Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Doing some research on Lyme and treatments... actually a local dr here that has high ratings, and will start with her... but looking into a couple other treatment options... Will start with some phone calls tomorrow...
I did take a couple of pictures of it the other day... it is starting to fade now...

Got a pretty good shower just a little bit ago... Turkeys actually were smart enough to go back in the calf hutch... so I put the window up to keep them in so they don't decide to come out again and then not go in if it rains near dark.

DS has an appt in the morning... then a trip to Rural King as he wants to get a couple complete wheels for the wheel rake... by the time you buy the extra tines to put in, you can pay about $25-30 more and get the whole wheel / tines and all. One is cracked so just a matter of time... so will replace the cracked one, and one other that is bent a little... and then have all the tines in those 2 wheels to use as replacement tines for the future. They can break if you hit rocks and sometimes it is nearly impossible to miss some of the ledge in the fields while raking... going around some tight corners will bend them the wrong way since the rake is so long, and it can cause them to snap also. Part of the expense of raking hay in the hilly, rocky areas of some fields. If it were flat and straight like some of the plains states, I would probably get bored and fall asleep raking hay.

I have been missing one of the Naragansett turkeys for 2 days... figured it was gone. But I have been hearing some peeping... and finally found it in the carport... stuck behind some boxes that I had to squeeze in and try to move... all stacked in the back and I was NOT going to take all the stacks of stuff out... and this stuff is PACKED in there.. so how it got in there I have no idea. It was a stretch, but I managed to get it out... and put it in the hutch and it went to eating... they have water too so guess he will recover. Same dumb bell that has gotten out and "lost" twice before... remember I found him out in the tall grass the day after I moved them into the calf hutch... Well, he better get his act together or he might be left out next time to be a meal for the wildlife... It was NOT fun squeezing in between the boxes and the T-111 type panels that closed in the back and the other stuff stuck in there... another day he would have died for sure. If I can keep him from doing stupid stuff like this, the rest seem very content to go out on the grass and stick around close to the calf hutch... go back in to eat, and were in when it started to rain...

Went to an 80th birthday party for a neighbor up the road... met up with some other friends... low key and nice to visit and ate a nice meal of buffet food... low key, real nice.

Had a quick downpour this afternoon before going to the party... got about .3 inch... then it cleared off and was bright sun... radar shows it moving out...

Have to leave at 5:30 to meet DS in Lexington to go to the dr appt in Blacksburg. He is at her house tonight, of course. I will take the packed samples from Fri eve and the ones from this morning and drop them at UPS on the way back from the dr appt. I will put the sample bottles in the car for tomorrow afternoon... so I can just come home and change into work clothes and go to work.

Going to bed early, I did not get much sleep last night.

 

[Baymule]

Information:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/05/28/tick-borne-disease.aspx

Would not open unless I gave them my email address. Nope.

 

[rachels.haven]

A normal practitioner might work too. I think you basically need a course of antibiotics if I remember right. Even the walk in clinic would take care of it. It was par for the course in life in Groton.

 

[fuzzi]

Would not open unless I gave them my email address. Nope.

Not a bad site, sorry. I can download a PDF and share.

 

[farmerjan]

Lyme article opened for me... but I have been getting things from them for years, so maybe they have my e-mail address. Back when I was adamant about NOT getting Flouride treatments at the dentist... due to what the flouride is actually derived from... I referenced some articles to the hygienist at the dentist office.
Anyway... a simple round of antibiotics is not going to kill it off and all the other associated problems... watched both my mom and DS have relapses of it for years... and it can trigger other disease organisms.... But you have to hit it with antibiotics to stop it from getting a "hold" on your system... the sooner the better.

Anyway, Wed morning should get me started... I am already taking the ones they give me for the pre-dental appts... may not be the one of choice... but they are prescribed to "pre-empt" infection in the replacement joints so sure can't hurt...

Going in to take a shower... got to meet DS in the morning when he drops off the truck for some work.... and he has to go for the "evaluation" that the disability company requires... to see if he "can go back to some sort of job"... They say it is several hours... Going to take a book to read, and work on the "cow papers/lists".... They naturally want to get him back to work of some sort...

I mentioned in @Margali 's thread about the fleas... the new kittens... I did pick them up from the farm and they are doing fine so far... pretty independent but friendly... into every thing... will send @Mini Horses some pics to post in a couple days...

Got to get this afternoons samples packed to drop off tomorrow... and need some sleep....

 

[Mini Horses]

I'm not seeing a lot of ticks but the mosquitos are big and bold!!

 

[fuzzi]

I'm not seeing a lot of ticks but the mosquitos are big and bold!!

Mosquitoes here are little and vicious. I can kill several at a time, they land on my arms in droves. I offer the dead ones to the chickens. Rahab takes them from my fingers, gently. Smart girl. I wish she were broody, I'd move most of the eggs to her.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed..6/11. Been a couple days since I have posted here. Have been a little busy with testing and then the couple of travels with DS to the dr appts and the testing required for the disablilty/workman's comp stuff.
Today is the day we're taking the cull cows to the sale, going and picking up my hereford x heifers, and going back by the sale for the bred cow sale to see what's there and get check for the ones we sell. I have one cull to go, I think DS is taking 2.
Been sunny mostly, mid 80's last few days.

Turkeys are growing, the one that was stuck in the carport is doing okay. Sticking with the others more. They have sorta seemed to split in 2 groups, with one group having to come in front of the carport and the other staying out in the grass/weeds/etc around the shed and nearer to the chickens. Have to "shoo" the group from the carport area back to the hutch in the evenings. But they are much better out loose chasing bugs and all.
Worked on the 3rd pen a little last evening... will see about getting it all together in the next couple days.
We will be in the hay field the next 2 days to get up what he has mowed. Going up to tedd out the outside 2 rows around the trees at his green barn as it doesn't dry that good there. Then tomorrow will be raking most if not all of it. He has committed to a neighbor/friend, to bale his 11 acres also...his real old round baler has bitten the dust and parts are not even easily available for it. I doubt he will buy another baler so who knows what the future brings there... and on top of that DS wants to take these steers to the stockyard on Friday...

I'm headed to tedd a little bit before we go with the cows.

 

[farmerjan]

Need to catch up a bit for the last few days.

Friday morning... It was only down to 67 last night, so not much cool off. Pleasant enough at 5:30 this morning. Got up to meet DS at the barn to load a group of steers to go to the sale so we can dry off the cows and put them out to pasture for a couple of months before calving in Sept. Some of these cows had bigger calves on them because they weren't bred back to the guy's bull when we bought them last year, like we thought they should be, so these calves were a little older. But the cows all bred back right after we put them in with the bull so are pushing 6 months now which is fine.

Anyway, going back to Wed... I wound up raking hay instead of tedding it as DS said it would probably rake... He tedded around the outside few rows along the tree line, but the stuff in the field away from the trees was drying good.

We went to the barn and got the 3 cows in , loaded and went to the stockyard. Dropped them off about 3... and they were pretty good weights... 1090, 1200, 1300. My old cow was 1300... surprised me... But she had not had a calf on her for over 6-8 months as she was supposed to be bred, and then came up open as we were waiting and waiting for her to calve... She was born in 2011, so 14 yrs old... at least she was in good flesh and not limping or anything. If she had calved like she was supposed to she would still be here as she was never a problem cow...

Left there went to the farm... The didn't have them separate which I thought they did... but they were at the barn in with their hol heifers... so not that big a deal. DS and the 2 "boys" (sons) got them separated out and loaded... There are 12 !!!!... all bwf except 1 is a red wf.... they are typical dairy cross heifers... but overall not bad looking... not the chunky build of the hereford, but they ought to thicken up a bit with time and age. Several had runny eyes, the guys said some was from the ammonia smell in the barn.... they are a totally confinement operation... and alot in that big pen....
We finally went back to the sale and watched. Our 3 cull cows all brought between 1.48 and 1.58... 1600-1900 for the lightest to heaviest... which is really unbelieveable.... It costs $60 / head total commission and fees to sell them... but not complaining...
Bred cows and cow/calf pairs were higher than the cow sale a couple weeks ago that I went to that night. We did not buy anything. They had 5 Longhorns, and I was seriously looking at them.... one had twins, but the youngest that I thought might go cheaper brought $1400 with her little calf and she didn't weigh 650 lbs or so... the one with twins brought near $2000 and the other 3 were inbetween. I just decided that I didn't need them that bad. If they had brought in the 1000-1400 range for the bigger ones, and the small one 8-1000 then probably. DS said if I wanted to buy one, them that was my choice. But, I just decided that it was more than I could get out of them in the long run. Plus, I hate to say it, but I still think that this is going to really fall off; might take 2 years, but if so, then they will not pay for themselves since there just isn't the demand for anything but black... These calves looked straight longhorn, so not much for even beef sale...
Don't get me wrong, I like them... but you have to be practical... I would like to run one longhorn cow at each pasture for coyote/dog protection... but DS is not really too keen on that idea... so I will just keep Jess at "my" pasture and be happy. If these had been bred to an obvious beef type bull, with more "body" then maybe I would have been more inclined to buy one/some... Granted, Jess's bull calf this year is also white/speckles so no "value" as a feeder steer, but her last one that will be getting killed this fall, is a "CHUNK" so there is that.
I would be better off buying a couple of "one and dones" ... old bred beef cows ready to calve or with a small calf by it's side... for the same money.. and get twice the return even if I sold both once the calf was raised up.
So we came home with just the 12 heifers. Put them in the barn on one side for the night with water...
Thursday morning we went to the barn early, got them in and worked them through the chute. Treated 3 for pinkeye and put patches over their eyes... gave them ALL triangle 5 vaccine, (no lepto as they are too young to worry about aborting yet)... several with the eye problems all got LA200 also... And they ALL got Vit A&D shots to help with the eye situation. Most were pretty much okay... but hoping to stop problems before they start as they can pass it around with flies and all that. They were so funny, when we let them out to see them running and bucking/jumping... they went from calf hutch to group pen... They have NEVER seen grass... don't know what it is for... so they are going to get a real education/culture shock. We will naturally have to feed grain, and they have hay in front of them... but they are going to have to learn to be "beef calves" as opposed to dairy calves that all their feed gets brought to them. They are going to have to learn to eat grass... actually GRAZE... for a living... but for now, they will get fed like any/all our feeder calves get fed... and this winter they will get silage just like any of our weaned calves... but hopefully they will learn what grass is for... and then it will be a matter of who does how well on grazing type situation. The only other thing is, many of them will be capable of raising a 2nd calf, due to the dairy breeding in them... so I could feed them a little extra and see if I can graft a 2nd calf on them... but more likely they ought to raise up a real "good" calf on all the extra milk. Problem is, often they do not breed back easily since they are putting everything into their milk/calf.
But that is all in the future... for now, we will deal with them getting adjusted, hopefully the pinkeye/ runny eye situation will get straightened out... and go from there. Disposition will be a big deal down the road, but just to see how they develop will be the big thing. Get through the summer, see how things go.

So we moved them across the driveway into the little barn lot that is away from everything else,,, so they have less chance of passing any pinkeye or anything else... quarantine so to speak. Feed them there, get them accustomed to everything... transitioned beef calf life... and go from there.

So after working them, I went to the field and continued the raking I started the day before. Finished that field and then went to the other place DS had cut as he is going to plant sorghum/sudan grass there... so wanted to get this grass off. The grass is pretty poor, and the place needs some "renovation" of the field. Had trouble with the tractor again... and texted DS. He got there and we had to go through the same routine to get the turn off valve assembly off the bottom of the fuel tank... there was a bunch of junk on/in the turn off valve... and some of the "algae" stopping it completely up. Finally got that cleaned out again, and I got back to raking more to finish the field. DS went back to the barn to get the baler and came to this field as it was totally dry...

I picked him up, by now he had Colt with him as GF and 2 of the other kids were with her... so we went back to the barn. Got the cows and calves in ... actually they were all in the barn already in the shade and near the water in mid day... and we sorted the pairs out that needed to go across the driveway, up with the rest we had put over there the other day.... and got all the ones that he was going to sell the calves off, on one side of the barn to make it easy this morning. Kept several that have BIG heifer calves that are going to get weaned off too; in the other small lot there... that will happen this weekend. He wanted to get through the selling calves off today... leave the cows there to "scream" for a couple days... then move them out with the rest since they will be coming in to have new calves in Sept....

Took them back to the tractor/baler so he could finish the little bit he had left and then they went to the field at his barn where there had been a few green spots due to it being much heavier... He finally got it done. 25 bales at his barn... about 2 1/2 bales to the acre... which is decent. Don't know how many he got at the other field, but it had to get cut off so he can go in and plant the sorghum/sudan grass...

So, that got us to this morning... took a total of 18 head... 14 steers and 4 heifers... 1 steer and 1 heifer were mine... Steers ran about 550 lbs for the group of 9.. 3 lighter ones weighed 480 and my char cross was 505 and his wf char x out of a red cow, weighed 650... the heifers averaged about 500... don't remember exactly... The one heifer of mine was not mean, didn't charge you, but she would run right through you in the barn... nothing stopped her but a gate... she would wind up hurting someone... 2 of the others were somewhat cow hocked and splayed out the back feet... and the other one he just didn't like. DS said we could keep mine if I wanted.. and I said HE// NO... if she was going to be that way in the barn at this size, think what she would do as a grown cow. I don't need that aggravation...

So, we got back, DS did some things around the barn... went and got his hay wagon back from the friends that he took it to so they could unload the hay... and was going to go bale hay for the neighbor whose baler bit the dust. Then he is going back to town to the sale at 2... we never sell stuff unless one of us is there...
One of my farmers called and wants to test next week, this is the one that does his own, so I will take some bottles and drop off.... I am going to finally get to the laundromat to do all the stuff in the big machines... and with the "off and on" showers tomorrow and through the weekend, I will take the risk of hanging them out to dry. Am running out of clothes to wear finally.... lots of dirty and sweaty jeans to wash.

Time to see about getting going and then I can swing by the sale and see things sell too for a bit. Not alot of cattle there today so ought to be a fairly "short" sale today... most farmers are too busy in the hayfields and such... most calves are already bought to go out on grass... but with the prices, and the demand, they still ought to sell good... and they are gone and the cows dried off and getting a break...

On to the next project...

 

[farmerjan]

Calves sold pretty darn good... Steers brought 4.06 and 4.09 /lb... my char cross brought 3.96... the other was bigger and didn't bring as much... but DS was okay with it... 2.90 I think.... the heifers sold in one group and brought 3.10 which is pretty decent considering they were the "culls" .... Best thing is they are gone . The overall average was a little over $2,000 / head gross... still cannot believe these prices.
I went to town to watch them and then went to the farm and dropped off the sample bottles. Was going to do the laundry, but it started to POUR DOWN BUCKETS of water/Rain... and I just wanted to get home to get the turkeys herded in. It had not started to rain down here at the house yet... so I managed to get the turkeys in... and a few things done outside and then it started to sprinkle... then flat out rain here too. I had just gotten some stuff planted in the planters so they got a good soaking... although I had watered them in pretty good already.
I am going to see about getting the clothes washed tomorrow... Sunday is supposed to be more spotty... if Sat is anything like today, with showers later in the aft... things should pretty much dry anyway.

I'm going to bed. I am tired and back is aching terrible...