Tag Archives: ranch life

Destructive Pests: Trapping Wild Hogs

by Texas Homesteader ~ 

We have a wild hog problem here in NE Texas. Bad. So bad in fact that there’s no official ‘season’ for hunting them because they’re such an invasive, destructive nuisance.

Their sheer numbers are astonishing. They come through like a cloud, leaving nothing but tilled ground & deep holes behind them.

Terrible! 

So terrible that the game warden says you can hunt them at any time day or night, in any season. 

Wild hogs are destructive & plentiful. But they're just escaped domestic pigs - they're pork! See how we successfully trap them #TexasHomesteader

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Ranching: A Good Life, But A HARD Life!

by Texas Homesteader ~

What we do on this ranch is our livelihood, our means of supporting ourselves. It’s a wonderful life, yet certainly a hard one. Prudent business decisions have to be made every day. If they’re the wrong decisions, we don’t get paid.

Period.

Bills don’t get paid nor groceries bought. There’s no gray area on the pay scale when you’re self employed. No mistakes are financially free – no mulligans!

Don’t get me wrong, like I said it’s a wonderful life filled with many delights. But it can be hard too.

Ranching is a wonderful life filled with many delights. But it can be a hard life too. See what we struggle with. #TexasHomesteader

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Environmental Awareness On The Homestead: No-Spill Fuel Can Eliminates Spilled Fuel

by Texas Homesteader ~ 
*affiliate link

I always cringed when RancherMan would fill my tractor with fuel. He’d try his best to be careful not to spill fuel, but it’s neigh impossible when the fuel lid is on the top of the tractor.

I found this fuel can design solves the problem of trying to hurry & get the spout into the fuel tank before spilling fuel. Love, love, LOVE THESE!

Special design fuel can eliminates spilled fuel when adding fuel to top-fueling equipment. #TexasHomesteader

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Sun Protection: Rigid Canopy for Our Mid-Size Tractor

by Texas Homesteader ~

RancherMan & I work outside every day, rain or shine.  We’re either working cattle or fixing fences.  There’s garden work and tractor work.  Day in, day out – we’re outside working.  Now we LOVE our lives here don’t get me wrong, but sun protection is something we take very seriously.

We’re careful to wear our Sun-Protective Shirts when we’re working outside.  And for my small blue Ford 32 hp tractor, RancherMan made sure I had a heavy canvas canopy to protect me from the sun. But his larger tractor didn’t come with a canopy, just a ROPS (roll bar).

Now I hated that he wasn’t protected and constantly nagged I mean reasoned with him to get something to protect himself from the sun.  But he protested mightily, saying: “I’m having trouble finding one that fits the ROPS on my tractor.  Plus I’d want a rigid canopy. And since I often work around trees when I’m mowing I just don’t know if I should get one for my tractor”

Sun protection is important! See what we did to assure we are properly protected from the sun while on our tractors. #TexasHomesteader

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Homestead Hack: Separating Cream From Fresh Milk

by Texas Homesteader ~

As many of you know, recently I had to bring a mama cow into the barn recently. We had to milk out one of her quads since her newborn calf neglected it long enough for it to get very large. I didn’t want to risk her getting mastitis. And the longer the calf neglected it the larger it became.

Although our cows are not a dairy breed, she gave me about a half gallon of fresh milk from just that one quad! I’d never milked a cow before & I was pretty excited to get that fresh milk. So I sat out to put it all to good use. I decided to make homemade yogurt with it, but I had trouble skimming the cream easily. So I turned to my Facebook Followers to find out how they easily skimmed the cream from the milk.

I was looking for an easy way to separate cream from fresh milk. A spoon was too time consuming, a gravy separator was better, but check this Homestead Hack! #TexasHomesteader

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