From Rebecca's Kitchen Window

A few weeks ago, I know, I am behind in my blogs again! Anyway, a few weeks ago, when Ethan went to check on the meat chickens that morning, about 30 of them were dead and all the other chickens were all badly injured for total of 99 chickens that we lost. Gary was planning on butchering them the very next morning. We don't know what killed them, fox or weasel maybe.
Just a week ago, we had just purchased 150 turkeys that were for Thanksgiving . They were only a few days old and Gary had put them in a building just down at the end of our front yard. Two days later they ended up dead! Not sure what killed them all either. So not only were we sad about the death of them but, Gary was also concerned that we wouldn't be able to even get anymore. He always orders the very last batch that they offer so we can make sure they are the right size for Thanksgiving turkeys. Luckily, they were able to get us some.
This summer we had been pretty lucky to have enough rain to keep the pastures green, until just lately. Gary called to have them fix the irrigation pump.
Once they fixed that, Gary and I spread out all this blue hose from the well, down through the ditch and up the other side and hooked it up to the irrigation in the pasture.
Then we had to straighten out all the hose with the sprinklers on them. Next, we hooked the hose up to the Kabuta and spread them all out across the pasture. We had 6 irrigation lines to do, we worked on it from 3 pm to 7 pm, before we got in all finished.
That was sure a hot job! Then Ethan spent a morning trying to get them all to work right!
Since we needed the pastures watered down, we had to move the cattle again! Which meant another cattle drive! Yes, right here in Pandora Ohio! It sounds like something one would hear about in Oklahoma or Texas! We ran post and this thin wire fencing that the cattle know as shocking fencing along the road and to the pasture we wanted them to go into. This time it was a short trip for them and a successful one too.
The cattle ate that pasture down pretty fast and once again, another cattle drive! Do we see a pattern here? This time we had to walk them down the road and then cross our road to the next pasture. Out come the posts and wire again. Ethan and Gary got them out of the pasture,Leah stood on the road blocking any traffic and making sure the cattle didn't head the wrong direction! Then all 3 of them started leading them up to the pasture. Jacob and I made sure they didn't head down either side of the road. Great, they went right where we wanted them to go, good cattle!
That next morning,Gary was trying to move them into the next patch of pasture and just as he was putting down the fence for them to go there a loud motorcycle went zooming by and between the excitement of new food to eat and then being scared of the loud motorcycle, they went stampeding past the electric fence and down to the neighbors yard and all over the road. I get a phone call at 9am, "Becky, I really need your help, the cows are all over the road and the neighbors yard, can you come right away and help me!" Off I went out the door and down the lane. What a sight, cattle roaming all around! Gary, Jacob and I we were able to round them up and get them back where they belong. Of course, not before some cars and trucks got stuck waiting for us to move them off the road. As one guy passes me he says" so did the cattle get out?"
Today, we had another cattle drive! Time to move them back to their first pasture!! Time to put up post and wire again and guard the roads. Well, thank goodness these cows are pretty used to us moving them! I think they know that if we are moving them that means new fresh pasture to eat!! We had another good cattle drive. I wonder if it would go faster though if we had horses to ride, or maybe it just would look neat!
It's been a busy summer rotating our cattle to fresh pasture.
The chickens are now in transition. Our older chickens are slowing down there production and the new girls are just starting to lay. So lets get going girls.
Gary has been doing pretty good. He still has side effects from the medication he is taking and deals with swelling in his feet, ankles. I guess for now this is our new normal.
On Thursdays we go to the Farmers Market in Perrysburg, we sell our farm items and I have been baking and selling lots of cupcakes. It's a fun time and hopefully profitable!
Tonight I saw a chicken in my front lawn and I was thinking why is it that it's so hard for them to stay in there pens? I also was thinking is this the chicken that laid her egg by the front steps? To bad it wasn't a golden egg! Oh well.

Blessing to all,
Rebecca