by Bill Byrne | Aug 30, 2015 | Uncategorized
….when your having fun or your very busy, which has been the case for Crystal Creek Ranch this summer. We continue to grow and have more visitors and activities at the ranch. This fall is a beautiful time to come and stay with us, as the weather is more comfortable in the outdoors. We are also starting our fall field trips, as well as a series of ag related activities, including the “Family Farm and Forest Field Day” on Saturday, Sept. 19th. Also, please visit our “outreach” section of the website to see what new things we are doing in those areas. God bless, and have a great fall!
by Bill Byrne | May 12, 2015 | Uncategorized
……When feeding animals on the ranch, we usually try and put out multiple piles of grain in different places so as to spread out the herd or flock as they eat. In every flock, herd, or group of poultry we have, there are always two different types of feeders. The one group will go to a single pile and eat the grain there, while the second group will run from pile to pile, always expecting the next one to be ”better”, or “more” and as a final result getting less food than the first group. We people are at times like that too. Instead of chasing after what we don’t have… may we be grateful and thankful for what we do have. Appreciating that “pile” in front of us is more peaceful than pursuing the ones that are always just ahead of us.
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by Bill Byrne | Apr 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
A sure sign of Spring is when we hear the first whippoorwill with their very distinctive and loud song. Some people may choose not to call it a song, since they will go all night long, and loud enough to keep a person awake. In fact, I have heard many a threat to send a particularly annoying bird to the happy hunting ground. We also have visitors to the ranch wanting to know “what was that red eyed creature that kept landing in front of us on the road as we slowly traveled along?” Again, a trait of the whippoorwill, and one which has had more than a few people concerned until they know the facts. May the whippoorwills quickly appear in your life also and herald the coming of Spring, my favorite season because of its promise of hope, growth, and renewal.
by Bill Byrne | Apr 10, 2015 | Uncategorized
Up on our decks at the ranch house, in the early morning, you can see miles of the large expanse of fields and woods lined borders. At this time of year the deer are out in the fields after fresh new-growth grass, and the turkeys are in the middle of their mating rituals. The toms spread their tail feathers as they impress the females, which usually number from 3 to 6 or more. The hens run around the tom, trying to chase away the other females in an endless circle that really has no effect….at least as far as I can see. Kind of like our own efforts many times….lots of rather useless running around with no visible results…I guess we’re not much different than turkeys sometimes!
by Bill Byrne | Apr 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
And that lesson is pretty basic….don’t leave small immature males in with your females…they quickly can change to small mature breeding males, and your lambing season moves up quite a bit earlier than you want. Our target date for lambing was middle of May, and we have instead been having young ones strung out since the middle of February. Ah well….the best laid plans of mice and men!
by Bill Byrne | Mar 27, 2015 | Uncategorized
In fact, 4 inches of rain in a couple of hours. We had a little bit of hail but not near as bad as areas only 10 miles away, so we feel quite fortunate. However, in these steep hills we get quite a bit of damage to roads and other areas when that much rain falls that quickly. Sooo….time spent on the tractor fixing things back up. Actually, I enjoyed the time out of the office, and all’s well that ends well!!
