Winter playland

Below are some photos and funny captions from the last snow.  It's all ice out there now, but it was fun while it lasted!  Click on "Play slideshow" to see the photos and captions as it all unfolded out in the pasture...... You are invited to view Laura's photo album: 2013-02-12 2013-02-12 Feb 7, 2013 by Laura View Album Play slideshow If you are having problems viewing this email, copy and paste the following into your browser: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=dykstrazoo1&target=ALBUM&id=5844068298370444225&authkey=Gv1sRgCM-upeHn_Oi6WQ&feat=email To share your photos or receive notification when your friends share photos, get your own free Picasa Web Albums account.

Spartan the barn kitty vs. the angry gander

Photo:  The barn kitties, Charlie and Spartan.  Spartan is the green-eyed cutie on the right. Hmmmm.....correction to yesterday's post about the geese. Re-reading it, it sounds like the gander is trying to mate with the barn cat.  I don't think anything is further from his mind!  No false impressions, please. The gander is chasing the cats away from the goose and her nest.  He has been chasing one kitty in particular, Spartan, and grabbing tufts of fur whenever he can.  Poor Spartan has such wispy-fine fur that he's not all that warm in the winter as it is. The gander had pinned Spartan on the barn floor in one of their tussles, and Spartan lost yet another tuft of fur in the disagreement. It reminds me of something I read when I was researching breeds of geese.  Someone had geese, and there was a terrible racket in the yard one night.  The farmer looked out and saw all of his geese ganging up on a red fox.  The fox ran, and that was that, until the next morning.  Then the farmer and his wife saw just how much red fur was strewn around their yard, and realized just how fierce their geese would be when necessary! Going up against a barn cat is nothing if geese will actually take on a fox! Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

The birds (and the bees) in the barn

Hmmm....maybe I should post a PG13 rating on this one..... That's a goose nest in the photo.  The goose and gander have been jealously guarding it for a few weeks now, despite the temps dipping down to below-zero wind chill.  Last time I was able to safely check for eggs, there were 7.  Now there are 13.  The goose was off getting drink of water and didn't cover up the eggs with the customary 3 inches of straw, so I took the opportunity to count..... Mama and papa rushed back because they saw me too close (and a chicken was venturing too close as well).  Mama fiercely chased the chicken out of the nest area and then carefully arranged each and every egg before settling back onto them.   Mama has taken to hissing angrily.  If you walked past her nest out in some tall grass (hidden) instead of in the barn (in plain sight) you might jump about a foot and think a snake was ready to strike.   Just yesterday morning, I saw the gander pin one of the barn cats to the floor and walk proudly away with a tuft of orange fur in his beak.   Last night, I saw a male duck (drake) sneak up on the goose and try to court her, head-bobbing and all.  The goose was calmly sitting on her nest ignoring the duck.  The gander sure was angry when he noticed!  The drake was on her back, and she was actually being submissive!  I was a bit shocked.  She finally got her wits about her and hissed as the duck was chased off. The geese are a bit confused as of late, in other ways too.  The birds and bees thought-process is taking over the obvious heirarchy in the poultry flock.  The ducks are thinking it's spring, and the drakes are wanting to do what the gander must be doing in private.  But....the ducks grew up with the geese, and the geese think that they are the supreme leaders of the waterfowl flock.  The drake can't help himself, and is caught up in being.....um....a drake.  Suddenly he is surrounded by 3 screeching and nipping geese, making an ear-splitting racket, interrupting his barnyard role in making more ducklings.  They don't give permission for the drakes to do what comes naturally when a pretty girl duck waddles by.  Their only intent is to chase him away from the coy female duck.   The geese have apparently appointed themselves to be the duck chaperone at all times.  (As if to say, "No, no, NO!  We'll have none of this funny business in OUR barn."  And all the while, there sits the 4th goose on a nest of goose eggs that didn't happen by accident! Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

Water again!

Turns out that it was neither of the two scenarios I was envisioning. Not a frozen pipe.   Not a broken-down well-pump from Denmark. The water tank that is in the cement "bunker" where the well pump the water had lost pressure and was down from a pressure reading of 35 to a reading of 5.  There is an air bladder inside the tank that we need to test in the next few months to see if it's lost pressure again (could mean a tiny hole in the bladder that causes it to lose pressure)  That causes the type of pump that we have to keep working (instead of the usual on-when-needed and then a rest) and the pump can overheat, then it shuts down.   Good news:  The pump from Denmark is stocked by the company that came out for the repair call today. Bad news:  It costs about $1500 for the pump itself, and no other type of pump fits inside the 3" opening of the old-type wells.  I'm VERY thankful that the pump didn't need to be replaced today! Other news.  I asked, because I've been wondering:  It's possible to run a water supply to the barn, probably from the house.  There would be a valve inside the house for turning it off and on, and a hydrant inside the barn which wouldn't freeze because it would only have water in it when we needed to pump water.  (A "weep" hole 4 feet below the ground level would drain water away and not allow any water to remain inside the hydrant to potentially freeze and crack the hydrant.)  It MIGHT cost $1300.  Not going to happen anytime soon, that's for sure, but would be SO nice instead of hauling 5 gallon buckets of water from the bathtub out to the cow-trough on the opposite side of the barn.  A water supply in the barn could also make for a milk-room that would come close to meeting government standards, although that's not totally necessary for what we're doing. So, water is running in the house again.  The water heater downstairs is full and heating water for a proper shower later on.  The pump in the well is running, and the water tank that receives the well-water before it is sent to the house is working like it's supposed to.  There wasn't more than the service-call fee to pay, which was a relief.   And, there are lots of ideas to think on in the next few cold months about how to conserve more water in the spring and summer. Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

Update on the lack of water

It's surprising how clean you can feel after using less than a gallon of water.  We Americans are so spoiled with our steam-up-the-entire-bathroom showers!  An old pan, a washcloth, and enough water for soaping up and then rinsing off....and I felt so much better.  A hot shower would have been nice, but not necessary for being clean. Of course, I wouldn't have taken a sponge bath for any other reason than that there was absolutely no water to be had for a shower.  I AM a spoiled American, after all.  But...it does show how much less water we COULD be using. And another "of course":  I skipped washing my hair and it looks greasy to me.  Maybe there's a challenge there? Could I take a sponge bath AND wash my hair with less than a gallon of water.  Another day....I might be forced to try this as soon as tomorrow if the water problem can't be fixed today!  (Hope not!)  We'd be melting snow on the stove-top and using it for morning sponge-baths.....I guess we'd survive.  Actually, for clean hair, I'll probably do this tonight if the water-system isn't fixed. I wonder how much hot water goes down the drain in the course of a normal shower?  And in the case of a teenager's shower, you could double or triple that!  (gas heated water=energy wasted, too, and money spent on top of that to pay for the gas that heated the wasted water) Another thought that's been re-curring every now and then:  All that "gray-water" from sinks, showers and dish-washers is going into the septic field.  Why aren't we catching it during the warmer months and using it to water the gardens or even the lawns? Even the de-humidifier that runs almost constantly in the basement?  The nearly-pure water is puled from the damp air, the hose goes into the "lift-pump" which lifts the water out of the pit in the basement floor and out into the septic tank.  More water wasted.   Why aren't we using it instead of sending it out to the underground septic field?  It's not doing us any good out there, except that it gradually filters back into the aquifer that our well-water comes from in the first place.  it could be watering plants before filtering back to the aquifer. Lots to think about as I wait for the water repair-guy to see what our lack of water is being caused by...... Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

Water....NOT everywhere.

Well, after catching all that rainwater a week ago and using all of that rainwater since then to water livestock, there is now NO WATER in the house.  I'm getting thirsty just typing about it! Friends came to milk Bessie, and there was just a trickle of water coming out of the kitchen faucet at that point.   After a successful milking (they took care of everything very confidently, Bessie cooperated, and I fidgeted in the other part of the barn "in case" I was needed!  I wasn't!), we came in to wash up and filter the milk.  They talked about making ice cream tonight.  We chatted about other things: old farmhouses, quirky water and electric and old roofs, etc, and Damon pointed out that the water was trickling down to nothing more than a slight drip. He was good enough to check the circuit breakers (down the dirty basement stairs, through the jumble of clutter in the laundry room, through cat litter on the floor of the basement.  Embarrassing!).  No problem there.  There seemed to be water in the basement pipes/faucets, but not much pressure. They left to get on with their own day, and I called Jeff.  'Checked the circuit breaker that I didn't know about in the garage (the well set-up is under the sun-room floor, in a cement bunker-style thing).  I pried up the plywood square to look down into the bunker, and there was lots of moisture dripping down the walls.  Not sure if that's normal or not. Called Jeff again.  Then called the water company whose name was on the sticker in the breaker-box. 'Checked the water softener system to make sure that the recent power outage didn't re-set the timing of the 2 am cycle (which would take most of the water in the pipes and re-circulate it through the softener, unless I misunderstand the system).  'Not that. I'm thinking it could be two things. The first one could be fairly minor.  It's been cold, and the pipes run from the bunker-thing under the ground, then under the living room (no basement there, just floor joists above dry dirt, and that living room is cold!).  Maybe the pipe is frozen and water can't get from the well-pump to the house.   Or, much worse.  I had a well company come out to check the well after we bought the property.  The pump in our well is old.  It's from Denmark.  The maintenance guy suggested that we should not treat the water in the well to settle the sediment, because the shaft/pump/combination of the two might be adversely affected.  Someone had treated the well before and not rinsed away the chlorine residue---leading to corrosion of the shaft (?)  Maybe my terms aren't exactly correct.   Back to the pump from Denmark:  To replace it, we'd need to find one or order one.  If the pump is not working, then we're in trouble.  My Dad suggested (over a year ago) that we might want to get a pump ordered for when the other one goes out.  It's common-sense, but it also costs money.  At the time, we had no renters in our old house, and every cent was going to pay two mortgages. But now, if the pump has gone out, we'll wish over and over that we had put in that order and that a replacement pump was ready and waiting! Someone is coming out this afternoon to check things out.  Hopefully, all they'll need to do is thaw the pipe.   On a rather gross personal hygiene note:  I didn't get a shower yesterday, and was counting on a nice hot shower after shoveling some very dusty chicken-litter in the barn this morning.  I'm feeling very gross, to the point of debating whether I'll boil the left-over water from canning apple juice so that I can simply wash my hair! It's amazing how my mind turned from "Just hop in the shower (and take it for granted)" to "Save every drop that might come out of the faucets, and.....Oh, that has to be for drinking water, so what remote possibilities are there for washing-water?!!!!"  There's half-a-bucket of shower-water that was going to be brought to the cows that is now a bit more precious than that.  If we need to, we'll shovel snow into the cow-trough and let the de-icer melt it into water for them to drink! Since I'm filthy already, I think I'll take the time to sweep the basement and get some very dusty things organized down there.  Bleah! Ultimately, having running water is more important than a missed shower, and there IS a large amount of snow that could be melted down and boiled if we need it.   Hopefully, by the time you read this, there will be restored water flow in the house and a much-cleaner typist reporting the good news! Someone remarked recently to my Mom that she admired my "adventurous spirit".  I'm not sure I ever wanted to be so adventurous as to go without a daily shower after doing farm chores!  ;) Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/

Was today THE day?

Bessie and Ruby were going through their "in heat" routine.  I was watching for signs today, because if the right behavior pointed to Bessie being in heat (fertile), I needed to call the vet ASAP.   I really didn't expect to have the vet be able to fit us into his schedule today of all days.  He had to downsize his business, let his secretary go, moved the office into his house, and his partner is looking for a new job.  His closing letter was very sad, because he truly valued both the secretary and Dr. Hall, his vet partner.  All of this happened at the end of January, and the office was moved just this past weekend.....so I was quite surprised when Dr. Morrissey was able to come right out. It turns out that this particular slow time for his business should be a busy time of year.  Farmers who couldn't grow enough hay for their cows had to sell the cows--he was the vet that kept those cows healthy.  Small homesteaders who couldn't feed extra animals sold those animals or had to send them to the butcher.  (Reality almost hit home here, too: Thankfully, Lucy was bought by someone who wanted her for an eventual milk-cow and wanted the Dutch Belted genetics.  Other farmers had no choice but to send their livestock away, and we would have tried to keep Lucy fed if she hadn't sold, but it would have stretched the farm budget almost past the breaking point--and at the end of summer, it didn't even seem possible that we would have been able to scrounge up enough hay for ONE cow!) Back to the cows here, today.  Cows in heat aren't a pretty sight, and I've been careful to describe it vaguely before now.  Here is a little more info, still tactfully shared (I hope!) Ruby was delicately sniffing the air in Bessie's vicinity  (she IS Bessie's calf, but as a calf who has been in heat herself already, she responds to Bessie's heat as if she was an adult).  Ruby was quite interested in Bessie's back half.  Bessie was doing her best to head-butt, kick, or shove her grown daughter away.  (In the absence of a bull, the grown cows will act as if they are interested.)  She was protecting her hindquarters like she usually does, to avoid being mounted.   Interesting fact that I didn't piece together until last time:  There is more milk when Bess is in heat because she is kicking her daughter away, fearing the worst--being mounted!  Gasp! This is the time of their cycle that I like the least, so the sooner Bess is pregnant, the better.  The behavior of cows in heat is just too erratic (Yes, I meant to type "erratic" and not...ahem.... "erotic"!!!) and almost dangerous for my taste!  Skulls cracking or sudden movements involving a 1000 pound cow aren't necessarily the situation I want to be in the middle of.  Dr. Morrissey was on his way, I got Ruby into her stall and Bessie into the stanchion, tethered them both up, and got a bucket of grain ready. Dr. M pulled the big liquid nitrogen tank out of his truck, and I went inside to get some hot water.  We know the routine now--hot water in one cup, cold water in another, while the vet sets things up. The tiny sub-zero tube (straw) of semen was carefully removed from the tank, by way needle-nosed pliers and decoding the location (different canisters in one large tank, each with a separate handle, each holding semen samples for other farms in the area) The straw was thawed in water, inserted in a long hollow metal straw (maybe 18 inches long?), then protected with another slightly larger straw and held inside Dr. M's coveralls so that it stayed the correct temp. We strolled out through the snow and to the cow area.  Bess was still tethered, munching her hay.  I brought in the bucket of grain and she hardly even flinched as Dr. M covered up his arm with a plastic disposable "sleeve" and started checking things out.  Grain is a wonderful distraction for a cow! There was a surge of joy on my part as Dr. Morrissey proclaimed that "Yes, she's definitely in heat!" and then "Everything seems to be lined up perfectly".  No cyst, no lack of muscle tone inside, no empty ovary that a fertile cell had come from too long ago to try the AI. Everything seemed wonderful, easy, and.....perfect.  Last time I'd waited 12 hours too long, and Dr. Hall had been out that time.  She could tell that the right ovary had sent out an egg, and that it had been about the time I called her the afternoon before.  I learn something new every time these wonderful vets come out to the farm..... I was a bit surprised this time, to tell the truth.  Maybe I geared myself up for a difficult time of getting her impregnated.  Maybe I'm congratulating her too early, and it didn't take.  Maybe I've typed too many stories about our stubborn Bessie, and am believing it all as the absolute truth, hmmm?  But, for the vet to very nearly say that the AI attempt with this particular cow went "perfectly".....well, that's something to be truly thankful for. As it seems to happen more and more since moving out here, I was praying during the course of the afternoon.  Not a very conscious prayer, but more like an undertone to everything else that was happening or needing to be done.   Watching for the signs this morning, the prayer was there, but very understated. Seeing the cows lovingly grooming each other, the prayer was in the background, kind of self-serving ("Let it be today".  "Let the vet be available.") Driving to get Jeremy before the vet came out, the prayer was playing in my mind ("If it's not today, Lord, please keep me aware for the next time.  Don't let me lose heart.  Show me what I'm supposed to learn from the success or failure.....") Waiting for Dr. Morrissey this afternoon, the same ("Lord, I would love it if today was THE day.  But it's all in Your hands, please remind me of that!") As he described the near-perfect timing, the prayer was more thankful and ever-so-hopeful. So, now we wait.  At least 21 days, to see if she comes into heat again.  If there are no signs, then we wait until the end of March for a pregnancy test.  If she's pregnant, then a calf should be born in November.  Not great for a calf to be born just as cold weather sets in, but I'll be grateful and thankful, no matter what.  If our difficult cow is truly "bred" and expecting a calf, I'll do what it takes to give that little calf a great start on life. "Lord, it's all in Your hands.  Please remind me of that!"  :) Laura http://dykstrasfarm.blogspot.com/