Front Porch Chit Chat

[Pearl]

@ClemKadiddlehopper sort of funny, my neighbor had a dairy about 40 years. About dairy cattle he'd say "A Holstein is born looking for a place to die!". I learned I never wanted to buy a holstein.



I've never seen Calf Manna at the farm supply stores I shop. I checked their website, said TSC carried it. I checked both my local TSC stores. Neither carried it.

About protein... I can't get the little guy to eat cattle cubes (20%protein). The horse and donkey fight over them, good thing, I bought 300lbs.

The richest food I've gotten him to eat is 18% calf grower. Funny he'll take his nose and push the cattle cubes to one side and eat every scrap of the grower. The hay I got from my cousin just down the road, heavily fertilized Bahia grass.

Easy on the equines getting that much protein!

 

[Peanut]

@Pearl I only give the horses a scoop when temps drop below freezing, about once a week, sometimes twice. More of a treat than anything.

They followed me down in the bottoms this afternoon like puppies. And like puppies they kept fighting for attention with my german sheppard. They were a hoot, bucking and running, chasing the dog when he wasn't chasing them. (I had to scold them a couple of times)

 

[Double R]

Can you build him a little creep feeder? Wouldn’t take much to keep the horse/donkey out and let him have his feed as he wants until he gets going well.
I have not seen any articles about liver flukes. That’s cool.
We found out about them while doing regular fecals. Saw eggs and had a time trying to figure out what they were. Didn’t even know they were in our state. Ended up consulting a few vets. That was the beginning of the liver fluke saga for us. The vets think they came from the neighbor. We have a joining creek through our property and theirs.
We started checking organs on all animals we butchered here and saw the flukes themselves. Nasty things. These are from a really nice steer we butchered years ago. We found the deworming protocols unsuccessful (obviously) and worked with a different set of vets after that. We don’t tend to have issues now but they are persistent. The goats and sheep are very susceptible and show infestation quickly. Usually by getting bottlejaw.

These pics show the damage they do to the liver.

 

[Terri9630]

@ClemKadiddlehopper sort of funny, my neighbor had a dairy about 40 years. About dairy cattle he'd say "A Holstein is born looking for a place to die!". I learned I never wanted to buy a holstein.



I've never seen Calf Manna at the farm supply stores I shop. I checked their website, said TSC carried it. I checked both my local TSC stores. Neither carried it.

About protein... I can't get the little guy to eat cattle cubes (20%protein). The horse and donkey fight over them, good thing, I bought 300lbs.

The richest food I've gotten him to eat is 18% calf grower. Funny he'll take his nose and push the cattle cubes to one side and eat every scrap of the grower. The hay I got from my cousin just down the road, heavily fertilized Bahia grass.

If your walmart carries animal feed they may have calf manna. Ours does.

 

[Double R]

Evening anyone still awake

 

[Peanut]

Yep, I'm up watching The Sopranos dvds. Don't know how long that'll last.

 

[Bacpacker]

Yeah for a little while yet

 

[Double R]

Good evening handsome gentlemen! Having a good weekend?

 

[Bacpacker]

Well I know that's not aimed at me. But yeah so far so good. Just wore out tonight.
How about you?

 

[Double R]

Well I know that's not aimed at me. But yeah so far so good. Just wore out tonight.
How about you?

I meant what I said Mr!
I’m absolutely exhausted myself and a bit sore. Out of shape for cutting/moving wood.
Trying to stay awake till 1:30am. Gunna be a struggle. Lol

 

[Bacpacker]

HA Ha, if you only knew.

Yeah I am so bad out of shape. Seems like since my pre"Covid" illness, I can't get straightened out. No energy at all. Just wear down quickly. Not sure if things are going down hill since then, Just out of shape, or just gettin old???? Cutting wood all day will wear you out
Take care

 

[Double R]

Hopefully your back at it soon. Start slow

 

[Peanut]

Ticks are here! Yesterday I walked down to the bottoms, 800yds, eastern woodland following a cow path. I didn't think for a moment ticks would be out yet. It was below 32 a week ago. So fair warning to my friends who spend time in nature, ticks are here.

Last evening I felt a tick on me, thought I'd knocked it off. Woke up at 5am, for some reason, my neck was itchy. Then I felt the tick. I thought I knew the worst place a tick could bite but...

It was just above my collar bone, in that dip to my neck (not center). It took several minutes, had to get up, turn on the lights... yada, yada. A pain to get off. By then I was wide awake!

 

[Double R]

Oh I hate ticks!!
Sure wish I could find legit natural detergent for them. They love to get me.
I got the creeps now thinking about them

 

[Bacpacker]

Ticks are here! Yesterday I walked down to the bottoms, 800yds, eastern woodland following a cow path. I didn't think for a moment ticks would be out yet. It was below 32 a week ago. So fair warning to my friends who spend time in nature, ticks are here.

Last evening I felt a tick on me, thought I'd knocked it off. Woke up at 5am, for some reason, my neck was itchy. Then I felt the tick. I thought I knew the worst place a tick could bite but...

It was just above my collar bone, in that dip to my neck (not center). It took several minutes, had to get up, turn on the lights... yada, yada. A pain to get off. By then I was wide awake!

Wife took a day hike with a friend of hers Monday. Found a tick on her that night. It is early for them. Bad news for the spring and summer I'm afraid. We had a cold January, but no really cold temps.Only teens and twenties, so bugs will be bad this year.

 

[Bacpacker]

Hopefully your back at it soon. Start slow

Shoot no time to take off. Just try and push thru it. 2 years of this crap now. Keep on trying or give up. And I aint hit that point yet. LOL

 

[Peanut]

Usnea tincture has shown to be great if taken right away in lessening the effects of RMSF and Lyme. I have some. I took it before going back to bed but forgot today until dinner.

I put a book in the library "Healing Lyme". Excellent book by S. Buhner

Usnea is a herb I make sure I always have on hand. Easy to make tincture from it.

 

[Double R]

Shoot no time to take off. Just try and push thru it. 2 years of this crap now. Keep on trying or give up. And I aint hit that point yet. LOL

I hear ya for sure.

 

[Double R]

Oh boy do I have the creepy crawlies now

 

[Bacpacker]

Usnea tincture has shown to be great if taken right away in lessening the effects of RMSF and Lyme. I have some. I took it before going back to bed but forgot today until dinner.

I put a book in the library "Healing Lyme". Excellent book by S. Buhner

Usnea is a herb I make sure I always have on hand. Easy to make tincture from it.

Well now I need to find some Usnea now.

 

[Peanut]

I need to make some now. It's a small lichen that grows on tree limbs. A royal pain to collect a bowl full.

There is one easy way to collect it, from a recently fallen tree that is full of it.

I have friends who log. I just have to spend a couple days at a loading ground. Eventually they'll cut a tree full of it, usually a water oak but usnea grows other places. I've seen it growing on old wooden fence posts.

 

[Bacpacker]

I think I have some of that around here. Have you saw it on Maple trees before? I read it grows on oaks.

 

[Bacpacker]

Folks I am gonna hit the sack. Lots to do... later today LOL.
Goodnight all

 

[Double R]

Sweet dreams @Bacpacker!

 

[Bacpacker]

Sweet dreams @Bacpacker!

You too Double R

 

[Peanut]

I like to drive gravel roads (slowly) after rain storms in spring and summer, hunting medicinals. They seem to stand out at such times.

I once found a small oak that'd fallen by a neighbors gate. It was loaded! I think I made 2 quarts of tincture.

 

[Terri9630]

I need to make some now. It's a small lichen that grows on tree limbs. A royal pain to collect a bowl full.

There is one easy way to collect it, from a recently fallen tree that is full of it.

I have friends who log. I just have to spend a couple days at a loading ground. Eventually they'll cut a tree full of it, usually a water oak but usnea grows other places. I've seen it growing on old wooden fence posts.

View attachment 81743

That looks like the stuff on our trees (and rocks). Does it dry up and look kinda dead when its been dry? Ours pops back to life after it rains.

 

[Pearl]

Missed ya'll last night, went to bed early!! So, GOOD SUNDAY MORNING!!

 

[SheepDog]

Good morning! It's rare to find a pearl of great value this early...

 

[Peanut]

That looks like the stuff on our trees (and rocks). Does it dry up and look kinda dead when its been dry? Ours pops back to life after it rains.

The species you have "Usnea arizonica", covers most of the southwest. There 300 species world wide, they vary in appearance but are used the same.

Here is a thread on usnea that grows in the southeast.

https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/usnea.1278/

I've never seen your species so don't know how to describe it. I'd recommend you research your species for the particulars. How it looks? How and where it grows?

I will say this, "Deer Moss" is very common and it's commonly mistaken for Usnea. Below is deer moss, not usnea. Easy test, crush a handful. If it smells like creosote its deer moss. (It makes great tinder for a fire)

Deer Moss