I had an early appointment in town this morning and Bruce wanted to go along. In order to get there in time everything had to move along quickly. Joe was here this morning so he and Bruce started milking and I moved calves into the barn. To do this I just fill a bottle with whatever they are used to drinking. They haven't had a bottle for awhile so they are excited to follow and drink wherever I want to go. Generally they get less than half a bottle in their travels, and when I get everyone moved I feed them their normal feed in pails. When I got calf moving done Bruce went to set up a fence for the cows and I milked with Joe. Knowing it was going to be warm and we were in a hurry he planned to put them directly across from the barn. By the time Joe and I got done milking Bruce was back and finished up the milkhouse details while Joe let the cows out and I fed calves. Farmers are professionals at getting through the shower and out of the house in record speeds and both of us were through the shower and dressed and out the door in 25 minutes! We had a variety of stops to make in the process of the day and while we were at our last stop Bruce's phone rang. His mom was calling to let us know that the cows were congretating and complaining. The sun wasn't supposed to come out until later this afternoon but it was out by noon and the cows were hot. We came straight home and within 15 minutes were changed and out the door to get them home and in the barn. Bruce didn't take the time to feed them, and they weren't exactly impressed since they are used to having fresh feed when they come in. Already by 2 p.m. 3 of them were panting with their tongues out. As soon as we got all their stanchions closed Bruce brought in the hose and started spraying them down to cool them off. With them being in Bruce fed them early. There is heat in the forecast for the next week so it looks like we will be making feeding decisions for the cows on a daily, if not hourly, basis this week.
Joe came and helped milk tonight. He and I started while Bruce caught some stuff up and then Bruce milked with Joe and I fed calves. It really is nice to have the extra help. After milking Bruce decided to move the goats to new pasture. In the daylight the dog herds the group very easily but tonight the dog pushed too hard and one kid got separated from the group. Mike likes chasing cows but he LOVES chasing goats so at times his concentration and listening skills don't work very well. One kid by itself is impossible to chase. In the end the goats ended up in the pasture where they belonged but not before they got chased out of the shed and the shop and then back to where they started so we could get the single kid back with the group. Then the route included stealing corn around the harvestore before they were in place. In the process Mike took 3 soaks in his cooling tank. It's hot and humid and still tonight. I wish the night would be more cow friendly.
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