Tractor

My Oliver 1850 had a transmission problem about a month ago when I was trying to bale corn stalks.  It turns out that a fork in the transmission was broken and would have taken a lot of $$ in labor to get to the fork to repair the tractor.  Since I've started using the tractor a lot more than I used to and the tractor is as old as I am, this was leading to more age and stress related failure.  Of the tractor that is!  I did put some money into an overhaul over the winter, but the tractor broke twice when doing hay this year.  Tractor breakdown during haying is a big problem and it for sure cost me some hay.  As much as I liked the old Oliver for haying, I had to trade it in on a newer tractor.  It's also a different shade of green.  John Deere green.  I'm hoping for the best with this tractor...

Cattle Move

The cattle were moved from the back of the farm to their winter paddock next to the house.  It worked pretty much as planned without any issue.  The plan was to setup string fencing that kept them from moving out across each of the sections of the pasture.  Once they were in the top part of the pasture the gate was closed on them and they were allowed to wait for a while.  Next George went down with a large round bale on the skidloader to entice them up to the paddock.  The bale was dropped and the cows moved in.  With the gate closed behind them they were safely in their winter home.  That left the calves at the back of the farm.  The way the string fences are setup, the calves are able to slip under the strings and move to where ever they want inside of the pasture or enclosed field.  Since they have been ranging out during the day it allowed us to move the cows without having them together.  We wanted to separate the cows because we needed to wean the calves.  George had the idea that if we moved the cows the calves will run to the cows, which is what they did.  Now the cows and calves are divided by panel and we're waiting for everyone to calm down.  It usually takes a few days for the bawling to stop!

SKUNK! Update

Sharon made the decision to get a batch of new chicks.  I'm not sure of the exact number but Dan said he thinks it's 40 which would be just about the number killed by the skunk.  An interesting note regarding our adult chickens.  We have a large turnip field that has kept its greens even through the cold and the latest snow.  We picked some of the greens and the chickens seem to love them.  Who knew that chickens would like turnip greens?

SKUNK!

Not too long ago a skunk made its way into the young chickens area of the barn.  Sharon heard the chickens in the middle of the night (windows closed and sound asleep - mother hearing...) making a racket.  The thing with a skunk, at least in our experience with chickens, is that they kill first and then come back to eat what they've killed. When Sharon woke me I thought she said there's smoke in the barn!  After saying huh a couple of times I figured out that it was SKUNK!  We ran outside to dispatched the skunk and save what chickens were left.  When we got the skunk cornered in the barn I had a quick thought - when I dispatch this cornered skunk I'm going to end up smelling like skunk, but to save the rest of the chickens I just hoped for the best.  Luck was with me and the skunk never sprayed.  Luck was not with us as far as the chickens were concerned.  Sharon lost 41 of her young chickens to the skunk.  Next was the management decision.  More chicks this late in the year, or smaller flock with new chicks in the spring?

Winter Movements

Sharon moved the chickens into the barn, and just like every year she wonders if she could have kept them outside in one of the fields a little longer.  Since it's 24 degrees this morning and the chicken water bowls are frozen, she probably made the right choice.  If there's one thing we've learned it's that if you wait until the cold weather forces you to move, some type of cold-weather emergency forces your hand and the stress on animal and farmer is high.  I've been keeping the cattle in the back 9ac which is all the way at the back of the farm.  The water lines don't reach back that far so we use the green pickup with a water tank in the bed to keep the cattle watered.  There must have been some water in the handle because this morning the handle was frozen open.  It should warm up soon enough this morning but it just means that the cattle chores get pushed back into the days activities.  Today also starts the beginning of the 2010 pheasant season which is really for us the beginning of the winter season.  If things around the farm haven't been completed by now, chances are that they won't get done before we freeze in.  We host quite a few hunters the opening week - getting to see old friends that we haven't seen since last year, and meeting new ones for the first time.  This year it looks like there will be about 20 people from out of state.  Its always a fun week that we look forward to every year.

Harvest Complete

Harvest went very quickly this year.  With the weather as dry as a bone for about a month it was the perfect weather for harvesting.  I don't think there's more than a couple of corn fields still unharvested in the county.  I helped a neighbor with harvest again this year, and it always amazes me how much corn and beans come out of the fields.  The other thing that amazes me is the amount of wildlife that pours out of the corn fields when it's harvested.  Deer, raccoon, opossum, pheasant and rabbits all pour out the end of the rows as the combine pushes through.  What makes it really exciting is the distances that the animals have to go when they run out of the corn to make it to cover.  As farmers have moved away from having cattle and toward specializing in row-crops, farmers have pulled the fences out of their fields which has allowed the farmer to plant right up to their property line.  This has dramatically reduced the amount of brush and grass along the field edges and can mean a half mile or more run, walk or fly to cover.  Not good for the animal breaking for cover with hawks and other predators (including the occasional hunter) waiting for their opportunity at a meal, but for those watching it can be an opportunity to get a great look at some animals that otherwise you may only get a glimpse of at night while driving like raccoon or opossum.  If you have the time and see a combine finishing up a field, grab a pair of binoculars, your kids if you have some, and stick around to watch those last rows of corn come out.  It's usually a fantastic wildlife viewing event worth waiting for.

Sighting

This morning we had a very exciting sighting.  Underneath of the gate leading out into the pasture there was something sitting there.  It was very dappled and camouflaged and very still, but we could tell that it was something interesting.  George had jumped out of the truck and gone into the house but Dan and I looked at it from a distance and wondered.  George was going out with the muzzleloader to deer hunt and we let him know that he should look at the "thing" when he went by.  Once he had gone past the "thing" I went out to look at it.  It was a quail!  As I walked up to the gate it ran off into the grass.  That is awesome!  Iowa DNR had done their annual road side survey in August this year, and for the first time in decades, NW Iowa had no quail sighted during the survey.  Normally quail are never this far north in Iowa because of our cropping, cover types, and weather, but in the next county south of us, they have been known to have quail.  And while we heard a quail in the spring and have every once in a while in previous springs, we never expect to see them in the fall.  I'm wondering if the cover crop with its abundance of seeds, borders and edges, and the way our farm is broken into edges from our many crop types and rotational grazing has made a habitat change that has held the birds here.  What ever the reason we're very excited to see a quail this time of year.