4 degrees and a blizzard condition

M

munk

Joined
Mar 22, 2002
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And in Great Falls the high temp is zero, in Havre it's minus two. Wind gust are hitting 50mph. Wind chill is expected to reach at least 50 below zero.

Here, in my balmy banana belt, nestled in the small Mt range, it is 4 degrees.

Going outside on a day like today, in the words of the Weather service, is taking your life into your hands. Visibility is expected to hit zero in certain areas. I'll check for road closures later today.

Now, I'm not saying four feet of snow is great, but it beats this.
Last year a small plane went down in similar conditions. We all figured it was over, even if they survived the crash, unless a Rancher found them, they were toast...er...ice cycles. They did finally find the crash site- luckily, all killed on impact.

These Rocky Mt states share something in common with the desert- unless you are prepared, if you are driving across distance, you can easily die.
I'd rather risk the desert than this anytime.


munk
 
no snow this year. It's weird. Just the usual dreary days but no snow of any kind. By now we should have received at least a dusting. As I told a friend, "not even a McFlurry."
 
:rolleyes:


definitely good luck munk... my manager at work has had to go back and forth to santa barbara 3 times trying to get to her car around road blocks (without having to go to las vagas to get there), and one of out workers is stuck in LA pretty much unable to get up here to work. but all that is inconveniences compared to, well, deadly conditions like what you describe

good old santa maria, only ever gets above 85 maybe 2, 3 times a year. same with below 45. most of the time its between 50-75. winter summer spring and fall. we get to a point where we forget what a 110+ degree day can feel like (like it gets in stockton where i come from), and we simply never get below 25.
 
You live in a priviledged area, Seth. What do you use the large khuks on you admire so much?

The chapparell (sic) is thick there, at least inland.

I don't think even the best khuk is going to chop Manzinetta (sic) easily.

You may have some Eucalyptus left over from the import experiementation many decades ago. Now, that is tough stuff.


munk
 
I'm ready for it. But not gettin' it. It's like 60! here today. It's been raining and overcast for days on end and I got mud up to my eyeballs at home. I had to carry 30 bales of hay uphill, one at a time on my shoulder up to the barn, then throw them in the hayloft, then climb up in the loft and stack them because it was too muddy to drive up to the barn in my pickup. I LONG for frozen ground!!
 
I long for the snow to clear and get on my Mt bike again. I missed last season cause my back was bad.

It's snowing now, that fine particulate snow, like dust. By this evening the roads are going to be hell.

What animals do you feed with hay, Hollow?


munk
 
Isn't the coldest town in America in Minn? Seems like it. We have Cut Bank Montana as runner up.


It's been in the single digits and teens for a couple weeks here, going below zero at night. It's actually been good weather, the sun was out a lot and the air was still.


munk
 
munk said:
I long for the snow to clear and get on my Mt bike again. I missed last season cause my back was bad.

It's snowing now, that fine particulate snow, like dust. By this evening the roads are going to be hell.

What animals do you feed with hay, Hollow?


munk
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Well, Angel, Easter, Esoterica, Emily, Diana, Avesta, Pixie, Meadow Green, Ananda and Flopper the female dairy goats, Archon and Filibuster the bucks, and Jasper my jackass.

Actually Meadow Green's mother was out of Foothills Farm Meadow Force, a buck that came from Justine Gilchrist's herd in Bozeman.
 
Goats a lot of trouble? I've considered them. But having a male goat around...and having to figure out how much exposure to one a female needs in order to keep milk production going. A lady down the road couldn't give them away.


Awful cute youngsters, though.



munk
 
munk said:
Goats a lot of trouble? I've considered them. But having a male goat around...and having to figure out how much exposure to one a female needs in order to keep milk production going. A lady down the road couldn't give them away.


Awful cute youngsters, though.



munk
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Just goats aren't much trouble at all. Raising dairy goats is fairly labor intensive. Twice a day milking and feeding 12 hours apart. I dried mine off last may and for the first time in 16 years just went up and fed them once a day. Did a lot of backpacking and hiking. This year I have 8 bred.

Does the lady down the road raise dairy goats? What's her name? One of the most influential saanen herds was a retired former LA(I think) policewoman Pat Scroggs who lived in Kalispell as I remember. I think she still has goats but she's older and not really in the main scene anymore. Then there is Justine who was treasurer of the National Saanen Breeders Association, and I met a lady at the ADGA convention in Ohio a few years ago that runs a dairy out there Barb Trego who lives in East Helena.

Actually as far as bucks. One 15 second breeding is all it takes. For quite a few years back in my early goatkeeping years I would just haul my does to a buck and breed them.

Goats come into heat every 21 days from abt Sept to Feb so it's pretty easy.

The hardest part is the regimented thing with milking every 12 hours. Every now and then you have to reach in and untangle kids and stuff like that but overall not too bad. After they are fresh you can wean the kids at about 8 weeks and use all the milk. I have bred for milk production and long lactations so I can actually milk for 2 years or more without re breeding and still get a good amount of milk. That was why I used Force. Ms Gilchrist was the queen of heavy production. I think she had a rolling herd average of around 3500 lbs back when she was on official test.
 
munk said:
What do you use the large khuks on you admire so much?
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my love of bueatiful things :D

i could have a monet or a mucha or any other peice of fine art, and after a while it would become backround. the bueaty and intrigue of it would wear down as everything became grey and familiar.

when i pick up my 30" ang khola, my muslce mass is always slightly different, and yet its always a part of me. i never tire of it...

really, i only need 1 khukuri, the 20" sirupati. it has the correct speed, balance, weight, and fatigue rate for what i need it for, wich is basically delimbing the branches that get taken off our plum tree, and the various other tree's we have in ar back yard. its not much work, and its spread fairly far apart, but its a major hasle to do with an ax, a machete, or my battle mistress. none of them can do what the 20" siru does.

as to the 30" ang, i keep it for the "utilitarian" purpose of a log splitter if i ever move to an area that needs it... other then that, all i have is the 30" ang, 18" ang, and 20" siru. i couldnt bring myself to keep the ones that i didnt intend on using eventually.

i have a great love of extremes in material things. i have what i consider to be the best of the best in all the basic gear, lighter, knives, jacket, boots, pants, shirts, etc, and i love each and every one of them for what they are. same for the 30" ang. no one makes anythign like it anywhere else in the world that ive seen, and for that reason alone its bueatiful, when combined with the workmanship and quality, its essential (for me).
 
Raising goats...

er.

Two friends of mine had milking goat herds (flocks? gaggles?). One named the farm "Now What ? Dairy." The goats were LaMancha, I think...(earless)...and into everydammedthing when they weren't being milked. Often, electric fencing was only a temporary measure.

Goats are curious, intelligent, and will decide to become pets if you are not careful. The owner is not given a vote in this decision.

The other person started milking goats and had a mixed breed group, for the convenience and lighter lifting loads (as opposed to cows), but went back to milking cows when the kids at school starting teasing her teen-aged son. (Gotta love Farm Country.)

Both had problems finding a processing plant for their milk. As I remember, there were only two companies that could feasibly pick up their milk, and these had a limited capacity for producers' milk. They each milked around 30 goats.


uh, that's all I remember.
 
Yeah that's the problem most places. I guess when you ship milk part of what you get for it depends on how close you are to the processor.

I don't know how long ago that was but these days the commercial people tell me that break even point is 150 goats. There are no processing places in my area.

Kis,

One of the most influential families in the dairy goat world is from Wisconsin.
Harvey Considine who has written books on goats, had a commercial herd, and was/is a dairy goat judge. Most of his many children also have goats and are judges or other things. I think the name of his farm is either Sunshine Farms or Diamond. His old herd name was Diamond and you can trace the lineage back in many pedigrees to Diamond stuff. I think they are from Portage? WI?

My goats stay in the fence. I have never had many fence jumpers. I have 5 strand high tensile electric fence, and my goats are big ones around 200 lbs and fairly earth bound.

You mentioned Lamancha's. I helped a friend AI two of her does recently and I think they settled.

Lamancha's are a US phenomenon. A lady Eula Fay Frey in Oregon I believe crossed some of her dairy goats with some earless "spanish" goats and got them gradually breeding till she established the type. The previously mentioned Harvey Considine was one of the first people to bring Lamancha's west.
I like my goats. They're not like my cats or something but they are good animals and I am proud of the ones that have won shows or outmilked others at milking competitions they're cool.
 
Nasty said:
That's what my wife tells me too... :(
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Now Uwinv, some of us know better than that.:rolleyes: :p Your other half may have said it but if she did it would've been with a big smile and a huge wink.:D ;)

Kis? Ever here of a cow being "stump broke?" Those were fighting words in some circles. That is if someone said you had a cow trained in that manner.:D :rolleyes:
 
hollowdweller said:
You mentioned Lamancha's. I helped a friend AI two of her does recently and I think they settled.
Click to expand...
Uhhh, Tsimi, you must realize that not everyone understands goat nomenclature.:rolleyes: :p

What does "AI-ing" a goat mean? :confused:
 
Poor munk's thread... I had something to say about the weather, then got lost in all the goat-roping stuff...

All I know about goats is they are great to eat, in many cultures... redneck & Cuban, the two I belong to, we like. Wish I had roast goat/goat curry tonight.

ahh, that's it. It's 72 deg. out here in the ruined Gulf coast.

Warm- for now- 38 this weekend- no roof, no walls yet, no contractor.

No goat BBQ to be had. I wish.


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