Building A Cattle Squeeze Chute

My friend Rick, the same guy who remodeled the farm house after I purchased it, drove up to spend a week with me and build a squeeze chute for the cattle. We placed it in an aisle on the east side of the barn:

We found a gigantic 2x12 board up in the hay loft, hauled it downstairs and bolted it to the concrete floor:

Then we attached 2x4s to it and also to the ceiling:

The cows were afraid of this new person in their barn and refused to come inside, even for grain. While I missed my training/bonding time with them, I began to truly appreciate this turn of events when I discovered that they weren't even coming in at night and I had no manure to clean up in the morning:

There was sawdust everywhere, not to mention tools, extension cords, bolts, nails and lumber:

The squeeze chute itself was sided with 3/4" plywood and had a heavy duty headlock gate at the far end (you can see it on the bottom left). In this photo, we'd placed only one of the plywood sheets and Rick was attaching boards over the windows to prevent a catastrophe should a cow get panicky:

Leading up to the actual squeeze chute, the aisle-way was lined with 2x6s which were heavily braced, reinforced and bolted with large bolts. The sidewalls went to a height of 60", in accordance with the Cooperative Extension specifications:

Two Extension specialists had kindly made a visit to see my Red Polls and give me guidance on the construction of the squeeze chute. The width between the plywood sheets was 28" since my cattle were smaller than some other breeds:

We hung a 10' steel gate inside the cattle's lounging area and I plan to use it to slowly herd them into the aisle which leads to the squeeze chute. All this will take slow training, getting the easily frightened cattle used to the routine:

When it was all done, we cleaned everything up, taking particular care to sweep up any hardware which the cattle might accidentally eat or lie on:

This is the headlock gate. After they are released from it, the cows can travel forward and then swing around into their familiar lounging area:

I removed the tie stalls next to the squeeze chute and placed a raised sheet of plywood to assist the vet who might need to reach in to vaccinate the cows. I'm still not sure how to do all this and every bit of it is a learning experience for me. The next step will be training the cows to use it and then getting the two open (not pregnant) cows artificially inseminated:

Around The Farm, Moving Into Winter

This is a random assortment of photos from around the farm at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. It seems a little out of place now as it shows green leaves on trees, grass and no snow, but really, it wasn't all that long ago! I'll begin with this photo of the aftermath of a mighty windy day. Three Aspens were snapped off and fell across my electric fence. I spent hours cutting them up and getting them off the fence and out of the hay field:

The chickens continued to have their daily freedom except during big wind storms. And now, on days when there's lots of snow, I often keep them locked up. But they do love to hang out inside the barn with the cows. They even eat out of the cows food bowls, head to head with the giant beasts:

My Red Cedar sign arrived from Idaho and I put it up with chains as insurance against the winds. Alas, those three chains were not sufficient and I added two more, one at each side. The first big windstorm ripped the bottom chain right out of the sign, which was only saved because of the four remaining chains. Hey, I didn't call it "Windswept Farm" for nothing:

"Hello, little feathered buddies. Have you come to spend time with us in the barn again?:"

The Canada Geese were numerous, both overhead and in every pond and corn field:

And the sunsets were wonderful. This was the view from my driveway:

The chickens made the most of every sunny day, taking dust baths and rolling around lazily in the sun:

And this is Cow Number One, the big boss lady who gobbles down her own grain and then goes in search of the other cows' grain. She'll knock them right out of the bowl if they try to resist. Notice the drool dripping from her mouth. She truly loves her grain:

I had a lot of old hay in the hayloft. It was most certainly not good for feed, but I thought I could use it for bedding. So I cut a hole in the hay loft floor to use as a delivery system:

The old barn had a frightening array of old wires, useless fixtures and (get this!) live, uncapped wires sticking out all over the place. So I had a local electrician come in and rewire the whole place, adding outlets and GFI outlets to make the barn both efficient and safe:

I'd hoped all five cows would be pregnant, but one morning came out to see this. Cow number three (ear tag number) was in heat. That meant she was not pregnant and would have to be artificially inseminated. But first I have to get her totally tamed and willing to allow the technician to handle her. On the plus side, she was the smallest cow and most in need of nutrition. So a little extra time without a calf inside her, especially as we headed into winter, was a good thing:

Of course the cold and snow did arrive, and there's much more now than when I snapped this photo. The cows learned quickly how to get out of the wind and that the barn was a comfy place to spend the night. That meant I had to clean the manure out every morning, however:

Working Around The Farm, Getting Ready For Winter

Autumn has been a busy time for me as I worked to get this old place ready for both winter and the arrival of the cattle. The chickens, however, have had plenty of opportunities to lounge around together in the sun:

The house and barn were weatherized to the best of my ability, the furnace was refurbished and we were awaiting the first blasts of winter:

But in the meantime, there have been warm autumn days where a lot of work could be done. This photo shows the new stock tank behind the opened gate, all filled with water. Also, that pile of gravel was for mixing concrete to pour inside the barn:

I had Portland Cement on hand for mixing concrete and a bag of sweet feed with which I hope to entice the cows to friendship when they arrive:

Two small stock tanks for indoors and a mineralized salt block to provide the cattle with minerals lacking in our soils, notably selenium:

My winter supply of hay was ready for use:

And the chickens were quick to discover the wonders of hay seeds as they pecked around the bales:

This patch of asparagus was lovely when it was green, but even more so when it turned golden in autumn:

The chickens made themselves at home in their coop. I installed a heater for beneath their water dispenser. Winter would be coming soon:

After I'd mixed and poured the concrete, I spread what was left on the side of the barn where there were deep holes, weeds and garbage. I had to order extra truckloads of gravel in order to finish:

But I wasn't done yet. I ordered more truckloads of gravel for along the road and soil for the holes in the north hay field:


To my surprise, I discovered that my own property was growing Orange Peel Fungus. I was very careful not to cover it with gravel. Things were almost ready for the cattle's arrival and it's a good thing they were, because the cattle would arrive in just a few short days:

Early Autumn On The Farm

This is a rather random collection of photos from early autumn and I've resisted the impulse to try to put them in some kind of order. They are just random. This first one is of the chickens grazing the lawn beneath the apple trees, with the winter's hay supply in the background:

The  chickens took over the entire yard, going everywhere and getting into everything (and pooping up a storm wherever they went). They quickly discovered that the wild birds dropped a lot of seed on the ground:

And they liked my porch so much that I had to bring in the welcome mat and keep a gate at the top of the stairs:

The neighbors gave me some leftover squash, so I chopped them up and gave them to the chickens. The were down to rinds within the hour:

The house sat peacefully, just where it had been for nearly 200 years:

The tractor got its first (and hopefully last) flat tire. The dealer came out and removed it, repaired it and put it back on:

The barn was cleaned to a fare thee well, at least compared to how it was when I got it. This was the west side:

And the east side. It was almost time for the cattle to arrive and I had lots of work to do before they got here:

My little flock of bantams was out every day, eating well:

Alas, they also gobbled up all my tomatoes. It's hard to know how many red tomatoes they ate, but I'd guess it must have been at least fifty. These were tomato-fattened birds:

And lastly, a quiet shot of the apple trees, barn and winter hay supply. Winter would be here soon and I still had a lot to accomplish:

The Farm In June

We arrived at the farm on a warm, sunny June Sunday afternoon. I unloaded the groceries, turned on the water and let the dogs out into their fenced yard. I hung my birthday gifts, two "screen climbers" by an Ohio artist, on the window screen looking out to the barn:

The next morning, the glow of the rising sun cast a pinkish hue over the snoozing pooches on my bed:

Winky was watching from a comfortable floor pillow:

Seamus, who because of his size should need a soft bed the most, refuses to use them. He likes the floor:

I walked outside and snapped a photo of the fragrant Mock Orange in bloom. You can see the red glow from the rising sun on the trees in the background:

The old peony near the road which had been mowed over continuously for several years was staging a rather glorious comeback. Furthermore, I had several other peonies growing where the maples used to be. And several old fashioned roses, all coming back from the dead and growing rapidly:

The house and barn glowed in the light of the rising sun:

The barn hadn't been worked on in a long time in spite of the contractor's many promises. But it still looked good:

Later in the day I walked across the road for a photo of the house and barn:

And a photo from the roadside peony plant:

This is the south end and east side of the barn. The east side is where the decrepit old sheds once stood. It sure looks better without them!:

And the west side of the barn, where the tenant has planted a garden and is collecting rain water from the milk room roof with which to water it: