Loving Life On The Ponderosa

It has been a while since I blogged about the animals on the Ponderosa.

Our chickens have been going great guns with eggs, although now the season has become cooler, production has reduced.  We lost a few brown shavers over the season which is normal and we did not hatch any eggs over the summer which means we need to look at purchasing some pullets to bring up our numbers again.  We just have to figure out what breed.  Although the brown shavers are great egg producers, they are not very good eating so a little research is in need.

We did not have the greatest of seasons with our beef particularly after blogging how well our beef have been over previous seasons in FAREWELL TO OUR CALVES - PART 2.   We lost three bull calves at birth, two of which were twins then 6 months later we lost a heifer calf to bloat.  Given we had reduced our heifers from 8 to 5, we were down to only one calf for the season because we were convinced the remaining heifer was not going to calf.  Miraculously prior to Christmas, a bull calf was born.  If I am honest, I was devastated and worried that we had done something terribly wrong and that it would impact into this seasons calving.  Imagine my delight when the first of this season's calves were born and seeing the calf move as I was heading to check that it was alive.  Then being overjoyed to find a second calf had just been born to another heifer within minutes of me checking the first calf.  Two calves on the same day!!  Within three weeks, our third calf was born.  Bullet the bull has been busy!  Although we are still awaiting the results of the final two heifers.  As this season's calves have started, we have since sold the two calves from last season.  The price per head of beef is pretty good!

Our calf that came just before xmas

The sheep are doing fantastic!  After blogging about them in LAMBS ARE OUR NEXT VENTURE, we have acquired two more sheep.  Another ewe named Shawshank and a ram named Rollroaston.  Both of the new additions are wiltshire sheep, which means they self-shed their wool, are resistance to diseases and are prone to having twins or triplets.  The "sheepeez", are nicely pregnant and it's fair to say that I am very nervous about when they lamb.  Firstly, because we've never dealt with lambing before, and secondly because we've never had to deal with sheep having more than one lamb at a time.  Within the next few months, it'll hit us like a tonne of bricks.  We will have anything from two lambs to six lambs or possibly more.  Eeeek!  The plan for these lambs is to put them in the freezer, but you never know what else might come of it.  

The view from the chook run

 We have also acquire two more fox terriers.  Lexi and Sloan (I'm sure those that are into Greys Anatomy will get it).  They are such great companions for my husband while I'm away with study and have just learnt how to catch rabbits, mice and rats.  They are not too keen on the stray cat that comes around yet ... BUT it will only be a matter of time.

Lexi is on the left with her sister

Sloan

 
As a side note, we were offered a couple of kunekune pigs last week.  Under any other circumstance, we would've taken them in a heartbeat.  Unfortunately, we had to say no.  Pigs are on the cards for the Ponderosa, however not just yet.

Happy living peeps!

Farewell To Our Calves - Part 2

Reflecting on my post FAREWELL TO THE CALVES, time really has flown by so quickly.  Since that post, we decreased the number of beef we have,  achieved 5 more additions to the herd, and just recently sold them to our neighbour in preparation to the next lot of additions which we hope will arrive about August this year.

On top of that, we've learnt a lot about feeding the land so that it has enough nutrients to boost the grass production over the entire year.  This isn't a cheap exercise, but if we keep on top of it regularly, I expect the benefits in our beef will outweigh the costs tenfold.

We also gave haylage a try instead of traditional hay bales to help feed the stock.  It apparently has more nutrients than traditional hay because the grass is cut while it is still green.  Looking around neighbouring land, I only saw huge haylage bales which need a large tractor to transport around.  Fortunately for us, an old high school friend of my brother in law who lives down the road, produces smaller bales which can be lifted by hand and transported on a small trailer or a wheel barrow.  A great solution for lifestylers who want the benefits of haylage, but don't have the capacity to buy or need a full on tractor. 

I have to say that having beef on the land is pretty fulfilling and I'm looking forward to seeing how the next 12 months is going to bring.

Happy living peeps!

Lambs Are Our Next Venture

It's been awhile since I blogged about the animals on the Ponderosa but I just had to share a story about our latest additions. 

Our beef are going well, in fact we don't have any issues with the beef and this years calving was a breeze.  We have downsized by 3 heifers which was the plan when I blogged FAREWELL TO OUR CALVES.  It was a little difficult to decide which ones would go, so we made it easier by seeing which ones calved by the end of October and which ones didn't.  We now have 1 bull, 5 heifers and 5 calves (all of which are heifers).

Our chickens are going great guns and producing 10-12 eggs a day for us.  This is far too many for my household alone so my parents and sisters are getting supplied regularly.  My husband is taking some to his work mates and the added bonus to those who visit us on the Ponderosa gets to take a tray home as well.  We still have 2 roosters (although one will be going in the stock pot over the xmas break) 14 hens and 3 chicks.  We are contemplating getting a few more hens as our brown shavers are getting a little old.

The chicken paddock is fenced off and contains fruit trees.  It's a big space that the chickens can't really manage the grass.  It seemed a waste of good grass to cut it all the time, so we thought pigs.  After speaking to a few people about pigs, the idea of sheep in that space would be better.  Totally green with sheep, we started asking questions about breeds and management.   We settled on looking for the wiltshire breed as they self shed their wool and are less resistant to common diseases.  They are also great breeders producing twins or triplets.

Ok ... decision made .. now to get some and from where.  Again I turned to trade me to gauge prices then an awesome opportunity for two ewe lambs came up that we just couldn't resist.  The breeder we purchased from are a lovely couple who are sheep crazy and helped us trim their feet.  She keeps in contact with me and is keen to come out whenever we need her assistance.  The lambs are due for their vaccination within the next month, so we might be calling on her assistance.

Baabara & Shaunequa ... still shedding their wool

All settled in now

The plan was to simply fatten them up and put them in the freezer, but we've decided that we will look for a ram and breed from these two.  Given the prices for lamb at the moment, it might be a fruitful investment.

Happy learning peeps!

Freshen The Chicken Coop

Sometimes the chicken coop can get a little on the funky side, particularly in the heat of the summer days, or when your sawdust is getting a little low and needs some swapping out.

I read somewhere that a good solution is to place fresh herbs in the sawdust to help eradicate bad bugs.  I've tried this out a couple of times, but with my herb garden still needing a little time to help boost it's yield, I haven't done it as much as I could.  That is until my rosemary hedge needed a good prune back.  Not only did I have enough to place in the sawdust, I also hung some in the coop.

The scent of the rosemary in the coop was wonderful, and proved a little funny one night when the girls went to clean the coop and check for eggs.  Not knowing it was there, they opened the door at dusk and got the shock of their lives.  :-)  A little story to laugh about with them in their older years

Happy living peeps!

Farewell To Our Calves

I've been reflecting on our beef over the past few weeks and just how far we have come with them.  Last month we sold our calves - all 7 of them to allow their mothers to "beef up" some more - so to speak, and prepare for the arrival of their new babies.  That's if Bullet the Bull did the bizzo.

I have to say, I've learned so much from these calves and I blogged about it in NEW ADDITIONS - PART 3.  Their wellbeing improved tenfold feeding off their mothers and I can honestly say that when we sold them about 3 weeks ago, they were about 10 months old, and one of them was still getting milk from her mother.

Our neighbour has been keeping an eye on our beef and made some initial enquiries.  He was particularly interested in one of our bull calves which I knicked named "tipi bum bum".  Mid way through May, my husband Gig asked him if he would be interested in buying all the calves and he jumped at the chance.  Within a couple of days, our 2nd addition to our beef whanau were gone.

 

Gig still believes that the balance of our beef versus the size of land/feed we have is not quite right and now our summers are more dryer and our winters less wet, it is taking it's toll on the land/feed.

 

We know for sure that a few of our cows produce some really good size offspring so the plan with the next lot of calves is to review the mothers and look to cull the numbers back.  We currently have 8 cows and 1 bull and realistically I think we should look to have no more than 5 cows and 1 bull.

 

Right now though, the focus is to ensure the new up and coming addtions expected in a couple of months, go well and I'm excited but nervous at the same time.

 

Happy living peeps!

 



Bees .. Glorious Bees

Since moving to the Ponderosa, I've wanted to have my own beehive/beehives to help pollinate all the beautiful fruit and flowers that we have.  In fact, I've read somewhere that the earth couldn't survive more than 2 years without bees which pretty much indicates, bees are pretty beneficial to us and our world.

To our surprise when we first moved into the Ponderosa we found that the entire back wall of the outhouse was home to .. you guessed it ... bees.  The wall was at least 4-5 metres long and the previous owners had tried to kill them, but without success.

We decided there was no way we were going to renovate the outhouse without trying to find a way to "relocate" the bees on the property.  I enquired to many bee keepers to see if they could assist, but again without success.  They all wanted to take the bees, but were reluctant to relocate them for us.

Two summers ago, we noticed the bees were gone.  From what we could see, all of the bees had swarmed inside the outhouse, left the back wall, and died trying to get out of the building.  It was quite a sad sight to see and the smell was horrible.  Oh well I thought .. I'll just have to source some bees inside a hive and place them on the property.

Last summer .. we noticed the bees were back but not living inside the outhouse or the wall this time.  They had found a new home in one of our wine barrels that sits on the deck of the outhouse.  Grrr ... great to have them around the vegetable and fruit garden doing their business .. but not good when I'm back to square one again .. trying to relocate the bees.

I know where I want the hive on the property and I even know what type of hive I want.  I'm just not sure whether I will have to get more bees or wait for my original ones to do their thing and swarm at some stage.  I have the next few months to come up with a plan.

I've seriously been thinking of doing a beekeeping course just to get the basics sorted.  My husbands cousin did it for a while and said it's not rocket science .. but of course nothing really is once you get the hang of things.

Happy learning peeps!

Beef Are Bulking

I've been reflecting on past posts about beef -  more importantly my last post about the NEW ADDITIONS - Part 3 and I can't believe how fast time has gone.  Our calves will be 12 months in July and we will look to let them go over the next few months.  Hopefully Bullet has done his job again, which means the 4th additions will arrive around July-August this year and we have to make way for them to arrive.  We simply don't have enough land to sustain them all.

In saying that, all our beef are conditioning well and we get some great feedback from neighbouring farmers about it.  The beef industry is pretty strong at the moment and will continue for some time as the demand for beef keeps rising so the better the conditioning the better the return.

Out of the 7 calves we have this time round, two are bulls which means they should fetch some good dollars as they tend to condition better than the heifers.  The better of the two is Rua (aka tipi bum bum) and our neighbour has his eye on him for future breeding, but we will see how it goes.  We sold our last lot of calves to our neighbour and he had to take them to one of his other properties as they kept wanting to come back home.

Our beef is pretty low maintenance really.  Apart from making sure they have enough feed, water and keeping their health in top order, they pretty much look after themselves.  Although calving period will be a demanding time but it's a challenge we signed up for and I'm excited to see what happens this time round.

Happy living peeps!

New Additions - Part 3

It's been a little while since I posted anything about our beloved new calves and upon reflection on my blog NEW ADDITIONS - PART 2, it sure has been an experience.

There is a lot to learn with calving as there more risk than I thought there would be.  Learnings:

1. All our heifers are fertile (which is good for production). 
2. All our heifers produced good size calves (which is good ... but very bad if you're not prepared).
3. Have a holding area close to the house with all the equipment when the heifer is ready to calf.  Simply pulling the calf to assist won't cut it and it keeps mother and calf safe once its all over.  We lost 2 calves (which is bad .. and sad). Rua was born late at night and fell through the fence into the nearby drain and drowned. Waru was stillborn as she got stuck during birth.
4. 4 out of 6 surviving calves are female (which is good for further production ... and great because males will grow larger).  Now we just need to decide what to do with the 2 males.  Turn them into steers OR keep them as bulls.
5. A heifer that has lost their calf goes through some trauma and still has good milk so there are still some risks.  Decide whether to place another calf with her.  We gained a calf from a local farmer to replace Waru.  We called her Iwa and after covering her with the scent of Waru, mother embraced her as her own - although it was a tough couple of days to begin with.

I managed to capture some early photo's of some of the newborns. All calves were born over a period of 7 weeks.

5 of our 7 calves we have gained.

It has been a few months now adn the calves are growing fast and eating grass and hay.  Now the challenge is to manage the feed for them all over the summer & autumn periods.


All 7 calves, with their mama's

Although this was a whole different experience to calving that I blogged about in  NEW ADDTIONS. The risks were far higher, but in comparison, I still believe that this is the best option. 

I still don't claim to know everything about beef but one thing is for sure - it's great living, loving and learning on the Ponderosa!!

Happy learning people!!

New Chicks Get The Chop

Back in December we went down the track of raising chicks to see how they would work out compared to us purchasing grown chickens nearly ready to lay.  I blogged about this back in May - New Chicks On The Block. 

5 of these 8 chicks were roosters.

The process was relatively stress free and our broody hen took to the new chicks well, however .. the down side of this was we ended up with 5 roosters!!  Not a very productive turnover if we were aiming for more laying hens.

It was time to change the plan of attack.  We decided to keep the roosters until one of the hens became broody again which took until September.  Time to see if our eggs were fertile.  Success ... 2.5 chicks hatched!!  I say 2.5 because one of the chicks didn't quite make it out of the hatching process.  Then we lost another of the new chicks when it drowned in the small water container.  I was starting think raising chickens from fertile eggs is more hard work than I thought.

The roosters have proven to be more than a nuisance than anything else, and I wasn't keen to keep all five roosters considering they are quite agressive towards the hens.  So, given my mum wanted feathers for her korowai, we decided to enter the next stage - The Stock Pot.

My mum & husband plucking, while my siser watches on

The birds themselves were enormous and although going through the process of "putting them in the stock pot" wasn't something I looked forward to doing, it is part of the journey we have chosen to take on the Ponderosa.

We still have 2 roosters left and we plan to keep them until after christmas at least. It still doesn't resolve the issue of having more laying hens for next year, but that's for another blog I think.

Happy living people!!

New Additions - Part 2

The first of the next generation of beef has arrived!  Born on a very cold and frosty night/early morning, the calf is healthy, feeding well off mum and integrating into the rest of the herd.

To be honest I thought it would've arrived last week sometime, but the wait was definitely well worth it.

Less than a day old .. trying to get it's balance properly

Integrating well with the rest of the herd and exploring everything and anything! - 5 days old

Never wonders too far from mum and can't understand what this hay and grass is about - just give me MILK!

Reflecting on my past blogs OUR PERSONAL CASH COW and BULLET THE BULL, we know for sure now that Bullet (or Roger as my husband calls him) has done the bizzo. Hopefully within the next week or so, this calf will have a friend to run around with as a couple of our cows are showing good signs that it won't be too long before they become mothers.

Today marks 5 days since the calf was born and we have done nothing but simply monitor the calf to see if it hasn't wandered too far away from mum, or that mum has rejected the calf for some reason.  That means no early morning  wake ups or multiple feeds which is definitely much easier than our past experience with calving.

Happy living people!

New Shed - New Look

When we first moved on to the Ponderosa, the first thing we promised we would do was build a shed because it was the only thing the property lacked.  Our goal was to have it done within the first 12 months of moving in, however the placement of the shed was proving quite a challenge.  

Option 1 - Place it on the western side of the driveway meant paying a $3000 fee to local council to consider whether they would or would not grant resource consent for it.

Option 2 - Place it somewhere on the eastern side of the driveway meaning encroach into the paddock which will impact on the volume of pasture & hay we need for our beef.

Either way, I didn't want to chop any of the wonderful mature trees that adorned the driveway (much to my husbands disgust).  The trees where a big part of what drew me into loving this property.

After 12 months of debating, we opted for option 2.  Purchased the shed from a good friend of ours Kevin, put in the consent and waited for the council to say yay!!  

The plan was that my husband would build the shed with the help of my cousin Mike, who was an experienced builder.  Finally the council said yes, and the project began.  First my husband had to remove part of the fencing & 'trim' the trees to get the right vehicle access on site.  Then the foundations began.  I remember the trucks and trucks and trucks coming and going to backfill the pad. Once that was finished, the building began and the excitement of seeing the progress grew stronger and stronger.

Then my cousin announced he was moving to Australia to join his family which meant my husband was on his own - a scary challenge for him to know the only reassurance that he was doing it right, had to come from himself.  I ended up helping him during the build which was a challenge for myself, but after putting in the hard yards and reflecting back, we are more than happy with the finished product.  

Foundations before the backfill - view from the homestead

View from the driveway .. with the trees slightly trimmed than chopped completely

Foundations backfilled and level .. with the first posts in

My husband having fun digging the trench for the power

View of the shed from the homestead

First party in the new shed!!

I am so proud of my husband and what he achieved with this shed.  It wasn't easy for sure and took a lot longer than we anticipated.  There is still phase 2 - 5of this project to come, but for now council is happy and signed off the shed for us to enjoy the rewards.

Happy living people!!

Front Boundary Gets The Chop

If there's one thing I love about the Ponderosa is the wonderful mature trees on the property.  Not only do they provide privacy, but they give a majestic ambience that makes you wonder what stories they could share with you over their years.  It so relaxing to sit on the porch and gaze out over the land and look and listen to them swaying in the breeze.

During the different seasons the trees give a whole new take on the Ponderosa.  In the summer, the land is filled with lush foliage providing necessary privacy and shelter for us and the animals and not to mention fruit.  The autumn brings amazing autumn colours followed by the lose of leaves which help organically feed & treat our stock .. and not to mention fruit.  Winter the trees look dormant & sad while the birds nests become visable from below.  Then there's spring which brings new growth with new blossoms and colour into the garden and with it comes a sense of revival as the days become warmer and new fruit starts to emerge.  Out of all the seasons, I would have to say autumn and spring are my best times to sit and enjoy the trees and what they have to offer, either by listening to the breeze, birds chirping or the fruit they bear for our consumption.

So .... you could imagine my disappointment when I recieved a phone call from the NZTA saying they needed to widen our road, which meant taking the row of wonderful mature trees on our front boundary.  I was equally annoyed when they tried to say the trees serve no real value or purpose.  Grrrrr!!!  Enter my husband who had the task of negotiation.

 

The trees in the background - not a good angle I know

The trees coming down 

The trees all gone :-(

I do miss those trees on the front boundary and I'm not a fan of the Ponderosa being exposed to the road .. and all that comes with it.  The bonus is we get to plant new trees along the entire length of the new fenceline so I just need to decide what, when, why and how so stay tuned for the continuation of this story.  Hopefully I can create an outlook of tranquility from within and privacy from outside the Ponderosa which mets our needs.

Happy living peeps!

 

New Chicks On The Block

It's been just over 2 years since we embarked on the journey of having chickens and blogging about it - Our New Chooks.  As I reflect back on that blog I can't help but giggle at the tone of excitement and the stress of what I put my husband through.  The goal was always simple.  To have fresh organic eggs, however to continue having a constant supply, we must ensure our chickens are up to scratch .. so to speak by replenishing to find that balance.

In December 2013, one of the older hens became very broody so we thought we would source some fertile eggs and see how it went.  My husband and his friend, did a deal with a supplier and 9 eggs came home with a plan that after x amount of days, they would hatch into little chicks and add to our whanau.  Well, we waited .. and waited .. and waited until early January 2014.  Still no baby chicks. 

We thought it could've been us, but knew we had made a huge effort every day to ensure we checked the broody hen was providing enough of her love.  Finally we recieved a phone call from our friend (who not only purchased some for them, but their neighbour as well).  Out of the 20 eggs that were sourced, only 2 had hatched.  Long story short, supplier said "that happens sometimes" and fair to say we won't be using them again.

After feeling extremely disappointed, we went to another supplier and recieved 8 new chicks as there was no time for new eggs - the broody hen was back on the lay.  These chicks were so cute and made themselves quite at home with the rest of the chooks.  It even made my daughters go up to the chicken run to feed the rest of the girls .. just so they could have a play.

The new chicks with the broody hen ... they are about 15 days old.



All our chooks in March 2014 scratching in their new chicken run

Not quite sure if the little egg is from the new chicks .. but it was interesting to find.

The new chicks are now 5 months old and coming along quite nicely.  The goal of having fresh organic eggs is still being achieved and although the volume of eggs we recieve during the warmer months is more than we can consume, I'm happy to say we supply my parents and grandmother with their daily supply.

Happy living people!

 

Our Personal Cash Cow

Reflecting on my past posts regarding our wonderful beef, I can't help but realise just how fast time has past me by which is a constant reminder to me that I haven't been enjoying the lifestye the Ponderosa has to offer as much as I would like at present.

Bullet is still with us, and we hope he has done the business properly, however we had to get rid of our wonderful calves.  Not because we wanted too, but because the Ponderosa wasn't big enough to sustain 14 beef without bringing in more feed to help out.

We (or should I say my husband) has worked hard to ensure the paddocks used for grazing has been as organic as we can keep them, and as a result our beef were growing extremely fast.  An awesome result, if you want to get a return on your investment but it was sad that we couldn't keep them longer.

Don't get me wrong.  The original plan for the calves was to get the experience of calving, see how much work was involved, how it fitted into our lifestyle, how cost effective it was with an end result of selling them or putting them in the freezer when they were at least 2 years old.

The Calves - Approximately 2 months old

The exercise was well worth it and although I didn't personally enjoy the early morning feeds, there was a sense of accomplishment at the different stages of their growth.  They didn't quite make it to 2 years but the return we recieved exceeded our expectations.

The challenge for us now is to get that balance of beef right for the Ponderosa.  We hope Bullet has done the business which means all 8 of our cows are in calf, due by July at the earliest.  The next exercise is to see if calving with mothers is much easier than without.  I have a feeling that it will and I'm excited to experience the first calf being born.

Happy living people.

Farewell to The Pines

When we first moved on the Ponderosa, one of the first things that made an impact on the property was the 20 years old pine trees that were planted in the back paddock I nicknamed "The Pines".

It was the perfect location for our chicken run and allowed the Chooks shade and plenty of bugs to dig up and feed on.  Remember my blog when they first arrived - Our New Chooks.  They looked wonderful from the east boundary looking towards the homestead as well.

Unfortunately during the first winter we got to experience just how much the south westerly winds like to whip through the pines.  As time progressed we became extremely concerned that some would fall either on the homestead or on the neighbouring property or heaven forbid on their house.

So .. an opportunity arose to have them removed and we took it.  If I am to be honest, I wasn't too enthusiastic to have them come down, but I caved and after it all was quite surprised with just how much difference it really made to the landscape of the property.

Before

After

Before

After

If I am to be honest, I am sad to see them go, however in the long term I hope to turn that area into an orchard .. only after the chooks have had a good crack at scratching the decomposing the area first.