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Monthly Archives: January 2013

Working the young horse

Our employee, Timeteo, had a lot of experience working with horses in Peru.  He is starting to train one of our young horses, whom he named “Speedy Gonzolez”.

Speedy--thinking about it

Speedy–first offering

thinking about it

thinking about it

Tim's got him eating out of his hand (or possilbly the pan).

Tim’s got him eating out of his hand (or possibly the pan).

meanwhile, back in the corral

meanwhile, back in the corral

making snow angels

making snow angels

 
 

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Dunkin, Beulah and Maria

Dunkin and his shadow

Dunkin and his shadow

Dunkin in the Cow Pasture

Dunkin in the Cow Pasture

Maria is one year old, and taller than her Mom, Beulah.

Maria is one year old, and taller than her Mom, Beulah.

 
 

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Stripes

I see stripes everywhere.

road near Battle Creek Bridge

road near Battle Creek Bridge

white horse and gate

white horse and gate

shadows, panels and trees

shadows, panels and trees

heifers in the Ames Field

heifers in the Ames Field

cows on feed line

cows on feed line

through the trees

through the trees

 
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Posted by on January 19, 2013 in Events, Nature and Wildlife

 

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January 2013

Ranch headquarters

Ranch headquarters

Winter gold

Winter gold

Horses with hay

Horses with hay

 
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Posted by on January 17, 2013 in Animals

 

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When Pigs Fly

McCoy and his pig (and his Mom)

McCoy and his pig (and his Mom)

The Constant Reader remembers that in July, the kids catch pigs at our local Little Snake River Fun Days.  Each year, we end up with a different number of pigs to keep, depending on the success of the grandchildren and the cousins.  This year we ended up with two young pigs.  We brought them home and fed them table scraps and pig food.  I always like taking the scraps, which means stuff that the dogs won’t eat (potato peals, banana peals, culled lettuce leaves, et al) out to the pigs.  They are so happy and I feel satisfied.  The ultimate goal, of course, is to transition these pigs into our freezer and make them part of our sustainance.  We tell this to the children from the beginning, and want them to appreciate where their food comes from.

We are having a run of really cold weather.  I was worried that the pigs, who have been in a barn with straw and extra feed, might nonetheless freeze to death before we could harvest them.  We called our local meat processor, who said that Friday was his pig-killing day, and to have them there by 8 a.m.

I asked Timeteo and Christian to help load the pigs into the back of the pickup.  We loaded the sow first.  She was trussed up with ropes so we could get a grip,

capturing a pig at Snake River Fun Days

capturing a pig at Snake River Fun Days

The pigs with Siobhan and McCoy (with Bruiser helping clean up the scraps)

The pigs with Siobhan and McCoy (with Bruiser helping clean up the scraps)

and we hoisted her into the truck.  The young boar was next.  With ropes, tugging, lifting and a lot of squealing,  we managed to load him too.

When I got to Snake River Processors, the pigs were shivering (it was 10 below) and the Weber crew came out to help.  Since most pigs arrive in a trailer, they were a little stymied as to how to unload them.  I explained that we had just hoisted them in and that I thought we could hoist them out.  Clint gave the boar a shove and he tumbled out.  He gave the young sow a push and she jumped.  She leapt out of the pickup bed graceful as a gazelle, and landed on her feet.

“Wow,” said Clint, “I didn’t know that pigs could jump like that!”

Sadly, I do not have a photo of that moment, but I sure wish I did.

Thank you pigs.

Farewell

Farewell

 
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Posted by on January 5, 2013 in Animals, Events

 

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The ewe lambs greet the New Year

Ewe lambs at Little Powder Mountain, January 1, 2013

Ewe lambs at Ace-in-the-Hole,
January 1, 2013

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2013 in Animals, Sheep

 

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