Real Winter Today

When we headed to the barn this morning the thermometer said -18.  Guess its winter in Wisconsin!  Drinking cups in the back of the barn needed thawing and the silo unloader was really SLOW since it is chewing loose the frozen silage. The bull twin has been put on penicillin with signs of an infection in his joints.  He is bright and eats like crazy so he should do fine yet.  I increased the milk the calves in the hutches were getting about 25% each feeding today.  Normally they get 2 qts twice a day but with the cold they can handle more.  Before we left the barn we did the rest of the blood draws for pregnancy checks.  We started doing checks that way nearly 2 years ago.  Currently the vets charge $28 to arrive at our farm and $100/hr once they are here.  While we realize they probably have business expenses to justify their charges we just can't justify calling them for things we are able to do ourselves. Drawing blood is done with the same equipment that is used on people but its taken from a vein under the tail.  We have timed how long it takes and Bruce can draw nearly 1/minute so its pretty quick.  We send these samples to a clinic in Minnesota and 24 hours after they receive them we get an email with all the results.  Bruce had an appointment in town today so it was a "date" day : )  When we got home Bruce headed to the barn to start the evening routine and when he went to haul the manure the tractor wouldn't start.  He thought he had the block heater plugged in correctly but he rechecked that and put the battery charger on it.  Needless to say, the day once again got extended with that and silo unloaders that are still slow.  As soon as we got milking done I sent Bruce on his way to try the tractor and thaw drinking cups again.  THANKFULLY the tractor started this time.  Plan B was for me to pull it out of where it was so we could switch tractors and I find doing that just a bit stressful!  I finished the milkhouse and misc. evening chores and at 10 Bruce headed out to haul manure.  We can already feel the air moving from the south so the plan is to shut the water off to the back area over night.  No real difference between the water being off or frozen but it eliminates the potential broken pipe mess. Bruce is back at 10:25.  The day is done : )  Current temp -4.  Bruce announced this morning "3 months til grass"!