Winter prep for the New Year

Pam the Donkey Trader

Meet Diane and Jack (sounds catchier to say it the other way).

We were watching the TA&M Aggies play in

whatever bowl game they were in a few weeks ago with some friends.  They are also neighbors and at some point the discussion turned to the small herd of donkeys they had recently been gifted a few months ago.  Six of the creatures had appeared in their pasture one day and they had just let them call it home.  Pam mentioned she would like to have a couple (Donkeys hate Coyotes-and dogs in general-and go out of their way to run them off) and in a few minutes had traded a couple of never used Williams Sonoma table cloths straight up for two donkeys.   

Now a few years ago, Pam would have been incapable of making such a wily trade and probably would have considered the table cloths of higher value than the donkeys.  This is concrete proof of how far she has come in her critical thinking skills and value considerations since moving to the country.  Simply put, Coyotes have no fear of table cloths regardless of who markets them.  While our friend's table may look good I'm afraid they've left some portion of their land open to Coyote predations.  We are resting easy as Jack and Diane are on 24-hour patrol at Tres Colinas.

I got 270 can I get 275? 

Cattle pens filled for the auction 

As I am a few months away from having calves to sell, I felt it was a good idea to make a pre-sale excursion to the Caldwell Livestock Commission (local cattle auction).  This wasn't my first exposure to an auction but it was my first in over fifty years.  I don't know if its Texas or the fifty years but things have changed some.  I took Pam's Dad thinking he would be some help in following what I thought would be fast paced blur of activity.  I wanted to get there early to have a chance to look over the cattle that would be auctioned.  Wayne wanted to get their early to have lunch.  It seems one of the services they offer is a lunch café.  We did spend a few minutes looking over the cattle but Wayne had already spied King Ranch Chicken Casserole on the marker board menu so the bovines would have to wait until we ate.  I met several of the local cattlemen who probably have been meeting there for lunch every Wednesday for most of the last fifty years.   

A Longhorn in the auction ring

When people I had worked with and other friends first heard I was moving to rural Texas many questioned how I would "fit in" or whether I would be happy.  I always found this concern amusing.  I guess their perspective of me was based on the various career roles I had filled as a healthcare executive.  The people in Caldwell are much like those I grew up around in West Kentucky-hard working, God fearing, give the shirt off their back to someone who needs it kind of people.  I may not be as good as some them just yet but I am comfortable and happy being around them.

 

The auction occurs in a stadium seat indoor arena.  A heifer/cow/steer/bull is run through the ring about every 20 seconds so things move pretty fast.  On a few occasions, bidders were still working on an animal that had been in the ring 1-2 behind the current animal.  I still don't know if they skipped them and brought them around again later.  The Auctioneer was fast and non-stop and some cows were sold by the hundred pound and some by total cow (also not sure what determined that).  Wayne wasn't much help either but he enjoyed the lunch.  I think it will be fine taking calves there to sell but I'm not ready to buy any in that manner yet.  A couple of Pam's first cousins are very active in the cattle business so I plan to hook up with them when I get ready to buy any more cattle.

 

Group cleanup of a new born calf

We did have another calf born on January 20 bringing our tally so far to four bull calves and one heifer.  I noticed the cow was down by herself at the back of the pen and when I walked behind her I saw two front hooves protruding.  I gave her about 30 more minutes and decided she wasn't making much progress.  When I got behind her, she spooked, got up and walked across the pen.  Another contraction hit her and she dropped to the ground again.  I could see the calve's nose sticking out by now.  I slipped the ends of a five foot piece of rope over each hoove just above the ankle joint.  With the next contraction I pulled out and down (toward the cow's feet) and the calf slid out easily.  The other cows rushed over to clean up the calf while I got the mother up.  It was a good thing I was there to help as the calf was in the 65+ pound range.  She probably would have had it by herself but it would have exhausted her (first time mother). 

 

 

 

Mother and son having a first nose-to-nose encounter

There are 2-3 more that are "springers" (getting ready to have a calf) and a couple that appear not to have successfully conceived.  I am thinking about selling them as they don't earn their keep unless they produce calves.  I'd like to get to 18-20 cow producing calves but since my production has mostly been bulls it will take a few years or I'll have to buy them.  Cattle are expensive as the drought years reduced Texas beef herds by more than a million head. 

Garden Plans

OK, I guess you can't see my garden plan but I have one.  Based on last year's experience, I've cut back to the crops that produced the best or that I want the most.  These are: corn, tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, squash, sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, water melons and pumpkins.  I still plan to go bigger in future years but still need more improvement in the garden soil quality.  I got tired of carrying loads of cow manure to the garden so I removed the middleman (myself) and moved four pregnant cows to the garden.  They've been happily spreading hay and manure (great compost) throughout the garden for the last three months.  I plan to have it ready for planting by the third week of March. 

Herb garden

We planted a small herb garden outside the back door and have had great success so far.  I used pots and tubs for Rosemary, Basil, Thyme, Mint, Parsley and Garlic.  I had to put a piece of fence wire over the garlic tub as the cats decided it would be a great place to lie in the sun.  Once I got them away from it, the garlic has done well.  I chose Elephant Garlic as it does best in our climate.      

Darts

All work and no play makes one dull so I decided to unpack the dart board and tune up my throwing skills.  The boys and I used to play darts regularly so I had most of the equipment.  As it would be set up in the barn, I decided it needed a cabinet to keep out the dust, dirt dawbers, etc. so I rounded up some scrap lumber left over from other projects and put a cabinet together.  A little dab of stain and varnish here and there to make it look like aged barn wood and I had a sturdy and protective cabinet for the dartboard. 

There is talk of getting up a monthly dart game/beer night for some of the neighbors (The FM 2000 Group) so I'll have to brush up my throwing skills so as not to be embarrassed.  And yes, that is a beer opener mounted just to the right of the board.  Darts can be exhausting so it's critical to have refreshment close at hand at all times during a match. 

Tree Swing

I also hung a tree swing for the girls (or anyone else) from the

Post Oak behind the house.  I had a spectacular one at the house in Knoxville.  It was hung from a huge branch at least 25 feet above the ground and had an exhilarating swing arc due to its height.  I had to tie a string around a football and then to the rope to get that one hung.  This one is a bit more tame at around thirteen feet above the ground but should still provide some fun for anyone willing to give it a try.

 

I heard Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow calling for six more weeks of winter.  I don't think that will bear true in Texas as we've had a mild winter, at least compared to last year.  Most days have been in the 50's and 60's with a few in the 70's.  We've had a frost or two but that's about it, so I expect Spring will be here by the end of February with Summer by mid-April.  But no need to get ahead of myself as I plan to keep enjoying the mild weather while its here.  Hope you are doing well too.

 

Wrapping up 2014

We had a busy and productive year in 2014 with a lot of changes on the ranch/farm (we raise cattle and grow grass so you can decide if we are a ranch or a farm).  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some picture highlights from 2014:



We started the year with a rare snow
(about 1/4") which was a big treat for
Ava and Cora while it lasted. 

Our first "livestock" was a box of 26 baby chicks.  We

got that many on the assumption that half wouldn't

survive to adulthood.

Our assumption was wrong as all 26 survived.  Here they are enjoying
watermelon rind treats.  We got a variety so we'd have a third split of
brown, white and green/blue eggs.

Here you can see a collection of eggs. 

We were most excited about finishing the house construction in April (here it
is festooned for Christmas) after living in the camper for over a year.

Pam started teaching Yoga again this spring.  She
currently works at Yoga Pod in College Station and
Om Grown Yoga in Bryan.  She is working on her
certification in Yoga Therapy through a center in Austin.

The next addition was a litter of kittens.  Lilly chose a large plastic pot for the
birthing room. 

Life on our farm is hard on cats. The mother disappeared one night
(after the kittens were weaned) and the father did the same.  We gave
a couple of kittens away planning to keep four. One got killed and
another disappeared.  So, we're down to two males who I expect to
leave any day.  If so, we'll be starting over with new barn cats in 2015.

  

We added 12 heifers and a bull in early summer. 

 

They started calving in October.  Here are two meeting for the first time.  We
are up to four now with at least a couple more on the way early next year.

Clark came for a visit.  He's enjoying a beer with Nicole (she seems to be
enjoying it more than him).  He's settled in Nashville now working with Bass,
Berry and Sims (law firm). 

 

We made a late summer trip to South Padre Island.

Holly and Cora enjoying the Burleson County Fair.  While
there are a lot of things a small community may not offer,
it is offset by other things that bigger towns/cities don't
have (a sense of community is one of those). 

I had one of those milestone birthdays which gave us an excuse to have a
bar-b-q and drink some beer.

I did a little Redfishing in Louisiana.  They aren't trout but are still fun to catch.

We've got a number of these lurking around so I've been practicing my "hurt
rabbit" and coyote calls to see if I can get a couple out in the open and
shoot them.  I'm confident they have been the reason our cats disappear.

Here is a sounder of feral hogs at our cattle tank.  They seem to visit us about
two times a month and too often root up a considerable amount of pasture.

To deal with the feral hogs, I built a trap.  It's basically a round pen made of
cattle/hog panels and T-posts.  This one is about 30' in diameter.

This is the trap/guillotine door.  It's not set in this picture. 
To set it a hinged 2x4 is attached to the rope which is
attached to a tire on the other side of the trap.

Some corn is placed inside the tire and when the hogs
move the tire to get to the corn, the 2x4 is pulled out and
the trap door drops, trapping the hogs inside the pen.

These are the loading gates (there are people who will buy
these wild hogs for processing) to get the hogs from the
pen into a trailer.

Cora really enjoys going to church.  On this Sunday, they
didn't have a Children's sermon.  At the end of the service
Cora decided to have her own on the steps next to the pulpit.

We don't have cold winters in south central Texas but
the north wind can occasionally be brutal (blue norther).
I boarded up the bottom (and the top although not shown
here) to reduce the wind and keep the chickens a little warmer.

Ava was selected to dance as an angel in the Bryan/College
Station area performance of the Nutcracker.  Here's Mimi
presenting her with flowers after the performance.

Pam and I celebrated our seventeenth wedding anniversary
in December by taking a day trip to Salado, TX.  This selfie
was taken at the sculpture park in Salado.  We are trying to
 take day trips to some of the "cool" Texas towns nearby.
With livestock, it's difficult to be gone overnight without
having someone on site. 

 

All things considered, we've had a blessed year and are looking forward to 2015.  We hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
 

Eggs and Calves

 

The Chickens Have Been Busy

 

We are full into fall in Texas which means it can be 90 or 40 degrees on any given day (and it has been both).  Mostly, its been very pleasant and we've had rain so nothing to complain about.  Pam's been encouraging the chickens to be productive and we've seen them take that to heart.  We started getting 1-2 eggs per day at first and now are up to 12 per day.  The Leghorns are the most productive but as you can see in the photo below, we are getting brown, chocolate and green eggs too.  Initially, we had a problem with the hens laying eggs all over the coop instead of the nesting boxes.  They also scratched out the nesting bedding as fast as I added it.  I tried putting some golf balls in the nesting boxes to mimic eggs (supposed to encourage them to use the nesting boxes) but they removed those too.  Pam had the idea to add some curtains and it worked beautifully.  They made it harder for the chickens to scratch out the straw bedding and the hens seem to like having some privacy as all are now laying their eggs in the nesting boxes.  I have no idea how much egg production will drop during the winter months.  We still have some hens that haven't started laying nor are any of the Guineas so that should only add to eggs produced.  However, reduced daylight slows egg laying.  We don't plan to use a light to encourage production during the lower daylight months, so we will see what nature has in store for us.



Pam encouraging a Black Sex-Linked
hen to lay more eggs.

Cora helping gather eggs (looks to me like she
wants to eat or throw it).



A nice variety of egg colors.

A little privacy please?

As a reward for their getting down to egg laying business, I built the chickens a dust bath.  Actually, they had already built their own but I hope the amenities of this one will encourage them to use it instead.  Chickens take dust baths to stay clean (if only I'd had that information at bath time when I was a kid).  Adding a little wood ash and the occasional dried herbs helps.  Typically, several bathe at once so it's a social event of sorts.  In addition to removing the grass and loosening the soil I placed and partially buried rocks around the area.  This gives the chickens a place to perch and watch those bathing and wait their turn.  I call it Chickenhenge. 

 

Bath time at the 'henge.

So Have the Cows

 

We finally saw our first calf born a couple of weeks ago.  I wasn't able to round up the mother so she had it on her own under a Yaupon bush in the fence row.  That wasn't desirable as first time mothers can have problems with delivery.  So, I built a "pre-natal pen" near the house and rounded up the four heifers I believed will calve next.  Cows are herd animals and don't like to be alone.  A few days later the second calf was born and I was there to keep watch (no assistance was needed).  I'll admit I was something of a "nervous father" and thought about jumping in a couple of times.  It's pretty amazing to watch the calf stand up (albeit with some difficulty) shortly after birth and start nursing.  It was a learning experience for the calf and the mother as she kept moving every time he got close to her.  Eventually, they figured it out and he took care of business.  It's important that the calf nurse within the first few hours to get the colostrum that provides necessary nutrition, antibodies and immunoglobulins they are unable to produce until they are a little older.  I'll keep the calf and mother in the pen for a week or so until I'm sure the calf can fend for itself. 

 



Second calf.  Is that the state
of Texas on his forehead?

First calf born on Tres Colinas

I have attended a couple of seminars on cattle management held by the local county agriculture extension office in concert with Texas A&M.  I've learned a lot about cows, calves, pasture, hay production, fertilizer, weed control, pest control, cattle economics, etc.  One of the physicians I worked for was worried I wouldn't have enough mental challenges during my retirement.  I don't think that's going to be a problem. I still plan to be as "organic" as possible, especially with fertilizer.  It may take a year or two of chemical weed control to get my pastures where I want them.  Once they are better established, fertilizer alone may keep the weeds out.

 

    

 The spring/summer garden wrapped up with a bang.  We got a last batch of cantaloupes, a good crop of peanuts and a decent number of sweet potatoes.  I will spend most of the winter adding more compost and manure to the garden.  The cows and chickens are certainly doing their part to help in this area.  I did plant a small fall/winter garden of beets, carrots, radishes and various greens.  It seems to be off to a slow start. 

 

 

A second crop of cantaloupes

Despite the Aggies epic meltdown this football season, everyone dressed as some aspect of college football for Halloween with an Aggie theme.  Ava and Cora were cheerleaders, Nicole was a fan, Holly was a referee and Pam was a player (I handed out candy).   

 

Aggie Halloweeners

Heath the cat stands watch (that's him below the front window)

 at the end of another day on the farm.

 

Catastrophe at Tres Colinas

"Cat"astrophe at Tres Colinas

I guess it is a matter of perspective but from ours it was at least a disappointment if not a catastrophe.  You may recall that Matt and Lilly produced six kittens and a neighbor took two of them.  We decided we had enough cats and had Lilly spayed.  Of the four kittens still around, three were males and one was a female.  We figured the males would grow up and wander off and we'd let the female have a litter next year to keep us in barn cats.  It didn't cross my mind that having Lilly spayed would be Matt's signal to leave and never come back.  It also didn't occur to us that Audra (the female kitten would meet a violet death one night behind the barn.  I'm not sure what killed her but it didn't attempt to eat her and it looked like two culprits were involved (I won't go into the grisly details but just leave it that forensic evidence pointed to two murderers).  My first thought was to accuse Shane and Maddie (our dogs) but they seem to ignore the cats and when close to each other there is never any animosity.  I learned in the fifth grade not to accuse some one on circumstantial evidence (an embarrassing incident with a missing American Flag that turned up after I publically identified the supposed thief).  So, I set up a trail camera for a week or so and no further evidence was found.  So, we thought we will at least have Lilly when her three sons decide to start "catting around".  Once again we were outsmarted.  A few days later Lilly disappeared.  She was always there at daylight when I let the chickens out and feed the cats and dogs.  After the second day we had to face the reality that something must have killed her.  Now, we've got three young male cats and no reproductive options.  The lesson I've learned is first, don't think I'm in control of what happens in the barnyard at night and second, don't waste money having a barn cat spayed.  From now on I'll let the natural order play out and deal with the consequences. 

 

White Leghorn, Silver Wyandotte, 2 Black Sex-linked, 5
Ameracaunas and a Buff Orpington free ranging.

The chickens are almost grown and should start producing eggs any day.  I let them free range every day for a couple of hours before sundown.  The beauty of this is I just leave the coop door open and they all march in about fifteen minutes after the sun sets.  I don't think they'll ever learn to shut the door behind them but (similar to men putting the lid down and women turning off lights when they leave a room) you can't have everything and should be more satisfied with what you do have.  I don't trust the dogs with the chickens although they ignore them, at least from behind the fence (maybe that's their MO with cats and chickens).

 

 

 

You can also see that the cats generally ignore the chickens.  They will occasionally act like they are stalking one but at least to this point there has been no violence.  Both enjoy chasing grasshoppers, of which there is no shortage.  Fortunately, they haven't done too much damage to our crops.  We had great watermelons and cantaloupes this year.  I raised red and yellow seedless watermelons and they were outstanding.  I ate one every day for at least a month.  We actually had two crops of cantaloupes from the same vines.  Based on comments from neighbors, that is unusual.   We still have peanuts and sweet potatoes that should be ready to dig at the end of September.

 

 We took a week off from the farm and drove to Padre Island in South Texas.  It's only four hours away and is a beautiful beach.  Robert, Nicole, Ava, Josh, Holly and Cora accompanied us.  It gave us a chance to stop in La Grange for some BBQ at Prause's , a fourth generation Meat Market.  They don't make sandwiches (a sign on the wall states so) but will give you the bread and meat for you to do with as you will.  La Grange is also famous for The Chicken Ranch.  If you want to know more about that you can watch the movie with Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.

 

As you can see the weather and beach were great except for the occasional group of weirdo's who think they are still High School Cheerleaders.   

We got everyone up early (about 5am) one morning and went to the Park Station to see a turtle release.  They had about a hundred hatched sea turtles that they released into the Gulf.  They turn them loose about fifty yards short of the water and let them walk in.  Amazingly, this imprints that location and the turtles that survive will return to that same area when they are ready to lay eggs.  That doesn't happen for about ten years and the harsh reality is about 1 in 500 make it to reproductive age.  They have a lot of predators in the water until they get bigger (guess the one at the top knows that and has decided to stay on dry land).

 

 

When we got back to the farm it was time to celebrate my _0th birthday.  I've never had birthdays with a 0 on them bother me much and this one didn't either but I'm beginning to face the fact that I am getting old if not already there.  We invited about twenty friends and family over for a BBQ (what else would you do for a birthday in Texas?) and Josh served as the BBQ master.  He cooked two briskets (he basting them on the left) and a pork butt on a grill that he made.

 

 

 

I'm pretty impressed with the design and building of this BBQ pit.  The steel fire box is on the lower right with both a top and side door for adding wood.  A large pipe runs from the fire box to the grill allowing heat and smoke to reach the meat.  The grill has two sides, each with a door and a thermometer.  You can control how much heat and smoke reach each side with a sliding door at the top of the pipe.  Finally, the grill is mounted on a trailer so it can go where the party or cook-off is that day.

 

Josh cooked the briskets for about ten hours at a temperature between 225 and 250.  This and a few secrets he has results in a tender and moist brisket with a nice pink smoke ring as you can see below.  I plan to build a stone pit this fall but suspect it will be a while, if ever, before I can cook a brisket that is this delicious.

Carved and ready to eat

Birthday wishes with a nod to the past

Ava and I taking my birthday gift out for a spin

   

 Well, I think today (9/23/14) marked the beginning of fall for us.  The low this morning was 61 and the high today only 84.  If so, it's coming about 3-4 weeks early for south central Texas but we are glad to see it.  It's not been a hot summer by recent standards (only a hand full of days above 99) but its still nice to have some cool weather to enjoy.  Hope you enjoy the fall season wherever you are.  We should have some calves to show off in the next blog.