Foxbriar Farm Chronicles

Moooooo-ving right along, now...

2008-08-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

This is Sweetie's little boy. He was born June 26, 2008.

So he's still a little awkward on his legs.

And pretends to be a bit shy.

But he's awful cute.

Sweetie would like to know what I'm doing with her baby.

'Cause, baby is hers.

Remembering Poppy

2008-02-13T14:43:00.000-08:00

Our oldest ewe walked with quiet grace and dignity to a corner of the pasture a few days ago, lay down and passed on.

Poppy was never a prize winner. Her fleece was better suited to rugs than to sweaters, but she had personality!

Shawn used to cal her Queen Lizzy because the little *mou* made by her black markings around her mouth reminded him of that famous painting of Queen Elizabeth I.

She'll be remembered and missed.

The maul

2008-01-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Lena's taken over much of the wood chopping chores, in part, because Shawn is rough on the axes! He's murdered a few of them - split the handle right in half. The type of axe we prefer is a maul. It is heavy headed and made to split wood.

After the last maul broke, Shawn was sending Lena into town to get a replacement. We wanted to make sure we sent enough money, so he went online to that place we all hate, but shop there anyway because it's what we can afford.
He typed "maul" into the search bar.

The first two listings were for some kind of music cd. The next listing was for a Darth Maul light saber.
"That's it!"
It's exactly what we need.
Could you imagine a light saber slicing through trees, dicing them into stove lengths and then - splitting each length into easily burning quarters. It was perfect. And at $24.95 it was easily affordable. Who knew light saber's were so cheap?

What I wanted to see was the customer service rep's face when we took it back and told her it didn't work!

However, that would have meant two trips into town, so we settled for a $19.95 fiber glass handled axe. Sigh....

Chorin'

2007-12-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Most of the time I love doing chores. They are the bookends of my day. Milking in the morning and feeding all the sheep, goats, llamas, rabbits, chickens and horses wakes me up and gets me moving. It starts my day with good critter energy.
Doing it all again in the evening is a great way to wrap up the day, tucking everyone into bed and winding down.
It keeps me moving, gives me a routine and only takes about an hour in the morning and an hour at night. For that I get milk, eggs, lots of wonderful fluffy fibers to play with and happy animals to share my life. Well worth it.
But sometimes, especially in the winter, when morning comes late and night happens early, chores become wearying. I have to push myself to go milk. I try to get someone to come help me move the sheep. It just seems endless.
I was talking to a friend last week. Their cow is dry and they were trying to decide whether or not to keep her. They've been milking since 1981. Maybe it's time to take a break, they questioned.
They have a year on me - I've been milking since 1982. I have taken a few breaks, sometimes just a couple weeks off when all the goats are dry at once, other times a few months between goats. But every time, when I get my wonderful, fresh squeezed goat juice back, I swear that I will always have my goats to milk.
And so the chores go on.
In the dark of the winter, I remind myself why I like the bookends of critter time on either end of my day. And I also keep an eye on the calendar. Only 3 more days to the Solstice and more light in my day. The wheel of the year turns and spring will come again.
Happy Yule, ya'll!

Forget beg, borrow or steal... try barter

2007-10-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Imagine getting a week at the gym for free. imagine getting enough hay to feed your animals over the winter.

Our local hay supplier - he's got several fields of really nice bermuda grass - has us on his list and he calls us whenever he has hay baled in the field. Last time we got a load, he said he was having a hard time getting folk to move the unsold hay from the field to the barn before it rains. We said, "We'd like to help."

Two days ago the call came in.

We've since picked up 162 bales, hauled 'e up the mountain, unloaded and stacked 'em in the hay yard. We'll tarp the stack in the next day or so. He's said he could hold whatever amount we can't store ourselves in his barn and we could get it later.

After our hay had been hauled and stacked, we went to work for him. Today, we moved 5 loads and paid for about 20% of the hay we purchased.

And what, you're asking, does this have to do with a free week at the gym? I've walked about 5 miles without the aid of a treadmill through the rolling hills of his hay fields doing the snatch and lift on more than 800 - 60 pound bales of hay.

Imagine having great biceps and triceps and legs and pecs. Imagine being really sore the next day.

But thats not the point. Without spending one cent of our hard earned money, we've managed to trade labor for hay. We've also traded labor for wood. By clearing the slab and sawdust out a local sawyers work area, he's agreed to cut us timbers for rafters and purlins at no charge.

What are your barter stories?

Making a place for roots

2007-10-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

Gardening as metaphor for life...

Robin and Summer brought us out 8 1/2 foot tall garden fencing - 330 feet of it. Shawn and Robin went and picked up t-posts and 2x4's to put it on. We plotted out where we wanted the orchard and set a few posts to mark it out, to make sure it would work for everyone. We hope to get it up this week.

In our plotting and planning, we decided that the area will be a pen for the goats this winter. They can clear it out and manure it and mulch it for us. We'll build a little shed in the corner that can be their barn this winter and then a tool/potting shed in the future.

This spring, when the goats can go browse again, the pen will become the garden. We'll till the soil, mulch a lot, lime a bit and grow annuals for the next two years. We are going to try for year-around greens and lots of other yummies. Then we'll plant a cover crop to till in and... in three years (Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise...) we'll plant our orchard.

Looking at it as I was taking this picture I realized that is a metaphor for life, for place, for what we are doing a Foxbriar right now - we are making a place for roots.

Meet Chalcedony

2007-10-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I went, with friends, to a huge livestock sale. I mean HUGE - more than 2,400 head of sheep and goats, a few pigs, horses and cattle, about 2 hours worth of auctioneering on poultry and rabbits and an alpaca and a llama.

We got there at about 9 a.m. after leaving our home at about 5:30 a.m. I had dragged my sorry self out of bed at about 5 a.m. to sort the animals I was taking to the sale. We had with us 7 of their goats and 8 of my weanling lambs - 7 rams and 1 ewe and could could use none of 'em and they were eating hay. It was time to find them a good home.

That was my job as assigned by Jen. Take the lambs, drop 'em off, get the check, come home.

I was amazed when we arrived at the size of the place. And even more amazed that is was almost all goat and sheep. My experience with sale barns had been more of the all cattle with a few sheep and goats. This was a nice change.

The folks I went with did go to check out the offerings and wandered around with them. It's sort of like a WalMart for goat and sheep in there. Most of what I saw left me very unimpressed - some left me sad and some left me downright angry - and I was about to go take a nap in the truck when I saw her.

Long story short, I skipped my nap and waited ringside all day long for a chance to bid on her and I got her.

But wait! Who is she? She is a bred 2 year old icelandic ewe and she's pretty and healthy... well, see for yourelf...

What about that name? well, it's a C year and I wanted a name that was pretty and suited her. I wracked my brain trying to come up with one... Finally, inspiration struck like a rock. From Merriam Webster.com
chalcedony

Main Entry:: chal·ce·do·ny
Pronunciation:: \kal-ˈse-d^ən-ē, chal-; ˈkal-sə-ˌdō-nē, ˈchal-, -ˌdä-\
Function:: noun
Inflected Form(s):: plural chal·ce·do·nies
Etymology:: Middle English calcedonie, a precious stone, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin chalcedonius, from Greek Chalkēdōn Chalcedon
Date:: 13th century

: a translucent variety of quartz of various colors and waxy luster

Step aside Starbucks! We do cappuccino right!

2007-10-01T19:22:00.000-07:00

Keep your cool(er) and prevent frozen pipes

2007-09-29T18:05:00.001-07:00

Our water line was installed two weeks ago and the very end of the line - where the hydrant and the water cut-offs are - has sat open to the sky. In order to finish that section, I'd need to build an insulated box, cover the pipes, build a lid, cover the lid and the box with dirt. Not that it's a lot of work. After all, I built a milk stand for our goats in about two hours with nothing but scrap slab, a chainsaw, a hammer and some nails. But it's a bit of wood and I didn't want to use scrap slab for this because it's underground and would rot.

So there I stood, looking into an open hole thinking "Insulate box, insulate box... hmmmm." And inspiration struck!

When Robin and Summer left two days ago, they left behind an old cooler whose lid had warped. It was a matter of a few minutes work with the chainsaw to slice the bottom off of it and fit it over the water cut-off handles. I then seated the lid as best I could and covered the whole thing with dirt. The dirt will keep the lid in place. The cooler will keep the pipes from freezing.

And I didn't have to waste wood.

This is a perfect example, I think, of reusing a piece of potentially toxic trash. What ideas do you have?

Belated hellos and fond farewells

2007-09-28T10:02:00.001-07:00

Our dear friends and benefactors Robin and Summer Woodsong, along with Summer's sister Julia, have been visiting and working about the farm for the past week or so... must've been longer, but time sure is fun when you're having flies... something like that.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned. I am told Robin's plan had been to show up on Monday and put up a yurt. On Tuesday we were going to start on a barn. By Friday when the barn was finished, we would go an play in Mountain View.

But we were stymied on all accounts.

The yurt is up and what a yurt it is. I was able to swing from the ceiling like an ape (watch the comments, there) and not budge the thing an inch. Solid and stable. However, it took the better part of five days.

Instead of the barn, we started staking out the orchard. They had brought with them 330' of 8' fencing to keep the wild ones (both the deer and our goats) from getting in an helping themselves. I say orchard, but that won't be for several years. First, we want to make it into a garden to get the soil prepared. However, finding poles to support that fence was a bit of a challenge. It's started now, though. Jen could be seen pounding in over-sized T-posts from several steps up on the ladder. I yelled at her for being unsafe, but that's what I'm going to do when I get to it, so...

Also, instead of a barn, we set up a wonderful outdoor kitchen with the grill and a gazebo. I did a lot of cooking out doors in the past week or so and loved it. We have since added the refrigerator - rescued from its tarp under the trees - and plan on making a real kitchen out of it so I can cook even more. Whee!

They helped us tarp the trailer. The trailer had been drip-free and seemed watertight until we leveled it. Then the water would pool and the roof would leak.

Julia, who had learned to spin this summer at the Colorado Renaissance Festival, came down to the shop and learned to card and blend fibers.

Somewhere in all the fun and excitement and work someone said, "We're sorry we didn't get as much done."

Yeah, but look at what did get done and the fun we had doing that. Imagine if we had got it all done. Could we have withstood that much fun? And there'd be less fun for the next visit!

I sure hope it's soon!

Another 'child' joins the family

2007-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

Read about his adoption...

sticks and, well, sticks...

2007-09-07T19:01:00.001-07:00

As we arrived at the farm this evening to take care of the critters and tuck them into bed, both Jeanette and Lena commented on the stick stuck in Muppet's neck fur. They both thought to remove it and one of 'em shrieked... well, not a shriek as much as a surprised "eek."

I went to see what was happening and was told that Muppet had a friend... an 8-inch long walking stick!

By the time I got Mups cornered, his friend was gone so I didn't get to see it... bummer.

I did get to see one earlier in the year. I thought I had seen walking sticks before, but never like these...

From Wikipedia

Meanwhile, it's been too rainy to work with the chainsaw and cut any more sticks, so the cord wood siding on the dinosaur has crawled to a stop... not that I'm even going to complain about the rain. It's wonderful!

The tortoise and the truck

2007-09-06T20:55:00.001-07:00

Everyone knows the story of the tortoise and the hare.

This one has a happier ending.

On our way from the farm to the shop this morning, I spied a lump in the road. I knew what it was and so did Jeanette - a turtle. A piece of potential roadkill.

I glanced in the rearview to make sure there was no one behind us, stopped and set my flashers, and got the slow moving critter out of the road. The dogs were interested, but not aggressive and Jeanette cooed over him... he sure was pretty. Spotted red and deep green.

We set him loose when we got the shop - facing away from the road.

Guess I need to get an 'I brake for turtles' bumpersticker... but how will people know I don't mean the teenage mutant ninja variety?

Blogged with Flock

Spatial anomalies

2007-09-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

We've been moving pens and pastures, fixing holes in fences and creating new walls. Folding farm space, so to speak.

We moved the sheep pasture fence yesterday and warped the sheep's world. They hate it when we move things around. Now they have to make new dust baths and new sleeping dips. But they do have more green to munch. I think what they hate the most is that the little marauders, who used to come and go through cracks in the fence are stuck inside with the regular sheep, for now...

It rained today, and it is supposed to keep it up all week, what a blessing. The air is velvet soft and gentle cool. It smells so sweet. This is what we moved here for, the gentle wetness, ahhhh.

Kermit found a new home. He is going to grow up to be a guardian for a goat herd, but right now he can share Lynn's attention and bottles with Clyde the sheep and Lazarus the goat. She says he's doing well and she loves his little kisses.

The kids have a new pen at the end of the barn and really seem to be loving it. Cappucino is trying to convince everyone he is a buck, but no one believes him yet. Maybe he'll start making some of that buck perfume, now that it is cooler, and the girls might not just think of him as another kid.

Home sweet... er... camp trailer

2007-09-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sure, it's small. But small isn't always a bad thing... kinda teaches you about limits. You learn to pare down your belongings and live with what's needed and do without what's wanted or, maybe, what was not thrown away or put away.

Philosophy aside, it's been a nice move. The bed's more comfortable!

We've managed to move the dinosaur to the front of Midas and Jeanette and 'Lena are filling in the spaces with cordwood and chicken wire to make it catproof.

The goat's catch-pen has been secured - mostly.

Everyone seems happy with the arrangement.

Building organically

2007-08-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

Not too many years ago, but a lifetime or two ago, when I was an agricultural newspaper editor, I interviewed a rancher/ranch developer.

This gentleman owned and had built ranches from Florida to Wyoming. While it is terribly impolite to ask a man the size of his spread, the total acreage of the lands he had title to is larger than most New England states. We visited and talked as we walked over his newly acquired land in Colorado. This piece of land was several thousand acres of sage, pinon, arroyos, mountains, lakes and meadows. I asked him how he went about developing a working ranch from raw land.

He explained that he had learned to let it grow in a natural fashion. For the first two years, he doesn't put anything permanent on any ranch, except perimeter fencing. The interior fencing is all electric wire and stake. The bunkhouses are on skids. The mess hall is a big canvas tent.

For two years, the ranch manager and the cowboys move things as needed and settle in. The cattle find their wallows, the horses graze the meadows and the critters and humans make paths and roads just with their natural movement. Two years gives the people a chance to see where the water pools and drains, where the wind howls and where the snow builds up.

He explained that after two years, you could start to finish the roads, build corrals in logical places and build houses for the people in places that worked.

It made sense to me when I did the interview. Now, as we are in the process of developing Foxbriar into a sustainable, comfortable home for a widely diverse group of people and flora and fauna, it makes as much sense as ever.

So, Robin and Summer are bringing out their yurt, Summer's sisters are going to come and play and get a feel for the land. Shawn, Lena and I are pushing our campers around and moving the fencing to meet the critters needs.

It is a growth process, and growth takes time. Maybe lifetimes.

Re-arranging the arrangements

2007-08-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

The decision - based on finances and practicalities - has been made to relocate the house site and the barns and the milk shed and the pastures.

Of course, this is not to scale or accurate in any real sense of the word, but it gives the general impression of what we're after. This will put the houses, barns, gardens and water within relatively easy reach of the electric and water. Our original plan - which was much nicer, I think - had the houses and studios scattered to the four corners and gone. we would have had better views, but the cost and time in running water lines and power lines to those locations would have been astronomical!

Sometimes, common sense and comfort (and finances) have to take center stage and tell your fantasies to take a hike.

That's the big picture though. In the meantime, we're moving "The Dinosaur " (a large tent whose legs and top look like a giant fossilized skeleton when the tarp isn't on it) to the front of Midas (do you remember Midas, the RV?). We're going to cat-proof the dinosaur so 'Lena can move out there. Jen and I will be moving into the camper trailer. This will free up a lot of room in the shop and with any luck that'll make us a little more productive!

To prepare for this smaller undertaking - Woo Hoo! A task that looks doable in a short period of time - we disassembled the kid pen and moved it over to the end of the barn, constructed a milk goat corral, and moved the milk stand between last night and this morning. not related, but we also reinvented a section of the horse's pasture to prevent them from escaping or injuring themselves - some of the fencing we had put in didn't stand up to the horse's scratching themselves on the poles.

Tonight, we'll likely construct the rest of the milk shed - a series of slab-based panels for short walls / gates and a tarp for a roof, move the grain storage shed (our old reliable Transporter that hasn't worked the same since we got out here), move the dinosaur, and start on the cat-proof fencing.

Meri cares

2007-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Sheep are very caring and sensitive creatures. I am not being anthropomorphic here, there are scientific studies showing this. A British study found that sheep feel emotion for each other and their shepherd. According to a study done at Cornell University, (quoted here from an article in Nature magazine), "...and with a glance at its face, a sheep can assign another sheep to its place in the family tree and assess its emotional state."
This morning, the sheep decided to wander into the neighbor's cattle pasture. The grass is much nicer there than in our meadow. I went off over the mountain looking for them. They were down in a hollow, happily munching. But they are good sheep and when I called them (and shook the grain bucket that I had been smart enough to carry) they came running.

We strolled back through the field, sheep munching on the way. Marj, Poppy and Meri came up and begged bites of grain, wanting to make sure the treat was real.

Meri is a dear sheep. We call her our "hobbit sheep", in part from her name, but also because of her personality. She believes that she should be fed breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, dinner, tea, supper and midnight snack. She knows she is cute and has learned to beg treats from humans with a tilt of her head.
She tends to get herself into situations - as a lamb she loved skating on the ice and more than once fell through into the water trough. I was always sure she was going to loose a leg to frost bite, but she never did.

Meri was following right at my side when I set the bucket down on the far side of the barbed wire fence and lifted my leg to climb over the fence. My clog fell off my foot and plopped down on the ground next to Meri. She looked at the shoe, sniffed my foot, and looked at my face with an expression of deep concern. She nudged the shoe and looked back up a me. She was so worried!

I couldn't help but laugh. "Silly Meri, just hand it to me," I said. But of course, she doesn't understand English. As soon as she saw I was ok, and that it wasn't a terrible tragedy that my foot had fallen off - she ducked under the fence and stuck her nose in the grain bucket. I recovered my shoe and we all drifted back to the barn.

Drummmmm roll, please!

2007-08-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

With much loud clucking and cackling, the chickens have announced their newest amazing ability.
They lay eggs!
Pictured is the first ever Foxbriar Farm fresh, free-range wild chicken egg. This one was found by Lena in the hay stack. I suspect from the noises that there may be a few more in the forest.

Chores have been uneventful this weekend, while I took a break from the computer, with one exception.

Jude, the softest kitty in the Universe, met with tragedy in the forest friday night. Her grave is now next to little Meese's. We are talking about planting a herb and flower garden in the meadow that seems to be a resting place here on Foxbriar.

On a much happier note, Kermit, the orphan baby llama is doing better and is now getting his beet pulp and grain mash, as well as hay and about 10 oz milk morning and night.

The sheep and goats are really putting on the pounds now that they have adapted to their new feed. We may be able to back them off a bit. That will really help the budget.

Pastoral

2007-08-24T19:42:00.001-07:00

At 6:24 a.m. this morning, it rained chickens on Foxbriar Farm.

It is getting light later, and I was awake but didn't want to get out of bed yet. I was watching the trees and listening to the morning sounds, including all the neighborhood roosters. Suddenly, large bright colored objects plummeted past the window.

It was raining chickens!

Well, that's what it seemed like. Our clever chickens roost about 20 feet up in the trees. They are sleeping in later, too, as the days get shorter and so, I got to witness their morning debarkation. It was a pretty cool sight.

Now if we could just get it to rain water...

The sheep spent about 2 hours out to pasture this morning. They enjoyed it greatly and were well behaved. The llamas however went roaming since they were all out together. Can't let that happen. Nilly-bit just stayed in the sheep pen and waited for everybody to come back for breakfast. She seems to realize that it is scary out in the forest for a blind sheep.

Lena is home. She got back about 10:30 and says everybody is looking better on the new feed. She said even Thyme, who I've been most worried about, has filled in in the three weeks she's been gone. The new feed must be working.

Kermit was much better this morning, even chewing cud and running off with his sibs. I did give him a bottle of Pedialyte to make sure he stayed hydrated. But tonight he was hunched and had that tummy ache look again, even though he now has normal llama beans. So we dosed him with Peptobismol and left him out with his sis and the sheep.

Sheeps and bees and cherries

2007-08-23T20:53:00.001-07:00

As always, lots happened today.
Isn't it funny, how a day seems uneventful until you sit down and try to chronicle it.

We wormed Thyme with Strongid and gave her a dose of Polyvisol. She is thin and her fleece looks scruffy. I think part of it is that she is so high lanolin and in this heat the sweat pushes it to the end.

Kermit is doing better. We gave him a bottle of Pedialyte this morning, a dose syringe of Peptobismol, a pan of beet pulp and stock 12 mash and grass hay. When we were at the farm this afternoon, he seemed very active but was crying constantly. So, Shawn lifted him over the fence in with the sheep and Pequena. He spent a lot of time licking the sulfur/salt block. We didn't give him anything special for dinner, just the hay and grain that the sheep get and we left him in with his sis.

Lynn and Sonny came and checked out the beesies and took home Clyde the Super Collider. The biggest of the bottle babies, Clyde was Salvia's black lamb by Homer. She rejected him at birth and kept her solid white lamb. Clyde has been on a bottle all his life, but he is big! Lynn will give him a good home and maybe now we'll have enough milk that a human might get to drink some?

Sonny said the bees are fine and he gave us some good tips. He showed us that they are two different breeds, the bees on the left are Italian and make more honey, faster. The bees on the right are either Russian or Buckfast bees. They are much darker than the little Italians. It is fascinating to see the differences - so close together!
We stole a frame of honey - just couldn't resist.

Lynn was looking at our trees while the guys were looking at bees. Of course, she was the only one who got stung!
She said the red sumac berries are edible if bitter and they make a great pink lemonade. She commented that the wild cherry leaves are toxic to the goats when their color starts to turn. We said, "Good thing we don't have any," and she showed us where we were wrong - we have lots of wild cherry. I wonder if the wild cherry is like tart cherry? It has the stripey silver bark and the leave are just starting to turn red. It is everywhere, so I guess we'll just have to hope the goats stay away from it.

She said in a normal year there would be wild cherries on the trees, but this year, because of the late killing freeze there are really no tree fruits in the area. Even the oaks did not set acorns. The deer and the squirrels are going to be very hungry this winter.

We put Bramble in with Cremepouf for a bit tonight. They fought, but not too seriously. He does have the idea that he is something special and he is developing a buck attitude, so I think he'll do fine breeding everybody this year.

Well, poop!

2007-08-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought that seeing an animal get scours would be a cause for celebration? That was the case this yesterday, though.

It started with losing Rosemary, our momma llama. Her cria for this year was orphaned by that tragedy and we have tried since that day to take care of him, but he seemed to be slipping. At first, he'd run from us playfully. Then, he'd just stand there. Then he was laying down and would get up as we approached. Then he would just lay there.

That was the same progression that Rosemary suffered and we began to fear we were going to lose Kermit, too.

So afraid was I that when I approached him and he refused to stand I reached down and hoisted him up in my arms. That's when I noticed that his belly was quite distended.

Part of the problem in performing a successful diagnosis of a critter comes from not being able to observe enough. Had we been watching all the time we might have noticed that he had not been making his trips to the little llama room. Seems he was plugged up.

We administered an enema, lots of fluids, grains and beet pulp mash, and yogurt. Then we waited.

We were rewarded last night by a display that can only be described as revolting!

We can't be sure that the problems Kermit was having are completely over, but he does appear to be recovering. He's up and about, has a lot more energy, and what goes in one end comes out the other after a while. Now, he's getting some Pepto (which he hates and shows us by spraying - shaking his head not spitting - us with what he doesn't get swallowed) and lots of fluids and no milk.

Meanwhile, I developed a case of bee hypochondria after attending the Ozark Foothills Beekeeping Associations monthly meeting. When I went to check on the bees I saw a pile of 'em under the hive. I was worried. I thought varroa mite or tracheal mite or hive beetle or one of apparently a billion other pests or diseases that can wreak havoc with a hive. I called Sonny from the Lost Creek Apiary (in the Spring he moonlights as a bee inspector for the Arkansas Plant Board) to come out and check my hives.

He did and says they're fine healthy hives and that the bees under the hives are just hanging out in the 'basement' while there's not enough work for them to do and it's too hot in the hive... sort of like the guys hanging out at the pub shooting pool.

As you know I only want to keep my critters happy... anyone know where I can get a bee sized billiards table?

A brand new concept

2007-08-21T13:47:00.001-07:00

Well, it's kinda new... sorta...

I wrote in the Laffing Horse Diary the other day that my blog was my website. Seems people were getting confused looking for us and finding my daily (or sometimes not-so-daily) ramblings.

People stayed confused. Bummer.

They wanted to find out about Laffing Horse Woodworks, or Foxbriar Farm, or Common Threads. I wanted to tell 'em about my neighbor.

Since we - Jeanette and I - cannot count ourselves as a majority of two (well, we could, but what good would that do us... or our readers), we decided to turn all of our websites back on and desegregate them.

Now you'll find the following:

Laffing Horse Diary
- This is where I'll write about the woodshop and all the wonderful goodies I build and design. Crochet hooks, square crochet hooks, afghan crochet hooks, Tunisian crochet hooks, flexible crochet hooks, knitting needles, circular knitting needles, double-point knitting needles, square knitting needles of all types, drop spindles, Navajo spindles, TriLooms and more can be found right here.
Foxbriar Farm
- Daily trials, tribulations, and celebrations of life in the Ozarks. Here there be critters! Llamas, Jacob Sheep, Lamancha Dairy Goats, Angora Goats, Dogs, Cats, Chickens, Bees and Nugget and 'Fria - the two old token ponies and hay disposal units - will wander side by side with half lunatic ravings about how to best build a house out of scrap lumber and baling twine.
Sustainable Reality
- Where High Tech meets the Homestead. We're homesteaders, sure, but that doesn't mean we're not civilized. We've got DSL run right to the barn. We'll blather on about new green technologies, how to use your computer and Internet connection to support the farm, and the like right here. I might even tuck in a few personal musings.
Spinning Dreams and Weaving Yarns
- Jeanette's personal musings. I'm sure she has a more defined idea of what will go here, but she's not told me quite what it is yet.
Sis
- 'Lena spends a lot of time on the farm. She has a very good eye for photos and a gentle, healing hand with the animals. She can tell you about it - or show it to you - in her own way.
Road Dogs
- Jeanette decided that our dogs should have a voice. You'll hear from Aniken the white German Shepherd, Quigley UpOver the Aussie in America, and Scraps the Chihuahua crossed with a bat crossed with a potbellied pig crossed with a pug.
There's another, but Jeanette says I can't tell you about it yet... don't worry, though, as soon as it's ready you'll hear about it in a BIG way. Gosh, I hope it's ready soon!

That about wraps it up, I think, for now anyways. I'm sure there will come a point somewhere down the road a piece when we'll add to or subtract from the list. Until then, enjoy the ride!

Resistance - wormers and antibiotics

2007-08-21T13:43:00.000-07:00

Twenty years or so ago, Ivermectin was introduced. This new wormer was going to revolutionize the horse world. It was effective against almost every parasite except tape worms. We were even told that there was no reason to rotate wormers any more, "just use something else once a year to get the tapes."

Now, in 2007, ivermectin is listed as one of the wormers with the lowest efficacy, at least in sheep and goats.

When penicillin was introduced, it was truly a miracle. Now, most bacteria blow metaphorical raspberries at penicillin.

So, what is a livestock producer to do?

I used to think I was a healer. I knew which drugs to give for which types of infection and which natural support therapies to use for which imbalance. Now, I feel adrift. Even with the internet to research, I am having trouble figuring out how to treat my animals.

So, it's time to go back to the beginning. I learned about livestock by working with vets and professors and extension agents, as well as spending lots of time with the animals themselves. So, the critters are in place and Oct 12 there is a sheep and goat workshop in Booneville, AR. I'll let you know what I find out.

Foxbriar daily update:

Wormed Fria (24 yr old reg. Arabian mare) w/Strongid
Treated Kermit (3.5 mo old orphaned llama cria) w/bloat guard. liquid vitamins and Pedialyte
Garden is gone! Must be bugs - something even ate the jalapenos and tomato plants!
Giving Muppet (free-roaming guardian llama) 1/2 can Stock 12 morning and night trying to get some weight on him.
Milking three does - Yampa (Oberhasli/Lamancha cross), Erie (Nubian/Lamancha cross) and Beth (yearling Lamancha) twice a day
Bottle feeding - Mouse, Clyde (CVM/Jacob ram lambs), Crip and Squeak (both have moms but need supplemental feeding) and Kermit.
Put Cricket and Constance in with Cappucino ( current nickname "Creampouf"), Constance jumped right out, Capp is boss over Crickey.
Rams are doing well on two flakes of hay a day for both of them.
Ewes seem to be gaining a little weight on 5 flakes hay and 2 cans Stock 12 morning and night. They have been very restless since we sold the 6 ewes and their lambs.

What's the buzz?

2007-08-20T19:41:00.000-07:00

And, speaking of bees, shouldn’t we take notes when dealing with bees?

They’ve got it made! They’re captains of industry and orderly and structured…

My new spacesuit… beam me up Scotty!
That’s a pith helmet under the netting, so with just a quick costume change, I can be exploring the deepest darkest… Dr. Livingstone I presume…

Nope, not a phaser… We’re told that the smoke doesn’t really calm them, although that’s the end result. The smoke makes ‘em think that there’s a fire (duh!) and they go grabbing honey to make good their escape. So, they’re fat on honey and focussed on getting out and that makes ‘em slow down. Or so we’re told…

“What’s the buzz, tell me what’s a happenin’…”

And there they are. They seem pretty healthy, but not as prolific as I’d like to see. however, I’m an inexperienced beekeeper and these are still relatively new hives.

Inexperienced? yep, but lucky, too… checked most every frame in both hives and not one bite… from a bee…

It seems to me that if we would just accept our role in life and acknowledge that Jen is the queen and do what we’re told (or know needs to be done instinctively) we’d all get along so much better. I mean, who needs ambition or creativity or… ah, forget I said anything…

Cool, rainy, new Angora Buck

2007-08-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

This morning it is cool (about 85 degrees) and raining off and on.
The new little angora buckling is doing well, eating lots and flirting with the sheep. We settled on Caramel Cappucino for a name. He is such a poof. I think we'll move the doelings in with him this afternoon.

We only have 3 angora does right now. Their names are Acacia, Beige and Bramble. But we'll have Cappucino freshen the milk does for us and perhaps, if he's still got the energy, he can stand to a few outside does this year.

We wormed all three llamas with Strongid yesterday. Kermit is still not doing well, his belly is distended, we gave him an enema last night.

The horses are doing great, their hooves look good. They are getting 3 flakes bermuda grass hay am and pm and 1/2 can Stock 12 morning and night. We'll worm them with Strongid this week.

Sheep seem to be gaining, since we sold the 6 ewes and 6 lambs to Mona and we started them on the new grain. We'll worm them and the goats with the garlic prep this week.