Photo Blast

You get photos because I'm trying to get my next book out to you on time!

Harley, my dad's dog.

The twins getting a meal.

Autumn view of Smith Rocks

When Half-Pint was born.

Half-Pint 18 months later.

Bovine Three Musketeers

There is nothing as comical or frustrating as a gang of calves. Yep, you heard right, a gang of calves. We have a trio that can find more mischief than any we've had before.

This trio was born mid-summer to the three cows we call the midget herd. The mother cows are all a bit on the small side. Two of them my hubby purchased thinking they were young and would grow more only to discover they were pregnant and older than he thought. These are called Milker( and actually was purchased from us and named by our grandson Zane) and Myrtle. Then hubby bought Cori a Corriente cow that has quite the personality but is smaller in stature than our beef cows. The three cows had their calves later than our herd then bred back and ended up having this second batch of calves several months before the beef herd.

The three calves and Milker

The three musketeers are about two months old and finding they can go under the hotwire fence we have around the pasture. Many a morning as hubby leaves for work they are coming down 41st street back to the pasture looking like they've been out all night carousing. One morning when I walked to the barn to feed the horses, they came scurrying out of the shed with the tractors acting like they were up to something. They ran in a circle then jumped through a spot by the gate that they must have knocked down a board. The neighbor said they were over by his house and he waved his arms and shouted, "Get out of here!" and they acted just like kids running into each other, kicking up their heels, and skedaddling.

When I walk through the pasture to get to the cows now calving, the three musketeers always watch me and follow Tink. They think she's interesting.

One this is for sure when there are animals there is always entertainment!

It's Twins!

We had a pair of twin calves born this week as our first calves of this fall calving season.
Most do Winter/Spring calving, but because spring is when my husband's 7-5 job gets really busy we do our calving in the fall when he's not as busy.

Hubby was out checking the flood water one evening and discovered the twins.  The next morning I went out to check on them to make sure the cow was accepting both. They sometimes don't realize they have two calves and will neglect one. I found the cow and one calf in the corner of the pasture. Fearful I'd find a dead calf, the dogs and I started a search for the other calf. During the search we discovered another birth. Cow 66 had a white-faced black heifer. After texting hubby that birth, I continued my search.

We found the other calf all by herself sleeping near a tree in the middle of the far pasture. I checked her out. She was perky, ears up, and eyes alert, so I left her be. When hubby came home that night, we went out to vaccinate and tag the calves. We caught calf 66 and tagged and vaccinated her, but the cow with the twins again had only one with her and the other calf was following 66 and while she was allowing it to hang with her, she wasn't allowing it to get milk.

Hubby picked up the twin and carried her to the alley way to the corral. Then we herded the cow and other twin to the alleyway and once they were all together the stray twin started drinking milk. I had to let the horses that were in the corral out and close soem gates, but we eventually put mom and the twins in the corral to keep them all in close proximity of one another.

We headed to Princeton on Thursday late afternoon and asked our daughter to check on the calf. We told her if the calf looked like it wasn't getting any milk from the cow, to take it home and feed and care for it. She told her girls this.  The granddaughters were ready to take the cute calf home! Fortunately for us, the calf was doing fine and the cow was allowing it to drink. The girls were so upset they were crying.

Hopefully the cow will continue to nurse and the calf will learn to stay with her and the other calf. We'll keep them in the corral for a week to make sure there is a good bond.

Horses, Horses Everywhere!

I've been proud to say once my children left home they haven't returned...unfortunately not so with their animals!

Our daughter who lives in Alaska with her Coast Guard husband and can spend several months a year in Oregon while he's out at sea, had to move her horses from her in-laws. So, we acquired not only her horses but the others the in-laws didn't want to deal with, and Christy wants to see if they will pan out as good horses. So, until she comes down in November and makes her decisions, we have five more horses!

Feora

Feora is out of the mare Christy used for her 4-H project the last two years of high school. She's fifteen and had several foals. While Christy likes her spirit, I'm not a fan of the mare and I really don't like a horse that doesn't walk up to you and stick their nose in the halter.

Fergus

Fergus is Feora's latest foal. He's gelded and three years old. He has the halter and lead rope on him because he is so skittish and hard to catch. He is one of the ones she's trying to decide if she wants to keep.

Annie

Annie is, I believe, also 15.  Kelly, Christy's oldest, has claimed Annie as his horse, so she's not going anywhere and our daughter, Angie's, two girls have claimed her. So there could be a cousin tug of war over Annie.

Coco

Coco is a 15 year old Morgan  mare who has chiefly been used as a brood mare. But while struggling to get her loaded into the horse trailer(she hadn't been in a trailer in over a decade) my husband fell in love with her quiet demeanor  and as he said, "Not a mean bone in her body." He was impressed that the hour we tried loading her, she never laid her ears back, never tired to bite or kick or harm any of us. And she had plenty of reason to be ticked at us! We tried everything we could think of to get her loaded and think she just finally decided it was the only way to get us to leave her alone! Anyway, we understand that Coco had imprinting as a foal and was worked with up to a certain point. She has carried kids with someone leading her. So,
my husband is thinking he's going to see if she'll take to him riding her. He's not so keen on Jammer, the Tennessee Walker, who you need a ladder to get on and out walks Bud three steps to one.

Lily

Then there's Lily. Coco's 3 year old filly. She walks up to you, wants pet, and has a very similar disposition to her mother. I think she's a keeper and so does Angie's husband. We'll see just now many of these horses actually find new homes outside of our family.

Houdini George is at it Again!

George following me to the gate

While we were away taking care of the haying in Princeton, we opened the gate adjoining the horses dry lot pasture to the lush grassy pasture they drool over. This way no one would have to come to our house to feed the horses and burro while we were gone.

Now that we're back, the horses and burro are locked back in the dry lot. None of them need lush grass 24/7.

Three times  since being home, I've gone out to feed the horses and George doesn't show up. I call and eventually he calls back and I discover him in the lush pasture. I walk to the gate on my side, and he walks to the gate on his side, and I let him back into the dry lot.

George showing me how he got through

It seems George took the gate being open the one time as a gesture he should invite himself into the lush pasture when he feels desire for green grass. The first two times I wasn't sure how he got to the other pasture, but today, he left hoof prints.

We had sprinklers running near the gate and they were turned off last night so there were cute little burro prints in the mud showing he squeezed between the gate and the juniper tree. That and when I led him back to the gate, he stuck his head between the gate and tree pretty much saying, "I can get back if I want to."

"See I can squeeze through."

I have since tied baling twine down low on the gate and tree so he can't get in when he feels like. He's carrying plenty of extra calories on him and doesn't need to add to it.

Casualty of a Lightning Storm

We had a neighbor in Princeton borrow our black Angus bull to breed their small head of cows. The timing worked well for us as our cows should be all bred and we didn't want to worry about our bull bothering our neighbors during the summer in Redmond.

We have only a small handful of friends we loan our bulls to. They have to have good fences and not have other cattle nearby to entice the bull to jump the fence.

Beefus, our Angus bull, had a large area to travel about as he kept company with the neighbor cows. We received a phone call from the neighbor. He was very upset. They found Beefus at the bottom of a 100 foot cliff. Dead. They weren't sure what happened and wanted to know what they owed us.

Nothing. It wouldn't be any different than if he'd fallen off our cliff. But it was a mystery as to what happened. The neighbors wife took photos and inspected the area where he fell from. There hadn't been a scuffled but they noticed his meat was as if he'd been cooked. that's when we put two and two together and realized he must have been hit by lightning when they had a dry lightning storm. He was probably standing on the top of the cliff, playing king of the hill as most bulls like to do and was hit by lightning, causing him to tumble from the cliff.

Beefus is the black Angus the Hereford is Herfy. They were playing in this photo. 

Originally we had thought maybe a neighbor bull got in the field and the two scuffled like the photo and that's how Beefus went over the edge. But lack of evidence to that proves he was struck by lightning.

Nature has a way of always showing the farmer/rancher that there are powers much more powerful than we.

Doggie Skinny Dipping

Today my hubby asked me to walk out and pull a board in the small irrigation ditch. The walk out was hot. The three dogs ran here and there, their noses to the ground chasing scents. When we reached the Y in the ditch where I needed to pull the board, it was shady, cool, and the gurgle of the water was inviting. After pulling the board, I stood in the shade and watched as each dog had their own version of cooling off.

Molly prefers to dive right in and get wet all over. She dove into the ditch walking up and down about a five feet swath and then climbing out and rolling in the dirt making dreadlocks.

Tink walked into the edge of the water, getting her feet wet and drinking. It has to be pretty hot out before she goes any farther in than her knees.

Grandma Boots only puts her tongue in the water.  She found a shady spot in the dirt to relax and enjoy the coolness coming from the ditch, green grass, and shade.

Suzuki Sami-

I'm at our alfalfa ranch in Eastern Oregon for part of this week. Before I left home my husband's phone alerted us that the irrigation pivot had stopped. That meant it was stuck.  He coached me on how to back the pivot up out of the hole and how to use Sami (the sawed off Suzuki Samari we use like a 4-wheeler) to haul gravel out to the hole and fill it.

After unloading my clothes and food from the car and into the cabin, I drove Sami down to the pivot and walked along to see which tower wheels were stuck. I discovered it was the next to last tower from the outside. Easy-peasy. Then I drove back, tried to find some plywood to put behind the seats in Sami so I didn't get a lap full of gravel while driving back out. Couldn't find a piece that would fit and ended up with a metal "Dead End" sign. (That's a whole nuther funny story) then I fired up the back hoe and scooped up gravel. (operating a bucket on a back hoe is not as easy as it looks). I started dumping the gravel in the back of Sami and the sign fell down. It was under gravel and nothing much I could do, so I finished dumping the bucket. Yes, the bucket was wider than Sami and I left two little mounds on each side of the vehicle when I pulled away headed for the pivot.

Because I had to start the hand set of pipes in a corner of the alfalfa field, the road I needed to drive on would be too greasy(wet) today to drive Sami, down. The plan was to drive Sami down and leave it parked at the end of the pivot until this morning since it was getting late and I still had to check all the hand line and make sure it was all hooked and switch the valves before I could start. Which I did once Sami was parked at the end of the pivot.

While checking the hand line, I was attacked by no-see-ums and mosquitoes. I hate the no-see-ums the worst. You can't see them and they leave burning bites usually on your head, neck and behind your ears. They are nasty. After checking all the hand line, I started the pump and watched the water as I ate dinner.

This morning I got up, walked to the base of the pivot, and backed it up. I walked the length of it back to Sami. Then drove to the pivot track and backed up to the two holes in the pivot tracks and fill them with gravel. Once that mission was accomplished, I then had to open up the sprinklers on the first tower. Because it runs so short it can over water and we have to turn the sprinklers off and on. I had to use Sami to stand on to flip the switch on the sprinklers. Tink wasn't happy when water rained down into Sami. It felt good to me because it is already getting hot. Good hay growing weather!

If something exciting happens while I'm here, you're sure to hear about it in another post.  

Friday Farm Fun - Not Your Average Farm Dog

Tink looking for rodents on the edge of the lawn

 Tink isn't your average farm dog. She's a Chihuahua Miniature Pinscher cross. With the possibility of a bit of terror in the mix.

She doesn't herd the cows, but she trots alongside me when we move them and scoots out of their way if they head her direction. Her antics in the field are comical as she pounces like a cat while trying to catch rodents. She chases after the chirping rock chucks(yellow-bellied marmots) and sticks her head in the holes they hide in, scaring the you-know-what out of me. The rock chucks are four times her size.

Tink on a tractor ride.

Tink trots alongside of me and Bud when I ride my horse. If I go a long way and it's hot, She sits in the saddle with me for part of the ride. She's even rode on the Bud's rump if it's level ground.

When I change the irrigation pipes in Princeton in the tall alfalfa her head pops up as she stands on her back legs to find where I'm at.  Usually she's thoroughly soaked. If it's a cold morning she stays to the edges of the field, but that only makes me worry because of the high coyote population. They could whisk through while I'm changing pipes and if Tink isn't by my side could snatch her up. There are also huge bald eagles that sit around waiting to pick up the sage rats the gun enthusiasts shoot.

But what Tink likes best about being a farm dog is riding on the tractors. If she's in the house with me and my hubby starts up a tractor she wants out, and she heads for the barn for a ride. Because she likes to ride we put boxes on all the tractors so she can hitchhike  whenever she has a notion.

Photos taken by my good friend Danita Cahill- http://cahillphotojournalism.com/

Friday Fact

Since we're in the middle of calving I thought some Cow Facts would be fun.

Cattle only have one stomach but with four compartments to help digest grasses and grains.

A cow grazes for about 6 hours every day and chews their cud for 8 hours.

Cows regurgitate their food and re-chew the cud to help digestion.

A calf weighs about 80 pounds at birth.

 It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs, because a cow's knees cannot bend properly to walk back down.

Cows have almost total 360 degree panoramic vision and are able to see colors, except red.

The first cow in America arrived in Jamestown colony in 1611.

Twin male and female calves will result in a sterile female calf.