It’s been a great run of warm, dry weather, from spring all the way up until now. Though not so great for grass and hay growing, it’s made for an easy summer and fall for outdoor chores. One chore that I’d procrastinated on that really needed doing was to scrape in front of my pasture hay troughs. There was several years’ accumulation of straw, hay, and manure; to the point where the sheep were starting to have to lean down to reach the hay in the troughs, rather than reach up. I really should have done this chore in August when it was bone dry, but somehow it slipped in priority.
Until now, when I realized, if I let another winter go by, the accumulation would overwhelm the troughs. So I decided to squeeze it in on one of the last dry days last weekend. But, it took longer than expected, so I ended up working on it two more weeknights after work in the dark, by headlamp. After it rained. It was a mud skating rink, which made the chore more slow-going, since the tractor couldn’t get much traction. It made much more of a mess than I wanted. But, I got it done, at least reasonably well. This weekend, I laid down a lot of straw, to start the accumulation process all over again, of giving the sheep clean footing. They’ll mash it into the mud, I’ll add more. Hopefully next August I’ll be more diligent about getting it scraped on time!
Now begins the season of rain and mud. This weekend we had a flood threat, it poured down rain for a couple of days. It actually did flood the low pastures near town, but was far short of a dike-overtop, so we were in the clear. It still means I watch the gauge a lot, ready for a big sheep maneuver if need be.
I got my rams and wethers weighed this weekend. I had been annoyed at myself for reserving butcher dates late, which meant I didn’t get an October one. But, just as well, I barely have enough rams heavy enough to make my first date in November. The curtailed grass season, as well as me being a little late getting that group de-wormed a second time, and also knocking back their coccidia later than I could have, meant that the whole group took a bit of a growth hit. But, I’ll definitely have a lot ready in December, and most of the rest by January. I have quite a few intact rams, and that’s fine, I’ll keep marketing some as breeders, then whatever doesn’t sell can go into the butcher channel. I still have that group grazing green grass on our hillside, but I’m also now giving them a full ration of hay to make sure they are taking in enough. I am also starting to offer them a bit of corn-barley, just to keep them on the grow heading into winter. The last thing you want in a butcher animal is one that’s starting to lose weight, rather than gain, as it can affect meat taste and tenderness. 
I had started to feed hay way back in July, just after my “winter hay” was delivered. I went through enough that I knew I’d run out by spring. So I ordered another load. I’m already watching with anxiety as that one dwindles quickly, hoping we have an early spring so I make it up on the back end. I will also take advantage of the neighbor’s Halloween pumpkin crop, which as of today, is now surplus. I actually do have some nice grass right now. Our Reed Canarygrass field is still growing well, so I’ve been pushing the ewes on that, only giving them a partial ration of hay, to insist that they balance their diet with RCG. They don’t prefer it, so I think they’d only eat hay if there was enough available. 
Our far field has a nice new set of growth, I’ll take advantage of that starting next week by putting a breeding group out there. This weekend was also spent getting ready for breeding season. I set up Elecronet and three-wire, which will hopefully keep my three breeding groups separate and where I want them. I have my breeding pairings all managed in a spreadsheet and printed out, ready to sort. Next week, it’s time to start the cycle all over again!
November 2, 2015 at 6:56 am
I did the same thing, Michelle – waited way too long to do some clean up in my winter pen. I moved my flock off the pasture and into the pen late last week as the rains came pounding in. The pen has cover for them (a one-sided shed), but I didn’t finish the mucking out of the area in front of the hay trough and the rains have now created a quagmire there. I have a load of hog fuel coming next weekend–it makes great footing and drains better than the straw–so I’ll be busy for the next few weekends, mucking out and adding in.
I hope your hay lasts. I need to get a few to the butcher myself, which will help cut back on the winter feed bill and stretch the hay supply.
Maureen
November 2, 2015 at 2:30 pm
I’m really interested to hear that you have canary reed grass. We have one pasture of it as well. We harvested it back in August, and have stored it. So far they haven’t been interested in it at all, and I had read an article this past summer saying that the older breeds of the grass could be slightly toxic and give them scours. But I will start to give some with their hay and see if they’ll take to it. It would be helpful as our hay doubled in price from last year.
November 3, 2015 at 5:32 am
mcfwriter- I like hog fuel too, we usually keep a mountain of it available. What I find this time of year, though, is if I have to cover a large area that’s far away from the pile, I make more of a mud mess tractoring it back & forth. Straw I can carry in the ATV, which is lighter on the soil…
November 3, 2015 at 5:36 am
Julia, RCG is a funny beast. It’s extremely nutritious, at least when it’s in its early vegetative state. And it’s extremely productive. I do find it gives my sheep scours more than other green grass, and they prefer it less than all the other grass species we have here. In places where I have both, I have to fence them on the RCG to insist that they eat it. But, they do. My hay guy usually brings me hay from a lot of different fields, and I don’t see as much preference there, the sheep seem more indiscriminate between orchard, rye, timothy and RCG once it’s made into hay.