Sun eve. It got up to 55 today.. finally..... It was cloudy and had a couple of short quick showers... and the wind started blowing about 9-10 a.m. and it has been fierce this afternoon and evening... The one good thing is 95% of the snow melted overnight except the northern facing spots that are somewhat shaded... AND with the wind, it will dry off the surface of the ground pretty fast.
It was muddy/slick to go up to snyder's. I took a bottle for the calf, figuring that I would just feed it. When I got up there, I got grain in the bunk feeders in a couple spots for Betsy and the 4 calves that always eat in there.. AND... guess who comes up to the barn area... she goes around it twice, and I had opened gates on both ends... and on the 3rd trip around she decides to come in... the calf went right over to her and went right on her and she stood right there and let it nurse until she had finished the grain in that section... In the meantime when she first came in, I got more grain so the calves could come over away from her to eat and made sure they were getting enough...
The calf sucked her out, and she finished that "pile" of grain... and she got antsy and kept going from spot to spot but the calf hung right there with her... then she started to act like she was "done" so I gave the calf the bottle... he was hungry because he had not been fed any extra last night when I had to leave to go to work... He might scour a little since he got quite a bit of extra .... and then I "encouraged" the black cow and the jersey to go out loose since the rain and all is done for a couple days... I did not chase the other calves out, and I know they will go out through the creep gate eventually. The "orphan" graft calf might follow them out... but he does not like the mud outside the doors of the barn, and he is full so I think he will just go lay down in a corner against the bunk and stay put. If he goes out, I will find him tomorrow morning... Since they all did not follow the cows out, I don't think he will go far if he does go out. He is not a wobbly day old calf, and seems pretty smart.
If this is what it takes, then I will deal with it for awhile. The calf mooed some when I got there, the cow actually mooed back ... so maybe there is hope she will tolerate it out in the field eventually??? She is never going to "love it" but if he gets a little bigger and gets to following some, he might just learn to stick with her to get milk. The cow definitely HATES being confined... this may mellow her out some... even if it is only once a day.... we'll see.
I know I was VERY SURPRISED for her to come to the barn and then I figured she would never come in, and I knew better than to go out and try to go around her....and she got it figured out for herself. I acted like "no big deal" and just did what I was doing and sorta ignored her... she never tried to bully any of the calves or anything as long as she had that pile of grain in front of her... and never once picked up a leg to kick or bothered the calf like yesterday...
So, I am home and finally done for the night... except got to go out and lock in the NH rooster.
Temps have dropped to 34 already.... it is crazy the ups and downs. It is supposed to get down in the 26-28 range... DS will have to do alot of feeding in the morning while the ground is harder...Then has dr appt at 1 .... He asked if I was going to go... he is getting some injections... I am not testing tomorrow...
When we get back, we will get some cows sorted in the barn... all the heifer calves sorted off, my cow and that heifer he bought that need the second shot of lute, done. The heifer will go with the rest of the heifers, my cow and her twins, will get moved out somewhere... plus he needs to decide if he is going to sell the cow that is short bred and her smaller heifer calf or they will go up here behind me at Grants pasture... he needs to make a decision what he is going to do with the old cow that is bred 3-4 months, and the other one that is 4 months..also... I don't think he is wanting to sell them as breds now... never makes up his mind... I don't see any point in selling them since they are bred... but they are his... they should bring exceptionally good prices.....but he will hold them for another month since the next bred cow sale is 2nd Wed in March ... He ought to calve out the 2 that are 4 months , and then let the old one raise her last calf, and the other one is not the best milker, so she could also get sold after raising her calf. The one that is very short bred, will just be moved back with the next group...if she comes up "late bred" again, then sell her. Right now she would likely go in the cull pen and the calf sold separately... Every time he asks my opinion, he finds 10 reasons to disagree with what I say... so I am tired of giving my opinion...
He said he had another bad headache today... he had Colt with him again... it's like every day... when he couldn't get to see him for weeks at a time before...
Today was DS's birthday... I gave him a card... since we never celebrated Christmas in any way...a couple days after Christmas, I gave him his bag of gifts finally, because he could not find time to "have Christmas together".... and he never reciprocated with even a card, So, I decided a card was enough for his b'day.... Some times you just have to quit trying... I am at that point. It's not the "gifts" per se; it's the total disinterest in things with me unless it is cow related anymore... and total seeing "nothing but her" that he does not even see or talk to some his friends again...Same pattern all over again...
Oh well, I guess it's just life....
Wind is blowing.. HARD... forecast says 30-50 mph gusts... going to be alot of stuff blown around and trees down by morning I'm afraid.
What? She's not going????? 
. Not always available!
Whole relationship is just screwy.
