MAGICAL moon rise

This was the most spectacular moonrise tonight. We have beautiful sunsets and the moon coming up over the mountains is always beautiful but tonight's was just absolutely magical. Scott was just finishing the evening feeding and ran in to get his camera when it started coming over the mountains.

Winter Hay Supply

We brought in 50 tons of alfalfa hay this weekend. The price increase may put us out of business. The price has doubled in 6 years. Where will this end? The cost of land, water and feed will be passed on to the consumer. How will we afford food for our families?

LGD PUPPIES

Livestock Guardian Dogs !!!! We have PUPPIES! We have had many sheep losses the last few years. The mountains and wilderness areas that surround our valley are home to mountain lions (cougars), bears, coyotes and soon to be wolves. Bobbi, my neighbor across the road, has lost 4 feeder calves this summer to lions. The kill sights are bringing in black bears to scavenge. We tried an adopted Anatolian LGD but he killed and ate 2 lambs so he had to go. I just purchased 2- 7 week old puppies. They are a Maremma X Great Pyrenees blend. They are tiny, little fluff balls. Are they going to grow up and take on a 135 pound mountain lion?? Their mom and dad did! Mom got torn pretty bad but the goats they were guarding were unharmed

Our puppies will soon look like these 8 month old siblings.

Snow tonight!!!

We are expecting snow down to 3,000 feet. This was our big snow last year. It was beautiful. We will only get rain here, I hope.

Moving the calves

It is time to move the calves in close to the house. They need to be halter trained, have their hooves trimmed and get ready for their new homes. The heifers need to get ready to be a family cow that can be handled by women and children. We need to look hard at the little bulls and decide who (if anyone)is good enough to be a future herd sire.

Look at the difference in size and appearance of the crossbred calf ! What do you think?

Getting ready for winter

The weather is changing. The cows are getting their fur coats. The ground is parched, waiting for the rains to come. The garden has been touched by early frost. The last of the raspberries are drying before birds get them. The winter squash and the potatoes are stored for winter.

The winter hay supply arrives this weekend. The cows and ewes are fattening up for their long winter pregnancy. They are ready. I am not!