Monday, July 25, 2011
Still praying for rain
Well, we got a sprinkle last night. Just a tease. Not enough to do any good. The ground is rock hard and most of the pasture is bare and brown. Calling for rain on Thursday but why do I think it will pass us by again? And just think; winter is coming...
Saturday, July 23, 2011
RIP Riding Mountain Treasures Lily
We lost Lily on Thursday. My own feeling is the heat got to her. It's been so hot and so dry for so long.....I know this is a normal state of affairs in some parts of the world and even North America but this is not normal in Southern Ontario. In the late spring it rained for three weeks straight, heavily. Our pastures were flooded, everything was soaked, the goats barely left the shelter. Babies died because they either got crushed in the shelter or not fed because the dams didn't bother to stand up to feed them.
It's been over a month since it rained here. We are watering the pastures to keep a little bit of grass growing but I've been forced to feed hay. The hay is for winter not July! Now, of course, I will need to buy more hay for winter and because of this drought, hay is going to be in short supply. There has already been many farmers who have given up on a second cut. More people are going to be after the first cut which has already been spoken for. Are the animals going to go hungry? No, I don't think so, but hay will go up in price as things always do. There will be enough hay to go around but it will be expensive. And to cover costs farmers have to raise their prices and so on and so on.
The Myotonic babies reaching 12 weeks are in the weaning pen. Boys with boys and girls with girls. Don't want any unwed teenage mothers here! All are doing well and learning to like the new Calf Manna pellets they are getting to help them forget about Mom and milk. Lily's two little girls are still getting some milk to tide them over but weaning will begin for them soon as well. I don't want to upset them more after the death of their Mom. I know how they feel...
It's been almost a year since my own Mom passed away. Aug 03. It's been hard not to miss her every day. I guess that part never changes....
It's been over a month since it rained here. We are watering the pastures to keep a little bit of grass growing but I've been forced to feed hay. The hay is for winter not July! Now, of course, I will need to buy more hay for winter and because of this drought, hay is going to be in short supply. There has already been many farmers who have given up on a second cut. More people are going to be after the first cut which has already been spoken for. Are the animals going to go hungry? No, I don't think so, but hay will go up in price as things always do. There will be enough hay to go around but it will be expensive. And to cover costs farmers have to raise their prices and so on and so on.
The Myotonic babies reaching 12 weeks are in the weaning pen. Boys with boys and girls with girls. Don't want any unwed teenage mothers here! All are doing well and learning to like the new Calf Manna pellets they are getting to help them forget about Mom and milk. Lily's two little girls are still getting some milk to tide them over but weaning will begin for them soon as well. I don't want to upset them more after the death of their Mom. I know how they feel...
It's been almost a year since my own Mom passed away. Aug 03. It's been hard not to miss her every day. I guess that part never changes....
Monday, July 18, 2011
So shoot me...
One of these days I might actually have time to keep up with this blog. Of course, when I have time to keep up with this blog there will be nothing going on so... Anyway,
The weather has been brutally hot this past two weeks, no rain, and no rain in the forcast. Looks like the second cut hay will be non-existant. That's not good news for anyone. First of all, a lot of people buy second cut hay for their horses and cows and if there isn't going to be any or not very much, then those people are going to be buying up the first cut hay whenever they get a chance. That means there may not be enough first cut hay for the people who usually buy it, like me!!
We can only store about 1000 bales of hay, here at the Stables and we may need as much as 1400 bales for the winter so we have to find another 400 bales somewhere and hope that farmer will agree to store it for us. That usually works. On occasion we have had an agreement with a farmer to store hay, only to find out, when we get there, that the farmer went and sold our hay to some one else. Boy, does that make you mad!! We were counting in getting that hay and now we have to start searching for some and hope we find some before the animals go hungry.
So we've got most of our hay in now, still need another couple hundred bales to fill up our storage and then some to last the winter. That is, unless I can sell a few more goats!!
The weather has been brutally hot this past two weeks, no rain, and no rain in the forcast. Looks like the second cut hay will be non-existant. That's not good news for anyone. First of all, a lot of people buy second cut hay for their horses and cows and if there isn't going to be any or not very much, then those people are going to be buying up the first cut hay whenever they get a chance. That means there may not be enough first cut hay for the people who usually buy it, like me!!
We can only store about 1000 bales of hay, here at the Stables and we may need as much as 1400 bales for the winter so we have to find another 400 bales somewhere and hope that farmer will agree to store it for us. That usually works. On occasion we have had an agreement with a farmer to store hay, only to find out, when we get there, that the farmer went and sold our hay to some one else. Boy, does that make you mad!! We were counting in getting that hay and now we have to start searching for some and hope we find some before the animals go hungry.
So we've got most of our hay in now, still need another couple hundred bales to fill up our storage and then some to last the winter. That is, unless I can sell a few more goats!!
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