Farmerjan's journal - Weather

Wed morning... got up and went to the barn at 7... wanted to be there by 6:30 but did not turn the alarm on... Tractor trailer came with the cattle from VT... He was just backing down the driveway when I got there...

DS was spreading fertilizer last night and got back to the barn at 10... he should have gotten it done earlier but was working on the litter truck that I got the brackets for several weeks ago when I was up testing right near the place that had them... He had also gotten some panels set up to bring the cows down out of the one field... that we are going to preg check... and he wants to pull those other calves off to sell...
So he got it spread late, and I went back to the barn to help him get the hay in the barn bunk that he brought home from VT for the calves, and silage and things ready for the VT cattle... and position the portable unloading ramp set up with the corral panels there in the driveway for the tractor trailer to back up to...

So, got backed up, and they unloaded them... 60 head.... went pretty smoothly... they are in the barn lot, have access to the hay and silage in the bunk, water there at the waterer... He might keep them in there for probably a day so that they learn where the waterer is and then open the gate into Lot 1, where they can come and go... they are muddy and dirty because they had had all sorts of rain up there in VT and it was a quagmire... The frost was coming out of the ground and it just makes the mud worse... VT kiddingly says it has 5 seasons... Summer, Fall, Winter, MUD, and Spring....and they were having the MUD/Spring just when DS went up there and they caught and moved the calves...to wean for this trip... I am sure @purplequeenvt knows exactly what I am talking about...
There were a few snotty noses... DS will put them on aureomycin crumbles in the grain on the bunk for at least a week... and anything we think needs it will get treated with antibiotic shots. They will get a booster dose of vaccine in 2 weeks and probably wormed also... Because of the colder climate, they are quite shaggy too, still have their winter coats whereas our cattle are shedding out fast...

I will go look at them better later... or tomorrow... let them settle in and all for a day.

Helped him hook up the fertilizer buggy and all as they needed it back... someone wanted to put down some fertilizer. Was supposed to take it back last night but it was late.

Then I found out that GF had a problem with her car... smoke everywhere... turns out it was the PLASTIC joint for the heater hose that goes through the firewall, cracked, spewing water everywhere, it sits above the catalytic converter... so made a huge smokey plume and she thought the car was catching on fire... Which I kinda get... so he went all the way down to her house last night (he was going to stay at his so get more sleep and be close)... and looked at it, saw what it was, and took it apart so he can go get parts to fix it for her. Like it couldn't wait for today... Whatever.

Okay. back... he called me after he got back from taking the fertilizer buggy.... GF had gotten there after I had left, and was checking the cows/calves... noticed one calf was looking gaunted up... DS looked at it and they decided to bring it into the barn... so wanted me to bring some hot water and milk replacer to mix, in case it needed a bottle... see what was wrong... So I went... cow is being very motherly and protective... not mean... got her in the chute... had milk in all 4...... calf looking peaked........ I wound up milking her out of 2 quarters and got a bottle full... got the calf to finally get the nipple in it's mouth... and it finally caught on and went to sucking really good. I am not sure it ever sucked her to start with... So after making sure it drank the bottle, it wanted more, so GF helped and we got it on the teat while the cow was in the head chute... calf does not seem to "get it" that it has to reach DOWN to get the teat... but we got it on her a couple times, sucks good when she gets it in her mouth...
The milk looked pretty yellow so was more colostrum than not so good that I got her milked rather than just milk replacer..
I told DS that he might have to help it find a teat a few times before it gets it figured out... might even have to get her in the chute... but she is pretty calm so might be able to just give her a pan of grain and get the calf over on her that way... I think she will be fine once she figures out where the milk comes from. But kept her in the barn in a pen, just to be able to work with her a couple times.
Some calves are not too smart... Cow's udder is a little low slung, so a little harder to find but not dragging the ground by any means. She is very attentive, and all so once the calf "gets it" and learns to go down to the teat, they ought to do fine. That is the only problem with some older cows where the ligaments start to go.,... She was one of the 4 he bought last spring, with the steer calves that matched ours... so now we know to watch her closer if she does okay and breeds back this year... at least GF noticed it... saved a 2,000 calf.... If there are any other problems with her, we can always pull the calf and sell it, or put it on Maggie... BUT I think once it figures out where the teat is, it will do fine..

So, DS said that he didn't think there was anything else he needed me for... thanked me twice for coming down... and he went to move our cows that were in the barn, around to the silo lot because, these new ones had MODIFIED live virus vaccines, and ours have not, and if they come in contact, like drinking out of the same waterer, they can pick up the live virus and cattle with no prior exposure to a live virus one, there have been cases of cows aborting... so they cannot be in direct contact. 4 of ours are pregnant that he is pulling the bigger steers off... and do NOT want them to abort their calves...
One reason I am adamant about using killed virus vaccines... there can be NO possibility of any exposure to the modified live while it is still "working", and cause the possible abortion.

I came on back home. Just made myself some lunch... never did eat any breakfast... and will go out to the chickens here in a little bit. I did feed and water yesterday evening before DS called me to come back to the barn... so they are fine...

I did look at the calves some before I left after doing the cow/calf... They are very muddy from his place, but there are some nice calves in the bunch... He let them out of the barn lot; with the rain it would only make them muddier/dirtier, down into Lot 1 , so they could stay cleaner... They must've run a loop around that field at least 4-5 times... stretched their legs and it isn't muddy.... like up in VT...

Plus, it finally started raining... got a good downpour, and has been light but raining mostly ever since... so better to keep her in for a day or so and make sure the calf drinks and doesn't get soaked and a chill for the next couple days.

Plus, it is cloudy, was foggy early and still some hazy fog.... it has let up but looks like another wave of rain coming through and maybe another good downpour later this afternoon. Hope so, we can sure use it...

I'm going out now with the "lull", and do chickens.
 
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Done for the night. I had texted DS after I got the chickens done to see if he was going to move those cows around the hill. to get the second group in , to pull the biggest calves off the cows to get sold Friday with the other 4(5?) from the escapee group we just preg checked. Said he was going to go up and open the gate into the next field that he had locked some out of... let them have the grass and then on Friday, we would be able to get them in the barn easier to sort and pull the calves. So, I opened a gate for him to feed old red with the broken hip, and the other cow that had the premie that has finally come into her milk pretty good. She will go out to pasture with the other spring calving cows somewhere, but Red cannot go. Have to find some one to keep her company.. hopefully to keep company for her calf. He is really growing and he is going to be a potential "keep for a bull" if he keeps growing like he is... We have 1 of her daughters with a calf, one at snyder's to get bred...and this bull calf is by the real good old bull, Black Powder, that DS hauled 100 miles north to put on the truck to go direct to slaughter a few months ago. Just as long as she does not make him as much a pet as Roscoe so that he respects human "space"...
Then opened the gate to the cows that have calved on the hill, then went and opened the gate to the ones in the peterbilt field... then came home.

The leghorn does not want to be in the crate... I have decided that tomorrow night I will give her eggs... she sits in the same spot but is not as puffy or clucky... if she doesn't stay, then I will move them in the incubator.. I have to be careful opening the door partway, as she is looking to get out. Hope if she gets the eggs, which I will do in the dark... that she will get back to wanting to set, again.

Got 1 egg out from the other 2 leghorns, and 3 out of the 4 NH pullets. All according to how many leghorn eggs tomorrow night, I will stick a couple of NH eggs out of this group. Only been 8-9 days since I moved the other rooster out... but I want her to have a full nest to convince her to set.
Worse comes to worst, and she won't stick, I can put them in the incubator and mark them...

It was a very light, nearly nothing misty sprinkles this afternoon, but then we got another good 10-15 minute rain when I went to check on Maggie. She is favoring the foot that he cut too short that bled... but she is out eating/grazing and the grass looks like it grew 2 inches in 24 hours with the little bit of rain yesterday...just walking with a bit of a limp and favoring it some.
There was about 1/4 th inch in the gauge at noon or so... but I did not dump it... with this evening's rain, hoping we will see 1/2 inch or more... Might get another shower as there are some clouds might come through later, but probably not alot.
Some areas got over a 1/2 inch from this mornings rains... it did break up some as it came this way... seems to do that alot lately... but we did get a nice one. The rain comes down fast, it runs down the driveways and such, but it stops pretty fast too, so no washing... It sure has been welcome.
Could use a few more days like this over the next 2 weeks to get things going...

No eggs from the cornish hens so they are done... got to see about getting them killed.

I did not fool with changing those 2 panels and putting them in right on the pen I have 2/3 topgether... maybe in another day or 2...

Grass is going to need mowing again after these rains.. Not complaining as we are very thankful for the rains on the pastures and hay fields.

Done for the night.
 
Here it is the first of May... and we are now having our normal APRIL weather... 40 last night... sunny and light breeze... supposed to get into the 60's today... last several days have been 60's and flirting with 71-72... we are supposed to be 40's to low 50's nights and 70's days...
Mother Nature got the months backwards... There has been a possible frost warning for a couple of nights... and next week is supposed to be pretty much the same with a few nights into the high 30's...

We got a total of .65 inches here in rain... better than nothing... and it all soaked in real quick. The constant breeze does not help, but am thankful for that much.

Sun is out 40 overnight, mid 60's or so today... still with the breeze, it is sweatshirt weather.

Went to the barn and helped DS at about 8. Opened gates to feed some rolls of hay, and then he got the cows on the hill to follow the truck and came down the alley, and across the driveway and into the barn lot. These are the ones that we are pulling some calves off today, and selling with the other 5 bigger calves from Grant's ... the escapee bunch, that got preg checked Monday. The ones that we are taking today, the calves will not be weaned, but prices are too high and the ground is so dry and the grass is short and these cows will slow down their eating if they do not have calves on them... Steer calves are in the $4-6.00 range all according to their size... and they are eating a good amount of hay and grass... so need to cut some of that back... We are not selling any of the heifer calves, or the smaller steer calves... This group will get preg checked next Tuesday and then they will go back out to graze some with the heifer calves and then the calves will get weaned off in a couple months... and the cows will get a rest to start calving again in Sept.

DS had a dentist appt... so had to leave. He has to pick up a couple of calves from a friend that wanted them to go to the sale, but he had to work today... DS said he had room on the trailer, so was going to take them for him.
Because the cows/calves all came in good, we managed to sort off all the cows with heifer calves and put them behind the barn in the field that the escapee group from Grants were in... so they will be easy to get back in for the vet... and we will put the rest in when we load the calves... have the 5 that are back there in the silo area, with their steer calves to come in the barn... and they will go back with this group to get over their calves coming off... there's good fences so don't have to worry about someone getting "out" to go looking for their babies.... after we preg check, we will see who is bred (hopefully all of them) and if any are open, they will get sold or put back out to get bred back.. we'll see. But after a week they will be past the "hollering" stage, and then we can move them somewhere... In the meantime, we will have some of these cows with spring born babies moved out to grass, and the few left to calve will be moved into one field and the other field will get a chance to "come back" with grass growth.
Understand that these calves are all 6+ months old... so not like they are babies.... we just normally would wean them and hold them for 60 days or so before we sell them... but with the short grass, and short looking first cutting hay... AND the HIGH PRICES being paid for these 4+ weight calves, they are going to be sold right off the cows. That's what we used to do before we rented, then bought, doug's farm and had a barn and lots to wean and feed the calves...

On top of that, we have 60 head of the ones from VT, that are going to be in the barn for 30 days or so... see how they clean up after all the mud... hopefully get them "shed off"... and no snotty noses or anything... and get them sold. There are several heifers in there that are going to get preg checked on Tuesday also...
and if we like any will buy them from Dave, or take them to the monthly bred cow sale in a couple weeks.

I am going to head back to the barn to help sort the calves off the cows for him to load... have to get the other 5 in the creep gate then they will run right down the alley and get mixed in with the rest of our steers from the other group.

Then we will have all the heifers and a few steers that are rather small now, that we held back... to sort through and sell in a couple months. They will most likely get weaned and backgrounded at the barn before selling in the fall...

Just ate some eggs for late breakfast.. stopped and got feed as I came by where my feed bin is at his green barn with the chicken feed pellets... and will check feeders in a bit.

I did set the leghorn on eggs last night... she is setting... she tried to fly out the crate door last night so I grabbed and held her, put the eggs in there and then put her back... She is not "clucking, but is setting on them this morning... so we will see. I have to put water and feed into the 5 chicks... as soon as the window I puttied first, is "cured" I am moving the 5 chicks out into a calf hutch and the window goes in front of the door opening... where I had the NH's when I first got them... and they will not have access to the grass outside... but they will be in there out of the crate and have more room.

I have to get stuff I need into the explorer for Poultry Swap day at Gilmanor... meeting @Mini Horses and @fuzzi for our twice a year get together... Not supposed to be too hot so that is good... Will figure out what meat I have and get it together to put in the cooler in the morning... so a few prep things to do this afternoon... Once we get the cows sorted and calves loaded, he will not need me to do anything else.. and I will come home and do some stuff then go to town later to see how the calves do... We are taking the one charolais x calf off my char x cow.,.. He is "borderline" for size... but there are no other char x calves for him to match so figure he will do as good now as later...there are about 3-4 black calves his size, but they will probably sort him off separate... but they are all doing good price wise so may as well go now. His mother is the daughter of a char x cow I bought quite a few years ago... and just sold her when she came up open...and have another of her daughters that just had her first calf... so had 4 generations on the farm .... she was a good cow, and this daughter has been a good one... and the heifer that just calved has a nice bull calf too... just an inexpensive grey char x cow I bought at a bred cow sale... she has made me some money and given me several good "replacements" for her... and I got twice for her when she was culled, than I paid for her originally... but who would have ever guessed that the prices would get so high... Sure hope that the mother of this steer is bred back...

Yesterday aft we moved 5 cows and calves to one pasture, and 7 with calves to another place... Hope to get a whole bunch moved out this weekend so as to not be feeding so much hay. The grass is growing at the pastures, but not as much as it normally would have... This rain will help but then if it stays so cool, it will not grow as fast... PRAYING for some more rain that they are calling for in a few days...

Got to head to the barn in a few to help sort off these calves to get loaded to go to the sale.
 
Mentioned the circus with loading 2 of the 5 calves that were used to coming in the creep gate, in @SageHill 's journal when she talked about separating lambs... Plan A then Plan B.... and around and around... told about the loading of these 2 calves today...
I will embellish more tomorrow... I got a few things loaded in the explorer... going in to make some sandwiches to take with me... can't just grab a hamburger or hot dog or BBQ anymore..... will have more time tomorrow night and will also have some telling about our semi-annual trip to Gilmanor ... This will be the 4th , 6th? time that @Mini Horses and I have met up there... so nice to just catch up, and look at all the things we "can live WITHOUT"..... :lol:.... and just enjoy each other's company in PERSON......

We sold 16 steer calves...today..... originally had 10 picked out... then when sorting decided to take a few more... DA#@ed glad we did... Sold the charolais cross steer, off my #19 char x cow... weighed 440, and he brought a ridiculous $6.05 / lb... over $2600..... top selling of all of ours... BUT... here again... he was under 500 lbs... the bigger red steer that weighed 610 brought $4.35.... my char x actually brought more than the one that weighed 170 lbs more... granted the "smokey/grey" calves are bringing more money now.... than the red ones ever will... BUT the 2 "stupid" red ones that I mentioned in Sage's journal... that got out and had to get put back in weighed 438 lbs each... and they brought 5.20/lb... so not too shabby for reds in an area that discriminates against red and rewards the "black cattle are better".... The group of 10 black steers they put all together, of ours, which they were not as closely matched in size, but but together they brought 5.30 for 521 lb average...
2 other smaller ones that weighed about 430 each brought 5.50/lb...
DS went with them to town and I went in a bit later as I wanted to get things pretty much ready for tomorrow... when we watched these go through, we talked about pulling more of the calves and selling them a little small...
Overall, they averaged over $2600/head, across the different sizes... Totally NUTS...:bow:bow:bow:bow.
A few years ago we would have been very very glad to average $1,000 a head.....so not quite 3X as much for these, this trip..... We are going to make as much as we can.... sell what all we can.... because it may last another 6 months or 2 years... but it is going to crash... maybe not back to $1.50 , but I think that it will drop back to the $2.50 range for these especially wanted 4-550 wt calves...
It cost $75/hd to sell them... it has gone up again... This is partly dependent on the selling price of the animals... and they had about 1100 + head there... that's a pretty nice paycheck for the stockyard too....

:ep:ep:ep:ep


I have got to get my sandwiches made and go to bed... will fill in more tomorrow...
 
farmerjan said:
Mentioned the circus with loading 2 of the 5 calves that were used to coming in the creep gate, in @SageHill 's journal when she talked about separating lambs... Plan A then Plan B.... and around and around... told about the loading of these 2 calves today...
I will embellish more tomorrow... I got a few things loaded in the explorer... going in to make some sandwiches to take with me... can't just grab a hamburger or hot dog or BBQ anymore..... will have more time tomorrow night and will also have some telling about our semi-annual trip to Gilmanor ... This will be the 4th , 6th? time that @Mini Horses and I have met up there... so nice to just catch up, and look at all the things we "can live WITHOUT"..... :lol:.... and just enjoy each other's company in PERSON......

We sold 16 steer calves...today..... originally had 10 picked out... then when sorting decided to take a few more... DA#@ed glad we did... Sold the charolais cross steer, off my #19 char x cow... weighed 440, and he brought a ridiculous $6.05 / lb... over $2600..... top selling of all of ours... BUT... here again... he was under 500 lbs... the bigger red steer that weighed 610 brought $4.35.... my char x actually brought more than the one that weighed 170 lbs more... granted the "smokey/grey" calves are bringing more money now.... than the red ones ever will... BUT the 2 "stupid" red ones that I mentioned in Sage's journal... that got out and had to get put back in weighed 438 lbs each... and they brought 5.20/lb... so not too shabby for reds in an area that discriminates against red and rewards the "black cattle are better".... The group of 10 black steers they put all together, of ours, which they were not as closely matched in size, but but together they brought 5.30 for 521 lb average...
2 other smaller ones that weighed about 430 each brought 5.50/lb...
DS went with them to town and I went in a bit later as I wanted to get things pretty much ready for tomorrow... when we watched these go through, we talked about pulling more of the calves and selling them a little small...
Overall, they averaged over $2600/head, across the different sizes... Totally NUTS...:bow:bow:bow:bow.
A few years ago we would have been very very glad to average $1,000 a head.....so not quite 3X as much for these, this trip..... We are going to make as much as we can.... sell what all we can.... because it may last another 6 months or 2 years... but it is going to crash... maybe not back to $1.50 , but I think that it will drop back to the $2.50 range for these especially wanted 4-550 wt calves...
It cost $75/hd to sell them... it has gone up again... This is partly dependent on the selling price of the animals... and they had about 1100 + head there... that's a pretty nice paycheck for the stockyard too....

:ep:ep:ep:ep


I have got to get my sandwiches made and go to bed... will fill in more tomorrow...
Click to expand...
Wow, I'm so glad they sold at such an amazing price for you.
 
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