Coyote Ridge FarmsWelcome To Our Rural Blog

The forecast suggested it would be a windy day today – perfect for drying hay.  As soon as the dew left the downed hay, I began to rake some of the road side windrows.  After an hour or so, the breeze that was available, disappeared.  It became calm.  Not wanting to ruin my hay by having it rained on.  I ceased my raking.  Hours later, I checked the hay that I had turned over.  The hay was still damp.  Without a drying wind, I knew it would not be dry enough to bale on Sunday… it’s suppose to rain on Monday (40%).  I’m glad I didn’t rake all of it.

If I can’t bale, I might as well do some fencing.  A couple days ago I started a small fencing project, allowing the cattle to access the Ritchie brand automatic waterer on the other side of the fence.  What I had done so far was create an eight foot opening in an already established fence line.  I had installed two 6″ cedar posts on each side of the waterer.  The problem was that when I stretched the barbed wire back onto the posts, the posts pulled in the direction of the wire.  If I wanted the fence to last, the newly installed posts needed to be supported with a brace.  Since discovering the New Zealand style support post design (a.k.a. Kiwi brace), I use it whenever I can.

This is the waterer I installed last year. The Kiwi brace assembly on each side was completed today.

I attached the diagonal brace to the main post by drilling a 3/8″x2½” hole in both and then installing a 5″ length of rebar into the main post, then slide the brace onto the rebar pin (some folks simply notch the main post, then nail the diagonal brace to it).  Where the diagonal brace touches the ground, I put a flat rock or cement paver.  This keeps the post from rotting and/or digging into the ground.  Also, at the base of the main post and the lower end of the diagonal, I loop high-tensile wire and tighten it with a fencing strainer.

Kiwi brace with 8'x4" diagonal, mounted 3' on main post
(click on image for details)

The rule-of-thumb for the Kiwi brace is this:  If you have an 8′ diagonal brace it should be secured 3′ from the ground on the main post and needs to be at least 4″ in diameter.  If you have a 10′ post, it needs to be 5″ in diameter and should be placed 4′ on the vertical post.

After installing the posts and braces, I took a 16′ cattle panel and “wrapped” it around the waterer and it’s 4′x5′ cement pad (see upper photo).  It fit perfectly and the farm’s Highlanders have not had a problem using it… even with their long horns.

The reason for doing this little project was simple.  The cattle [somehow] kept shutting off the hydrant that filled their stock tank… and I was getting tired of it.  Last night, when I mentioned to Farmer Mike what I was working on and why I was doing it, he asked me why I didn’t simply remove the handle of the hydrant.  I really didn’t have a reply… but I was thinking, “Duh!”

This info is also posted on the ‘Small Farm & Sustainability‘ Facebook group.

This morning, when I was checking fences of the paddocks that were located south of the creek, panic rushed over me.  At that moment I realized that the pasture, north of the creek, still had 2 of the 4 gates open.  And the butt-kicker of it was that I had turned Farmer Mike’s 5 Ayrshire heifers out  there 2 days ago.  If ever I had an ‘Oh Crap’ moment, this ranked high on the top 100.  I remembered seeing his cattle napping on the hillside yesterday, but not this morning.

As quick as I could, I headed north of the creek with the 4 wheeler.  When I got to the far corner of the NE paddock I saw the heifers.  They were resting in the grass, near the open gates… which were standing wide open.  I looked into the sky and assembled a quick 5 second prayer of thanks before closing the gates and wiring them in place.  After doing so, I also tightened some of the wires in the fences, since that’s what I was doing on the other side of the creek and I had neglected to set down the fencing tool before heading to this side of the creek.

When I was driving out of the field this afternoon, with the rake behind the Farmall H, I noticed a small, old SUV driving very slowly on the highway.  I mean it was going between 5-10mph… very slow.  At first I thought it may have been someone I knew, thinking they would stop near the field approach and wait for me to get there.  But when the vehicle kept going I thought it to be unusually odd.

When I was headed back to the place, on the highway, I could see why the SUV was driving so slow.  North of the creek, approx. ¼ mile from the farm, there was a mama turkey and her 5 small poults.  My guess it that if I hadn’t come along, the turkey hen and/or the chicks would have been poultry-napped.  I gave Carol a quick call to let her know what was going on.  When I got to the farm we both headed down to where I last saw the hen… then chase her back south of the creek, into the pasture.  The task took but 15 minutes.  The chicks and the mama did a great job keeping track of each other until finding their way to familiar ground.

… and inspected.

For the most part, I had the fencing project [north of the creek] done yesterday.  But today I added the finishing touches by installing temporary gates to the paddock entrances.   Just before that, I called my local Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) official and asked him if we could schedule an inspection time/date.  He said, “How about 1:00 PM today?”  My response was, “Um, OK.”  That’s when I put the temp. gates in place and connected the fencer unit.  And right on time, the NRCS guy pulled into the drive.

On an aerial map, I showed him what fences I built/completed and how to get out to the newly installed paddocks.  Roughly a half an hour later, he and his assistant were gone.  I’m hoping everything met government specifications.  That’s how I built the stuff.  I even built it better than what was called for.  While I was fixing the fencing for the goats and sheep (on the south side of the creek) I could see that the inspectors were photographing my fencing – and admiring it, I’m sure.  Once they were gone, the rains came… again.   So far this month, we have had 13 days with precipitation and only 2 day without.  What a change from last year.

Here’s hoping the fencing passed inspection.  Whatever the case, the Scottish Highlander cattle are in some tall grass now.  In some areas of the paddocks, I could only see horns and tail.  I’m assuming all the other parts, in between, are there as well.

This morning was beautiful – warm, with a nice breeze.  Although we had a birthday party to attend, I headed out, north of the creek to get a couple of hours of fencing.  By hand, I finished pounding in the remaining T-posts… approx. 25.  In the box of the pick-up, I had a few bags of pin-lock insulators, so I installed those as well.  I got back to the house in plenty of time for the party.

After coming home from the birthday party, I went straight to work on the new fencing again.  I finished the installation of the insulators… then I ran the high-tensile wires.  In a few short hours the job was completed.  I do have a few wood posts I need to get pounded into the ground on the ends of the paddock, before calling the pasture ready for cattle.  I had time to pound post.  Unfortunately,  the tractor I use for driving posts had a flat front tire.  Needless-to-say, that’ll need t be fixed.

All-in-all, it was a great Sunday.  A good day to be alive.