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Jun 2, 2015 2:28 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Mary
The dry side of Oregon
Be yourself, you can be no one else
Charter ATP Member Farmer Region: Oregon Enjoys or suffers cold winters
With Kathleen's permission, I am starting this June thread.

We have a family of barn owls. I have counted 6 youngsters, and now they are starting to fly! It's picture time!

I caught this one in flight. It had been up on the truss with the other two.
Thumb of 2015-06-02/MaryE/57bf31

See the difference in size. I think the small one is younger. Barn owls begin to incubate their eggs as they keep laying more, so they hatch at different times.
Thumb of 2015-06-02/MaryE/7607cc

The same owl hopped down to the dowel as if thinking about going into the box, then changed it's mind and hopped/flew back up to the top of the box.
Thumb of 2015-06-02/MaryE/5e17ac

The pastures and fields around us have an ample supply of rodents to feed all of these owls, plus a healthy hawk population, coyotes and foxes.

What's happening at your farm?
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.m...
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Jun 2, 2015 3:46 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Love the Barn Owls.

No farm at my place but I just like to follow the farming forum.
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Jun 6, 2015 2:54 PM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
Great owl pictures! Barn owls - what a treasure!

What's happening at my farm...where to begin? Well first of all, even though the Brazos River forms the west boundary of our property, the recent Texas floods did not affect us. In fact the pastures are the most lush that I can ever remember them being. Unfortunately some of that is due to a bumper weed crop which took hold back in 2011's drought, so I have been shredding paddocks and pastures almost every day. When they are all done, it will be time to start over, but this looks like my big chance to really restore the grasses to their former health. I did an early herbicide treatment for broadleaf weeds in a couple of pastures in March so it could have been worse.

The cows are all incredibly fat!

Due to the soggy conditions, several of the racehorse pensioners have been having hoof problems so the farrier has been out more than usual. I have devoted several mornings to catching and holding horses. Since they all spent years on the track, they tend to have excellent ground manners so it is an easy chore.

My vegetable garden got a late start and then much of it drowned. Something ate all the beans, watermelons, and pumpkins; and the squash seems dwarfed (?). The tomatoes, however are doing okay.

This year's replacement pullets should be starting to lay pretty soon, but the old girls are still producing well enough to keep my loyal egg customers happy.

Last week we had an amazing thunder storm - louder and longer than any I've experienced. We lost power for a day and it fried our internet and a few minor appliances, but to my great surprise, no trees were hit! And the new internet service is better than the old satellite anyway.

Okay - time to get back on the tractor...
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Jun 6, 2015 5:03 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
That was a really nice update! Thumbs up
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Jun 9, 2015 2:29 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Mary
The dry side of Oregon
Be yourself, you can be no one else
Charter ATP Member Farmer Region: Oregon Enjoys or suffers cold winters
Wow! Lightning zapped your internet! It sounds like you have a real mixture of good and bad things going on. Tell us about the horses. How'd you get started keeping the old racehorses, and are they yours or boarders? Constant wet conditions are bad for horse's feet. Too much opportunity for bacteria to invade. Sorry about your weed invasion. I can relate to the constant battle with weeds. Just get the early ones under some kind of control and the later ones take over.
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.m...
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Jun 11, 2015 6:07 AM CST
Name: Deb

I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Dog Lover
Region: Illinois
I had a former race horse. Stanley was just wonderful, so easy to work with. He was 6 months off the track when I got him, just the sweetest horse. Even as toddlers, he was always mindful of my kids, they could do anything to him. And, he had a wicked sense of humor!
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Jun 11, 2015 9:00 AM CST
Name: Porkpal
Richmond, TX (Zone 9a)
Cat Lover Charter ATP Member Keeper of Poultry I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Dog Lover Keeps Horses
Roses Plant Identifier Farmer Raises cows Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Garden Ideas: Level 2
All my pensioners are Thoroughbred racehorses that have retired and are not sound enough for another career but are much loved by their owners or trainers and therefor sent into retirement situations rather than to auction. Some of my current boarders are real heroes. One gelding, now 21, didn't retire from the track until he was 14. He ran 158 times (average is fewer than 20 races) and won his last race! Another held the track record for 5 furlongs at two Texas tracks for several years. He retired due to a fractured sesamoid . He also had serious breathing issues, but they didn't slow him down. He has had surgery on his ankle to make him "pasture sound" and has a permanent tracheostomy for his breathing and is herd boss in his paddock. My personal mounts have always been off the track Thoroughbreds; they are wonderful horses.
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Jun 11, 2015 10:29 AM CST
Name: Deb

I helped beta test the Garden Planting Calendar Charter ATP Member I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Forum moderator I helped beta test the first seed swap Dog Lover
Region: Illinois
I often look at the webites of a couple of groups that rehome former racehorses, and think, maybe some day, I can get another. I had Stanley for over 20 years, and I was lucky enough to have a retirement barn owner that loved him, too. He is buried under an apple tree, next to an old quarter horse mare, Belle, that was a pasture mate. The is nothing like a Thoroughbred!
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Jun 11, 2015 10:54 AM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
Windigo said:I often look at the webites of a couple of groups that rehome former racehorses, and think, maybe some day, I can get another. I had Stanley for over 20 years, and I was lucky enough to have a retirement barn owner that loved him, too. He is buried under an apple tree, next to an old quarter horse mare, Belle, that was a pasture mate. The is nothing like a Thoroughbred!


Group hug Group hug Group hug Group hug
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Jun 11, 2015 2:03 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Mary
The dry side of Oregon
Be yourself, you can be no one else
Charter ATP Member Farmer Region: Oregon Enjoys or suffers cold winters
You have big hearts. Lovey dubby Retired horses need good homes. I have always kept my retired endurance horses because they worked so hard for me.

We sit on our porch in the evenings and have enjoyed watching the owls practice their flying skills. On windy nights it has been a real challenge for them to control direction and landings! Now it appears that most of them have left the hay shed and are roosting in the trees in the daytime. We only see two coming out of the shed at night.

Haying has begun in our area. The ranch behind us has over 100 tons in those 1,000 pound bales. It makes a big haystack! The weather is perfect for curing hay, hot days and wind. It's not so perfect for trying to keep my garden and flower beds watered. I try to do most of my outside work in the mornings before it gets hot, sometimes a bit more in the evenings after the sun goes down.

Our pasture is being grazed by a neighbor's cattle a herd of about 25 cow/calf pairs and about 20 yearlings. It always looks good to see animals making use of the grass.

My Hubby worked this morning putting wooden fence stays in a quarter mile of fence. He used a pneumatic stapler and a generator to run it, hauled in the old pickup. He has 50 ft of air hose, so he would park the truck 50 ft from the starting point, and work behind and ahead of the truck before having to move again. The pasture is hilly which adds work to the job. He sure was hot and sweaty when he came in for lunch and a shower.
Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most.
More ramblings at http://thegatheringplacehome.m...
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Jun 11, 2015 2:25 PM CST
Name: Rita
North Shore, Long Island, NY
Zone 6B
Charter ATP Member Seed Starter Tomato Heads I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Vegetable Grower Lover of wildlife (Raccoon badge)
Birds Garden Ideas: Master Level Butterflies Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Roses Photo Contest Winner: 2016
The pasture with the cows grazing sounds ideal.
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