Summer Rules

Despite our couple of days of rain cooled air, summer has arrived, so we need to implement the summer rules:

Cut back on everyone's feed.  Usually by half.  We have nice pastures with lots of grass and brouse.

Do the pastures need to be mowed?  We have sticker burrs and a few less than desirable plants to be dealt with.

Check which areas the llamas and goats have access to.  Should I open/close some gates to let them into different areas?

Make sure the sprinklers are turned on.  The garden bins get watered every couple of days while the shaded areas in the goat pens and pasture 5 get watered 4 times a day.  This gives the llamas a place to cush in the damp and shade to stay cool.

"Spring cleaning" is done so all the animals are up to date on their vaccinations.

Shearing is done so all the animals should look thinner and less hairy and ready for the summer heat.

Check hay in the barn.  Do we need more?  If so, check with our wonderful hay man, Larry Janicek to see when he's cutting.

Check feed pans/bins and change the ones that are looking scuzzy.

Also, be on the lookout for snakes.  It's much warmer now and they are active. Check schedule for testing for parasites.  We need to keep on top of this.  Make sure all the water troughs are full of clean water.  They will need to cleaned out more often.  Are we going to clean out the shelters this summer?  Some need more attention than others.

Lots of these things carry on throughout the year but summer always means some changes to adapt to the heat.