposed to be dry today at least.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 15:01:04 GMT
gene, I run electric fence all around my coup just above ground level to prevent anything from coming up and trying to dig under. It should also stop them from trying to climb up as well. You may also want to run a second one a bit higher to prevent the climbers. just make sure it is low enough that the criter will still be in contact with the ground when it hits it. Jet the insulators that set out about 6"
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Post by lonecowhand on Mar 25, 2016 17:35:31 GMT
Martens can squeeze thru incredibly small holes. Maybe get or borrow a fine wire mesh Havahart trap.
Mike, How do you handle doorways?
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Post by genebo on Mar 25, 2016 20:16:58 GMT
We do have weasels, although I've never seen one.
I got 1/2" hardware cloth secured over 11 out of 14 rafter openings, when supplies, daylight and energy ran out.
That must have infuriated the creature, for this morning I found a guinea and a chicken, both decapitated and all the innards eaten through the neck hole.
I checked that henhouse over with a fine tooth comb, to see if the creature could still be inside. No sign of it.
I got more supplies, so I can close the remaining three rafter holes. I also found a hole between two rafters on the barn side that didn't have any spider webs across it. That could be the way it is getting in. About a 2" square hole. There will be hardware cloth over that before nightfall.
Grrrr!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2016 21:03:04 GMT
bill, the doors are above ground level and have frame below them. the wire just runs under the door. I lean a board up over the wire so the chickens dont get shocked when going in and out.
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Post by Blessings Farms on Mar 26, 2016 9:35:48 GMT
We also have problems but think they are over for now . The last one was killed
by the Dexters . Four of them were standing in a circle with heads down and horns
almost together with a possem in the center by the time I got my gun I did not
need it .
Lots of rain but fair Temps. Everything is growing fast here .
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Post by genebo on Mar 27, 2016 2:26:33 GMT
We spent a third day blocking all the access points we could find. The wind was brisk and I ended up with a sore throat.
I went to the doctor and got a lot of prescriptions. She advised me to tale a few days off until the infection that caused the sore throat was cured. I couldn't argue, for I had no voice.
Regrettably I had to cancel the trip to pick up Hannahbelle again. Dang!
This morning there were no new kills. The two bodies from yesterday were gone. Neither of my Havahart traps were tripped. They were baited with previously killed chickens.
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Post by lakeportfarms on Mar 28, 2016 13:06:57 GMT
Another 2" of rain last night on top of the 5" of snow and 2" of rain we had a few days ago. Arial flood watch, and now we're getting heavy snow with rain mixed in and it's 34 degrees out. Snow and highs around 30 and lows in the teens this coming weekend. This thread title sucks.
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Post by wvdexters on Mar 28, 2016 22:44:35 GMT
Ark?
You all just aren't catching a break. Praying it gets better soon and dries out some before your calves start arriving.
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The Dexters are loving it. We were watching the girls zip all around last eve. Even the cows joined in!