Filed under: October 2017 | Tags: advertizing, breeding season, mistakes, oops, puns
October 27, 2017
Every now and then I see advertising that is funny, clever or even crazy. This week someone sent my wife a sample of pens to pass out for her business. I am not sure who’s in charge there for quality control, but I think this pen may have slipped through the cracks! I mean hey…. I’m not the one who quilts! That is Connie’s job 🙂
In all seriousness, it is breeding season here. I put the ram in with the ewes and our bull goes in with the cows and heifers later today. Maybe that is what the pen company is referring to? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure not many ladies want to whip out a pen to write a check in a department store, advertising “stud” service for anyone!
OK….nobody writes checks anymore, most folks don’t know what a department store is and my stud days are pretty far in the past too…but I still think somebody made a mistake!
The pen should have read, Riceland Meadows Quilting Studio …. I guess it does matter when we abbreviate sometimes!
Filed under: October 2015 | Tags: autumn, Backyard Chickens, breeding season, deer, ewes, flushing, parks, sugarhouse
Hens enjoying their new park
October 14, 2015
Recently, we built a new enclosure for our laying hens. These pens are often called chicken parks. I want my hens to have outside room to roam but I want to keep them safe as well. This park is a perfect fit for both me and the hens. They will keep the grass and tall weeds in check around their chicken house and the back side of the wash house as well. Now, they just need to lay a couple hundred dozen eggs to pay for it 😮
Yesterday, I was closing gates and moving cattle. The goal is to put the sheep in the sugarhouse paddock again. The grass in that place is deep, green and lush. The lambs will fatten well on it. The mothers will put on a little extra weight just in time for breeding season. I think the grass is rich enough to “flush” the ewes. Flushing them refers to tricking them to think there is an abundance of feed so they will release more ovaries. They have the confidence that there will be plenty of feed to raise their new babies.
Some guys say that flushing ewes is an old wives tale. I know in nature, if deer have plenty to eat in the fall, the does have more twins in the coming spring. I also believe that flushing has worked for me the past fifteen years, so I am not going to quit doing what works. It’s not like I only wear a favorite jacket or socks during breeding season as my ewes head to the playoffs! This is about balanced nutrition. The ewes have access to all they want to eat and drink, along with minerals free choice. This is good husbandry. It’s the way I do business anyway. I think all those sets of twins next spring is the ewe’s way of saying, “Thank you!”.
As I was closing gates and moving the stock, I realized yet again just how much beauty was surrounding me. The leaves continue to get more colorful each day. The growing speltz are a bright green and the grass looks like a green carpet that stretches “wall-to-wall”, from fence row to woodline. In fact, it’s just like a walk in the park!
The sugarhouse nestled in her little valley
Filed under: October 2013 | Tags: breeding season, Halloween, trick or treat
Grazing in the Fall
October 31, 2013
  Today is Halloween. I don’t get all the hype about ghosts, monsters and especially zombies. What happened to dressing up like a cowboy or a hobo? Girls used to dress up as princesses or Raggedy Anne. Costumes were cute on kids and yes every now and then a ghost or monster might show up, but they looked more funny than scary! I simply don’t get it.
  I go along with those that say, “Let’s celebrate the harvest and forget about the whole trick or treat thing.” Kids could dress up as farmers, hunters, grocerymen or meat cutters. They could go as vegetables or fruit…imagine a whole bunch of little “Fruit of the Loom” kids showing up asking for a treat. I don’t think a bunch of grapes ever scared anybody! Okay, I’ll quit … “wine” ing 😮
  My animals have used up most of their pastures. I have one more ungrazed paddock where the sheep will spend breeding season in a week or so. I have another pitiful corn field that the cows and sows will get to consume. It’s time on this farm, to start feeding hay. Yep, the whole winter chore thing is about to become my main focus.
  The animals will all require much more care. Manure will be forked, hauled and composted. Feed and water must be brought to the animals instead of them simply just taking care of themselves. Sure I have chores every day twice a day in summer too, but they are much less. It’s a good thing that most of the other farm work is done.
  I looked over the farm yesterday. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. I considered just where every animal will spend the winter days… I am still working out all of the logistics. Today, the sows have conspired to roam three fields on the farm. They saw an opening in the fence and are on a wonderful vacation here on the farm.
  Tomorrow, will be the first dry run of winter movement. Horses come to eat everyday. They pose no problem. The cows will come when called as do the sheep. The hogs , well let’s just say I have to convince them that what I want to do, is much better than what they are doing.
  I have one old red sow, named Char (she was named when I got her), she will come to a bucket of feed. I hope to convince the rest of the marauders to follow her and come with the gang… we shall see how that works 😮
RicelandMeadows 