ADVENTURE'S DOWNUNDER OR FARMING IN PARADISE:An Old Rams view.

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,I will apologize in advance for any errors or mistakes ,but I am so " tied "tonight.I am sure that over the next week or so I am going to fail in my "duties" as far as the journal goes.But it will be just because of the" workload".

Saturday:This morning I set out (after the fog had cleared)and laid about 30 or so Fox baits.The run is over about 4 kms and as I said earlier we went after lunch and laid 3 dead lamb baits in an effort to "knock over " a few Pigs if they return.Checked the ewe's and that was it for the day.One neighbor that I had been unable to contact,I called in to advise them about the "baiting" .They are new "renters"and it turns out the guy is a professional Roo shooter and he said as soon as he gets his "gun safe" up to the house he will "clean up" a few foxes he has seen around his place for me(you beauty).

Sunday:Another "big" fog,after breekie"I set off to see how we had gone with the foxes overnight.This event will be repeated every morning now until lambing is over.( it takes me about 2 hours to do a round)..We had 2 baits taken ,they were about 1km apart ,so I assume that we have got 2 foxes.Ater lunch I took the dogs(on their leads) over to the hill paddock where the older lambs are to fill there "mix containers",after that a quick check of the ewe's and take drums od water ,enough to re-fill there trough,that was it for today.

I sat down to watch a show on TV ,but fell asleep,so here I am "half asleep" trying to write this.

Q & A :..NC.I cannot treat the "ghosts" as visitors as they don't reveal themselves,so I think they will have to remain "ghosts" in my eyes.

~GD...The "bleeding hearts/echo-terrorists" have managed to stop the baiting from the air and Parks and Wildlife have now had to set- up bait-stations(these are raised piles of sand into which the baits are placed,so they can confirm what has taken them).This is a very labor intensive way to manage the problem and it means that they have to fly in by helicopter to the less excess-able areas of there habitat.

Well gang that's it for tonight,I will try to keep you all up to date, but I fear there will be lapses,anyway I will fill in the gaps when I can................T.O.R.........................

 

[~gd]

Gday Ram, I read up on pro roo shooters this morning, what a life! All those regulations and rules to put up with in order to have the chance to try to earn a living hunting. What wasnt mentioned is how it is determined how many tags a hunter is allowed and a tag must be attached to each roo shot along with a bunch of required paper work on each roo shot. Is the tag system like that of our part time gator hunters where the ones that fill their quota early get a few more tags the next time around, while those that fail to use all their tags get less the next time around? Or is it the who you know political system that infests some of our hunting here in the USA? Head shots only? It would seem to me that you could have a whole army of snipers if you ever needed them. I take it that all roo shooters must be pros?It must be a pain to get them hung so the blood can drain for meat use and considering where they could be it would seem that a refrigerated 4X4 truck would be needed.
Speaking of the bleeding hearts it would appear that that they would like roos to be the main source of meat since they dont pass gas like cattle and sheep do. I used to maintain sand pads to record what was hanging around my waterfowl coops at night but replaced most of them with motion sensor lights and video cameras when they became cheaper. Just the light coming on would scare away most animals but they would not be practical in the outback.
If you are this busy in the winter is the summer therefore your slow time, or does it get busier? ~gd

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Gang,hope you are all fit and well?In the last two days a fair bit has happened,a neighbor told us that he had found a lge "dead" pig over his back fence and the other afternoon there was more shooting from that direction(we hope it was the balance of the "suckers")......

Monday:..We took a walk down to see if we could find this dead pig(here's a pic)

It looks as though it was shot a few days ago as the foxes have been into it.

Tuesday: It was decided to move all of the ewe's out of there existing paddocks onto two flatter paddocks as they get closer to lambing,we now have 7 lambs on the ground and because we moved them "without" the dogs everything went quite smoothly.Another reason was that the weather is supposed to turn a bit "cold and wet".We had lost another "bait" last night and it was about 1km from the last two so we can assume that another fox has"bit the dust".

Wednesday: Right on Que the light rain arrived this morning just as I was going to check the" baits",I only covered a few and then went to feed the dogs,just in case it started to get heavier later on.

Q & A:...The roo cull is determined on a national basis and it is then broken down to state and district level(I think they cull about 1 million a year).they only cull 4 species,mainly Eastern Grey and the Red Kangaroo.Most of the guys are competition shooters ,the new guy next door represented Aus at the world c'ships.I smiled when he told me he is currently using a .243,not much left of their brains after a head shot,he admitted it was a "bit big" for the job and was planning on getting a new .222 when he could afford it......On the subject of your "gator cull" ,we have been enjoying your show "Swamp People",what they do is "really working" for a living........The shooter guys have a 4wheel drive ute's with a rack around the tray and the hang the body's on hooks to bleed and then at the end of the night they"gut" the lot and shoot any foxes that come in for a feed (for there pelts)Most of them deliver to the mobile chillers early each morning..........I do wish it was that "easy" with the B/Ht's,if I had my way I would "pack up the whole mob",give them a "bag of lentils each"and ship them to some desert island....On the light thing we can get down here a "flashing light" thing which mimics a hunters spotlight (a friend of ours has a few and she "swears" by them.)
When I think about it there is no real" slow time on the farm ,there is always jobs on the list to do ,in Summer though when its just to hot,you have to have a "spell",but for now there is "running the bait line",lambing ewe's,another patch of "spraying" ,then there is "marking" the lambs ,drenching and "crutching" the ewe's and by then it will be almost Xmas(whew,don't want to think about that yet).

So here we are,all caught up again,its steady light rain now and about 9C outside ,the fires going so its time for a little TV I think.....Oh by the way,I got a PM from a "ghost" the other day ,asking if they could post a pic from the journal on P-O-T-W.I cant wait for that to happen...........Hope you have enjoyed your visit with us again,our best wishes to you all..............................T.O.R..........................

 

[dragonlaurel]

When are most of your lambs usually born? There seems to be a rule that ewes must give birth in nasty weather.
No need to apologize about being too busy to post sometimes. It's good to get to know people through the journals, but your everyday life always comes first.

Oops - I realized I hadn't answered some of your questions.

"DL: From memory its your aim to have quite a few sheep,the question I would pose is,"how many fleeces can you sell or use l a year? "Straight Bred Meat Sheep,command a premium over those of the Dual Purpose Breeds. Off farm sales are another premium ,but you may have to kill,gut and skin these sales."

I'd like to start with a few bred ewes. The property's size and forage quality will decide how many to work up to. I want sheep for wool first, and also for the for the land benefits (mowing & good fertilizer). Selling culls will help pay for the upkeep on the others. I'd like to end up with around a dozen eventually.
Since the whole farm will be small scale, my aim will be for the handcrafted/specialty items market instead ... less sales but better markup per item. The market garden, fresh eggs, and raised pullets will each bring in some money, so the sheep end of it can be some "extra income" instead of needing to be my sole support.

Not sure how much wool I would need for the homestead yearly. I have a suspicion that once the wool is available at home- that I'll be finding more and more uses for it. I have ideas for a few specialty products that would use different grades of wool, so (other than tags) there wouldn't be much wasted.

I can defend self, family and my critters but I'm way too much of a softy for slaughtering. I killed a rattlesnake once- to protect the pets but still felt terrible about that. I will sell live stock "on the hoof" or wool products.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

Hi Gang,seeing I had an easy day today(because of the rain)and after re-reading my last post I thought I had better qualify one of the statements...IE:".I do wish it was that "easy" with the B/Ht's,if I had my way I would "pack up the whole mob",give them a "bag of lentils each"and ship them to some desert island".......In this statement I am referring to the "extreme end"of the group.We had a case recently where some people "broke into" a research institution and "whipper snipped"a crop of trial wheat species.They have been "charged" by the police but will get little more that "smack on the wrist".The cost of this malicious damage will run into the 100's of 000's of $'s......The way things are going with "global warming and climate change",we have to speed up research onto "new" var's of grains to stay ahead of the game,you can imagine into the future that the situation in Nth Africa today is going to be repeated in other parts of the world.

I hope that makes my criticizem clear and I have not offended anyone of our regular followers.I believe that one's own lifestyle choices are no business of other people,as long as they are not trying to convert "me".

Q & A:..DL.I hope none of the ewe's decide to give birth tonight,the rain has got a deal heavier and its pretty cold ,but there is little wind,as its the wind that is the real killer,The two paddocks that they are in have got good "tussocky" cover,so they can just bed down and keep themselves a bit warm.Whereas our neighbor has all his stock in very open paddocks with little ground cover and I fear his losses could be quite high if it keeps up.

Retail therapy could be put on hold for tomorrow if the weather does not improve overnight,anyway that's it for now ,I just wanted to clear the other thing up.So I hope we can look forward to seeing you all again(friends and ghosts alike).....................................T.O.R....................

 

[~gd]

Just a quick note today {see your email}. Gator cull Swamp People Is in just in one large Swamp in one State. I dont know if you noticed the accent [sort of French] the natives forefathers were French who were forced out of Canada when the British kicked them out after beating France in war much closer to home. In most states the Gator if present is highly protected. One poor soul in my area managed to catch a small one while fishing and was hit with a hefty fine plus the expense of catching and transporting one in to replace the one he caught. There was a great fuss because it was caught in an inland lake which was very popular for swimming and boating use. Yep those people really work for 30 days and live off the cash produced for the rest of the year. The few that do have regular jobs take the season off because the money is better than their wages.
Those lights may work where people [and lights] are rare, but I have tapes of animals giving a startle response and going right back to hunting in my backyard. I have to run~gd

 

[dragonlaurel]

I wasn't offended, but I do like lentils and haven't done any traveling lately ... The weather better be nice at this island.

Good luck to both of you about the ewes. I wish I could tell them to hold those babies in just a bit longer.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day gang,another post on time ,OMG I'm doing well(pat myself on the back).Shopping got delayed until tomorrow.

Thursday:After a "freezing night",it was showery and horrible ,so we decided to stay in "bed".Checked the "radar" and it did not look as though it would get any better,so tomorrow will do for shopping.It's +6C so after lunch did a round of the baits,we have lost 3 more in the last day or so.(another 3 bite the dust!)In spite of the "cold" the new lambs seem to be going OK.(saw a few dead one's next door though)... All up we have lost 6 ewe's now due to birthing problems,from there tags they are all from the "oldest group",just goes to show that if you try to get that extra lamb,if the weather turns "bad" you can lose not only the lamb ,but the ewe as well.(Lesson for next year).

Q & A:..~Gd : .. thanks for the feedback on the lights .

DL:..I hope everyone took our comments in the same way as yourself.It would be great if you could order in advance the births ,but that's not the way it works, unfortunately.Nature sorts out the weakest of the lines and that s how you get "genetic gain",if you interfere and save those that should "not" be saved you "degrade" the overall strength of the flock.( its harsh I know).

Well its another short one for tonight,they say the weather will be OK tomorrow ,but will be not to "flash" over the weekend....The "odds" are we will meet again on Saturday night(tomorrow being shopping day now),so til then stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all again then.our best wishes ...T.O.R.........................

PS:I am looking for some of you to add some interest.I know you all have opinions ,so how about expressing them?.. Positive or negative ,who cares,just express your thoughts.Who knows what you are asking,may help some of our "ghostly" friends.

 

[framing fowl]

How long is lambing season for you? Do you cull ewes that only produce singles?

 

[dragonlaurel]

Hope you had a good "Sleep in", with that weather. I plan to do more sewing in the yucky days next winter.

I don't know if this would work for you, but- could older ewes be separated into a small flock- then bred later for lambing times when it would be a bit warmer?
I agree that interfering much with natural selection, will make a weak herd. I would not want to do bottle feeding, or much vet/medical stuff because of it.
If a ewe wont feed her lambs- I'd try to graft the lamb to another ewe or sell them as bottle lambs since some people like them. If the Mom had great genetics- she'd get a 2nd chance. If not- she's going too.
If a ewe can't make strong lambs- she is going.

That's why I keep being drawn back to the Native sheep. They are a breed of survivors. The breed only became rare because during our Civil War, the soldiers stole (for their troops to eat) or just killed the livestock, to starve the local population into surrender.
One very smart farmer's son took his flock and hid from the soldiers. He preserved the breed. Probably also kept him from getting conscripted or killed too.
The Cotton Patch geese were almost made extinct too. They'd been raised for weeding the cotton fields.