I started these writings with the intention of doing it daily. Life has evolved to the point that do a rough draft and then finish them when I get the time. Again, I am catching up.....
Saturday-Bruce was running in all directions. Joe was here to milk in the morning so he and I milked and Bruce started hauling manure, first from the cow/steer yard, later in the lower heifer yard and then he bedded the animals in Ed's yard. While he was cleaning barns he realized that some of the steers in the lower barn weren't feeling well so as soon as I was done with breakfast I ran to the vet clinic to get some antibiotics for them. With all the snow and rain they seem to have pneumonia, and once again, the outside animals are fine and it's the ones with a building to go in to that are sick. Makes no sense but that is how it works. When he was nearly done I came out and, instead of waiting around, decided to try and sort the heifers that were in the pen in the barn. I had an empty pen outside and a list of 9 heifers I wanted with 10 I didn't. Sorting cattle can be interesting, although I think it is easier to do bigger animals than the small ones. By the time I got done I had 2 extra animals that I didn't need and 1 that I hadn't managed to sort out yet. Bruce helped get the final sort done and then we put 9 heifers in the barn. We bring them in one at a time and get them in their stanchions. We had the advantage with this group that they are familiar with both us and how stanchions work since they have gotten their grain in the lower building before. We had gotten a call that one of our purchased heifers that hasn't been delivered was making an udder pretty quickly so she was delivered just as we had gotten the last one of ours where she needed to go. Perfect timing! Bruce treated 4 steers with antibiotics and then went on to mix feed and milk.
The Class III price for October has been announced at $18.03. For a change our contracted milk was on the right side of that price and will make an extra $980.00. The price for 2009 was $12.82 and the 2010 price was $16.94. The 15 year historical high was $18.70 in 2007 with a low of $10.02 in 2000.
Sunday-With winter coming there is a need to move cattle so feeding and observation is easiest. We also are about to have calving chaos so Bruce scraped the area where the hutches go and added another couple inches of screenings to the base. He then moved 7 hutches in place and bedded 3 so we have a place ready to go. Bruce cleaned the inside of the lower barn and then the cattle shuffle began. One of the sick steers had died so he was removed and composted. Thankfully the rest seem to be doing OK. First we sorted the outside group of steers so we had the biggest 12 and put them in the steers holding pen. Then we sorted 2 bigger steers out of the group of animals that were in the barn here and added them to the group of smaller ones in the lower building. This group will spend their winter in the center section of the lower barn. Next we sorted the heifers out of that pasture group and put them in the end yard in the lower building. Once this was done we put the larger steers we brought up in the pen in the barn where Bruce can feed them easier. We are short of heifers to fill our needs which is why we purchased some. We now have 40 steers on feed, which is also why we are short of heifers. We must have had a huge run on bull calves. The steers that are living in the cow/steer yard got moved into their holding pen. The last group to move was on pasture at the other place. Bruce had gotten them to the barn a couple days ago so we ran a temporary wire along the corn field and then proceeded to herd them out of the yard, down the driveway, across the highway, through the cow paddock and lane, across the town road and into the cow yard. From there they went out the gate on the other side and down another driveway to the end yard with the heifers sorted from the pasture here. This will be our breeding group. The lower building has 3 sections that now hold a group of goats, steers and heifers. Bruce and I did all this ourselves with the help of Mike. He was excited beyond words to have something to do again. Ed came just as we were going to move the last group so he came along to watch the highway but Mike did all the work.
On Thursday I was presented with a small window of opportunity to go visit my sister. I was really torn about going because the list of things to do was pretty long, but there is a reality that if I didn't go now I probably wouldn't have the option get away again until next summer. It wasn't until after dinner on Sunday that I made the final decision to go, and didn't leave until after all the animals were moved. Joe had already said he could help Bruce both tonight and again Monday night. I then went to work in town and got payroll done so I could take Monday off.
Monday-Bruce milked himself this morning. The day was spent feeding everyone. How many months til grass?
Tuesday-Back to reality for me. I managed a 30 hours of vacation which included 3 milkings! The heifers must have missed the fact that I was leaving because surprisingly no one has calved yet! During milking we noticed a cow that obviously wasn't feeling good. Given the fact that we have steers with pneumonia we decided to call the vet for a complete exam on her. She wasn't eating much and was running a fever of 105 (normal 101) and the end diagnosis was "I don't know". She had some uterine fluid from calving but nothing abnormal, lungs are clear, no DA, no mastitis. She exhibits signs of belly pain but no symptoms that generally go along with hardware problems. We will treat her to prevent secondary problems but the initial thought is she has some type of virus. The rest of Bruce's day involved feeding & cleaning the barn. We have 6 more heifers to arrive so we need to make space. Bruce removed the trim chute we use for now and put it in the shed until we can install it in a different stall. He made a bottom plate for one of the stalls since the original ones were cast metal and not repairable. The cleaning process on the mattresses has begun with the exception of one that will be replaced. By the time I left the barn tonight I had 2 bleached and ready for new animals. Tomorrow we will move some to make space in an effort to create a group to feed. Ed is combining his own corn today and Bruce's only interruption of his plans was pulling the truck that got stuck in Ed's field. It's marginal getting around out there after the rain and snow which is why Bruce is concentrating on cattle needs, hoping the fields will dry out soon.
The new heifers are now on half milking TMR and half transition ration. Since Bruce is currently mixing and feeding 8 different batches of feed he is looking forward to the heifers moving on to a total milking ration.
Wednesday-Bruce had an appointment in town and then continued getting ready for the last heifers that are coming. He fixed stanchions that needed it, including one tonight that broke the swivel on top while we were milking. Tomorrows plan is to call and make arrangements for the heifer deliveries. No calves yet but we do have plans Friday night so it is a pretty sure thing Friday will be a busy day.
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