Fencing Season

Every inch of fence needs to be checked after the winter snows go.

As the snow goes, the fences emerge or rather the lack of fences emerges.  In the high country of Colorado and here at the ranch, fencing “season” begins early and goes through the summer.   Fencing begins as soon as the snow melts, the water dries up, and the ground becomes dry enough that as you tighten the wires on the fence, the posts won’t pull out of the soft ground.  Every inch of fence must be inspected, spliced (the two broken ends are tied together) where needed, tightened and stapled back to the posts whether it is along the road, up steep hills, through brush or in the roadless back country. In snow country, there are lots of breaks, sagging wire, and pulled out staples just due to the weight of the snow.

In Colorado, fence guidelines state that cattle must be fenced out, horses fenced in, and sheep herded.  This means if you don’t want cattle on your property, you must build a legal fence to keep them out.  If you own a horse, are responsible for building and maintaining a fence to keep them off other people’s property or off the road, and because sheep can go through a legal fence, if you can’t build a fence to keep them in (usually with a woven wire that has fencing going both vertically and horizontally) then they should have a sheep herder with them.  A legal fence is three wires with a post set ( the bottom foot and a half or two feet of a post is packed into the ground to give the fence strength and stability) every twenty feet sufficient to turn any horses and cattle with gates equally as good as the fence.  Any fence that can turn any horse or cattle as efficiently as a “legal” fence is deemed legal also; electric, wooden, plastic, etc.

Horses, which  have thinner more sensitive skin than cattle, don’t push fences as hard as cattle so it doesn't take as strong a fence keep horses in.  On our ranch, however, all our fences are built to hold cattle because we rotate cattle among all our fields.  We build our fences with a minimum of four wires with set fence posts every 12 feet with stays (light weight posts which are nailed to all the wires of the fence for the purpose of keeping the fence wires straight and  tight) between the set posts. Where we have a lot of pressure on a fence due to weaning, our fence is five to six wires and the set posts are 10 feet apart with steel posts set between wooden posts and stays between those.  Strong fences are important to good range management and for keeping the cattle secure and safely off the roads. 

While these posts were completely covered by snow, the top wire didn't have as much snow weight as the lower wires.

While all the wire needs to be tightened, the number of wires in the fence which needs to be spliced is determined by how the fence came to need repair.  A fence which only has snow load may or may not be broken but will definitely need to be tightened because the wire will be stretched by the weight of snow and the staples holding the wire to the posts popped out.  The wires which are above snow level or close to the top of the snow will be somewhat tight while the lower wires will be stretched and sagging or broken.

Fences along the road will have all four wires sagging, some wires toward the top may be broken and the posts will be pushed inward, away from the road. Fences which need repair because wildlife, in our case elk, are going over and through it, will have the wires tangled because some animal had caught it with a foot, stretched it and when it snapped back into place it became tangled.  Sometimes just the top or two top wires are broken.

For most of our fences along the road or where ever we can get with the tractor, we can use the tractor to carry our supplies and tools in the front end loader.  We carry extra posts, a tamping bar (a heavy metal bar for pounding dirt tightly around a post to make it stand straight), a shovel for digging the post hole, fence stretchers, fence pliers, staples, a roll of wire and, of course, leather gloves to protect our hands.  If  the fence is in a place where we have to walk in or ride a horse in, then we carry the fence stretchers, staples, and loops of wire, the handle of the shovel becomes the tamping bar, and hopefully we won't have to set new posts. 

This an efficient way to carry the wire and be able to unroll the right amount as needed.

The fence stretchers bring two broken ends together by placing the wire in the clip and using leverage to stretch the wire tight.  The fence pliers were an multipurpose tool invented prior to the leatherman.  They have wire cutters, the pointed edge for pulling out staples, the other side for pounding in staples, and a wire cutter edge between the handles.

The staples are built to hold the wire to the wooden posts.  When you buy them, you must know how long you want the tines to be.  

We make splices by making a loop in the end of the wire, put it in the vice at one end of the fence stretchers and the other end slips through the loop.  When we've made the fence as tight as possible, the wire which has come through the loop is folded back on itself and wrapped around so it doesn't slip.  The fence stretchers are then removed.

 

We expect to fix fence every spring but usually once the fence is fixed, it stays up until the heavy snow takes it down the next winter.  There are a few places in the late fall when the elk begin to migrate where the fence must be put back up and this too is expected.  The most frustrating fencing issue; however, is when people drive through our fences.  We, like many ranchers, find out that someone has driven through our fence when the neighbors call to tell us our cows are out on the road.  It gets expensive in materials and time to repair the damage done to our fences.  Sometimes, people let us know when they’ve gone through our fences right away and either come to help us fix the fence or buy materials and pay us for our time to fix the fence and we certainly appreciate that.  Because we live on a curvy road, we have many people going through the fence down by the gate to the meadow.  In the last 18 months, there is one fence post that Jim has had to reset seven times, the last three times have been once a week for the first three weeks in May.  Of the seven people who have taken out the fence and that post, one died at the scene, two were hospitalized with serious injuries, one with minor cuts and bruises, and two ended up in jail.  I’m thinking of painting the post red and putting up a sign that says, “Hitting this post could be hazardous to your health or freedom.”

The truck entered down by the 4 wheeler, straddled the fence for 200 feet, went into the field and came out at the at the upper end.

Luckily, our neighbors, Larry and Maryann Sasak, came by with their post pounder.  It saved us from having to set all those posts by hand.

 

The pounder is put onto the back of the tractor and as the PTO turns, it drives the heavy metal down onto the post and pushes it into the ground.

The fence is back up except for the stays.

 It looks like fencing season will be a long one this year, it is still too wet to get to much of the fence in the high country. 

Spring at Last, Spring at Last!!

Green begins to replace the white of the snow or the brown of the mud around the ranch house.

 According to folklore, Friday the thirteenth should have been a bad day; however, here on the ranch it was a great day because it was the first day of spring.  All the signs of spring were here for the entire day; no rain, no snow, no high wind, just a warm, sunny day with gentle breezes.  All the animals and humans felt it.

The day began with the birds announcing, “Today is going to bring spring!”  They began their song during the predawn hours, sitting in the tops of the pine trees outside the bedroom windows chatting away and reassuring each other that spring was definitely going to begin on that day.  After the sun came up and the day warmed, through the morning, afternoon, and into the evening, they continued remarking loudly about the wonderful weather.

The frogs were next announcing the coming of spring.  The water level on the meadow had dropped and the movement of water had slowed enough to allow pools to form.  As the temperature rose to almost 70 degrees, the water warmed, and by late afternoon and evening, the frogs were exclaiming how much they liked the new weather. These frogs are very small at this time of the year but interesting to see.  They are about the size of a quarter floating in the pools of water on the meadow.  When they open their mouths to sing, they form a sort of bubble about the same size as they are.  As the summer progresses, the frogs do grow in size to about the size of a small peach.  The frog population, however, decreases.  They are a favorite food of our sandhill cranes who visit the meadow everyday during the daylight hours and by mid-August, they will have moved their chicks from their nest in the sagebrush breaks to the meadow permanently until it’s time to migrate.

For us, spring means it’s time to move fast.  There is so much to do before the ground dries out.  In the winter, a 24 hour day is just fine to get the things done that we need to do, but starting in spring it would be nice if the day had about six more hours in it.  We begin celebrating spring by removing the plastic that we covered the windows which adds another layer of insulation to keep the cold out of our hundred year old house. Not only will this allow us to open the windows to let air circulate through and cool the house down when the outside temperatures reach 70, it also appeases the house cats that have been watching and waiting on the window sill for the past month or so for the snow to go away.  Both cats go outside, Mischief, to explore the area under all the trees and, Trouble, to chase a magpie away.

Trouble checks out the magpies.

Mischief expects the window to be opened first thing every morning from now on.

For us, the humans on the ranch, it is time to get ready for the many things that need to be done in the spring.  While it’s too wet yet to fix fence or drag the fields, it is time to get the equipment ready.  The meadow drags must be checked and rewoven if necessary and the fence mending tools (stretchers, staple pouch, post pounder, shovel, tamping bar and fencing pliers) must be gathered and supplies (wire, posts and staples) purchased.  The fencing tractor, old truck, and ATV must be made ready so that they can carry the fencing equipment.

This winter's Christmas light display.

Finally, it's dry enough to get the tractor in to get the last of the lights off the eaves.

 The last of the Christmas lights need to be brought off the eaves on the roof.  Usually this is done by the 8^th of January; however, with the heavy snow and extreme cold of this year, we had to wait until the snow around the house had gone and the ground had dried enough to bring the tractor in close enough to the house to get the job done. So on Friday the Thirteenth, the last of the Christmas lights are taken down and put away into the shed which holds only the outdoor Christmas lights.

This is not just a sculpture but a useful tool.

Removing muddy boots with a boot jack.

The heavy winter clothing and boots can be put away but should we keep the boot jack handy?  I decide to keep it close because it’s certainly going to rain and snow again before summer and the boot jack keeps my hands clean when it’s muddy.  This tool looks like a brass sculpture of a long horn steer’s head.  The heel of one boot is put between the horns and while stepping on the tongue looking part with the other foot, you pull your foot out of the first boot.  You change feet and remove the other boot: all this without having to use your hands to pull off your muddy boots or finding someone who is willing to get their hands muddy for you.  

Here, in this part of the state and at this altitude, spring comes later than most places and for those higher up, they’re still waiting for spring.  It’s magical because when the green begins, it comes fast.  It’s almost like the green is waiting under the snow and mud; waiting for only a couple of warm, sunny days to cause it to appear.  The green will get richer and deeper as the season continues.  The snow line recedes by 500 feet almost every day.  The aspens on Emerald Mountain still stand in at least two feet of snow and yet there is a green tinge to the tops of the trees which is visible from here at the house.    Now, the most difficult part of spring, is to resist setting out the spring plantings.  In a normal year, we can count on only a couple of months (from about the middle of June to the middle of August) without a killing frost.  Gardeners here have to be very resourceful to grow plants and crops which require a growing season longer than 59 days.  They use green houses, plant starter kits in their homes, and my favorite, container garden using their kids’ wagons and skateboards to move their plants from the garage and back every day.  Color has returned to the high country which means that the produce section at the grocery store won’t be as crowded; people won’t be lingering over the red peppers and lettuce to get the “color fix”, they’ll be outside enjoying the real thing.

The green will get richer in just a few warm days.

Weather, Almanacs, and Bucket Calves.

It's calving, lambing, kidding, fawning season here in the Upper Yampa Valley.  This is the time that the ranchers look forward to because it is the pay off, not necessarily financially, but with the joy of new life.  All the mammals, both domestic and wild, are producing young.  There are calves, lambs, baby goats, fawns, elk calves.  Your spirits are lifted just watching the young discover, cavort and just be new to the world.  Usually at this time of year, the snow is gone from the meadow, the run off water is confined to certain water courses, and the high parts of the meadow and hill sides are dry.  The grass greens with just a couple of sunny days and all the animals are content.

We carefully planned our calving to come during favorable conditions. We have adjusted our calving time to take into account the spring weather but his year it is different. In the 30 + years we have ranched, this spring  is a month behind normal.  The snow remains, the rain or snow keeps falling and the sun doesn't shine.  I checked the Old Farmer's Almanac to see if it had predicted this terrible, long winter.  It actually said predicted a milder winter with slightly above normal temperatures. An almanac is a book published annually with weather predictions, zodiac information, planting information, cooking information and general information.  It's interesting and fun to read.  Benjamin Franklin was a publisher of an early almanac in the colonies. His  Poor Richard's Almanac was published for almost 25 years.  Two modern almanacs are the Old Farmer's Almanac published in New Hampshire and the Farmer's Almanac published in Maine.  The almanacs keep records and use patterns and statistics to determine probabilities to predict weather.  Both almanacs have been existence and kept records for over a century and have gone modern with websites and blogs.  The Old Farmer's Almanac for Children is a great site to bookmark.

  It seems terrible to be complaining about so much moisture when our friends across the state and country are in need of moisture so desperately.  My friends in town usually are out of flood danger by the first week in April.  They are concerned because the creek which runs behind their house is out of its banks and within three feet from their back door and the real run off hasn't even begun yet.  We have opened all the gates along the five mile ditch we use for irrigation and have the head gate which takes water in from the river closed tight.  This is to keep the amount of water in the ditch at a level where the water won't go over the top and wash out the ditch.  The ditch is full from the rain and snow melt along the sides of the ditches and the small tributaries which enter directly into the ditches. High water isn't due until the first week in June.

The ground in saturated and there is no place for all this water to go.  For my friend in Hayden, where the snow left about a three weeks ago, all this continued moisture has made it difficult for her lambing and kidding.  The sheep and goats are used to giving birth on dry ground and it has stressed them to be birthing in mud.  This stress in the mothers has led to stress in the babies which has left  babies do not have the strength to recover from the birthing process.

For us, the wetness has caused some unusual circumstances to arise. In one instance,  a red cow and a black cow had their calves within 30 feet of each other.  One of the calves fell into deep water and drowned , so both cows were trying to claim the one living calf.  In that case, we had to bring in the herd, sort out the two cows and the calf and watch.  The calf followed both mothers around.  It seemed to be more attached to the black cow, the black cow had a better bad and was more assertive that it was her calf. Even though we were pretty certain that the red cow was the mother of the calf, the black cow had a better bag, so we sent the calf back to the meadow with the black cow.  We've had to assist two cows in giving birth which means bringing the cows from the meadow to the corrals, putting them into the chute, reaching inside to adjust the calf so that it is in the proper position ( front hooves first with head between like a person diving into a pool) and then if necessary attaching chains to the front feet to gently pull the calf in time with the mother cows contractions.  In one instance, the calf survived and in the other instance, the calf did not make it.

The cats, Trouble and Mischief, wait for winter to end.

Since I wrote  that first part of the blog, a week has passed.  In that time, we have had one day of blizzard with another foot of snow, plus a few inches of new snow overnight except for the last two nights.  The stars have been out. It's amazing what a change it can make.  While there is still snow around the house, 6 inches below the swing set and 3 feet where the snow has slid from the roof, the ground is beginning to dry out where the snow has been plowed away, the grass is beginning to green, and the entire meadow is free from snow with some dry ground.  Things are looking up.  It's a wonder what a little sunshine and dry days will do for a place.  The house cats, instead of being curled up together are sitting in the window sills in the sun wanting to go out, birds are starting to welcome the morning, calves are beginning to have their races on the meadow and there are actually buds beginning to form on the ends of the branches of the lilac bushes.  The weatherman is now a friend rather than an enemy because he's predicting an entire week of dry weather instead of "snow in the high country".  Hopefully, this will hold so that our friends who live 5 miles to the north will reach this stage.  They are still calving in a couple of feet of snow with a foot of water underneath.

Calves show they're happy when being fed by wagging their tails.

As a result of this unusual weather, we have ended up with 5 different bucket calves.  The original was the twin who is promised to the grandchildren on the front range.  The second one was one of the calves we had to help the mother give birth to.  The weather was so bad that we had to bring the calf to the house to warm up and dry off and by the time we were able to return him to his mother, she didn't recognize him as hers and refused to take him; he is going to a friend's house to help teach her grandchildren that caring for animals is rewarding, fun and a serious responsibility.  The third was the one who went to Craig in the previous blog.  The fourth was another twin whose mother refused her.  Sometimes, cattle mothers know when something is wrong with their calves and they refuse them.  In this case, even though we brought her to the house and fed her, she never did thrive and seemed to be blind or would stand against the wall pushing her head into it as hard as she could.  We called the vet and he took her to see if he could bring her around and planned on her being a project for his sons.  She didn't get better so had to humanly put out of her misery.  She was  then used for his 4-H vet group.  They did a necropsy ( what they call an animal autopsy) to see what was causing her to not thrive or survive.  It turned out that she was bleeding in the brain which was causing pain, her strange behavior, and the inability to use her survival instincts.

 The fifth calf was one I had to rescue because his mother decided to have him on a high spot surrounded by deep water.  Because calves are unsteady when they first get up, he fell into the cold deep water.  His mother stood on dry ground and keep nudging him as he tried to get back up, knocking him down again.  I had to drive out in the deep water with the tractor, convince her to not attack me, and because he was a big calf, about 100 pounds, roll him into the bucket of the front end loader on the tractor and speed up to the house to save him.  By the time I got him to the house, he was hypothermic, had breathed in water, and I couldn't carry him to the barn.  A quick call to the neighbors brought three of them over to help me dry with towels, blow dry with the hair dryer, and carry him to the stall in the barn where I had set up heat lamps and straw.  Vigorous toweling got his blood circulating, warm colostrum warmed him up from the inside, and heat lamps, after he was totally dry, heated him up from the outside.

A photo of three of the bucket calves appeared in the local paper with an article about how the extended winter was affecting ranchers.  A ranching friend remembered the photo of the red calf and  when he had a red cow lose her calf, he came over and got him to replace her calf.  He took the hide from the dead calf, tied it onto the red calf and put him in with her.  Cows recognize their calves by smell and since this calf smelled like her calf, she just had the attitude, "Where have you been?"  The rancher did have to retrain the calf.  The calf was 10 days old and had come to recognize the blue bucket as the source of food.  He had to retrain the calf to recognize that the cow's udder was his new source of food.  He had to put the cow in a chute and follow the same process we had  used to train the calf that milk came from a bucket.  It only took the calf a couple of swallows of milk from the cow's udder to decide this was were food now comes from.  I think the milk from the cow must taste better than the powdered milk from the bucket.  Cow and calf are now bonded and life is good.

Jim teaching the calves how to get to the outside pen he has built for them.

The calves discovering grass in  their new outside pen.  They can come and go into the barn as they please.

 
We are quickly coming to an end of calving season, with only two cows left to calve.  Now it's time to think about fencing season!