When I started a blog I expected days more like today. We did the normal chores. Bruce has a new heifer to milk but even she is very calm...a non event. We did have a few goat events. One of the kids in the barn needed her tail soaked loose since it was stuck down with poop. I just put her in some warm water and worked it loose, and yes LOL, I did have my milking gloves on : ) Minor trauma for her but a panic for her mom until we got her back. I also trimmed some cow tails this morning. When the cows were in the barn full time we docked tails. Gradually we have more cows with their tails. Some are good at tucking them up and some drag them in the gutter and then proceed to paint themselves and their neighbors along with creating general sanitation issues. They all get long so I just used scissors and trimmed them up to where they should be. Cows that prefer to "paint" with them get a grate put behind them, basically a series of bars welded together that rest on both sides over the gutter. Grates keep their tails out of the gutter but the manuer etc can go through between the bars. It doesn't keep their tails clean but it does keep them tolerable. Bruce made a wamer for the goats in the building out of a leaky rubbermaid tank today by drilling a couple holes in the bottom, put 2 heat lamps in it and cut a access hole in what was the top edge. We have concerns about keeping these little ones warm since its only January. In the past we have had winter kids but never this many that will need to stay warm with a forecast of 0 the next few nights. We took the warmer down and put the kids inside. We thought maybe there should be some vent holes in it so after lunch Bruce took the drill down to do that. Inside the warmer he found panting goats....it was
too warm so he unplugged one of the lamps and drilled 4 vent holes in. It was working too well!!! Tonight when he went to the barn to feed he had a goat kid in the cow feed alley and one was missing entirely. After searching and expecting the worst she was found in the gutter under one of the grates. Bruce hosed her legs off and she is no worse for wear. Good thing their barn time is temporary. Goats have a reputation for getting out of almost anything, and at 2 days they are already checking out the territory!
We have never really been the type to chase numbers, but in this season of tax preparation its always interesting to see the totals. This little dairy has averaged 57 cows in 2010. They have produced an average of 22,610# of milk each. Thats pretty much an average amount in the scheme of dairy in general but exciting for a rotational grazing herd that is still learning so we were pretty excited about that. In lay peoples terms, our cows each produced about 2,708 gallons of milk each last year! Our income breaks down as 83% from milk, 8% from fed holstein steers, 4% from cull cows, 2% from crop sales and also patronage and 1% from a variety of government programs. The last few years have devastated the dairy industry so we are also excited that our loss is only 22% of last years! We have the unique ability to find a bright side in things, even if we have to twist it a bit : ) It keeps us sane!
The only other excitement for the day here is we each got a 1 hour nap!!! Whoohoo!
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