Getting your ducks in a row…
Getting your ducks in a row is the first part of a twelve part series about ranch life…
Sometimes when people visit, they feel the magic of the farm, whether they are experiencing the thoughtful design, or the happy critters. I realize now that it is so more than that. It is the all the living creatures we care for, it’s all the infrastructure improvements and it’s all the folks who visit or help care for everything. People will ask, how did we find this amazing property, but it’s really more than location. It’s more about how we created this wonderful ranch. The property, location and existing improvements are certainly an aspect, but it is so much more than that. It comes down to a few key philosophies. Here are the five key laws we use almost daily around the farm:
The number one rule is to follow God’s law. We, our animals and our crops are all best when we try to emulate the way they were meant to live.
So, for herd animals…. they should spend as much time as possible in a herd situation. Maybe that means combined turnout for horses, but evenings / feeding time in stalls.
Many male animals will fight other males, so don’t expect to keep a bunch of roosters happy or bulls in the same pen.
For grazing animals, they should spend most of their time grazing or at least nibbling hay. Horses in the wild graze something like 20 hours a day.
If you’re growing crops, pick seeds and plants that thrive in your climate. If it’s hot and dry… that means certain plants will do well, if it’s rainy, then you need plants that thrive with lots of rain.
You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to change Mother Nature and the environment, so go with what you have.
When I’m introducing a new animal or update / change a situation, I default to this rule: how were they meant to live and how can I best recreate that for them?
It’s also a good rule for us. Farms thrive when husband and wife work together. Each bringing their own perspective. Also, always remember that many hands might light work and don’t be too proud to ask for help. Follow God’s law. It’s how we were meant to live.
Do what you can and let the rest go. Most farmers and ranchers try so hard to keep everything well fed, watered, safe and happy. Don’t beat yourself up when things don’t have the outcome you wanted. Perhaps, it just wasn’t meant to be. Do what you can to the best of your ability and then you have to let go. It’s in God’s hands. Horse colic, get cut, and kick each other. Calves get pneumonia. Chicks don’t hatch. It’s ok, don’t beat yourself up.
To take this one step further, there are times when maybe we didn’t do our best job. The cows went without water for a day or two. We left the water on and flooded the paddock. We accidentally left the grain bin open and a horse foundered. Use those opportunities to learn a better way to do that thing, but don’t beat yourself up for the mistake. Do what you can and let the rest go.
Above all else, do no harm. This used to be the doctor’s creed, but I’m not sure they swear by it any more. It’s a good motto for farm life. If you’re not sure about a treatment option or if you should do something, above all else, don’t make things worse. If you have a sick animal who isn’t used to being handled, don’t stress it out by trying love on it. If you have a horse that isn’t used to being alone in a stall, bring a buddy next to them. If they are still having a melt-down, maybe it is better to put them back outside with the herd. This also applies to mechanical situations: if your truck is stuck in the mud and the only thing you can hook on to to pull it out is the bumper…. well, maybe you don’t want to do that because you might get the truck un-stuck, but now you also have to repair the bumper. Or (more likely), the truck is STILL stuck AND you have to repair the bumper.
The opposite of the “above all else do no harm” is also true: if all hope is lost, then you might as well try a Hail Mary. If your critter is dying, why not give it the shot of steroids? If your tractor PTO is stuck and won’t slide out rendering it unusable, then you might as well try pulling it between the telephone pole and the bobcat.
If you see something, say something. If something doesn’t look right, raise the flag. This is a big one for me for visitors to the farm and all farm hands. So often, people would feel bad about telling us the fence looks like it is going to fall over or the gate is falling off the hinge. And then the fence or gate would fully break and we had a bigger repair to deal with. If someone would have just told us something needed to be tightened, we could have fixed it before it actually fell off!
This, of course, requires that you know what normal looks like and that you’re paying attention. Today’s phones are a big distraction, keep the phone in your pocket. Ball caps and hair in the face can block your visibility, too. If you’re wearing a cap, you have to make a point of looking up and looking around. You might never notice that a particular gate was left open.
The last point I’ll make about “See something, say something” comes back to knowing what is normal. If all the horses are eating happily and one horse is standing by himself, maybe you should go check on him. If he tends to be timid and just waits for everyone to get started before sneaking in, then maybe that’s not a big deal. But, if he’s usually a chowhound and today he’s not, then you’ve probably got a problem.
Don’t paint yourself in the corner. If you’re not 100% confident about a decision, then how can you move forward and test it, without fully committing to the path. What is your exit? Is there a way to temporarily try out the decision before fully committing to it? For example, if you’re not 100% sure where to put a fence, maybe you should install temporary panels or an electric fence until you decide you like it. After you’ve decided you like the location, then go for a more permanent option.
A similar philosophy is used in designing parks in Japan. They create the open space first and let people use the park before they pave any sidewalks, in this way, they can see where people go, what pathways suit them and they use that as the blueprint for knowing where to put permanent sidewalks in. Sometimes the same practice can be used on your farm until you get the hang of how it is going to be used. No one likes to rip out fence and rebuild it, so do what you can so as not to paint yourself in the corner.
What other philosophies have you adopted as part of your ranch/farm? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I hope you find this blog to be helpful, stay tuned for other posts about farm life like: Designing the Ideal Set-up, Simplifying Feeding, Poo Duty, Harmonious Horses, Weed and Management, and others…