Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Tuesday morning... 38 to start, sun is out... going to warm up in the low 60's if the wind isn't too bad.

Yesterday was interesting. Went up to help DS .... ANOTHER water leak... right up at the well head.. DS needed to dig things up, there was a pool of water up there. He had run the well, got all the water troughs filled, then turned it off Sunday... Run it again Sunday eve, filled the troughs and the lines to them... Cattle had water to get them through. Did the same for an hour Mon morning... they had moved the backhoe up the hill Sunday.
GF was not available Monday, so when DS was telling me about it, I said, do you need me to come and help watch for the pipes etc as you dig down... he said if you could that would be great... GF can't be here... and I said Well, you know, all you have to do is ask... I can't second guess what you are and are not doing....
So I went up there in the diesel as the road is rough. DS had started digging, and found the pressure tank.... did not puncture it just scraped the top... so he got to digging carefully with the backhoe and me watching... found the pipes that go to each of the lines that feed off the main line there, to the water troughs... alot of hand work inbetween using the backhoe... my shoulder does not work well with hand shovel work anymore... one more reason to serious think about replacing it again...

So, once he got them uncovered... turned on the well again... and the pressure tank is leaking... spurting right out a hole in the side/near bottom of the tank. So, the pressure tank has to be replaced... he had an older one he got from some place they took it out... so got that and was going to take it up and see if it would work... for a temp fix for now... and he had trouble with the piece from the valve in it, and had to do a little "rigging" ... in the meantime... he decided to see if he could screw a screw into the hole in the tank there... with some type of temp "washer" to maybe plug the hole so we could at least use the one there... It has to be replaced regardless... Well, the screw worked, with some plastic tight against the tank, to stop the water... BUT... then there were 3 other littler leaks off the other side and the bottom... so that wasn't going to cut it. He finally jury rigged a piece on the end of the valve he could not get off the smaller older tank... and got it hooked up and it was working last night. It will be okay for a few days, no terrible cold freeze weather that could cause problems... and he turned it on and no leaks after watching it for awhile... so the cows have water and the temp fix was holding. Have to get a new pressure tank... but he is not going to bury it like this one was as it will eventually rust through like this one did... been about 15 years he said... Looking at other options to put the tank, and all the valves replaced ...since 2 of them he can't turn to turn off the water lines anyway... and all put into an enclosed "well" like space... where he can take a top off and they are not in direct contact with the dirt... set on gravel on the bottom for drainage... and can be covered to keep them from freezing with a lid on top... even if he has to run a light bulb in there from the power source box there... to keep it from freezing in the winter... at least he will be able to get to the important stuff and be able to work on things, and turn off lines and such...

So, after we got it all dug out... and he was contemplating things and we were talking different possible solutions... some thing to use as "siding " to keep the dirt out... like the reverse of raised beds...but we need something 3-4 ft "deep"... and did we have anything there we could use for that...
I came on home. There was nothing more that I could do there at the time. A little later he called and said could I go get the 18 heifers in the pen so he could move them to the barn... vet preg check on Tuesday.

So I went over there, it was about 3.. they were all up in the top of the field, so I drove the car up there, and they all followed me down to the pen... they like their grain... and I got them in and the pen closed. Texted him they were in and he said he'd be there shortly. He came.. she had gotten to the barn, and got the trailer backed up and got 9 loaded... they went back and she was going to move the ones at the barn around, get the 2 holstein heifers over on the same side as these so they are all together to get checked.... he came back to get the 2nd load and then I did gates and everything and left to come home.

So they are ready to get in the barn today at noon... vet is coming at 12:30-1...

I have bottles ready to go out in the car, and will leave right after the vet check to go test cows.

Hoping for a good preg check... there is one in there that we don't think is bred... she is a bought charolais heifer... DS picked her up for a cheap price... she is full char... pink nose and all.... that is why she was cheap, people don't like the pure char and they don't pay good for the calves... but if bred to black... angus or simmental or limousin... the calves are the smokey colored ones with usually black noses and they do not get discounted near as much... we figured she would make a good brood cow... but she has to be preg first...
So we will see.... most of them have some pretty good sized bellies... most look preg... and they are all in very good flesh. They will be due in the spring. The neighbor we help with his cattle and make his hay is saying he wants 2-3 bred heifers... DS said we might as well sell him 3 of ours and make the 3-4,000 each on them... so that's fine with me. I think I only have 3 in the group... 2 are the smokey char x ,,,, and they will not get sold anyway... he has black and a couple with some white on face...

So, getting things done so I can go to the barn here in a bit...

Got 2 loads clothes on the line, brought in the other load yesterday... will bring these in tomorrow before we go to his dr appt in blacksburg... 1 1/2 hrs + south... will leave early, go to Rural King for some stuff... then there... then home late.

Time to get stuff in the car so I am not rushing.

 

[fuzzi]

I have seen a lot of "well" houses since we moved south, they look like short sheds. I once was at a camp in Georgia for a church event, don't recall much except they were having an unusual cold spell. The well house had its roof off center and a mechanic's type light burning inside to keep it from freezing.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed eve... it is warmer than it looks, the wind is blowing like it is a BIG HURRY to get somewhere... at least it is halfway warm... BUT that is supposed to change... pretty decent tomorrow and Friday... into Sat... some hit and miss showers coming through... more miss than hit it looks like.... BUT... when it starts to drop off Sunday night into the 40's and low 50's... it is NOT going to warm up during the day Monday... and Mon night is supposed to be in the 20's.... same for Tues and Wed next week. Then a little more moderating... BUT we will have a killing freeze....

Packed the samples and got things ready. Did the chickens and the turkeys... will fill the feeders and waterers again Thurs night and they will be good until I get back... Turkeys eat alot since they cannot go out loose.
Will have DS check on them Sat... but he will be busy raking then baling the hay he has cut that I don't get done tomorrow... I reminded him that I will not be here to rake on Friday... He said..... "oh sh!t, i forgot.... well, I'll be lucky to get half of it baled since I can't rake it neat like you do...."
Nice compliment... he always tells me "awesome job raking AGAIN MOM....."

DS called to see if his sunglasses that go on his glasses were in the white truck that is sitting here with the chicken coop still on it..... and they were. Took them to him where he was cutting hay... then went and filled the explorer with gas. Then came home and took the forester up and the last heifer had FINALLY calved... of course it got under the electric fence... she had not cleaned it off much, still hadn't passed the afterbirth... got them back together... and she was pretty nervous with me there so I finally left her... she kept backing up as the calf went to try to nurse... but I felt like it was better to leave her alone since she was all upset that the calf had gotten away from her to start with. It was time for us to leave for DS's dr appt so I hope they got it figured out... It was well after dark when we finally got back and I was not going up there in the dark to upset them all... and maybe run over the calf in the dark or something. I will go up in the morning.
We did not go to Rural King since he was later getting done with the mowing.... got to the DR and that went okay.... he felt better and the doc did ALOT of manipulating... it's been over 6 weeks and usually he does not ever go that long but they didn't have anything available...
We did go to the big plumbing supply company that his well guy friend told him to go to... got a pressure tank... on the way home... and that was good. Then the traffic was backed up and managed to get off the interstate, and it was right at the exit where I used to go to go test (they sold out) and there is a little restaurant there so we stopped to get supper... Very good home cooked, nothing fancy food... PLENTY of it... very reasonable and alot of "PRIME' locals go there to eat too...
By the time we got done, we came up the main road several miles and then got back on the interstate to come home.
AND of course I packed the samples and left them sitting at home... because when I had to go looking for the cow and find the calf and get it back through the electric.... unattached it at a gate.... I came home to trade for the explorer and forgot to go back in the house to get the samples.
So, DS needed some pages on cattle from back in 2023.... although we did not qualify for drought relief last year... because of one of the storms with all the hard rain/flooding in the southern area... they included our county in it... so we are eligible for some assistance... the guy at the fsa office told DS that he may as well apply for it... because if not, the money goes back in the fed budget and they will take into account that it was not needed and allocate LESS... for future disasters... regardless of how bad they are... SO STUPID.... and he has to get this info in tomorrow... BECAUSE... they have been working for no pay since the shutdown... part of USDA stuff... and after Friday if the gov't is still shut down, they are not going in to work and then the time runs out for the applications the following week... and there will be no one there to process them so they will not get a chance at it. DS said he told the guy (he's a friend) when he went in there with another question about something else... that he (ds) didn't feel like he needed it, and they guy said if you don't apply then it will just be "thrown away" into the general budget .... and it hurts everyone... because they don't think that the cattle numbers are there for future programs....
SO STUPID... but DS told me that he figured we should at least apply.... he also told 2 of his friends about it that hadn't heard anything, and they were going to call in there tomorrow...

YOU (us practical people) hate waste, and we do not participate in some of the stuff because it just doesn't seem right... or we don't want to follow some of the stupid restrictions they have that really are counter to some of the sensible practices... but this is based on the cow numbers we had at the time... mature cows, bred heifers, weaned animals over 500 lbs.... for money to put back into farmer's pockets from extra feed expenses for the flooding in the designated counties. Since they would not recognize the drought status here, but the county north of us (2 miles north is the line and we have some cattle up in that county ) did get drought recognition... and overall our county had more land and worse drought status according to the US drought monitor... so go figure.... but we qualify for flood relief... we will take it any way we can get it...
We bought a bunch of extra hay last year, and again this year because we are feeding alot of hay already... 2 months early.... and last year the corn silage was not very good quality, too dry, and yield was less... so we planted 6 + more acres this year... yield was not great, but not the worst.... corn grain/ears were not near what it could have been... but overall quality was better... not near as dry when we chopped.... but that was 1/3 more than we had planted the previous year, to compensate for not enough last year.

Back to yesterday... testing went fine...and she set up for Dec since she said it gets so busy that she will forget and does not want to skip.

I got a text from DS... 17 of 20 were pregnant... Both holstein heifer twins are bred... 1 open heifer is mine... she was one of the younger ones... and 2 of his... One he doesn't like, and the doc wants some more beef... so she will get fed out for a kill date in Jan.... have to take the longhorn steer down to the barn to get fed out too... I think we will put the 2 opens (1-mine, 1-DS) back with the bull for a 2nd chance. The one that wasn't bred from before, that got a 2nd chance...is bred..... my 2 char x "smokey's " are bred... and surprising to me, the char heifer he bought with the pink nose is also bred...I thought she might be an open one..... so that was great.

He has picked out 3 that are not his favorites... to sell to the neighbor... they are all 3 DS's... which is fine...

He took 7 back to the pasture where they had been, for now, and the bull went in the other field there... with 10 to be bred now......he took the 2 holsteins back to the nurse cow pasture so they can get fed a little extra once we get the 1st calf heifers with calves, moved out to winter pastures to get bred....and all the open, too young to breed , heifers moved there with the "12" her x ones from the dairy... so all the too young to breed ones are all in the same place for now... plus it will be easier to get the 2 holsteins caught there at the barn again; to take to the bred dairy heifer sale when the time comes in early spring... So the 2 that will go back with the bull, and the other 8 bred ones will go back to the pasture... all one trip to the same place...

So a pretty good preg check... and they are all within the 60 day calving time frame... in fact, I think nearly all are within 45 days .... the one holstein was 3 1/2 mos and the other was 4 months...due in May..... all the beef heifers were 4-5+ months... Due March 1st through May 5th....with most probably due Mar and into mid April....

Okay. time to get a shower... get to bed so I can get up and start getting stuff ready to go... then go check the heifer and new calf... and then go rake some hay once it warms up a bit and the sun comes out good.
Plus, I did not get the laundry off the line, have to do that and after the way the wind has been blowing today, might have to go searching in the next county for it. It is still really blowing out there....

 

[drstratton]

Wed eve... it is warmer than it looks, the wind is blowing like it is a BIG HURRY to get somewhere... at least it is halfway warm... BUT that is supposed to change... pretty decent tomorrow and Friday... into Sat... some hit and miss showers coming through... more miss than hit it looks like.... BUT... when it starts to drop off Sunday night into the 40's and low 50's... it is NOT going to warm up during the day Monday... and Mon night is supposed to be in the 20's.... same for Tues and Wed next week. Then a little more moderating... BUT we will have a killing freeze....

Packed the samples and got things ready. Did the chickens and the turkeys... will fill the feeders and waterers again Thurs night and they will be good until I get back... Turkeys eat alot since they cannot go out loose.
Will have DS check on them Sat... but he will be busy raking then baling the hay he has cut that I don't get done tomorrow... I reminded him that I will not be here to rake on Friday... He said..... "oh sh!t, i forgot.... well, I'll be lucky to get half of it baled since I can't rake it neat like you do...."
Nice compliment... he always tells me "awesome job raking AGAIN MOM....."

DS called to see if his sunglasses that go on his glasses were in the white truck that is sitting here with the chicken coop still on it..... and they were. Took them to him where he was cutting hay... then went and filled the explorer with gas. Then came home and took the forester up and the last heifer had FINALLY calved... of course it got under the electric fence... she had not cleaned it off much, still hadn't passed the afterbirth... got them back together... and she was pretty nervous with me there so I finally left her... she kept backing up as the calf went to try to nurse... but I felt like it was better to leave her alone since she was all upset that the calf had gotten away from her to start with. It was time for us to leave for DS's dr appt so I hope they got it figured out... It was well after dark when we finally got back and I was not going up there in the dark to upset them all... and maybe run over the calf in the dark or something. I will go up in the morning.
We did not go to Rural King since he was later getting done with the mowing.... got to the DR and that went okay.... he felt better and the doc did ALOT of manipulating... it's been over 6 weeks and usually he does not ever go that long but they didn't have anything available...
We did go to the big plumbing supply company that his well guy friend told him to go to... got a pressure tank... on the way home... and that was good. Then the traffic was backed up and managed to get off the interstate, and it was right at the exit where I used to go to go test (they sold out) and there is a little restaurant there so we stopped to get supper... Very good home cooked, nothing fancy food... PLENTY of it... very reasonable and alot of "PRIME' locals go there to eat too...
By the time we got done, we came up the main road several miles and then got back on the interstate to come home.
AND of course I packed the samples and left them sitting at home... because when I had to go looking for the cow and find the calf and get it back through the electric.... unattached it at a gate.... I came home to trade for the explorer and forgot to go back in the house to get the samples.
So, DS needed some pages on cattle from back in 2023.... although we did not qualify for drought relief last year... because of one of the storms with all the hard rain/flooding in the southern area... they included our county in it... so we are eligible for some assistance... the guy at the fsa office told DS that he may as well apply for it... because if not, the money goes back in the fed budget and they will take into account that it was not needed and allocate LESS... for future disasters... regardless of how bad they are... SO STUPID.... and he has to get this info in tomorrow... BECAUSE... they have been working for no pay since the shutdown... part of USDA stuff... and after Friday if the gov't is still shut down, they are not going in to work and then the time runs out for the applications the following week... and there will be no one there to process them so they will not get a chance at it. DS said he told the guy (he's a friend) when he went in there with another question about something else... that he (ds) didn't feel like he needed it, and they guy said if you don't apply then it will just be "thrown away" into the general budget .... and it hurts everyone... because they don't think that the cattle numbers are there for future programs....
SO STUPID... but DS told me that he figured we should at least apply.... he also told 2 of his friends about it that hadn't heard anything, and they were going to call in there tomorrow...

YOU (us practical people) hate waste, and we do not participate in some of the stuff because it just doesn't seem right... or we don't want to follow some of the stupid restrictions they have that really are counter to some of the sensible practices... but this is based on the cow numbers we had at the time... mature cows, bred heifers, weaned animals over 500 lbs.... for money to put back into farmer's pockets from extra feed expenses for the flooding in the designated counties. Since they would not recognize the drought status here, but the county north of us (2 miles north is the line and we have some cattle up in that county ) did get drought recognition... and overall our county had more land and worse drought status according to the US drought monitor... so go figure.... but we qualify for flood relief... we will take it any way we can get it...
We bought a bunch of extra hay last year, and again this year because we are feeding alot of hay already... 2 months early.... and last year the corn silage was not very good quality, too dry, and yield was less... so we planted 6 + more acres this year... yield was not great, but not the worst.... corn grain/ears were not near what it could have been... but overall quality was better... not near as dry when we chopped.... but that was 1/3 more than we had planted the previous year, to compensate for not enough last year.

Back to yesterday... testing went fine...and she set up for Dec since she said it gets so busy that she will forget and does not want to skip.

I got a text from DS... 17 of 20 were pregnant... Both holstein heifer twins are bred... 1 open heifer is mine... she was one of the younger ones... and 2 of his... One he doesn't like, and the doc wants some more beef... so she will get fed out for a kill date in Jan.... have to take the longhorn steer down to the barn to get fed out too... I think we will put the 2 opens (1-mine, 1-DS) back with the bull for a 2nd chance. The one that wasn't bred from before, that got a 2nd chance...is bred..... my 2 char x "smokey's " are bred... and surprising to me, the char heifer he bought with the pink nose is also bred...I thought she might be an open one..... so that was great.

He has picked out 3 that are not his favorites... to sell to the neighbor... they are all 3 DS's... which is fine...

He took 7 back to the pasture where they had been, for now, and the bull went in the other field there... with 10 to be bred now......he took the 2 holsteins back to the nurse cow pasture so they can get fed a little extra once we get the 1st calf heifers with calves, moved out to winter pastures to get bred....and all the open, too young to breed , heifers moved there with the "12" her x ones from the dairy... so all the too young to breed ones are all in the same place for now... plus it will be easier to get the 2 holsteins caught there at the barn again; to take to the bred dairy heifer sale when the time comes in early spring... So the 2 that will go back with the bull, and the other 8 bred ones will go back to the pasture... all one trip to the same place...

So a pretty good preg check... and they are all within the 60 day calving time frame... in fact, I think nearly all are within 45 days .... the one holstein was 3 1/2 mos and the other was 4 months...due in May..... all the beef heifers were 4-5+ months... Due March 1st through May 5th....with most probably due Mar and into mid April....

Okay. time to get a shower... get to bed so I can get up and start getting stuff ready to go... then go check the heifer and new calf... and then go rake some hay once it warms up a bit and the sun comes out good.
Plus, I did not get the laundry off the line, have to do that and after the way the wind has been blowing today, might have to go searching in the next county for it. It is still really blowing out there....

We need to get a new pressure tank, we have 3, replaced 2 already. The 3rd is pretty much toast, but there are other priorities right now.

Such good news on the bred cows!

Hope all of your laundry was still hanging where it was when you left it. Don't blow away!

 

[farmerjan]

Cool 42 this morning... Sun is coming over the trees across the road...

Looked out and several clothes scattered on the grass... I expected that. Going out to put them back on the line to dry off the wet dew/cold... will be able to bring them in later. Supposed to be nice and sunny.

Got a few things gathered to pack to go.

Going out to do the clothes, then head for the pasture to check the heifer and new calf... then on to the tractor and hayfield for some raking... Will have to make a trip to get some cat food since we did not go to Rural King yesterday... also some cash to take... for possible bird buying....

 

[fuzzi]

Wed eve... it is warmer than it looks, the wind is blowing like it is a BIG HURRY to get somewhere... at least it is halfway warm... BUT that is supposed to change... pretty decent tomorrow and Friday... into Sat... some hit and miss showers coming through... more miss than hit it looks like.... BUT... when it starts to drop off Sunday night into the 40's and low 50's... it is NOT going to warm up during the day Monday... and Mon night is supposed to be in the 20's.... same for Tues and Wed next week. Then a little more moderating... BUT we will have a killing freeze....

Packed the samples and got things ready. Did the chickens and the turkeys... will fill the feeders and waterers again Thurs night and they will be good until I get back... Turkeys eat alot since they cannot go out loose.
Will have DS check on them Sat... but he will be busy raking then baling the hay he has cut that I don't get done tomorrow... I reminded him that I will not be here to rake on Friday... He said..... "oh sh!t, i forgot.... well, I'll be lucky to get half of it baled since I can't rake it neat like you do...."
Nice compliment... he always tells me "awesome job raking AGAIN MOM....."

DS called to see if his sunglasses that go on his glasses were in the white truck that is sitting here with the chicken coop still on it..... and they were. Took them to him where he was cutting hay... then went and filled the explorer with gas. Then came home and took the forester up and the last heifer had FINALLY calved... of course it got under the electric fence... she had not cleaned it off much, still hadn't passed the afterbirth... got them back together... and she was pretty nervous with me there so I finally left her... she kept backing up as the calf went to try to nurse... but I felt like it was better to leave her alone since she was all upset that the calf had gotten away from her to start with. It was time for us to leave for DS's dr appt so I hope they got it figured out... It was well after dark when we finally got back and I was not going up there in the dark to upset them all... and maybe run over the calf in the dark or something. I will go up in the morning.
We did not go to Rural King since he was later getting done with the mowing.... got to the DR and that went okay.... he felt better and the doc did ALOT of manipulating... it's been over 6 weeks and usually he does not ever go that long but they didn't have anything available...
We did go to the big plumbing supply company that his well guy friend told him to go to... got a pressure tank... on the way home... and that was good. Then the traffic was backed up and managed to get off the interstate, and it was right at the exit where I used to go to go test (they sold out) and there is a little restaurant there so we stopped to get supper... Very good home cooked, nothing fancy food... PLENTY of it... very reasonable and alot of "PRIME' locals go there to eat too...
By the time we got done, we came up the main road several miles and then got back on the interstate to come home.
AND of course I packed the samples and left them sitting at home... because when I had to go looking for the cow and find the calf and get it back through the electric.... unattached it at a gate.... I came home to trade for the explorer and forgot to go back in the house to get the samples.
So, DS needed some pages on cattle from back in 2023.... although we did not qualify for drought relief last year... because of one of the storms with all the hard rain/flooding in the southern area... they included our county in it... so we are eligible for some assistance... the guy at the fsa office told DS that he may as well apply for it... because if not, the money goes back in the fed budget and they will take into account that it was not needed and allocate LESS... for future disasters... regardless of how bad they are... SO STUPID.... and he has to get this info in tomorrow... BECAUSE... they have been working for no pay since the shutdown... part of USDA stuff... and after Friday if the gov't is still shut down, they are not going in to work and then the time runs out for the applications the following week... and there will be no one there to process them so they will not get a chance at it. DS said he told the guy (he's a friend) when he went in there with another question about something else... that he (ds) didn't feel like he needed it, and they guy said if you don't apply then it will just be "thrown away" into the general budget .... and it hurts everyone... because they don't think that the cattle numbers are there for future programs....
SO STUPID... but DS told me that he figured we should at least apply.... he also told 2 of his friends about it that hadn't heard anything, and they were going to call in there tomorrow...

YOU (us practical people) hate waste, and we do not participate in some of the stuff because it just doesn't seem right... or we don't want to follow some of the stupid restrictions they have that really are counter to some of the sensible practices... but this is based on the cow numbers we had at the time... mature cows, bred heifers, weaned animals over 500 lbs.... for money to put back into farmer's pockets from extra feed expenses for the flooding in the designated counties. Since they would not recognize the drought status here, but the county north of us (2 miles north is the line and we have some cattle up in that county ) did get drought recognition... and overall our county had more land and worse drought status according to the US drought monitor... so go figure.... but we qualify for flood relief... we will take it any way we can get it...
We bought a bunch of extra hay last year, and again this year because we are feeding alot of hay already... 2 months early.... and last year the corn silage was not very good quality, too dry, and yield was less... so we planted 6 + more acres this year... yield was not great, but not the worst.... corn grain/ears were not near what it could have been... but overall quality was better... not near as dry when we chopped.... but that was 1/3 more than we had planted the previous year, to compensate for not enough last year.

Back to yesterday... testing went fine...and she set up for Dec since she said it gets so busy that she will forget and does not want to skip.

I got a text from DS... 17 of 20 were pregnant... Both holstein heifer twins are bred... 1 open heifer is mine... she was one of the younger ones... and 2 of his... One he doesn't like, and the doc wants some more beef... so she will get fed out for a kill date in Jan.... have to take the longhorn steer down to the barn to get fed out too... I think we will put the 2 opens (1-mine, 1-DS) back with the bull for a 2nd chance. The one that wasn't bred from before, that got a 2nd chance...is bred..... my 2 char x "smokey's " are bred... and surprising to me, the char heifer he bought with the pink nose is also bred...I thought she might be an open one..... so that was great.

He has picked out 3 that are not his favorites... to sell to the neighbor... they are all 3 DS's... which is fine...

He took 7 back to the pasture where they had been, for now, and the bull went in the other field there... with 10 to be bred now......he took the 2 holsteins back to the nurse cow pasture so they can get fed a little extra once we get the 1st calf heifers with calves, moved out to winter pastures to get bred....and all the open, too young to breed , heifers moved there with the "12" her x ones from the dairy... so all the too young to breed ones are all in the same place for now... plus it will be easier to get the 2 holsteins caught there at the barn again; to take to the bred dairy heifer sale when the time comes in early spring... So the 2 that will go back with the bull, and the other 8 bred ones will go back to the pasture... all one trip to the same place...

So a pretty good preg check... and they are all within the 60 day calving time frame... in fact, I think nearly all are within 45 days .... the one holstein was 3 1/2 mos and the other was 4 months...due in May..... all the beef heifers were 4-5+ months... Due March 1st through May 5th....with most probably due Mar and into mid April....

Okay. time to get a shower... get to bed so I can get up and start getting stuff ready to go... then go check the heifer and new calf... and then go rake some hay once it warms up a bit and the sun comes out good.
Plus, I did not get the laundry off the line, have to do that and after the way the wind has been blowing today, might have to go searching in the next county for it. It is still really blowing out there....

When you write "took them back to the pasture" does that mean herding them, or leading them by halter?

I'm curious, just don't know.

Good news on the pregnant heifers.

I've worked at a state university/organization for over 17 years, and the waste is unbelievable. I go "dumpster diving" when I see huge trash bins full of office supplies, some unopened, boxes of folders, binder clip$, it's unreal.

 

[Finnie]

When you write "took them back to the pasture" does that mean herding them, or leading them by halter?

Pretty sure she means load them on a trailer and drive them to various pastures.

 

[farmerjan]

@fuzzi, yes @Finnie is right... they got loaded on the trailer and moved back to the pasture where I had gotten them caught up the other day... simply because they will come back to the nurse cow pasture (snyder's) to calve... but I have the 13 there that calved this fall, and they have to get moved to winter fields to get bred for next year's calf... Nothing here is now "leadable" as far as cattle go... and way too far on way too busy roads to try to drive them down the road like a "cattle drive"... we used to do that with cattle from one place to another that was about a mile or so... dirt roads.... half a dozen friends to block off some driveways and turn the cattle up the other road....
Just got off the tractor... all the hay is raked... except the little bit by his house... he can do that himself.

DS had raked the little piece down where we made the last hay... the guy asked if he would cut it and take it so he said yes... He then brought the rake to Deb's and I took him back to get his truck...The hay is totally dry... he can bale all of it...

I came in to eat a "late lunch" sandwich at 3:45..... Got the clothes off the line, going to go get another 5 gal bucket of chicken feed from the bin to fill the turkey feeder and refill their waterers. Got stuff to put in the explorer... some cardboard boxes broken down for possible chicken purchases... my pull behind little wagon/cart in case I need it...
Checked the heifer with the new calf earlier before I got on the tractor/rake... Calf was laying quiet and heifer came over to see what I was doing... I have not seen it nurse, but it seemed quite content. I am going to go back up there and check her again... I would like to see it nurse her once....

So, off I go to get the chicken feed and get that done while it is daylight... have to fill the explorer with gas after the dr appt trip yesterday....

 

[Jesusfreak101]

You're always on the go. I am glad that the heifers got bred, sorry about the tank that can be frustrating. We have a well and its above ground in side a shed. I think it depends on how cold it gets. If you have the ability to put a heater of some kind in the shed and not worry about it then that would work. When we got into the teens last winter the mechanical springs in our well started to freeze some and gave us a little trouble outside of that we did fine. I not sure what your coldest temps are up there but that would be a way to help and maintain your well system a bit better then having it buried 4ft is not fun to dig up especially if the ground is frozen. .

 

[fuzzi]

@fuzzi, yes @Finnie is right... they got loaded on the trailer and moved back to the pasture where I had gotten them caught up the other day... simply because they will come back to the nurse cow pasture (snyder's) to calve... but I have the 13 there that calved this fall, and they have to get moved to winter fields to get bred for next year's calf... Nothing here is now "leadable" as far as cattle go... and way too far on way too busy roads to try to drive them down the road like a "cattle drive"... we used to do that with cattle from one place to another that was about a mile or so... dirt roads.... half a dozen friends to block off some driveways and turn the cattle up the other road....
Just got off the tractor... all the hay is raked... except the little bit by his house... he can do that himself.

DS had raked the little piece down where we made the last hay... the guy asked if he would cut it and take it so he said yes... He then brought the rake to Deb's and I took him back to get his truck...The hay is totally dry... he can bale all of it...

I came in to eat a "late lunch" sandwich at 3:45..... Got the clothes off the line, going to go get another 5 gal bucket of chicken feed from the bin to fill the turkey feeder and refill their waterers. Got stuff to put in the explorer... some cardboard boxes broken down for possible chicken purchases... my pull behind little wagon/cart in case I need it...
Checked the heifer with the new calf earlier before I got on the tractor/rake... Calf was laying quiet and heifer came over to see what I was doing... I have not seen it nurse, but it seemed quite content. I am going to go back up there and check her again... I would like to see it nurse her once....

So, off I go to get the chicken feed and get that done while it is daylight... have to fill the explorer with gas after the dr appt trip yesterday....

Thank you. I've learned much about cattle just reading posts like yours...enough to realize I don't know much!