[Ag-eq] The BlanchRanch Bulletin for June.

[Jewel]

    The BlanchRanch Bulletin for June 2013.


I have been redesigning my hayracks prior to bringing the sheep into the barn and stockyard for
winter, which, contrary to the almanac according to the meteorological office does not begin on the
Ranch until the winter solstice, June 21/22nd.
The racks as they were had me pile the hay on the floor with a grid of slats in front into which the
sheep and * goats shoved their heads.
I asterisked goats because the more mischievous of the 2, Heidi, would clamber over the slats and
would stand in the hay.
What I have done is to nail a plank on its flat over the top, i.e., nailed to the top of the eating
grid and then put a similar grid in front of that board, so that now the animals can stand and Heidi
cannot get into the hay but has to eat it by putting her head between the slats.
As Heidi and Minstrel are horned, I had to be careful with the spacing of the slats so that they
had sufficient room to get their muzzles well into the rack, but not to the point where they could
get caught by the horns.
I also had a problem with the aforementioned Heidi as she could get out of the barn extension even
with the gate closed.
The wall and gate of the extension is over 5 feet high and is constructed with horizontal planks 
with a
gap of about 3 inches between them.
Not having the advantage of having someone who could witness her escape from the barn, I just have
to guess, and the only way I could think of was that Heidi was climbing the wall or gate by using
the gaps as a ladder.
I did not think of this possibility at the time that the wall was being built, but if the planks had
been vertical rather than horizontal, she wouldn't have been presented with this climbable route.
I have now nailed up an outrigger that is 4 inches in front of the topmost plank of the wall, and
have nailed an 8 by 1 on top of the gate which gives another, hopefully, unclimbable overhang.
I haven't tested it yet, and, for all I know, may not be her exit route at all, but is the only way
that I can think of as the rest of the barn is 5 feet high corrugated iron with no foot/hoofholds.
If one believes that plants can sense the conditions of the oncoming season and if one chooses to
take notice of their foreknowledge, we are going to have a very mild winter and early spring.
The dwarf weeping pussy willow is packed, solid, with the fattest buds that I have ever seen, buds
that house the developing catkins.
At the end of March which was right at the top of a 3 month drought, I had bought 3 replacement ewes
and a ram from Andrew who has become my regular supplier when I need to bring up my sheep numbers.
When he brought them in and was looking over my paddocks, he said: "You must have more grass on
your place than any other * farmer in New Zealand!"
Andrew runs a flock of 4000 breeding ewes (I run a flock of 12) so I was really chuffed that he 
included me in the
category of farmer.

A few days later:  June 19.
When describing my rebuilding of the hayrack, I said that in its original profile, Instead of
eating hay by way of inserting her head between the slats, Heidi would climb into it, and I,
confidently predicted:  when will I learn?: that she would no longer be able to do that!
Well, my aside there would have given you a clue as to what I found when I put fresh hay in the rack
yesterday:  not Heidi actually standing in the rack, but very clear evidence that she, indeed, had
done so!
The top of the hayrack would be something over 4 feet from the ground, but neatly balanced on that
top was a single goatberry, and in the rack were several more!

          Jewel