North Carolina Visitors

Earlier in the week we got a call from a family from North Carolina who had found our web site and wanted to visit the farm.  Yesterday they drove out from Anchorage (13 of them) in two rental cars and got to see some of the farm and most of the cows.  We checked the new Canadian heifer but she hadn't delivered her calf yet.

Bull Dozer

I think we've discovered the derivation of bulldozer.  The cows have started a practice I've never seen before.  The pasture has a number of depressions or bowls that have very little grass but an abundance of wild celery and other bushes.  It was so tall that a month ago you had a hard time seeing the cows when they were in these bowls.   Now I see that they have systematically started grubbing these bowls down to the ground and my guess is that the grasses they are eating (Timothy, brome, and bluegrass) will now get seeded in these lovely bowls.  That should vastly improve the pasture.  

Great Hay

This past week saw lots of sun, wind and heat- a combination that insured that we get plenty of quality hay up for the cattle.  Proof of its quality was when a bale fell off the truck going through the pasture and the cows left green grass to eat the bale of hay!

Breeding 09 Begins

Our new bull began his work on July 2.  Typically we begin on July 1 but since the bull was new I had to wait until the cows got around his enclosure before letting him out in a totally new country and pasture.  

His first interest was green grass.  He had been living off hay since last fall since he has been in confinement.  The cows were very interested and you can see Chloe checking him out after release.

How not to make Hay

Here is what  you don't want to find when you go to hook up the mower.  The PTO (Power Take Off) wouldn't engage and after several tests on hydraulic pressure etc I disassembled the unit and found that the clutch housing in the PTO unit was badly broken.  It is now on its way via priority mail while we watch some very nice hay days slide by.

Unloading

This is one way to get cows from a truck to the ground if you don't have a loading chute set up for truck heights.  Just jack up a stock trailer to the truck height and transfer them to the trailer and then unload them directly on the ground!