Weather - Monday and Tuesday felt like we were in the first part of November. I said it felt exactly like an opportunity to "do over" since we were able to get things done we hadn't gotten done earlier. Today we had thick fog and mid 40's for temperatures and 6/10 inch of rain. Tonight the fog has cleared and it is 50 degrees. Too warm. It has felt like spring, including the smell of skunk in huge waves in the damp air.
Our Help - Joe is up to his eyeballs in good things in school. Bruce's dad if feeling the effects of this damp and cool weather so he isn't able to do as much as he usually does. For this reason we have had to carry all the milkers out which adds a bit of time to milking. Given the fact he will be 81 soon he is still doing great. Domenic called in sick Monday and has not come back so we assume he is still sick. This put all the feeding and bedding we had hoped he could do back on Bruce's list.
Goats - They are still here and in their winter fencing. We have decided to sell the whole herd since our days aren't long enough to enjoy them. In the meantime they thoroughly enjoyed their corn fodder bedding yesterday when Bruce bedded that barn.
Calves - We had a call announcing a new calf arrival at 5:30 a.m. yesterday and also had a camera discovery at1:20 a.m. this morning. I am now feeding 11 calves, all bulls or beef. I have switched 2 more calves to pails. The first 6 are doing great and they are eating their starter feed. I have been adding some water (1 qt.) to their milk to increase their fluids to 4 qts. per feeding. The last couple calves have been very good drinkers.
Cows - The heifers are freshening without issue. We have freshened 13 so far with 5 left to go. The heifer with all the issues, DA, ketosis, pneumonia etc, has died. She had drainage from her incision the last day which makes us believe she had an internal infection we weren't aware of. When a 1000 lb. cow decides she can't get up, she never will. She just gave up. Our investment $1,476 purchase, $312. in vet costs.
Fields - Bruce and Ed cleaned the lower building and brought new stacks home to bed everyone. I bedded all the hutches after pressure washing the one I had been using when I had a single calf to feed. Bruce has been out in the yard poking around with a long screw driver. He believes all the frost has again come out and he has visions of being able to chisel plow yet!
Equipment - The spreader had a bearing go out just as they were done cleaning the lower building. The plan had been to have Ed continue hauling off the pile since the ground was firm. Fixing this goes on the "to do" list. Today I sidetracked Bruce from what he was going to do with a flat tire on the car. Drywall screws and tires are not a good match. Bruce fixed my tire and I am ready to travel tomorrow.
Cattle - Bruce spent Monday dehorning and banding (castrating) the group of cattle that is still in the barn here. I have 1 empty hutch and 5 calves to come so this is way more than a mathematical problem in my eyes. This barn group will be moved into the yard at Ed's and join the group there, and that will give me room to get some calves in. After the lower barn was cleaned we fed some corn and caught as many of the heifers as we could in the catch stanchions. Given the fact they haven't been fed and caught before we considered it quite successful. We identified who was already pregnant, who would go into Ed's yard and who is big enough to be bred. The pregnant ones got wormed with a pour on product. The open ones got wormed and also their V-9 shot. The group is now ready to breed.
Mike - Bruce is working with Mike a bit every morning and evening in an effort to teach him to share his ball. He spent the first 6 months of his life with a group of other dogs so he is a pro at keep away. As smart as he is we can't seem to un-teach him that. Mike absolutely loved helping clean the building yesterday. He runs in and jumps in the feed alley when Bruce is in the building and when he backs out he runs out to be sure no one is in his way. With everything thawing, Mike has found something disgusting to roll in. He has gotten more baths the last few days than he likes.
Numbers - We got the check for the cull cows we sold. They weren't as big as the earlier ones we sold so the check wasn't as big as I would have liked : ) Matt stopped in to see if we needed to buy seed early for tax purposes "if we had any money left". He then laughed because he reads this blog and knows how many pieces of equipment broke this year. There are early discounts that we could take advantage of before next year. We will see..... The recent milk cultures came back good yesterday so we can milk straight up through the barn with only 2 special needs heifers now. Our recent culling has paid off with a significant drop in our somatic cell count. Fantastic! I paid our highest vet bill of the year, $1486. Ugh The pneumonia drugs were $599.
Us - Bruce has put in very long days. Yesterday started with a 5:30 calf call and no Domenic. Thankfully Ed was able to help but Bruce crawled into bed at 11:30 p.m., only to have the calf arrival at 1:20 this morning and the standard 5:30 alarm. I personally don't know how he stays upright. Monday was a town day for me and yesterday was a chance to get some things picked up and organized outside before winter really arrives. Bruce had gotten a stack home for Domenic to bed calves but with him gone I did it. Last night was a 3 ibuprofen night for both of us! It has been a very productive few days : ) The good news is I have made a batch of fudge. For us that is the official start of the holiday season. Time to start shopping..........
We are exhausted! It is all good!
No comments:
Post a Comment