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dominiquer60
ModeratorThose horse shows are certainly paying off this week. I used my team to drag some reclaimed ground that will be pasture someday and they went well. The footing was challenging at times, but all the more reason to take it slow and easy.
Carl gave me the challenge of loading my cart with compost and bringing it to a field off the property. This provided many opportunities to make some tight turns and to pull a load up a steep grade and to hold it back going downhill for some distance. I try to limit our time on the gravel road, but I have been making the trip down to the church yard where there are a few square feet of level ground where we do a little cart work. The field where the compost is needed is at the turn to the church. The last 4 days we have brought a load to the field and visited the churchyard. Turns are slower, more planned out and over all better. We still rub the pole now and then but less than we used to. My off steer likes to rush but he seems a little more settled now and more willing to be patient. Just to mix things up we went down the hill from the church to the main road which is more dirt and quite smooth. We practiced some turns in a neighbors driveway, the off steer had a lot to look at and wanted to rush, but I was able to regain his focus after a moment. A neighbor whos bridge is finally being constructed, after last years hurricane, has an excavator working on the job. My steers are good, they may look at strange things, perhaps slow down or shy a little, but they stay on course and seem to like an opportunity to observe. We stood for a while watching the big equipment, way above their heads, dropping buckets of stone and rubble onto a pile maybe 30 feet from us, stones tumbling to the base. Only their heads moved back and forth at first and then to me when they had had their fill. Then it was back up the hill with an empty cart and a good climb.
Every trip down the hill gets a little smoother and every turn a hair steadier, I knew what they were capable of, I just had to learn that I was capable of showing them.
If anyone is up for it Deerfield Fair is a couple weekends off, I am going to try to make it, if anyone happens to be there it would be great to connect.
dominiquer60
ModeratorMeeting “Minutes”
present: Erika, Mark
We didn’t have a meeting but did discuss a few points that impact our committee:
Websites are still going strong thanks to Jen. If we hire a 20/hr a week person it would be nice if they could relieve Jen from some/all of the web duties, so that she can have her “free time” back. If we can’t place these responsibilities elsewhere just yet, it would be nice to assign a person to updating copy or at least keep the committee on task with updating.
I am realizing that I (Erika) cannot be strongly active in 2 committees. Depending on what decisions are made this weekend with a NEAPFD committee and hiring a staff person, I may not be able to continue being the Comm Comm Chair. I would still be able to help with the newsletter and such, but not head the committee.
Newsletter Deadline OCTOBER 1st!!!!
Front Page- Don Hewes
Presidents message – Jen (last one !)
Editors Connections – Erika
Doc Hamill Part 2- Doc
DAP.com – Mark
Horse Progress Days – Erika
Upcoming Athol Workshop – ?
Spring Plowing Clinic update – Erika
top ten list(Sam and Andy did last 2) – Anthony Mecca has been emailedWe could use another article or 2, a mishap, Classifieds, and Calendar Events so be on the lookout.
dominiquer60
ModeratorSounds like you need another nice Suffolk mare for your plans 🙂
dominiquer60
ModeratorA red Molly! she is going to be one heck of a mule when she grows up. I am so glad that your mammoth jack worked out for you. I hope they bless you with another so that you can have a nice team of reds.
Best Wishes,
September 6, 2012 at 12:40 am in reply to: Animal Power Gathering & Draft Animal Power Network Annual Meeting #74846dominiquer60
ModeratorWho else is going?
I am bringing my steers up, and hope to meet some new draft people from the Northeast Kingdom!
dominiquer60
ModeratorHere is a NEAPFD Reaserch Committee update so that you all get the rough idea of what we have managed to collect for info.
– We have found a SE VT location that has a lot of room for training, demos, field work and forest work within site of each other. Tons of outdoor space, not so much indoor space, $500/day, 30 minutes from I -91. This is a private farm and there is extremely little chance of us not being able to get the date that we want, give or take a week, if we have to wait a while to commit to them.
– We have a very interested coordinator candidate with equine event experience, book keeping and organization skills, I can vouch for her. she realizes this is our first solo event and is willing to work with us and doesn’t need money right away while we figure things out.
– We have been in touch with an outfit that rents portable stalls and tents.
– There is an older resort across from this location with a rec hall, kitchen and cabins that has some potential for our needs.
– An up dated potential budget is being created with our new numbers and information.
Personally I think NEAPFD does a very good job at providing connections to resources, it also highlights many draft people, methods and ideas, and gives many educational and networking opportunities. Concentrating many people with similar interests and intentions creates an energy that cannot be mimicked by online forums, small events or newsletters. Like Mark suggests with the BOD, there is something about having that face to face time with each other and I believe that the same goes for our membership, a better energy is created when we can see and experience each other face to face. Perhaps we lost this energy with our membership since we have left Tunbridge.I see this Friday meeting as an opportunity for all of the current directors to help us focus as we move forward, to point out missing details, to provide our insight in regards to this matter. Since burnout is a huge factor, I don’t think it is our place to say yea or nay on Friday, the decision to carry out NEAPFD plans should be that of the new board, the ones that will be executing NEAPFD plans if they decide to go for it.
I would like this meeting to be more positive than the last, with “how” questions rather than “if at all questions.” Much of what we would like to plan should have been done last winter, when we were working hard on other important matters of a new organization. We accomplished a lot from our efforts: new events, gaining more exposure, grants, 501c3 paperwork, some new sponsors, etc. We were not sitting on our fannies, we were just building a new organization step by step. Now that we have some smaller events under our belt and an upcoming opportunity to recruit more fresh NEAPFD Planning Committee members at the Gathering, I know that we can pull this off with enough enthusiasm from the BOD, NEAPFD Committee and our membership.
In regards to Mark’s questions:On what basis do we make the decision to go forward or not? Mission? Financial? Other? We need to figure out what is the chicken & what is the egg. How do we do this?
-If we get enough enthusiastic bodies on Sept 15th we move forward. NEAPFD fits our mission, it is what brought us together. With enough bodies we can find funds, divide and conquer, and move forward.If we don’t do it, is that OK? why or why not?
-Since the sky won’t fall, then it is OK if we don’t hold NEAPFD, but I would personally loose some interest in the organization. NEAPFD gave me opportunities and connections that I would never have had otherwise and I look forward to providing similar opportunities for others by being a part of the next NEAPFDs. As far as our organization not holding NEAPFD, I think that there will be consequences, back to the lack of face to face time, smaller events are great, but I don’t see them drumming up interest in our organization or increasing membership like a large event has the potential to do. We will carry on, but I don’t see us being a big network without a big face to face event.When we do it:
what is the structure of responsibility going to be?
-In the past the coordinator ran the event with Carl and Lisa’s help, Nina kept them focused and organized, ultimately she was an employee of theirs and they directed her, but during the event she was the figurehead of authority. The committee Co-chairs can work with the coordinator to make sure we are on the right track and she can report to them. In the end of course the BOD will have to OK the plan, budget, etc, but the committee, not the BOD, will be working on that with the BOD able to tweak details if needed when they come up for review.-The Committee would brainstorm ideas, outline, plan and make decisions, report back to BOD as needed. The coordinator can be given the responsibilities that we have the funding to pay for, if we want “her” to do the mailings or make up copy she can, if we do it, we should have her involved in editing to a point. If we just want some one to run the event for the weekend she can just do just that.
what is the overall critical path (with time markers)?
1) Form a NEAPFD Committee (the core can form 9/15 and take on others when possible/needed)
2) set a timeline (ASAP, it may change but at least start somewhere)
3) secure funds/sponsors (we have a $5000 start and know that some of the big equipment guys are willing)
4) Secure location (sign a contract once date and location are firmed ASAP, but with thought and following spending policy)
5) hire a coordinator once funding and responsibilities are clearer (by Dec/Jan?)
6) Start Marketing strategy using the support of Comm Comm, Administrator and Coordinator if applicable (ASAP, poster contest, brainstorm of advertising places, contacting for in-kind trades, can start right away).
7) Make an event schedule and get most of teamsters/presenters confirmed by the end of March
Etc, etc, Jean has the old timeline which can provide us useful info.This is a lot to read, but as you can see, this event means a lot to me and I feel that it is important for our organization to continue it. It seems like an overwhelming amount of work, but you have to start somewhere, thought and research have been put into it, step by step we can do it, just as we have step by step built our wonderful DAPNet. Lets go back to our roots and get more people connected.
Erika
dominiquer60
ModeratorEven with occasional grooming they held onto their winter hair into August, not much of the hair, but that belly hair lingered on and on. Now that it is September and their winter coats are coming on, last years winter hair is finally gone. I am looking forward to next year to see if they do shed better now that their massive parasite problem is well behind them. I am going to do a fecal again this fall to see what we have after a much better living and feed situation this past season. They may still shed late, but my gut says that they will shed better next year than this past year, just a hunch, but I will report back when the time comes.
dominiquer60
ModeratorThe eye seems to be fine now and healed, I am guessing that he caught it on a twig or something of the sort.
dominiquer60
ModeratorWelcome Jordan,
Nice looking horse and garden! Great to see you keeping the working horse tradition. Have a look around, topic are searchable and feel free to jump in at any point.
Erika
dominiquer60
ModeratorI used to raise 1,000 broilers a year with a friend. We raised and butchered them in batches of 150 at a time with a new order of chicks arriving every 4 weeks. We used to process 75 before lunch and they would just fit into a 150 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank in cold spring water. After lunch we would transfer them to a partially filled 300 gallon with 150 pounds of ice (some in each cavity). After filling up the 150 gallon tank with the other 75 birds, we transfer them to the big tank and add the other 150 pounds of ice. We found this system effective at keeping the birds clean and chills them to the recommended 40 degrees within 4 hours. We used a lot of spring water to flush the 150 gallon tank while the birds are in it, dirty warm “pink” water overflows off the top while clean cold water replaces it. After chilling to 40 we would drain the birds and but them in clean (bleached) plastic totes and brought them to a neighbors orchard where his warehouse coolers were always set at 33 degrees. We would let the meat rest for 24 to 48 hours in apple cooler before bagging and freezing them. We believed in resting for tenderness, resting lets the energy in the cells (ATP) deplete and literally lets the meat relax because the rigor mortis is gone (no more cell energy). Good luck with your broiler project, nothing is a good as the food we raise ourselves.
dominiquer60
ModeratorThey sure do look smooth, but a good muscled smooth. My friend that bought a springing heifer from Threshold had a bull calf, she was bred to a shorthorn/ayrshire bull and that was the fattest calf and skinniest cow that I have ever seen. She tied the calf up so that the mother would not be constantly bothered by him, but she overfed him anyway coming to him instead. The cow calf bond is a tough one to break. The farm that I had lived on in NY had beefers, and they weaned them at a year old, they still bellowed from the barn and the mothers with new calves at side would bellow from the pasture. I say give them a couple weeks and most of the mommas boy nonsense with fade away. As to the grain, I was lucky that my 6 week olds had been given a small amount of pellets, but when I tried a sweet feed calf starter, because that is what my local feed store carried, it was very much rejected. It took a few days but if I offered it to them right after their milk they would start to play and mouth it some, and eventually they started to eat it. When we switched back to pellets they took great interest and eat well to this day. Since yours didn’t have grain then and don’t get milk now this doesn’t help you at all, so all I can say is keep trying, a 1/2 cup sounds like a good place to start. I mixed kelp meal and selenium salt in with my feed and they seemed to like that taste. Also yogurt can help keep their guts from getting too sour, on grain may be a temptation as well. I don’t have much experience to offer except what little I have. Best of Luck
dominiquer60
ModeratorIf you would like to make sure that we have the shirt sizes that you want please place your order with Jean by Friday noon. She will be placing the order Friday afternoon and this is a one time printing, once they are sold the 2012 t-shirts and hats are gone for good, to be replaced by next years design. We will have some extras, but if you know you want one let us know now before it is too late.
Remember that items including T-shirts, Hats and Bumper Stickers will be available for pick-up (pre-ordered) or for purchase at the Animal Power Gathering and DAPNet Annual Meeting at the Perry Farm Sept 14th-16th. Shipping of these items is available, see Jean’s post above. The sales of these items will be used to support this site (DAP.com), newsletters and our educational events to name a few things. So support DAPNet and make a statement about your connection to a great group of draft cultured folks with one or more of these logo items.
Thanks for Your Support!
dominiquer60
ModeratorWe had pink eye last year, so far no draining, if I hadn’t noticed the flat red spot I wouldn’t know anything was different.
dominiquer60
ModeratorOh they are a handsome lot, I am so glad that lead worked out so well, it was meant to be! I am glad that you still had the pick of the litter too. Best of luck with them all and have fun, they don’t stay that small forever 🙂
dominiquer60
ModeratorWelcome Wolfgang,
I hope you find this forum useful, there are many good people and ideas here in one place. If you don’t get a response about your Spring trip try posting a thread with a different title to get the attention of folks in the south. Our site is searchable so have fun reading from our collection of discussions.
Erika
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