Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Baymule]

We have signs posted in the parks warning people about "Coyote Danger". Took a picture but can't find it in the computer.

A park in Lindale had signs warning people about alligators. LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

Each locale had its own dangers!

 

[farmerjan]

Interesting last 2 days...
It started out at a COLD, 22 degrees, Tuesday, but sun came out and it warmed up some.. little breeze.
Left and went down to co-op with the truck and JR brought me back home.

Unloaded meters and hoses so car was empty and dropped off the samples and all from getting the racking list the afternoon before, and all that from the farmer... Of course, he didn't think to bring my "cane seat" or the piece off one of the meters that he said was at the farm...will have to go by and get it when I go near there in the next week or so....
Got to the farm and all was okay, until they turned on the vacuum pump for the milking system and it wouldn't work... they had used it that morning.... ... tried all sort of things and could not get it to work... Called the dairy service company..... they got there about 45 minutes after normal starting time. Gave me the option to stay or come back another day... I said I'd stay and see... if they had to replace the "air compressor" and all, I would leave and come back... but they took something apart and put it back together.... and it worked... ???? . So we started milking an hour late... and it went pretty good... In the course of that got talking about losing my nurse cow, having to put the calves on bottles, and calves in general.. and they had a set of twins born that were small and he said, do you want them??? I said I was thinking of getting a few more bottle calves since I had to put the other 2 on bottles... and I said really??? and he said yes, he didn't need to fool with them... they were small and his hutches were full.... and I said well, okay... I would come get them tomorrow ( today)....
So we got done testing.... and then the printer would not print anything... his son tried several things and could not get it to work.... everyone was just out of sorts with starting late and all that... so I said, look, I will get the racking list I need tomorrow when I come get the calves so we don't have to keep messing with it this evening... so I left there and got home about 8.... locked up chickens and came in.

So, today, I went up and fed the 2 calves here... did chickens and such, brought the samples in the house.... called the farmer and asked was he serious about the twins, and he said yes, so I said I would be up there after 2 or so when they were going to the barn to feed and such and he said that was fine... they got the stuff printed that morning...
It has been a nice day... started out at 33 this morning... sun out and warmed up alot more... hit 62 in the sun and very little breeze.
I loaded the large crate, and headed up. Stopped to get a bag of milk replacer that I was needing... and a couple bags of sweet/textured feed... talked to the couple of guys at the feed mill I have known for many years and about some "help changes".... and then got to the farm a little before 3. Got the papers, made sure the herd info was "uploaded " to the main computer processing center that we forgot in the aggravation the night before... and got the twins. Asked the farmer what he wanted for them... he said just take them, and if they make it, we can talk about it, like $20 or something each.... They are BOTH Holstein heifers.... so will be "good" for breeding... no freemartins like a heifer/bull combination in cattle... and came on home.
Came to the house first... got the bottles made for everyone... went to the barn... fed the 2 big ones... then moved them into the other side of the barn and unloaded these 2 small ones... yeah, they weigh 40-50 lbs at best... one is a little "loose" manure, but they both ate real good... I fed them barely 3/4 bottle each so they aren't getting too much for their little stomachs... about the size of a nice jersey calf.... I wonder if that one is "loose" because they are getting too much milk to drink all at once... I find that to be too often the case for these small calves... so, I will watch them close for the next few days....
The funniest thing is the other 2 bigger calves were scared to death of them in the pen.... I laughed... the beef calves come in the other side and they see them... but these 2 small ones had them totally in shocked... OMG... what are they???? I put them on the other side by themselves and shut the door to the pen that the calves are coming in through the creep feeder.... will keep them separate for a little bit... but they have a chance to "run and play" a little since they were in calf hutches.... and I can close off the creep gate so they can go out in the sun... I will see how they look and act in the morning...

SOOOOO, I am back in the bottle, baby calf business.... the big ones I may switch to once a day bottles in another 10 days or so... they are 6 weeks old already and doing very good on the one feeding on days I have to work....they are eating the grain in the bunk feeder better and better... Going to get a couple of sq bales of the real good orchard grass hay we made... although they are eating the plain grass hay I have now...cutting the amount in the bottles just a little now when they are getting 2x a day... I see where they are drinking water too... so, they on the way to where they need to be.... one of the little twins was drinking water out of the trough even... they might be drinking out of buckets but I prefer to feed calves on bottles, especially when they are small like this... Just me....buckets would be a little easier though... I might call him tomorrow and see...sometimes drinking out of buckets gets them to drink water faster too... but I really am not pushing buckets...

Got done, came home, locked in chickens and done for the night. Tomorrow I will get the rest of the "base" 2x6's all nailed together... I asked DS about getting the cover on this weekend....

 

[Ridgetop]

They are BOTH Holstein heifers....

Great deal! And if they survive you have two good dairy heifers for $20 each for possible nurse cows in future.

they might be drinking out of buckets but I prefer to feed calves on bottles, especially when they are small like this... Just me....

I like to bottle feed babies too, you can make sure they are drinking correctly to keep them from inhaling the milk.

 

[Mini Horses]

Now is when a shed and half acre fenced back yard would be so convenient! . Hmmm. 4 bottle calves. What's a couple more -- already doing it . I like that they're heifers. DS won't be as thrilled. Oh well!! Not his. Now I need to teach you to post pictures!!! We'd really like to see them. Calves have such cute faces.

 

[farmerjan]

Thursday morning...
28 degrees out, but can see the sun streaking the sky across the road, and forecast is a nice day.... today, tomorrow and into Saturday with clouds coming in. Major rain event again this coming Sunday/Monday. I am sure that people who work aren't thrilled about it, but I am fine with it. We need the moisture to percolate down into the drought affected soil stratas... to replenish all the moisture in the subsoil layers... Although rain at this time of year takes longer to work it's way down since the plant roots are not active and the soil is dormant... but as long as it doesn't pour down an inch an hour type of thing, it will be good. Supposedly going to get 1-3 inches in that 24-48 hour time frame.
Snow expected to the southwestern part of Va in the mountains, and some major snow in NY state, and further north.

Going to eat something, then make up the bottles...
Yes, @Mini Horses , a fence here with the calf hutches and all would sure be nice, and easier and much more convenient for me... I am going to talk to some other people I know to see if I can't find someone here to put this fence up since it is just never on DS's schedule.... Tired of all of this... Really really tired of the promises that never get done... it got mentioned one day when he was saying about him and x-gf and how he just had to accept it and get some things done at the farm, and how he let things go and I told him that yes, she was a user, that everytime she wanted something he would drop everything to accommodate her wishes and he neglected so much and all she was doing was using him to get what she wanted done... and he even agreed and said he just couldn't believe that people were like that after as close a friends that they had been over the years and as much as they had been through... and I said she is selfish, self important user and she would never change...and he agreed, and that several people he had talked to have told him this over the years but he just didn't want to see it.. and that he wasted so many years..... and then added in that she is seeing the ex-ex bf again... and that it will never change... and it won't ....

He better be available to help with this shelter cover so I can get it up and the chickens inside for the winter. Especially with the rain coming this weekend...

Going to do some laundry and hang since the next 2 days are going to be nice... temps in the 50's too... Yesterday was quite comfortable since getting more used to the cooler weather...

 

[peteyfoozer]

I had to feed all the leppie calves here on the ranch until just a couple years ago. One year I had 32!!? THAT was a nightmare. But I had Randy make me bottle holders. I had 4 of them that each held 7 bottles That was the only year we had so many Normally we had between 7 and 15 Now the cowboys feed them since I got too sick

 

[murphysranch]

FJ: I'm so glad that new babies came your way, after the loss of your nurse cow. It was meant to be.

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks @murphysranch ..... never looked at them that way... we'll see how they do. So far they are eating okay. The little bit bigger one insists on keeping it's head up and fights the nipple trying to drink fast... I am going to switch to the bigger "calf nipple" tomorrow and see if that helps... and try to make it keep it's head down more so the milk doesn't go in the lungs. The slightly smaller one drinks from the lamb/foal type nipple that I prefer to use on calves since it is often closer to a smaller teat on most cows... keeps them from drinking so fast and makes swallowing better with them....I have preferred those smaller nipples for years.
It will take a few days to get them to "work together" as I feed them together... they are getting 3/4 bottle right now... I did not see either one do any manure so can't say if they are still loose, but their butts look drier today than they did when I brought them home...
The 2 older ones come right to the gate, drink without any butting or anything until the bottle gets empty... the holstein gets about 5 pints and the black one 4 pints ... and drink that amount each so they finish right up at the same time.... the holstein is quite a bit bigger calf so that works out. I am cutting them back in the evening to 3/4 of what they get in the morning... and will cut it a little bit more in another week or so.... They look good and are starting to eat more grain so that is good.

I got the 2x6's and all nailed together and ready. Took the cover out and laid it out alongside the frame... Hoping it is going to fit... it looks tight... so we will see. The frame material (pipes) that came with the new cover are a little smaller and lighter... so I hope it will fit over the heavier framework of the shelter logic frame.

This is making me really wanting a rigid more permanent type of greenhouse... the little 1/2 one on the deck is doing a good job of keeping the spider plants alive and the "frozen/frosted" ones are mostly all sprouting up pretty nicely. Tomorrow I need to water them all again. I have opened the door during the warmer part of the day so it doesn't get too hot in there... It is working.
I would like to have some barrels of water in a greenhouse for passive heat... absorb the sun/heat during the day.... this smaller greenhouse does not have much extra room in it for barrels of water... I ought to see if any of my farmers have any 15 gal barrels I could "steal"... most of the companies that bring the teat dip and the pipeline wash chemicals in these barrels, take them back now. I don't think there is a deposit on them, but it is a courtesy since the farmers used to have to take them to the landfill.... I used to use them for hauling water to the calves in the past... 10 were 150 gallons and it was easy to slide them around and tip them over on the tailgate and dump into the water troughs... but they are too hard to fill at the spring with the much smaller fill holes than the big water totes of 275-325 gallons... so I usually fill one of them about 200 gallons when I haul water now. Have a pvc pipe fitted to a flexible connector to put on the value on the bottom of the tank, and can run the pipe right into the water troughs... have a reducer with an extended pipe to use at the barn to run the water into the pens without alot of problems... a 90* elbow so the water doesn't spray out everywhere when I need to direct it.....

So got a few more things done. Did the jeans and some sweatshirts and got hung out in the nice weather. They will come in tomorrow...

Got all the ham cut off the bone so I can use it to make some split pea soup.
Packed the samples that I had to get the racking list for yesterday when I got the calves... dropped them off to go out today too.

So that was my day... weather was nice, hit 54 and no breeze so comfortable in a sweatshirt; cools off quick once the sun goes down. It is down to 36 at 7:30...

Need to think about something to eat. Tired of ham for the last several days. need to look in the freezer and see what there is that would not take a long time to make. I need to look for the split peas, they weren't where I thought they were... Actually, Sunday would be a good day to make it when it is chilly and rainy out there... I'll stick the ham bone in the fridge and the little pieces of ham I cut up as I stripped the ham for slices off it.

Think I will find a movie and find something to eat.

 

[farmerjan]

Sun coming up across the hill... It got down to 31 last night... not as cold as it could have been... going to be a nice day today and then clouds coming in tomorrow for the all day rain event on Sunday....

Going to see if there is a way to get the cover partly on the frame and then set it back upright...

Getting ready to head up the hill to feed the calves on the bottles. Then get out here and get some other things done while it is nice out. ...