[OldKat]

@bivol 10267 wrote:

sounds nice!

i wonder if there are some plans to install such cooling system when building a house? i’d use them!:D

i wonder only what material should be used? i like natural materials, maybe clay earth.
the big problem should be underground water levels. if they flood the cooling system, it is not only unable to cool, but it should take permanent damage.

ooor?! what if i could take, say, metal pipes, used for water, lots of ’em, dig them, say 4 feet under ground, where it’s cool, and connect to the house. and run air through them! and voila, you have a cooling system!:D

…. i just hope i didn’t steal someone’s idea, i figured this system while writing this… if i did, i apologize!

Not exactly the same thing, but there are commercially available systems that circulate pumped ground water from a well, through a heat exchanger in a building & then reinject it at another well some distance from the first. I guess this would be considered to be a heat pump of sorts.

I have heard that they are cheaper to operate than a conventional air conditioner/furnace, but obviously there is an energy cost associated with drilling two wells and the energy used to operate the pump. Of course if you had solar or wind generated electricity available …

[OldKat]

@Vicki 10152 wrote:

Sorry, Old Kat and Howie, but hair loss beginning between legs does not sound like lice. Hair loss from lice will almost always show up first on tailhead or withers and neck, where hair is thick. Hair loss where hair is thin, such as inner legs, is typical of mites. I’ve had lice on my cattle and pour-on always works, but I don’t know if it will work for mites. I’ve never dealt with mites. And there are two kinds of mites.

I like Cydectin pour-on.

I think if you look back at my first post I said “lice or mange“, which you are obviously aware that sarcoptic and other forms of mange is caused by mites. Damage from sucking lice is generally in the areas of dense hair growth, i.e. up top as Vicki noted. Biting lice can be found anywhere they can get to the skin, which means the whole body is fair game. Same is true for mites.

Usually (in our area) lice is more of a late winter, very early spring thing and the damage we most often see is up around the tailhead and neck / brisket area. Surprised to hear that the animal is still having the hair loss problem this late in the year. Usually warmer weather, thinner haircoats help control the situation. Not sure if the mild summer you guys are experiencing would extend lice / mite season later in the year or not. Not a problem that I have ever encountered! 😀

Generally I don’t think most people make a major distinction between the two (lice and mites) as the treatment is pretty much the same. However, if the hair is fairly well gone on the inside of the legs and is moving or has moved up on the round muscle & the skin has an inflammed (red and scabby looking), and rough look to it (like elephant skin) … it probably is mites. I have only had that on one or two of my cows in the past and I think I ended up using a spray on concentrate that was labeled for sarcoptic mange mites. Seems to me I had to do it a couple of times, maybe two or three weeks apart to get control.

BTW: Although I didn’t know it at the time, I have since heard that (in my state at least) sarcoptic mange is reportable to the state vet. I think that may be a federally reportable condition. If you suspect mange at all you might want to get a diagnosis from a vet and closely follow his / her recommendations for treatment.

Good luck on riding the animal of whatever is causing this malady.

[OldKat]

@livestockconcepts 10141 wrote:

Theres usually several reasons for the watery eyes.
1. Injury of course–is the animal in high grass of brush?
2. Pink-eye, vary prevelent during hot, humid weather, Vaccination is best prior to the problem, Piliguard Pinkeye Tri-view is one of the best on the market, then a patch over the eye. Shut-eye patches glued on work well, to keep the bright light out. Glue them on, and leave until they wear off, Also give an anti-biotic such as LA-200, or Penicillin.
3. Red Nose–I know it sounds funny, but Bovine Rhinotracheitis (red nOse) causes runny eyes in all ages of cattle. A quick vaccination with a Red Nose vaccine(such as Bovi-Shield 5)and use an Internasal Vaccine also (TSV-2) will usually quickly clear it up.
Hope that helps. I do have more info in our newsletter section on our website http://www.livestockconcepts.com on pinkeye.

Is Red Nose the same thing as BVR (Bovine Viral Rhinotracheitis)?

[OldKat]

@bivol 10115 wrote:

Hi!

I’ve red this about muscovy ducks, and i thought it would be interesting

http://www.fleecefields.com/MuscovyDuck.jpg

muscovy ducks are not a domesticated form of wild european duck. they’re tree-dwelling birds from south america, who don’t need a pond so much as common ducks.

why are they good, or better to keep than common ducks?

1) they’re quiet. they don’t make a noise except hissing when they feel threatened.

2)they eat flies. and lots of them. surely anyone who has horses or oxen knows there are lots of flies around. once they cut open a muscovy duck and found it’s belly full of flies.

http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/issues/1/1-3/Harvey_Ussery-4.jpg

3)they eat spilt grain and concentrate, leaving less for vermin. and not sure bout it, but they could also be eating mice.

4) they are large and have good meat, although dark in colour. the taste is said to be similar to veal, or beef, strong hasting. surely better than a common duck.

http://countryepicure.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/goth-7.jpg
anyway, a picture says a thousand words.

5) they’re tough. a muscovy duck can stand being outside in moderate winter conditions, and on snow.they are rarely ill.

That is interesting. I know that a lot of people keep muscovy ducks around their barn yards in our area, but I didn’t know why.

Thanks for the info. I will look into getting a few for my barn area. Anything that eats flies would be welcome.

[OldKat]

@bivol 10114 wrote:

yep!:D

the advantage would be that you don’t have to take time to pre-heat the water, and it also takes away the unwieldiness and dangers of working with lots of hot water.

just an idea, i’d like to know what you think: after you shoot the pig, it falls down and when the nervous reaction takes place, wouldn’t it be practical to press (a person leaning on) the pig’s front end, from the middle of the belly to the neck, covering front feet, with a piece of light wood or plywood, say 100X120 cm, so it can’t kick the person cutting the vein and collecting the blood.

I guess that would work. We always used a rope with a slip knot on each rear shank above the hock and dropped it a single tree & hoisted it off the ground with a come-a-long. Plenty of kicking and trashing, but if you use a pole with a hook on it you can get the rope on their legs without getting bashed in the process. They bleed real well when hung head down.

[OldKat]

@livestockconcepts 10142 wrote:

I agree, it sounds like lice, but could also be a start of ringworm. Using Ivermectin pour-on will work, but you could also try Cydectin Pour-On, which DOES NOT affect dung beetles. Dectomax Pour-On is another choice. You can always go with the old stand-by of Lice powder/dust. It’s just so messy and smells terrible. But it does work. Remember when dealing with lice, you must treat the entire herd, at the same time, or they will re-infect each other, Also, be sure to re-treat in 10-14 days if using the powder, as the eggs will re-hatch and start the whole program over again.
Hope that helps.

Thanks for the heads up on this. I have been trying to stay away from Ivermectin, simply because I know it is devastating on dung beetles. Sadly there are not a bunch of alternatives out there and most do not say whether they affect the beetles or not.

Do you know by any chance what the active ingredient is in Cylence brand spray? I had great luck controlling horn flies with it for two summers, but then last summer NO success at all. The flies would literally walk around on the cows back, soaking wet with Cylence and it wouldn’t affect them at all. This year I am using the old standby Lintox, but I really don’t like using stuff that harsh. It is giving me 10 days or so of control, so I am kind of stuck with it.

[OldKat]

When I was a kid, maybe early high school age, a friend had a Hereford show heifer whose left horn was curving up at the tip. I have no idea how they determined how many ounces the weight should be, but the thing they used was a doughnut looking deal, maybe split in two, with a flange on both sides. There was a screw or an Allen screw on both sides. They loosened the screws, slid it on her horn as far they could and then tightened down on it. I think there were small cleats on the inside to bite down on the horn.

She probably wore it for 6 or 8 months before the tip of that horn came down to the same level as the tip on the other. Of course, she was less than 2 years old. I suspect it would take a bigger weight, and more time on a fully mature animal. I guess it would also have to do with how far you are trying to bring the horn down.

I have Red Angus cattle, so these discussions are purely theoretical for me!;)

[OldKat]

@Jean 10090 wrote:

I would love to visit Howell Farm, but I did not see on the website where it is located. Must be there somewhere.

Jean

It is in Pleasant Valley, near Lambertville, NJ which is not too far from Trenton. I was there for a few hours in May. It is FANTASTIC!

I am planning to take my wife with me next time I have business in that area so we can both go to the farm. Rob Flory and his folks do a wonderful job portarying the late 1800’s, early 1900’s time period.

Hope more of you get a chance to visit them. Make sure you introduce yourself to Rob & tell him you are an alumnus of DAP. 😀

[OldKat]

@fabian 10086 wrote:

take a plane to Luxembourg. than go to Trier with a train, than with the train to Wittlich. there I will pick you up as our guest for 3 days (as I did with Charly Bonifaz), we will hitch my team, we will make a barbeque and on Saturday or Sunday (prefer Saturday) we drive to Kommern (distance from my home about 90 km)

That is a fantastic offer, bivol. I hope you get to go next year and I hope you get to connect with fabian. Sounds like a whole bunch of fun!

Is this a GREAT forum or what?

[OldKat]

@bivol 10042 wrote:

well, they (scientists) said fall 2012. why not sooner? i think it has to do with natural cycles of solar activity, in 11 year intervals. i don’t know much about it, but they know that the Sun has its plasma currents, like the ocean currents on our planet, and by calculating where these may erupt, they said the year…
…. and, the solar wind harms no living creature, i think it doesn’t cause (big?) burns, being heated particles, but harms electrical devices by overloading them….

hm, now that i think, they mentioned power plugs and power transformers because they are always on…. wonder if it harms turned off cables and such:confused:
also, i don’t think it could cause damage to an engine or cable a few feet under the surface.
and about all these theories about the end of world and such, i’ve never payed much attention to them, they even annoyed me, but if it comes from a science magazine, and is written cautiously, i think it’s worth paying a little attention. not panic, but maintaining a healthy caution. anyway, today it’s still to early to see how the governments will react, but i’d keep my eye on the events just in case…

but hey, it doesn’t overload oxen and horses, this is probably the forum with people who will, even in the worst scenario, fare the best, in the situation:D

Actually, bivol, I was sort of making a point by asking why not sooner. The point being that it is a cyclical deal. Maybe this one will be worse than all the others; maybe it will end life as we know it. Since it happens, as you have pointed out, every 11 years or so it is hard to imagine that this one is going to tip the scales too far and the whole world is going to go belly up.

I’ve read a little about this issue, too. Some publications put this in the grave danger category, others say it is a totally overblown issue. Truth is probably somewhere in between. I’m with you, the “end of the world” scenarios don’t merit my attention as; 1) I generally can’t do anything about them and 2) well, see # 1 above. I do think that widespread coverage about such possibilities is okay, but I wonder how much productivity is lost by people worried about things that probably won’t happen and can’t be changed if they do.

Oh and I was just kind of messing with you, my friend!:p

Have a good one …

[OldKat]

@bivol 10038 wrote:

Welcome!:)

always good to have people with experiences from different parts of the world concerning working animals! please do describe what and how local people work their animals.
and especially concerning the nose-rope system of control of oxen, i want to learn about it.

ironically, the peak oil should not happen because of shortage of oil, but because of the solar wind. no hear-say, New Scientist wrote about it. in short, every electrical device burns out. electric pumps pumping the oil too. internal-combustion engines too. it’s supposed to happen in 2012.
anyway, glad to have you!!! X)

Not saying the solar wind thing can’t or won’t happen, but it does sort of remind me of the hysteria surrounding “The end of the world as we now know it, or Y2K”. I don’t think I am going to build a solar wind shelter, but will get back to you closeer to 2012!

BTW, bivol; did they happen to mention in what part of 2012 this would happen and why 2012 and not sooner or later? :confused: Just curious.

[OldKat]

@bivol 10039 wrote:

interesting post!

always looking for advice for the fine day when i’ll turn a hog to meat!

anyway, the pig’s bacon, but for next time, an alternative to boiling water is to use a flame torch, they use it extensively in the balkans and eastern europe. after scorching the entire carcass more-less black, just scrape everything, hairs and upper skin with a scraper.

The old adage says “There is more than one way to skin a cat”; I guess another way to say it is “There is more than one way to scrape a hog!”

[OldKat]

@near horse 10001 wrote:

Sorry to hear Old Kat – the only thing worse than too much rain is no rain. A severe drought can set you back a long way. Do you think guys will start bringing in hay from other areas of the country? I hear that hay prices are off quite a bit – much due to dairies switching from alfalfa hay to silage of any type as much as possible in response to last years outrageous hay prices. Maybe the lower priced hay could help. I think that was from Hay and Forage newsletter. What do you hear?

Also, for all you hayers, there is a website called haytalk – mostly standard commercial hay stuff but lots of interesting stuff just the same.

Take care Old Kat – I see all of TX is still wicked hot. Drink a cold one (or more) for me and we’ll hope you get some relief.

So far I have not seen much hay on the road. Last year we had near normal (whatever that is) rainfall until about July and I saw truckload after truckload of hay heading west out of our area as the areas immediately to the west of us, say 50 to 150 miles west were already in severe drought. Now it has spread into our area, too, so I doubt there will be much hay leaving for other parts. On the other hand I haven’t seen or heard of much coming in either.

I did see an 18 wheeler float with 32 rolls on it, pulled up in front of a feed store in a neighboring town early this morning. Looked to be 1,100 to 1,200 pound rolls of some sort of fine a stemmed grass (probably a hybrid Bermuda). Kind of hard to tell where it was coming from, but probably at least north Texas as everything to the east of us to probably Pascagoula, MS is almost as dry as we are. Believe me; I’ve already looked over that way. People just laugh when you call asking if they have any hay available.

Unfortunately this was the year when I finally had a large % of heifers, which I wanted to keep as replacements, but I am not sure what I can feed them if I do keep some or all of them. Tomorrow I am going to check with a neighbor who has a place about 100 miles north of us to see if I can move 15 or 20 cows up there as soon as I wean calves.

If anybody has any ideas on moving Mid-western hay down our way I am all ears.

[OldKat]

Sometimes your only option is not one that you are particularly wild about. The thread is about Haying Techniques with Draft Animals, but since no one does that around where I live (yet?, still? again?) and the discussion has morphed a little to weather related issues let me tell you guys about something that the hay boys are doing here in response to the extreme temperatures / drought.

Not that very much hay is being cut & no more will be made this year unless we get some serious rain soon, but only a few days into the first cut the balers figured out that the hay was drying so fast that they had to either cut it late one afternoon and bale as soon as the dew burned off the next day OR cut earlier in the day (after dew burn off) and bale that same afternoon. I have never, ever known that to be the case in our area. We are usually clip one afternoon, rake the next day, rake again the next day and bale. Sometimes in really hot weather the second raking is skipped.

Cutting and baling within 24 hours is unheard of, but if they didn’t do it this year what little hay we had would have burned up. Most people are reporting 1/3 their normal first cut. Usually everyone gets a second cut, most people get a third and some even get a fourth and, if irrigated, a fifth cut. Not this year. There is so little soil moisture that the irrigated hay guys are not even bothering. They can’t get enough water on the grass to make a difference.

This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass. That is all we have left to believe. Worst conditions, by far of my entire life. It is worse than the 7 year drought that we endured when I was a child. Worse than 1980 and that year set all the records. I think, well honestly, I don’t know what to think … 🙁

[OldKat]

As a teenager I raised some bronze turkeys. I forget the exact breed, maybe they were just called “bronze”. Anyway, they were a little smaller than the commercial white strains. That was good thing, because by that time it was just my mom, dad and me at home. The smaller birds were good for a couple of meals for the three of us.

When I was a little older and teaching high school agriculture I had a kid order 25 white poults for the county fair. After he had paid for them his family up and moved to another state. I couldn’t find anyone else to take the poults so my wife and I raised them.

At first we were slaughtering one or two at a time as they started growing. That made for some smaller birds, which was fine. By the time we lost one or two and slaughtered some more we had about 14, maybe 15 that reached full maturity. I tried to slaughter all of them by myself and all at the same time. That was the longest day of my life. We were at an FFA function at the high school that I had attended and it had a full processing room, so I had taken the birds over there to process. Luckily, there were about 3 or 4 farm girls with us that day and after they finished their activites they stopped by, rolled up their sleeves and went to work helping me. Wonder why those particular kids were among my most favorite students?

Anyway, we ended up with way more turkey than we could ever use. We gave one to just about every neighbor or friend that would take one and still had at least 6 or so in the freezer. You know there is only so many ways you can prepare turkey. I think it took 3 or 4 years for either of us to want to eat turkey after that.

So my thinking is yes, go with the smaller heritage type breeds. I do have a friend that is still an ag teacher and last fall I noticed that he was raising some Bourbons. I never asked how they did on the table and never got my hands on them to see how finished they were, but they sure were pretty birds.

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