After receiving 5 bids for our 'hole in the ground' we have selected the construction company, and within 5 days they had our back field full of machinary and were working. I'm impressed. Not only are they moving along at a good rate, but they are doing a really excellent job and they are keeping the construction site clean and haven't created any unnecessary problems with the surrounding field. On top of that they are going to do a few extra things for us for the cost of some scrap metal lying around and one of our two piles of manure that was dug from the concrete tank originally. Now that's a deal!
On Saturday we turned our ram out with our ewes. At first he seemed a little shy but now he seems to be doing his job. We have a harness on him at the moment with an ink block attached which is changed every 16 days (to a new colour). This will allow us to determine approximately which ewes are pregnant (or have ovulated) and therefore when their lambs are due to within a day or so.
The new web site is still happening but we are waiting on our new internet service to be installed (they need to put in a relay box and router up at the barn which has a direct line of sight with the tower on the hill in the distance). Once the router is installed we can install one of the key features of the web site - webcams! Yes you'll actually be able to see live on the internet what is going on around Catesby Farms, from lambing to cheesemaking, as they happen! It also means we can use the cameras kind of like a closed circuit TV when lambing is on to keep track of what is happening ourselves. Once the cameras are set up, I'll be releasing the web site.
Last piece of news is that we have begun renovating the house. We have bought paint and slate for the floor and are in the throes of remodelling the house ready for winter.
Byron continues to improve as well and has now taken to jumping on the couch in the evenings when we have him out of his room. In all, things are moving forward exactly how we want them to.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Dogs and the Tidying of Many Things
As usual time seems to have flown by without even a simple comment from me here, and again I must apologize to those who visit regularly. The last few weeks have been a constant stream of activities from simple tasks like rewiring our livestock trailer to long and emotionally draining things like taking Byron to Vancouver, Canada for his hip replacement surgery. I'll start at the beginning as best I can and hope I neither ramble nor lose you along the way.
Early August was spent mostly in the vegetable garden harvesting all of our produce, and setting up the irrigation for the main fields. We've amassed several hundred pounds of potatos as well as beans, cauliflower, corn, cabbage and are now being inundated with tomatoes. We certainly have enough in the way of produce to keep us going over the winter months ahead, plus in a few weeks the chickens will start laying and the Katahdin sheep we had, well some of them were slaughtered and the meat is now in the freezer (we have kept the best ram though for genetic experimentation next year!).
We acquired a new puppy in the middle of August, another Border Collie that we have named Hamish. He comes from exemplary stock and is an exciting prospect as far as herding goes. From what we have seen of him so far he will become an excellent sheep dog. His aunt recently came 5th in the UK Nationals so he has a lot to live up to. Jen has already started training him and he has picked up the basic commands very quickly. He's also proving to be a master thief and we can't leave anything on the bench top or even an open cupboard because he will steal anything from loaves of bread to shoes. That definitely needs to be worked on!
Late August saw me drive to Vancouver in Canada with Byron for his hip replacement. The operation can be done two ways and the way we had chosen (cementless process where the bone knits to the prosthetic hip ball and socket rather than being glued) required a trip to San Francisco or Vancouver. As the drive is the same and the same doctor would have done the operation (she lives in Vancouver) it made sense to drive north rather than south.
Well the operation to date has been a complete success and we have noticed already that there is a major improvement in the way Byron moves and gets around. Keeping him confined to a single room in the house is proving difficult but he is coping well. He will eventually need the right side replacing as well but we will wait until summer next year before we do that. The doctor has said that he should be strong and agile enough to be able to herd sheep once he has fully recovered so that is really positive news and something to look forward to. Keeping him confined to our office and spending time with him one on one has strengthened the bond between us and he has become more responsive to us.
After returning from Vancouver I headed back up to Portland a few days later to pick up some more sheep. This time it was for our Lacaune ram and six Lacaune ewes, so our flock currently stands at 26 East Friesians (12 yearling ewes, 1 yearling ram and 13 lamb ewes), 7 Lacaunes (6 yearling ewes and 1 lamb ram), 1 Katahdin ram, 24 Dorset/Hampshire/Suffolk crosses (9 older ewes, 7 weathers, 7 ewe lambs and 1 ram that should have been a weather but wasn't castrated properly!).
This week we had the engineering contractor people out to inspect the site for the lagoon. Bids for the job have to be in by today so hopefully by early next week we shall know who is doing the job and when they will start. It has been problematic to say the least (with people leaving their jobs and others on holiday) but it appears we are very close now.
Yesterday we had a lamb go down with a bad case of worms, something that surprised us considering we wormed a few weeks ago and the fecal tests we had done showed no worms. We think its possible the new Lacaune's brought them in, so today is worming day again! The lamb seems to be recovering after a quick trip to the vet, an IV, a shot of magical 'sheep cure all' and now a few doses of maple syrup (the high sugar content is needed to kickstart their system).
The web site alas has taken a back seat, but never fear, it is being worked on and will appear soon.
Early August was spent mostly in the vegetable garden harvesting all of our produce, and setting up the irrigation for the main fields. We've amassed several hundred pounds of potatos as well as beans, cauliflower, corn, cabbage and are now being inundated with tomatoes. We certainly have enough in the way of produce to keep us going over the winter months ahead, plus in a few weeks the chickens will start laying and the Katahdin sheep we had, well some of them were slaughtered and the meat is now in the freezer (we have kept the best ram though for genetic experimentation next year!).
We acquired a new puppy in the middle of August, another Border Collie that we have named Hamish. He comes from exemplary stock and is an exciting prospect as far as herding goes. From what we have seen of him so far he will become an excellent sheep dog. His aunt recently came 5th in the UK Nationals so he has a lot to live up to. Jen has already started training him and he has picked up the basic commands very quickly. He's also proving to be a master thief and we can't leave anything on the bench top or even an open cupboard because he will steal anything from loaves of bread to shoes. That definitely needs to be worked on!
Late August saw me drive to Vancouver in Canada with Byron for his hip replacement. The operation can be done two ways and the way we had chosen (cementless process where the bone knits to the prosthetic hip ball and socket rather than being glued) required a trip to San Francisco or Vancouver. As the drive is the same and the same doctor would have done the operation (she lives in Vancouver) it made sense to drive north rather than south.
Well the operation to date has been a complete success and we have noticed already that there is a major improvement in the way Byron moves and gets around. Keeping him confined to a single room in the house is proving difficult but he is coping well. He will eventually need the right side replacing as well but we will wait until summer next year before we do that. The doctor has said that he should be strong and agile enough to be able to herd sheep once he has fully recovered so that is really positive news and something to look forward to. Keeping him confined to our office and spending time with him one on one has strengthened the bond between us and he has become more responsive to us.
After returning from Vancouver I headed back up to Portland a few days later to pick up some more sheep. This time it was for our Lacaune ram and six Lacaune ewes, so our flock currently stands at 26 East Friesians (12 yearling ewes, 1 yearling ram and 13 lamb ewes), 7 Lacaunes (6 yearling ewes and 1 lamb ram), 1 Katahdin ram, 24 Dorset/Hampshire/Suffolk crosses (9 older ewes, 7 weathers, 7 ewe lambs and 1 ram that should have been a weather but wasn't castrated properly!).
This week we had the engineering contractor people out to inspect the site for the lagoon. Bids for the job have to be in by today so hopefully by early next week we shall know who is doing the job and when they will start. It has been problematic to say the least (with people leaving their jobs and others on holiday) but it appears we are very close now.
Yesterday we had a lamb go down with a bad case of worms, something that surprised us considering we wormed a few weeks ago and the fecal tests we had done showed no worms. We think its possible the new Lacaune's brought them in, so today is worming day again! The lamb seems to be recovering after a quick trip to the vet, an IV, a shot of magical 'sheep cure all' and now a few doses of maple syrup (the high sugar content is needed to kickstart their system).
The web site alas has taken a back seat, but never fear, it is being worked on and will appear soon.
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