While The Sun Shines

I think we have all heard the expression, "make hay while the sun shines."  Well, I'm gonna add to that.  Haul hay while the sun shines!  Yesterday was a gorgeous day for February in Montana.  Somewhere around 30 degrees and not a breath of wind.  But that has changed.  It's 3 degrees now and snowing.  There's a storm heading our way that is supposed to bring more snow, high winds and temperatures back down to -20 or so.  The wind chills will even be worse than that!

I never used to pay any attention to the weather.  Not much any way.  Boy, has that changed!  Now I have learned that watching the weather reports can mean being prepared for nasty storms or being caught out in a blizzard.  Kind of a big deal out here on the prairie.

So in preparation for this storm, I decided to haul hay all around to the different parts of the farm where I feed each bunch of critters.  I normally load a few bales each day, off of the stack and deliver them around the farm.  Now I have bales stacked up near each bunch of critters.  Some near the goat/lamb pen, some near the horses and calves pasture gate and some up in the alpaca barn. Now I won't be hauling hay when it's -20 below and the wind is trying to blow me off of the haystack!  Instead I was hauling hay in the sunshine, in shirtsleeves no less! 

Shirt sleeves and overalls. In February!

 

The alpacas were out frolicking and hoping all that hay was for them!  They love their groceries!!

"No really, you can just leave all that here." ~ Cricket

I also got some things cleaned up around the farm, fueled up the tractor and trimmed the pony's hooves.  The snow kept balling up under his feet, making it very hard for him to walk.  I'm hoping a hoof trim helps a bit.  A good brushing made him a happy boy too.

All of us seemed to be soaking up the sunshine while we could.... I'll let you know what tomorrow brings.

 "Paris" the barn cat.

Bye for now,
PB

Being Followed

This is the start of a new week, thank goodness!!  Last week was a tough one.  There are times when we all have more on our plates than we think we can handle.  Days that almost shatter us.  I'm sure that all of you have had times like that too.
 
But now I'm just feeling grateful.  Saturday the weather was still quite chilly, but nice enough for my big boy and I to actually talk a stroll around the farm while doing chores.  Most of these winter days we have had to take a pickup, for heat and also to haul hay.  That little walk with my kid and my critters was just what I needed. 

As we stepped out the front door, the calves perked up, bawled at us and began to follow us along the fence. 

The little black mare took a break from grazing and came over to the road to say hello and joined the parade along the road towards the barn.  She thought I should definitely show off how hard she works to get good and dirty!

The alpacas met us at the gate and made a little marching formation, following behind us as we made our way up to their little barn and the feed room. This is Genesis making her, "feed me now!" face.

The chickens all swarmed around me, clucking contentedly and following behind as I went around straightening up their pen.  Even though they had a fresh meal in their house!  Happy little hens just hanging out to see what I was up to....

That was the moment.  The moment I looked up and took my first deep breath in a week.  The moment I realized everything really is going to be okay.  Even on my weakest days I have these happy little children and happy little critters to help me "pull focus" and remind me what's important. I felt like all of them had been following me around the farm, just to say "Hey! Don't forget! Life is good!"  Sometimes being followed is a good thing....


Bye for now,
PB

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A Winter Walk

This morning a little storm blew in.  It started snowing hard.  But the wind had kindly stopped blowing and the temperature stayed right around freezing.  Not any of that below zero stuff we often get at the end of January. 

I decided it was actually quite a nice day, in spite of the little blizzard going on.  So in effort to get a little exercise, I chose to walk around the farm to get my chores done.  Normally I have to drive something that can haul hay this time of year.  But there is a little extra stacked up in the barn so I didn't have to haul any today. Perfect day for a winter walk....

Today's snow is very heavy and wet.  It feels much like a Spring storm.  The girls almost seem to enjoy this weather.

Mudflap is not amused.... but he is never amused.

The calves were happy to see me put out their bales of lunch so they could stop rooting around in the snow covered grass.

The ponies are loafing in their shed....

The chores are done, the gate is closed and it's time for a cup of tea.....

Bye for now,
PB

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Round Two

Do remember Banner the alpaca?  (You can read about him here.) He was a very sick boy just a week or so after I brought him home last spring.  Sand colic seemed to be the culprit. I really thought I was going to lose him, but by some miracle he came through.

Banner after his last round with colic.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to do my chores and noticed Mr. Banner didn't look quite right.  He was laying on the ice near the feed trough and wasn't interested in getting up to eat the nice leafy hay I put in there for him and his buddies.  He was also shivering and had quite a bit of ice and snow covering him.  The night before last, we had a snowstorm and wind chill temperatures of around -35 below zero.  My first thought was that Banner must've drawn the short straw and had been kicked out of the shelter by the larger males.  I feared he was in bad shape due the extreme cold.  So I dragged him into the feed room of the barn while my big boy helped by shoving on his hind end for all he was worth. After making sure he couldn't get into anything, I gave him fresh hay and water and hoped that being inside, out of the snow and wind would do the trick.

A while later, a friend brought me out some beautiful chickens that had been looking for a new home. While we were up at the barn situating the chickens, we checked on Banner and discovered he was actually not a frozen alpaca, he was a very colicky, impacted alpaca. Again....

So we bedded him in some nice, fluffy straw, freshened his water, breathed a little prayer and hoped for the best.  Alpacas are really tricky about medications and such.  I would've preferred to give him something for pain and make him comfortable, but there wasn't anything available that wouldn't do more harm than good.

I was afraid of the condition he would be in by this morning.  I went out as early as I could, in sub-zero weather to check on our little buddy.  I found him with his cheerful, furry face looking out over the dutch door of the feed room.  He had been able to work through his belly ache and had even eaten some breakfast.  He could not wait to get out of there and I was so relieved and excited to see his improvement!  I turned him back out with his pals and he immediately asked for more grub.
 

We are both waiting for days like this one, last summer!

I'm thinking that good, ol' Banner must have a tummy kinda like mine.  It's pretty quick to turn on me and cause me grief.  This probably won't be the last time he gets a bellyache but at least after round two, it seems we're both tough enough to get through it....

Bye for now,
PB

The Grumpy One

Hello all,

It sure has been a nice day here in North Central Montana.  The daily temperatures are finally well above zero again after some of the coldest weather we've seen in over 15 years.  The sun is shining and my critters actually seem happy again....

Except one.  I have decided that our farm has our own version of "Grumpy Cat".  But instead, he's "Grumpy Alpaca".  His name is Mudflap.  Maybe he's grumpy because someone gave him that ridiculous name.  I have no idea.  But no matter what, he's a grump.  You can feed him, sweet talk him, pet him, or leave the grouch completely alone and he is still grumpy....

See what I mean?  He reminds me of some people I know! 

It's ok Mudflap.... I still love you! 


Bye for now,
PB

Good Enough Is Perfect

I'm not a perfectionist.... well, maybe I am sometimes.  But, like many of you I have dreams and visions of the way things should be.  Here on the farm I have wanted things to be a certain way.  I do not like clutter and junk laying around.  I wanted all my barns and sheds to be clean and bedded deep with fluffy, gold straw.  The garden was supposed to be abundant and weed free and the yard ought to look freshly mowed.  The animals are supposed to always behave themselves.... My little farm is supposed to be perfect.  Ha!  I bet your laughing at me right now!  That's ok because I am laughing at myself.

We've been on the farm for only six months.  I dove right in to many projects.  We raised thirty five baby chicks in the garage if the town house before we were able to move out here. We invested in two wonderful, Livestock Guardian dogs and went to work on their obedience training. I bought a small herd of alpacas and quickly learned all I could about raising happy, healthy camelids.  Then came the ten bottle calves.  Twice a day, every day, for sixty days we were tackled by ten hungry babies. I brought home ten lambs to help with our weed problem and provide us with another source of grass fed, all natural meat.  The weaner pigs arrived in June.  An acre of garden was planted including several raised beds that are scattered around the yard.  Irrigation hoses were laid out. By the end of June it was set up for perfection....

The first week of July brought the biggest, nastiest hail storm I had ever seen.  (I wrote about it here.) The garden had just enough time to get a good start and then it was annihilated.  It looked like there was no way we'd see and produce from this years efforts. The roof of almost every building was damaged. We were lucky though, the animals were all fine no one was hurt.

Soon after the storm we discovered our water system couldn't support the garden that had survived.  We had planted too big for our britches.  We saved what we could and watched the rest wither on the vine or get overtaken by weeds.

One of the "LGD's" had taken a liking to killing chickens instead of guarding them.  We lost about eight before we solved that issue.  We were sure she was going to have to find another living arrangement.

The lambs absolutely refused to stay anywhere we wanted them to stay!  For a while I had a daily round up using the four-wheeler.  Then I put them in the "riding arena" that happened to be full of grass and forage and they actually didn't escape from it. Except one.... We had a lamb just up an vanish.  I like to say it was abducted by aliens.  It was there one day and then "poof", gone.  No sign of a struggle or a coyote feast.  I actually think it must've been a cougar that stopped by for a sack lunch.

The pigs weren't much trouble except for when they figured out how to push their shed door open.  Thankfully they like their home and didn't run too far.  It's just that they like to pick nasty, windy days or the day I'm on vacation for their little excursions.

The tractor broke down and my mechanic was out bringing in the wheat harvest for month before he went on vacation for a month.  Needless to say, the sheds didn't get cleaned out all summer.  The poo piled up until Hired Man Jim bought himself a little tractor and  tested it out on my barn.  We're still waiting on the parts to come in....

Somehow I haven't found the time or energy to get the shop area cleaned out and free of junk.  I have seen worse, but there's definitely a few trips to the scrap yard that need to be made and some clearing out and organizing to be done....

In all of this I have learned a valuable lesson. Joel Salatin has a saying that I just love! "Good enough is perfect!"   If it is working, if there is a profit, if things are trucking along ok, it's perfect.  For the most part, things are working. The kids and the critters are all thriving....

 

 I have so very much to be thankful for!  I did get an amazing harvest of tomatoes after they regrew.  The alpacas did provide an abundance of fleece that is becoming yarn that is so beautiful it has inspired me to learn to loom knit and people actually want to buy it!  The lambs fleece happens to be just the thing to blend with the alpaca to make even more amazing yarn. 

 

 

 

 The chickens are laying wonderful, fresh, organic eggs.  The calves are all healthy and looking fat and sassy.  The hogs grew like the weeds and are ready to harvest a month ahead of schedule.  The dogs now do a great job of holding off the coyotes and protecting things, most of the time.... I was blessed with a yard full of flowers and beauty all summer.  So even though this year hasn't been just like I had imagined it.  It always feels good to come home.... because it is perfect.

 

Bye for now,
B

Small Town Fun

Today, this tiny town of 266 or so swelled in population!  Maybe to even a thousand or two!  Today was the annual "Geraldine Fun Day".  This town goes crazy on this day.  There's a parade of course, games, bed races down main street, beer tastings, cowboy shoot outs and live music.  I never make it to all the events. But I make a point to do the parade.

Our friend Dustin is the shady character in the purple shirt.

Dan is all ready for the bed race!

Watch out! The kids are all driving!
 

Payson and I entered our little Topper in the parade.  Most folks around here haven't ever seen an alpaca before.  With his funny summer haircut, he got a lot of looks and laughs.  He was a perfect gentleman the whole time we were in town and made us proud.

I'm so glad to be living in this tiny, prairie town. 


Bye for now,
B

Haircuts!

Tuesday was the biggest day of the year for the alpacas.  They all got their haircuts!  Once a year they get a buzz cut that lets them be cool enough for the hot summer days.  They are originally  from the very high altitude of the Andes Mountains  and without the buzz cut, they have problems dealing with the heat. Lucky me! 

This is the shearer, Marty.

That also means we get to harvest that wonderful fleece!  Softer than cashmere and just as beautiful.  It's made into all kinds of wearable products.  Warmer than wool, moisture wicking and uber soft.  I am excited to get it milled into yarn very soon.

How do you find out who your true friends are?  They show up to help you shear your alpacas!  Prairie Momma Trish and her daughter Elaina came to watch and of course jumped in to help me!  Trish gave all the shots and Elaina helped label the bags of fleece so I don't get them mixed up.
Our crew also consisted of lovely, neighbor girl Shyanne, my oldest son and my mom snapping the photos.

The shearers were amazing. Ever year in May they come up from Guthrie, Oklahoma to shear the alpacas in Montana.  Marty learned from his father how to shear and Eric is learning from Marty.  It takes them eight minutes to perfectly shear an alpaca!  They lay them down and put ankle straps on them to hold them still.  Then zip, zip, zip and they're done!

I was running around like a mad woman!  Trying to gather the fleece, bag it and trim the nails of each alpaca.  Might as well get 'em while they're down!

 

When they're done they look like this!

This is Genesis after her very first haircut!



The rugrats got to hang out and play while the rest of us were working.  They always find interesting things in the barn yard!




 

After two hours we had all thirteen alpacas ready for summer and they got to go out on the pasture and get the heck away from us!  Then I took the shearers to dinner and picked their brains about the best ways to market fleece and such.  I learned a lot in that short time!  Now I just need to learn how to knit!


 

 

Until next time,
B



The Rest of the Story....

Today the wind is howling, as it is known to do out here on the prairie.  We are kind of blessed in Geraldine.  The wind doesn't blow here as much as it does just over the mountains in Great Falls. It blows quite a bit more in the spring and I like to think it's trying to blow in some better weather.

Last Saturday I planned to take my big boy on a trip to go pick up five more alpacas.  Then I got the weather report on Friday morning and it said some big ol' wind was headed our way by 6:00 am Saturday.  Not wanting to be caught pulling a good sized horse trailer in a wind storm, I decided to head out on Friday afternoon.  We beat the wind and drove as far as Sheridan, Wyoming before finding a hotel.  With a pool....had to have a pool for the rugrat.  It's probably the only reason he agreed to go along with his momma on a crazy, long trip to get alpacas.  We were up early and talked the hotel clerk into letting my boy swim a whole 3 hours before the pool was supposed to open.  After swimming we scarfed a continental breakfast and hit the road. 

The alpacas we were after had been on Craigslist for an unbelievably low price.  The gal said she had to sell them because they were moving and couldn't take them with them.  She had four girls and one boy.  Two of the girls are expecting with and early June due date.  I saw pictures and they all looked pretty good.

Well, the pictures must've been taken a while ago.  When we got there we found some very skinny alpacas.  The gal also had a bunch of very skinny horses.  Youngsters with every rib showing.  Grrrrr!!  A couple of the alpacas look "ok" but even with all their fuzz you can tell they need to gain.  One of them in particular looks awfully skinny and sad.  You can see her poor little spine and hip bones.  You aren't supposed to see those on an alpaca!!!  I looked around and didn't see any hay or feed in sight.  Just a big ol' patch of dirt.  I'm thinking that poor gal must've ran out of money to feed her critters.  But when that happens it's our responsibility to find new homes for the critters before anybody goes hungry! Ok I'll get off my soap box now....

This skinny girl is named Kate.

As soon as we got the poor things loaded, we hustled back up to Casper.  I know where the feed store is there and we HAD to get them some grub! I was worried about them making the long trip without any feed.  We found some awesome Timothy hay and put the whole bale in the trailer with them.  They dove in and started eating frantically, before I could even cut the strings.

We drove like crazy so we could get them home as quickly as possible.  The original plan was to overnight again in Sheridan.  But instead we pushed through.  We rolled in at 3:30 am on Sunday.  You should have see the joy in those little alpacas when we unloaded them into a nice, green paddock with all the hay they could eat!  They jumped out of the trailer and immediately rolled in the grass and took nice long drinks.  It was as if they were saying, "We don't know where in the heck we are, but man this is nice!"

From the left we have Zoe, Topper, Kate, Sadie and Lina. 

 

One of the best parts of this little alpaca adventure is how much my boy likes them.  I also love that my little rugrats can be out there in the pens with me and I don't have to worry.  They really are very gentle creatures and that is so nice!  I love my horses, but my little ones can't just hang out in the corrals while I'm feeding my horses. Alpacas and kids go together!

Bye for now,
B

Adventures in Animal Husbandry

Last Saturday was a bugger of a day.  It was supposed to be a great day!  We were finally moving out to the farmhouse.  We still have the house in town that is going to be re purposed into a (hopefully) profitable endeavour.  (More on that later.)  So we didn't have all that much to move when it came down to it.  Bedrooms, kitchen stuff and of course the dining table that my step-mom's father made back in 1975. It was handed down to me about 13 years ago and it is one of my only earthly possessions that I am way to attached to. 

And then it rained.... and snowed a bit.... and threw in some sleet.  Just for fun.  Why does it always rain when you try to move?  But we ducked rain drops and got most things moved without getting them wet.  I'm thankful for the lovely friends and neighbors that took the time to help!



Banner the miracle alpaca.

And then we had a sick alpaca.  A very sick alpaca.  I noticed on Friday evening that he wasn't acting right at all.  He kept going to the poo pile and straining but nothing would happen.  Not a good sign!  He also didn't want to eat anything.  A really bad sign for an alpaca!  They love food as much as I do!  As soon as I got the little guy caught and checked his vitals I knew he was in real trouble.  He was dehydrated for sure.  Capillary refill was slow.  All he would do was strain to poo and then go lay down. 

So I had the neighbor girl come over and she held him still while I tortured the poor beast.  First by squirting syringes of warm water and olive oil down his throat.  I didn't have any mineral oil and figured some kind of oil had to help! He was too sick to fight much and took the liquid pretty well.  We got about 10 ounces down him.  After turning him loose and encouraging him to walk around for a bit, we caught him up and the torture got worse.  I can now say I have given an alpaca and enema.  Several of them actually!  The enemas did seem to help things move along somewhat.  So after an hour or so of torture, we turned him loose to live or die.  I had a feeling he had sand colic and I wasn't feeling very optimistic.  Actually I was down right sad.  I thought I was going to lose my first alpaca.

The next morning before we got busy moving things I rushed over to doctor the poor guy.   When my big boy and I got to the barn, I warned him to brace himself for the worst.  We walked into the corral to find Banner laying flat, not moving, teeth showing, eyes still and open.  Looking pretty darn dead.  I crept over to find he was still breathing.  I nudged him and he got to his feet but he looked bad.  We and repeated the water and oil down the throat procedure and got him to take about 16 ounces.  His breath was horrible!  With his breath smelling like necrotic tissue I just knew he had ruptured an intestine.  I just knew I was going to have to shoot Banner.  But instead I doctored and prayed and prayed some more.  If he got to looking like he was in constant pain I was going to put him down. 

We left and went to haul our things to the farm.  A couple of hours later I checked on Banner and saw a very slight improvement.  He was standing up more.  A few hours after that I saw a miracle!  He was out in the pasture with his buddies and actually nibbled on some grass!  I couldn't believe it. By the end of the day I thought the bugger might actually live!

Banner and his buddy Huck.

The next morning we wasted no time getting out to do chores.  There was Banner alive and well and he was HUNGRY!! He acted like his only care in the world was food!  He happily dove into his alpaca chow and never looked back!  He is now my miracle alpaca. 

All is well that ends well.

Bye for now,
B

Of All Crazy Things

So of all crazy things, we're buying a ranch, or is it a farm?  I think maybe a farm. I'll let you know how it works out.  The thing is, I need a way to have a vocation that is just mine.  The oil field is really not for everybody, including me.  I also need to be able to stay home with the rugrats.  I have always said, "I didn't have kids just to pay someone else to raise them".  Just a personal mantra of mine.  So that doesn't leave a whole lot of options here in Geraldine.  But one of the things I can do, and do pretty well, is grow things.  Critters, gardens and such. 

After doing TONS of research on what is marketable and profitable in farming, I now have quite the business plan!  More details later....  But one of the things that called to me was.... (drum roll....)

ALPACAS!

This is my new buddy Huck.  I just love this guy!

I bought eight alpacas yesterday.  It's a bit like owning a herd of fuzzy deer.  They are shy, quiet, persnickety little creatures.  But I LOVE that my kids are totally safe around them.  They just shy away slowly if my rugrats get too close.  So far every body has good manners.  The only exception was Mudflap, the herd sire.  He was resistant to the idea of leaving his lovely home yesterday and was kicking in protest.  But he seems to like his new digs and is calming down.

Huck, Mudflap, Chip and Banner

The girls are pretty lovely.  Mallory is the "mom" of the group and is a bit cranky.  But she's just trying to watch out for everyone.  Particularly her baby, that I have renamed Genesis.  She came with the name Chaos, but I'm afraid of the negative vibes.  So Genesis it is.

Cricket, Genesis and Ginger with Mallory hiding in the back.

The profit on these guys comes from selling the fleece that is shorn once a year and selling the babies.  The going rate for fleece is about $2.00 per ounce of raw fiber.  More for young fiber or light colored fiber.  Threw that info out just for ya'll that are thinking I have completely lost my marbles!
And hey!  They give me another fun thing to write about!

Let me know what you think! If nothing else, I hope you had a good chuckle.

Bye for now,
B