Hi, I’m Mike.
Work is never ending on the ranch, when one project is done, another pops up to take its
place.
Today we start our new Tuesday video series and really get you inside the day to day on
the ranch, with the project list on Our Wyoming Life.
We get a lot of questions asking about employees on the ranch, and yes, during the summer,
provided the money is there to pay someone, I usually hire a high school kid to help out.
Last year it was Mitch before he left at the end of summer to join the army.
Leaving just me and the day to day of the ranch.
When I have a ranch hand I utilize what I call the project board to keep track of what
needs done.
Its one of those tools that help ranch hands find something to do.
There’s always something to be done and most days our hands come in and find the list
is growing.
You get something done and before you know it something has been added in its place.
Right now, the project board is empty.
Its basically a dry erase board we have mounted on the wall in the shop.
In fact, if you want to make one of your own they are easy to put up.
This one is a piece of 4x8 plastic panel board available at home depot for about 20 bucks.
We screwed it to the wall and it acts just like a much more expensive drywall board of
the same size.
It’s empty because after Mitch left I stopped using it, keeping the projects that need done
in my head but the more I though about it, the more I realized that we could utilize
it as well.
Keeping track of what needs done, adding to it and subtracting from the list as we complete
projects.
Some are small, some are large, but from here on out every Tuesday we are going to post
our projects from the project board right here on Our Wyoming Life.
Today, we are going to start the list and maybe even get something done.
Finding projects around here is just as easy as looking around, starting right here in
the shop itself, we need to clean it up.
Over time, parts, trash and tools tend to pile up and finding what you need starts to
get to be a pain so that goes on the list.
While we are talking about cleaning, the chicken house always needs to be cleaned.
Even though the chickens spend a majority of their time outside, manure piles up and
feathers fill the floor and what we refer to as chicken dust can actually start to become
a respiratory issue for the chickens.
On the list.
The pig areas constantly needs cleaning, but sometimes they need a total shakedown of their
pens as well.
Moving them from a used pen to a clean one and then scraping out and fixing their old
pen back up.
General maintenance goes on the list as well.
The feeding tractor is getting close to needing an oil change and an overall cleaning and
greasing.
We have a stock trailer that needs some wiring work.
A flatbed trailer that needs a new jack and a complete overhaul of its lighting wiring.
The fire truck and the model T still need to be put away for winter but not before we
rearrange the garage that they live in to make some room.
This barn attached barn can also use a little TLC as we can go through a bunch of the junk
in here, organize and get rid of a bunch.
We have corral fences that need to be repaired as well as cattle stock tanks that need leveled
and overflows reinstalled and repaired.
Over at Erins gardens we have a few projects that need done.
The dirt work still needs to be completed for the new high tunnel, hauling in dirt to
level a pad.
We also need to come up with a way to raise the fences around the gardens to keep deer
from getting in and eating her crops next year.
At Erins orchard we need to put up snow fence to keep the drifting snow from pushing into
her new apple trees.
Also going on the list is preg checking and culling cows, which we have scheduled for
this week.
We are in the processing of lining up some help as we will be bringing in all the cows
and running them through the squeeze chute.
Checking to see if they are pregnant, giving them their vaccinations and determining which
cows will be kept here on the ranch and which will be removed and sold at auction.
Because I need to get something done today off the list we are also going to add cleaning
up our yard, getting all the kids yard toys put away for winter and stored in a dry place.
Its as easy as adding it to the list, then taking the truck over and loading up everything
from the back yard.
The bikes, the playhouse, the random toys and putting them in a storage shed.
Keeping them all safe until spring when they will come back out, much to the kids surprise
and glee.
And after the job is done, we get to erase it from the board.
Only to add another few projects in its place.
We have a pile of pipe that we need to come up with a plan for, whether building new fence
or cattle guards or who knows what.
We need still need to stack and organize a bunch of hay that will feed over the winter
and repair some fence around the hay yard itself.
The more you look the more projects there are.
Its never ending.
So as we take you on the journey of the day to day of the ranch we hope you stick around.
Big jobs or little, its all part of keeping the whole operation running smoothly and efficiently.
Doing as much as possible ourselves and keeping costs as low as possible.
If this is your first time here, hit the subscribe button and join us on a journey through hard
work and dedication to a life that is extremely rewarding.
We will see you every Tuesday as we try to get this list under control, which won’t
happen, it will keep growing, but every time we take a job off the board there’s the
satisfaction of a job done and hopefully well done.
Join us Sunday mornings for our weekly ranch video and every Thursday for a new video,
either a live stream keeping you up to date on what’s going on on the ranch, or a video
with Erin in the gardens or in the kitchen.
Have a great week, and thanks for joining us, in Our Wyoming Life.