Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Showers, just a little wet misty stuff. Canceled getting the coop so we don't tear up his grass... will go one afternoon when he gets off work. Waiting to hear back from DS which afternoon will suit him.

It is wet enough to be annoying... Going to be a damp day... so inside. Not looking like we will even get a tenth of an inch though... just misty type damp.... Might make some bread pudding... Got the milk to do it. It will warm up the kitchen/house a little bit.

Need to finish the computer stuff for the farm... pack the samples. Piddly stuff looks like. Have to go check the heifers, but the one that still hasn't calved is not that close.... vet said she was about 1 month "less" pregnant than the one that just calved... she is big around, but just starting to make an udder so not going to do it in the next few days...

Oh well... time to do something positive...

 

[Mini Horses]

Geesh, I'm thinking bread pudding here,too. Same reasons, all stuff here & warm the house. Chilly & really windy.

 

[murphysranch]

How's the cow and her baby?

 

[farmerjan]

@murphysranch ......Yesterday aft the cow was grazing, the calf was in under a section of the barn/shed. Made the calf come out and it went to her, and nursed a bit... they walked off into some other grass there... Cow was not straining, although quite swollen and puffy looking... as long as she eats and does not have any contractions to "push" it out... should go back to normal in a week or 2. Will leave the stitches in for several weeks I think... vet said they are not dissolving.. so eventually will snip them so they can come out... but she acted okay considering...

 

[farmerjan]

Wed morning... Sunny and warming from a low of 49 overnight.

We had .3 inch of rain total from the misty wet day Sunday which was more than I ever thought. It helped perk up the pastures some... It was cloudy and just blah on Monday but finally some sun in the afternoon. If it is going to be cloudy, then let it rain... then clear off... Yesterday Tues was sunny and fairly nice.
Didn't do much of anything on Monday, just felt dragged out... Had some hot and cold spells... but not feeling like the flu exactly... tired of this...
Yesterday was better, we went and got the one chicken coop that was close here... DS took the flat bed trailer, it was heavier than he thought and said it was well made, and managed to get the "run end" lifted up... got some jack stands under it, and backed the trailer under it... then the 3 guys got it lifted on the heavy house end, pushed up on trailer and slid around... worked out good. Got here and was figuring out how to unload it with just him and I.... Decided that the skid loader would be best, forks under the heavy house end... and he could put it right where I wanted it... So he didn't have to have that truck and trailer for anything that minute, so left it here, I took him back to the farm, and came home. He is going to bring the skid loader here in the cattle trailer, unload it and do what he has to, sometime later this afternoon... Then take it back. My red forester is at the farm because I drove down there yesterday to meet him with the truck and trailer, so he can drive it back here to get the truck and flat bed trailer... to take back to the farm... always playing musical chairs with vehicles... but it saves having someone having to constantly be taking and picking someone up...
DS had set up the panels at the pasture to get the "14" (that is now 13) younger heifers... and panels at the other place to get the 5 of 10, that are in one pasture... then will move them to set up and get the other 5 in the other pasture... might do some of that this afternoon. He is working on replacing a couple bent things and a bearing(?) on the drill so he can get the cover crop in the ground... That is priority..... it is supposed to rain later on Sunday, so want the seed in the ground before that. Forecast is for 1/2 to 1 inch... more of a soaking type rain coming from the west to the east... HOPE we get it...

So, that is the latest... backache not getting better... I am going to make a trip to the dr office and get some answers as why they have not called back when I asked for verification of the text from the allergy people... because I have nothing on the papers from the dr visit that I was being referred... I am not against it... I just am not answering a text that I cannot be sure of is not some sort of scam.... They want to waste medicare money on allergy testing, then fine... maybe I am allergic to something... but that STILL does not fully address the concerns from the bullseye rash and being "sick" since last June..... and yes, I am going on a self prescribed treatment...... have my order in to the all family pharmacy.... worst it can do, is nothing..... best it can do is hit something that they are not seeing...

Have a farm scheduled for Thursday.. friends coming in from Conn. on Friday aft... but the mom that I am close to, fell and cracked 3 ribs a couple weeks ago, and just called and is not coming...painful for her to take long car rides and it is 7 hrs from there to here... healing but at 89 or so, slower than we like...... she was in 4-H with my mom, and I lived 10 min from her when married in Conn.... best friend in alot of ways... her daughter babysat DS.... very very disappointed she is not coming... daughter and husband coming and we are going on a train ride on the restored "611" steam train on Saturday afternoon... her husband and DS are train enthusiasts and ought to be fun...

Dr appt for DS on Monday... Just had a farm text back so now scheduled them for Tuesday and another for Wed...
@Mini Horses and I do completely different jobs/type of work... but I swear they must telecommunicate to do the no work then over scheduling stuff !!!!!

So, did chickens and turkeys yesterday... am going out to decide exactly where coop is going so it will save any arguments/discussions later... probably mow it off later once the dew dries on the grass... Need to take advantage of the sun and nice weather to do stuff outside... just have to see what the backache will tolerate.

Oh, the cow that prolapsed seems to be doing pretty okay...eating and acting good, calf is nursing and she seems to be making milk okay..... will move her to a small field, with her calf, and with another cow that does not seem to have hardly any milk... they are supplementing the calf with a bottle some, and since she was a slow breeder, had her 2nd chance to get bred as a heifer... there were 3 of them at the time that were open and got a 2nd go round and finally got bred, so 6 months behind the original group........ and now not much milk.... she will not get another chance... this is her 2nd calf and the first one was okay but nothing special... and another old cow that cannot get bred back either..getting a little stiff in the back legs.... they will have no access to a bull, and will get sold when the appropriate time comes. This way, they cannot get bred back, cannot get hurt from a bull breeding them, and can get taken care of; and easy to get in to sell right there at the barn. Not like there is much good pasture anywhere to put them on either... but the 2 will probably stay through the winter... might ship the real old cow sooner as her calf is bigger and can probably get weaned when we bring others home from pastures. Do not want her to be here if we get icy stuff and have her slip or anything... burying cows is not smart with the prices cull animals are bringing...

Got a load of jeans in the wash to take advantage of the good drying weather...

 

[Ridgetop]

That's almost rebel homesteading -- ready ahead?!?!?!

I don’t know where you got such screwy ideas? Read it in a book? YouTube? We just don’t do those sort of things here! I’m very afraid for you, my dear farmerjan, you ARE at the age of sliding off into dementia, darkness and despair……..

Is it time for an "intervention"?

 

[farmerjan]

Well, Wed eve... Nice day out...

Clothes out on the line... I got the mower out and mowed all around where I want the chicken coop... DS had to replace the power steering pump on the blue truck... that stays hooked to the cattle trailer... because it was "whining" then all of a sudden it was near impossible to turn... BUT.... like I said to him... Gee Whiz... it ONLY lasted 300,000 miles on the original pump... that should be a "crime".... like REALLY?????
So he got the pieces on the seed drill... then got the poultry litter spread on the fields so then he can go on and run the drill and do the seeding... doesn't like to run over the ground with the manure spreader truck after doing the seeding as it can compact seed that should not be planted more than 1/2 inch down in the soil...... I have never seen the difference in the germination rate but he claims it matters..
Needless to say, the coop is still on the flat bed trailer... I have to go to work tomorrow so it might not get done until Friday ????
He wasn't feeling good this evening...stomach not feeling right, bad headache.... so he just said he was going home when he got done at the farm. He did call and say he would stop at the house and get me and take me down to get the Explorer... he had a flat on his way to Dr appt the other day... put a "spike", like the tent spikes you put in the ground to hold tent ropes... into the side of the tire... don't know how he did it... but it was going whoosh, whoosh... he saw it... made it to GF house... he had just left... used her car instead... then he had to jack it up, take off the tire... had a pair of tires that came from my parents for it... got one put on the rim..... took it home and put it on it over the weekend... then brought it up to the co-op and took them the other one that matched, for them to change the other tire...and I will have to get new rough tread winter tires for it... and keep the good one that is partially worn,, for a spare... The 2 that came down from NH after I got the Explorer, need to be used so they don't dry rot... and they match the ones on it now... So anyway... it was done yesterday, but they didn't leave the key in it for us to pick it up after hours... so he called the one girl that works there, and made sure she left the key so we could get it...

So it is at my house, the red forester is still at the barn... I will drive something down to get it in the morning, probably the outback; have all the trays and bottles in it ready to go... go feed the 13 heifers in the set up pen, then come home and get the green outback with the meters and all, and go to work. That way there will still be something at the barn for him to use to come back and get the trailer and flat bed, if he gets to it, but getting the seed in is more important....
Plus he wants to get 5 of the "10" moved so he can move the panels...to other field for the other 5... the 13 don't get moved until mid next week... to sell some on the 25th; more important than the coop... we can do that another time... but it is all mowed so ready to put it down...

Got to put the bottles in the trays/racks... then get a shower and go to bed...

 

[Baymule]

I hope you get some rain soon. It is dry, brown and crunchy here. Under a burn ban. After taking in @Margali 10 ewes, I bought 6 more round bales just to make sure I don’t run out. I probably didn’t need them, but it made me feel better. LOL Winter grass should be up by now, but no rain, so no winter grass. I’m glad I didn’t waste money on rye grass seed.