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- #2,081
baymule
Garden Master
Oh, I did make it to church! I got chicks cared for, fed dogs, fed sheep and even had a few minutes to grab a sandwich. LOL
Baymule’s Farm
- Thread starter baymule
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #2,082
baymule
Garden Master
Sad tale. My mistake. I picked up the 3 week old pullets. It was cold, their “house” was warm. We put them in cardboard boxes so I could get them home. I was so afraid of them getting cold! But when I got home and opened the boxes, half were dead. 
Of all things, they got too hot. I was horrified. I now have 24 three week olds. They are in small outside coop with 2 heat lamps and doing fine.
The 80 fluff balls are still in the house in the tub. Haven’t lost one yet, knock on wood. (Baymule raps knuckles on her head) I look forward to getting the little stinkers out of the house. And yes, they do stink. Doesn’t matter what I do, the poop factory is on going in production.
Temperatures are above freezing, I’m so glad. I was very tired of lugging two 5 gallon buckets of hot water from the house to the sheep. I can’t carry a full bucket, so they were 3/4 full. Six trips twice a day. Phooey!
Went to feed store yesterday for 1200 pounds in a super bag. Got home, dropped tailgate, backed up to portable building, got four 5 gallon buckets, scooped feed into the buckets, stepped off tailgate, dumped feed into metal trash cans. Over and over and over and over……
It rained all weekend, was sunny yesterday. Ground is saturated, sheep lots are a sloppy poop soup, yuck. Fields have standing pools and pockets of water. Wet wet and more wet. Can’t do much outside. Need to mow front field, but would leave ruts.
I have a week of lows in the 40’s and highs in the 70’s with sunshine! I think I’ll go get diesel and fuel up the tractor and mule. Can only fill half full as I can’t pick up and pour a 5 gallon fuel can.
I still haven’t got pictures of Dessa’s lambs. I put Ewenique, 11year old ewe, and her twins in the pen with Dessa. She is getting dragged down and skinny from nursing twins. Ewenique has always put it in the milk bag and she is old now. I separated her so I can feed her and Dessa extra.
7:00 AM, it’s a fog whiteout. Can only see about 100’.
Going to turn on heat lamps in big coop today, test for temperature. The best I could get last week was 60 degrees. Baby chicks need 90 degrees. That’s why they are in the house. I’ll check temperature in the morning. If it is warm enough, out they go!
Of all things, they got too hot. I was horrified. I now have 24 three week olds. They are in small outside coop with 2 heat lamps and doing fine.The 80 fluff balls are still in the house in the tub. Haven’t lost one yet, knock on wood. (Baymule raps knuckles on her head) I look forward to getting the little stinkers out of the house. And yes, they do stink. Doesn’t matter what I do, the poop factory is on going in production.
Temperatures are above freezing, I’m so glad. I was very tired of lugging two 5 gallon buckets of hot water from the house to the sheep. I can’t carry a full bucket, so they were 3/4 full. Six trips twice a day. Phooey!
Went to feed store yesterday for 1200 pounds in a super bag. Got home, dropped tailgate, backed up to portable building, got four 5 gallon buckets, scooped feed into the buckets, stepped off tailgate, dumped feed into metal trash cans. Over and over and over and over……
It rained all weekend, was sunny yesterday. Ground is saturated, sheep lots are a sloppy poop soup, yuck. Fields have standing pools and pockets of water. Wet wet and more wet. Can’t do much outside. Need to mow front field, but would leave ruts.
I have a week of lows in the 40’s and highs in the 70’s with sunshine! I think I’ll go get diesel and fuel up the tractor and mule. Can only fill half full as I can’t pick up and pour a 5 gallon fuel can.
I still haven’t got pictures of Dessa’s lambs. I put Ewenique, 11year old ewe, and her twins in the pen with Dessa. She is getting dragged down and skinny from nursing twins. Ewenique has always put it in the milk bag and she is old now. I separated her so I can feed her and Dessa extra.
7:00 AM, it’s a fog whiteout. Can only see about 100’.
Going to turn on heat lamps in big coop today, test for temperature. The best I could get last week was 60 degrees. Baby chicks need 90 degrees. That’s why they are in the house. I’ll check temperature in the morning. If it is warm enough, out they go!
- Thread starter
- #2,083
baymule
Garden Master
Big Girl lambed night before last. That would be Monday night. The first was a big ram, covered in yellow goop. When the goop is yellow, it’s an indicator of a problem birth. He was floppy and took a long time to get up and after many failed attempts, he finally nursed. I helped him a little. Then toes sticking out, but no more contractions. She quit. I tried to pull, but the lamb wasn’t coming out. I went to the house for a head lamp and a halter and rope. I tied her up to a T-post, but she could still swing from one side to the other. I reached in, felt a back hock and pulled that leg out. Then the other hock, pulled both legs and the lamb wasn’t coming out. Ewe. Breech and dead. But at least I saved the ewe.
43 lambs, have only lost two.
1 more ewe to lamb.
43 lambs, have only lost two.
1 more ewe to lamb.
Branching Out
Deeply Rooted
Ewe. Are. Amazing.
- Thread starter
- #2,085
baymule
Garden Master
It’s been 3 days of beautiful sunshine. Have accomplished very little outside due to wet soggy, muddy, ground. Been out of hay for front field for 4 days, but so wet that tractor would leave deep ruts. Maybe today. Tired of pulling hay off round bale in middle field and carrying it to front field.
- Thread starter
- #2,086
baymule
Garden Master
I finally did get that hay bale set for the sheep in the front field. Even with the sunshine, that big heavy tractor squished big ruts. But I got the bale set.
The same day I cleaned up the stash of gates. I had to machete chop tall weeds , drag gates from one end of the shed to the other and drag 2 sheets of 3/4” plywood over a cow panel fence and drag them in place. There were 3 gates on the end I wanted to use and 5 gates on the other end I had to drag for what seemed like a couple of miles, but I got it done.
I lost a few chicks, as expected. But Wednesday morning I found a dog pile of dead chicks. I guess they had a group suicide agreement. Horrible. Temperatures were still a little low in the coop but it was a darned if I do, darned if I don’t situation. So I moved them to the coop. Nighttime temperatures hover around 70F degrees, still a little cool, but they have 4 heat lamps to huddle under. Mornings, I turn a couple off, mid morning I turn them all off, 5/6 PM, I turn them back on.
Just for smiles, 4 white lambs nestled in a blackened burned out stump. I really need to finish getting rid of this stump, but I love watching the lambs snuggle in it.
The same day I cleaned up the stash of gates. I had to machete chop tall weeds , drag gates from one end of the shed to the other and drag 2 sheets of 3/4” plywood over a cow panel fence and drag them in place. There were 3 gates on the end I wanted to use and 5 gates on the other end I had to drag for what seemed like a couple of miles, but I got it done.
I lost a few chicks, as expected. But Wednesday morning I found a dog pile of dead chicks. I guess they had a group suicide agreement. Horrible. Temperatures were still a little low in the coop but it was a darned if I do, darned if I don’t situation. So I moved them to the coop. Nighttime temperatures hover around 70F degrees, still a little cool, but they have 4 heat lamps to huddle under. Mornings, I turn a couple off, mid morning I turn them all off, 5/6 PM, I turn them back on.
Just for smiles, 4 white lambs nestled in a blackened burned out stump. I really need to finish getting rid of this stump, but I love watching the lambs snuggle in it.
ducks4you
Garden Master
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It is REALLY hard sometimes to be a livestock owner! 
- Thread starter
- #2,088
baymule
Garden Master
Little chicks have had a week out in the coop and are doing ok. I’ve lost a few, that is to be expected. It stormed Tuesday, high winds blew out the power. I called in the power outage on the automated system plus called and talked to a live person. There were 4,000 with no power. I told the nice lady that I had baby chicks with no heat lamps and would deeply appreciate anything they could do. Power was off several hours. Came on for awhile, off again, came back on and one final fling before nightfall. Chicks were fine.
The friend that culled her grandson’s show CCX , gave me 15 more chickens yesterday. That’s 39 older chickens now. They will be ready in probably 3 more weeks.
Going to try to get 3 big burn piles started this morning.
The friend that culled her grandson’s show CCX , gave me 15 more chickens yesterday. That’s 39 older chickens now. They will be ready in probably 3 more weeks.
Going to try to get 3 big burn piles started this morning.
SPedigrees
Garden Addicted
If they like it, why not leave it?
