Spent the afternoon working my ranch. I accomplished the ranch chores after we got home from morning service and a quick lunch. Checked on all the animals, and then went for a walkabout into the Southern Area.
I got as far as where my previous goat herd had cleared, 3 years ago. Yeah, went past the boulders and down to the corner dip. Saw some wild pig signs and deer signs as well. Water buckets are still there, all tipped over. My old hunting spot is overgrown again. I haven't been there in awhile. You can barely see my old trail. But it's still there. Even my ranch dog Duchess was running around her old stomping grounds. We even stood on the spot where I shot that wild pig in the head as it charged at Duchess. Who was running towards me.
I remember naming each paddock after it was established. There were several young coconut saplings that I've planted to show the boundaries of each paddock. Could not find a single one during my walkabout. Wild pigs probably decimated those young coconut trees soon after we stopped grazing in the area. We'll have to plant new ones as we move further South to reestablish the paddocks.
The clearing operations are on schedule. The goat herd is on the east side of area, moving South. Gera, our karabao is on the west side moving south. Both have stopped today, and on hold. I had to rotate the doe herd back to the house to maintain the grass. The buck herd moved into the ranch proper to do the same, on maintenance. Gera was moved to the NE border to clear the area there.
Once an area is cleared. I come in and fell trees and shrubs that I don't need. Soon, I'll be felling the bigger taller trees that I plan to use for fence posts. Getting the sun to hit the ground through the canopy is the priority. I need solar energy to grow grass and legumes for the livestock. I don't want to cut down all the trees, just enough for the sun to get through and the grass to take hold.
Larraine's Chicken Flock is doing well. Before we started clearing the ranch, they were scattered all over the jungle into small micro-flocks. Since we've cleared, many of them have returned to the main ranch area and formed into one huge flock of 20+ birds. Who could blame them. Free food, 7 times a week, troughs full of drinking water, guard dogs all around. As long as it's free and secured, who wouldn't want to come back. 3 hens with their brood of chicks scouting for bugs in the newly cleared areas. Several roosters all strutting their stuff trying to be the top cock in the ranch. Yet, the Guinea Roosters put them in check. What a sight!
It'll be approximately 3 months by the time we get to the Corner Dip.
Sounds like a lot of work.
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