Numbers

Within the last month Bruce and I have both had birthdays.  At 54 and 56 we don't bounce like we used to and at times the normal is too much.  That is the current case with Bruce injuring his back when he brought the last heifer calf home.  There hasn't been much extra farming the last few days with a therapy appoint and many rounds of ice then heat then ice.  We called Joe yesterday to see if he could help me and give Bruce a break.  As a freshman in high school, yesterday was his first day of marching band which was followed by the first cross country practice.  Tired and rubbery legged Joe showed up to help us out and we truely appreciated it.  Today Bruce was standing much straighter, picking what he did carefully, and alternating ice and heat and ice every few hours.  He was not happy about spending such a beautiful day spending so much time looking at the ceiling but he is feeling better. Tonight when I got to the barn he announced "look at me!  I can walk like a real boy".  Simple things like bringing a calf home is part of our normal farming routine.  Adding on to your age tends to change the balance of the things we do.

Our life revolves around other numbers.  The cows are not doing spectactular but all things considered are doing ok.  Our fat test and MUN are too low, our somatic cell count is too high.  Bruce is increasing the protein amount to correct the MUN.  The fat test tends to be an ongoing summer problem when cows are out on grass.  We are doing cultures on high SCC cows to see what particular problem they have so we treat them correctly.    The fresh cow is doing OK.  She wasn't eating like she should yesterday so Bruce gave her a magnet just in case she has some hardware issues involved along with treating her for ketosis.  This morning she had blood in 1 quarter so that quarter needed to be milked by hand.  Already tonight that quarter was back to milk but she now has mastitis so Bruce treated her. The good news is she seems to be eating again.  This cow is very heavy because it took a long time to get her pregnant.  She has a bigger and lower udder than some which doesn't work that well with Bruce's back issues.  Add to that the fact that she doesn't exactly have a charming personality.  I guess someone has to make life interesting. 

The other numbers these days are farmer and cow friendly temperatures.  Tonight it's 72.  In the last 4 days we have bred 5 cows.  Breedings are running a bit later than we would like but the early rain and then the heat and humidity kept the cows from cycling and/or being active in heat.