Small attempt at organization

I got to the barn this morning to find a calf that was still holding her own.  I gave her electrolites with a stomach tube again because it is quicker but also because we changed her antibiotic to an oral one that tastes awful.  After milking I fed her milk replacer with a bottle and she managed to drink 2/3 of it.  She wanted to stand so Bruce came out to help her lift and balance and she stood for awhile.  Tonight I basically repeated this morning except while I was feeding the other calves she managed to stand on her own and she drank a whole bottle of replacer tonight.  She is still weak and its all work but she is doing good.  Tonight I put a storm fence over the front of her hutch.  She doesn't need to try and stand and fall out the door over night.

Bruce got the barn bedded , the fence checked,and the feed box filled at the other place and then we hauled 24 animals down there in loads of 5.  We dropped the first load off and I stayed and watched them while Bruce went to get more.  None of them have ever experienced an electric fence so there is always the fear that they will get excited in their new big space and start running and go right through it.  Four of the first 5 must have found the fence and then ventured in to check out the barn.  Evidently one found the fence by going through it on the other side of the barn from where I was, and the next thing I knew she was behind me trying to figure it all out.  By the time she found her way back inside the fence she had broken 3 gate hooks!  I had thought about bringing my cell phone but didn't so Bruce had to bring back gate hooks on the next trip.  We had the lucky timing that Ed brought down their corn so he stayed and kept track of them with me until Bruce came back.  Bruce also brought the masking tape we had forgotten.  We use tape to flag the fence in places where it's hard for the animals to see it.  If we had remembered it from the start the chances of anyone going through are much less.

Signs of Spring & Seeing Ghosts

Bruce started feeding cows this morning and after the first load the switch on the feed cart broke.  We always have an extra one of these on the shelf but fixing it added 20 minutes to feeding time.  We use an electric feed cart, operated with three 12 volt, deep cycle batteries.  It has served us well but randomly, like everything, it needs maintenance.  Purchased in 1996 it has fed out approximately 30   20'x60' silo's!  Tonight our truck is back on the road, now with a new cap, rotor and ignition coil.

We definitely have signs of spring going on here.  There are 3 boxes of parts that have been delivered so Bruce and Ed can fine tune the corn planter.  Bruce has been studying the seed literature and has ordered the rest of what he needs.  We ordered our corn a few months ago but he was working on something new for the nurse crop for our alfalfa.  Historically we have planted barley with it as a protector crop and have harvested the barley as grain in early August.  This year our silage reserves are getting a bit lower than we are used to so we need to harvest more forage.  The current plan is to plant triticale and forage field peas with the alfalfa and then chop that as silage this summer.  I have to say that the peas part makes me nervous.  They are great feed but timing is everything.  Rain that keeps you out of the field at the time you should harvest.....well, lets see what the summer brings. Bruce spent the afternoon fixing the fence at the other place and getting it ready for animals. It was warm enough he didn't need his winter coat and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air and the birds singing.

This morning I was thrilled to see the surgery cow was eating everything she should again.  Tonight she is running a fever of 104 (normal 101).  She is already on antibiotics so Bruce gave her something for her fever and there will be a phone call to the vet in the morning for advice.  My sick calf was barely conscious this morning.  She got her electrolites and milk through a stomach tube again.  When I got home I asked Bruce how the calf was doing, expecting to hear that she didn't make it.  Bruce started to laugh and then explained that he gave her electrolites again with a stomach tube because it was faster and then proceeded to climb the silo since it had unplugged itself again.  When Bruce came down the calf was standing in front of her hutch!  Dealing with sick calves can be frustrating and amazing.  The first time I had a calf do that it had been unconscious for 3 days and the next morning was standing there complaining.. That time I felt like I had seen a ghost.  Tonight she wasn't up so I fed her again via stomach tube.  We will see what tomorrow brings.  Tonight we are down to 4 special needs cows since one has passed her drug test and can now be milked into the tank.  There are 2 heifers with udders that say it won't be much longer and we will have new calves.  They are due 4/13 but they definitely aren't going to wait that long : )

Fixing, fixing, fixing

Got to the barn this morning to find my sick calf outside complaining in front of her hutch.  She is still kind of weak but bright and aggressive and eats well so its easy to get her electrolites into her.  By tonight she is weaker but still drinking on her own. Frustrating to say the least. As far as the rest of the calves go, my hope is to move cattle to the other place this week and then shuffle calves again so I can pressure wash hutches.  We prefer to pressure wash them all after 2 calves have used them and the weather is supposed to be perfect the end of this week to do that. The trick will be to get them empty.

Bruce managed to haul 6 loads of soupy manure out of Ed's yard today.  After the rain and snow there was a pond next to the bunk so the high priority was to get that cleaned up. In the process he managed to load a chunk of ice that jammed and proceeded to shear a pin so there was fixing involved in the middle of the project.  He was using our slop spreader which has a scissors type door in the back. In order to replace the pin he had to crawl inside.  He compares it to working in an open septic tank.  Needless to say, a load of laundry was created at the same time. Ed filled the feed box today while Bruce cleaned a few loads of manure out of the lower yard here.  As of late the silo unloader has been behaving itself so it only takes one person to run it.  Sometimes its helpful when you go into a different crop of feed.  Something as simple as the moisture level or length of material can cause problems with how the unloader works. That's what I suspect has happened lately, we are in different, more cooperative feed.

Bruce came in this afternoon carrying a set of goat twins.  These are closer to the time of year we would expect, a tad early, but the weather is great and they seem to be a couple days old already and are doing great.  They are so cute when they are small.  It's fun to have a couple new ones to watch again. He moved these into the building where the other kids were started and turned on a heat lamp.  They should do great in there and we don't have to worry about them getting run over or stomped by everyone else since it gets a bit competitive around the feeder.

Today our mechanic came to work on our truck.  It seems humorous that the kid who used to come and play here with our son is now someone we call for services.  Life does move on!!

Day of Running

Milking this morning went fine but feeding calves had its troubles.  I have recently switched a couple more calves to pails and increased their milk.  This morning they both had diarrhea and since they are a bit older, I suspect I have increased the amount a bit too quickly.  One was basically fine so I added the standard electrolites and gave him less.  Tonight he is already looking better.  The one outside was already weak this morning so she got a bottle of electrolites but for most of the day she was on her own.  Bruce and I both had places to be today and with the truck not running we had to share the car.  I was able to catch a ride home with a friend so as soon as Bruce could he made sure she got more electrolites. As soon as I got to the barn tonight she got milk and electrolites again after milking.  She also is on the mend given the fact that as I tried to bed her hutch she was trying to run me over to get inside.

Bruce had 2 appointments in town today so as long as he was out he went to check on getting recertified to buy chemicals and spray our corn fields.  The normal procedure is to attend a day of class and then take a test but Bruce prefers to get the book, read it and schedule taking the test separately.  He found out today that the book he purchased last year is good this year also, and since he had paid the fees but never managed to get the test taken, he doesn't have to pay this year.  We have hired our chemical applications the last few years but haven't been exactly happy with the results so Bruce intends to do it himself this year.  It's something he had usually done himself but decided to hire someone to take it off his "to do" list.  He has nothing to lose given the fact that if he doesn't have time a phone call will take care of the problem.

We had our truck looked at today and at this point it looks like there is a problem in the ignition, perhaps a sensor or a broken rotor.  Whatever the case I hope it's a cheap fix!  

Sunday!

Today was a slow day as far as farming goes.  We fed and milked cows as usual but spent a good chunk of the day with our son and his girlfriend.  That translates into a 7 hr day for Bruce and about 4 1/2 hrs for me.  Part of our travels today was supposed to involve using our truck so we put some gas in out of the barrel here.  We got less than 2 miles from home and the truck quit.  We aren't sure if there is water in the fuel or if something else died but in any case, pulling it home had to take place after we got home but before we milked tonight.  Bruce has very few things he doesn't work on but vehicles and electric motors are on that short list so we will have to have someone look at it this week.  On the cow side of our world, all is well.  Still dealing with 5 special needs cows but they are all responding to their version of treatment well.  The surgery cow is looking brighter and eating and pooping....all the things that say she is on the mend.  It is supposed to be cold over night the next few days so Bruce has great plans to clean barns this week Time will tell if the planning will match reality : )

One Ahead, One Back

Bruce had another one of those mornings that actually started out last night.  While we were finishing up milking he started running the haylage in the mixer for this morning.  With the cool weather the haylage keeps well over night and, in theory, this would speed up feeding in the morning.  Before he had quite enough the unloader quit throwing anything down so he just shut it off.  This morning he climbed up there and found it had pulled its plug partially out so he assumed that was the problem.  Climbed down again and it still wouldn't run.  Climbed up and pushed the reset button on the motor. Climbed down and it still would not run . He  climbed up to make sure it wasn't plugged and all was well.  At that point he decided there was an electrical problem in the motor and called the electrician.  He had managed to get enough haylage down to mix 1/3 of a normal batch of feed so thats what he did, and fed it sparingly so everyone got something to eat as part of their regular routine.  The electrician was here before we were done milking and found some wires had come lose inside the motor.  As soon as milking was done Bruce hauled out the load of manure since it was darned cold this morning.  By this point Joe was here for tractor driving practice so Bruce grabbed breakfast quickly and proceeded with that plan.  It was noon by the time he had a chance to get the rest of the feed mixed and fed.  We have company this weekend, our son Jim and girlfriend Jen, so we took the afternoon off, sort of, and made a farmer shopping run and had dinner out.  That is our basic version of a day off.  We got home in time for Bruce to start mixing feed once again so we could milk.  The surgery cow is picking at her hay.  The food of choice after surgery is grassy, dry baled hay.  She looks a little tougher than we would consider normal but picking at feed is a start to recovery.  I always find surgery on cows interesting in the fact that there is never any swelling to speak of and they will lay against their stitches as though they aren't there.  Generally I am the one who takes the stitches out and that will happen in a couple weeks.

Tonight we at least had 1 less special needs cow with one passing her drug test and now getting milked into the tank.  This too shall pass, hopefully before anyone else has their calf!

Yup, A DA

The morning started with a phone call and the arrival of a heifer calf.  That makes cow #5 on the special needs list. By the time we got to the end of milking Bruce added another cow to that list, one that has developed mastitis in a quarter.  Ed stopped in to let Bruce know that the silo needed to be let down a door. We called to have a vet take a look at the cow they came to see the other day since she isn't eating again. Sure enough, she has a DA so they did surgery on her.  As long as we had someone here we had her do 2 pregnancy checks.  One pregnant, one open.  The only good news before noon was it was frozen and Bruce was again able to get some manure, well actually the rain puddle in the steer yard, hauled on frost.

They do the DA surgery here on the farm.  They first clip a patch on the side of the animal very short.  They then scrub that area with iodine to disinfect it.  A local anesthetic is administered in the area along the spine, above the area where the surgery is to take place.  This blocks 3 nerves that run down into this area, similar to an epidural.  She then is draped and an incision is made through the skin and the muscle wall.  The abomasum is located and a needle is inserted to remove the gas build up.  The abomasum is then pulled into place and stitched to the muscle wall so it can't flip back over.  Then she gets stitched up.  During the surgery she is standing and alert but doesn't feel anything.  They drenched her again today in hopes of getting her digestive system going.  She was pooping after the last treatment so she hasn't had a DA very long.  The good news is once this surgery is done she is corrected for life.

All shaved and disinfected and ready

All draped and ready to go

Her new zipper

They put a sealer on to protect the stitches.  These cows show no signs of pain after its done and  go back to eating, hopefully within 24 hrs

This afternoon Bruce let the silo unloader down a door and bedded the heifers at Ed's.  He brought the tractor we rent home from Ed's so Joe can practice driving it tomorrow.  He is getting to the end of his tractor safety class and driving is the last part of the test.  Tonight milking the regular cows took 1 1/2 hours and the special needs cows, all 6 of them, took an hour.  (this too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass)     : )

On the way home tonight I thought I heard the dogs collar and turned to look just in time to see a huge shooting star!  Very Cool!