Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Yeah, looking interesting.... We are supposed to test in the morning.... 500 cow herd... if it is snow, no big deal.... ICE is a whole nother deal...

 

[drstratton]

Yeah, looking interesting.... We are supposed to test in the morning.... 500 cow herd... if it is snow, no big deal.... ICE is a whole nother deal...

Agreed. I'll take snow over ice any day.

 

[Baymule]

I don’t want either one.

 

[drstratton]

I don’t want either one.

I don't either, but if I had to choose...lol

 

[farmerjan]

Sunny, nice out, comparatively... no wind either... Got the boxes from going to chicken show 2 weeks ago, out of explorer... boxes with bottles all loaded and ready. We will see what things are in the morning....

Chickens waterers done and feed in feeders... Going to go down to get feed, out of the bin, in the 5 gal bucket to have here for next filling... Sure is quiet and empty without the turkeys...

DS is supposed to move the 2 prolapse cows and calves, and 3 yearling heifers to snyder's now that I have all the ones out with calves.. That will help Jess the longhorn a little bit to have adult cows with her... I will get feed in the buckets in the forester and go up and feed a bucket to "the 12" also... and need to make a trip to town in the next couple days; get a pallet of 4 protein tubs for them also... they have just about finished the last 4... a little left in one tub... they did good... about 1 a week for over 20 head of "adult equivalent" animals... It has worked good for the "12" to get some extra protein nutrition without having had to fight for grain... They need to be able to keep growing...

Got a 2x farm scheduled for Thurs eve/Fri morning... and one for Sat morning... scheduled...

Had to come in and take something for this back.... %@#&*.....

Headed back out the door...

 

[fuzzi]

I don’t want either one.

Preach it, sistah!

 

[farmerjan]

Well, in for the night... I never did get the chicken stuffed and roasted yesterday ... and it will wait for tomorrow... It is vacuum packed so it ought to be fine for another day in the fridge...

I went to the green barn and got chicken feed from my feed bin... then went to the barn and got a couple buckets of feed for the cattle... DS called and wanted me to come out back as he lost the cap off something on the JD... and needed help to look for it... I was putting air in the tire of the red forester... it was a little low... so I said I would be out in a couple minutes... but then he called back and said he found it near where he came through the gate... I said I was going up to snyder's,,, was he going to bring the prolapse cows??? He said he would see if they were near the gate and let me know... I said okay... so I went up, fed some grain, and then called him and said I will shut the gates if you aren't coming up... and he said give me a minute... they are right here by the gate... Calls me back in about 5 minutes... they followed him right out of the lot and down the alley and into the barn... so he was letting them eat and would be right up... I said great.
He came up about 15 minutes later after getting them loaded... and let them out with the heifers and Jess... and they all went off down in the field so that was good... He asked what time... I said we should leave by 3 a.m., in case there is snow... if it was real icy we were not going....then, he left to go back to the barn and I came on home...
So one more thing done... the other 3 that are "last calf" designation... are up in the calving field, and will get moved sometime after he gets his trailer back... all the cattle are gone from the barn lots right there at the barn, except the heifer he is feeding for a Feb butcher date and a small black steer calf with her... so that is great... next ones there will be when we start bringing them off pastures to preg check and wean calves off... couple weeks....

I have the boxes in the explorer... and before I went to get the feed, took it to put gas in it... then remembered that the windshield wipers had split off pieces... they are old.. so ran over to the small local auto parts store and they put a set on for me... This way, at least I will be able to "wipe" the windshield if the weather is crappy in the morning... without big streaks or scratching.... even da#% windshield wiper blades are expensive now... but they put them on for me... nice to have locals that you know well...
So one more little thing done... as ready to go as can be...

Just ate a bowl of soup, and going in to get a shower and go to bed... Have to be ready to leave at 3 a.m. But no sense in going to bed too early as I wouldn't sleep anyway before 9 or so... I will get up at 2:30...

Temp is already down to 28... so it will be cold enough for some sort of frozen precip when it comes down.

Time to quit, morning is going to come early...

 

[drstratton]

I hope the weather forecast is wrong and it's not icy in the morning.

Hope your back is feeling better.

 

[farmerjan]

Tuesday eve... It was a cold wet morning... there was ice on the trees and explorer... but roads were okay... we left at 3 or so... no trouble just raining... but temps were 30... got set up, tested... They are back up in numbers to 550.... got done and finally left there about 11:00.... then went to the county office building on the way home as he had to pay his taxes... and paid mine also on the explorer, got all caught up. My forester "aged out".... left there and went to eat and then came home... It was nearly 1:30, then I had samples to pack and take to UPS....

DS went to do some stuff to get ready to go away for 5 days... had hay to feed lots of places and stuff like that... I told him I needed to see about giving the dog his shot, he is diabetic.... and is finally feeling better since they diagnosed his problem... wanted to see his routine... dog has no problems with the shot... the needle is like a 29 or something... HAIR thin size... so I will be doing everything for the next 5-6 days...
All the cattle have plenty of hay, some are moved so have pasture too... there were only 7 left to calve....but one had a calf this afternoon... DS said it was up, she was cleaning and licking it and he did not want to disturb her so didn't tag it... He said it is a blonde looking bull calf... she is an older experienced char cross so she should be fine... It is a little breezy, chilly, but not raining so won't get wet chilled once she gets it licked off and dried off... probably will be a lt grey smokey calf when she gets it all dried off...
Will have to check them daily, even twice a day, at least... everyone is an experienced cow except 1... she had aborted after being checked preg and got rebred... so I hope she does okay... she is a little older now so ought to settle down when she calves... she is out of my longhorn...
He finally called me so, I went to his house just a little bit ago, and showed me his usual routine...with the dog, so that is okay.

If it isn't too cold tomorrow, I want to see about maybe getting a piece of that vinyl around the outside of the run/pen that the chickens are in.....I got some of the grommets and the tool to apply them; delivered on my porch last evening.. that's less than 3 days from ordering... So. will see how cold it is and if I can work outside doing this... cannot do it inside, the panels are way too big to work with. So, will give it a try if I can deal with the cold temps... It is supposed to be sunny tomorrow so a good day to attempt this...

It looks like we got about .6 inch of rain or so... measured what was in the one bucket .... it was a bit over the 1/2 inch mark... It got colder after we got to the farm... recording thermometer says it got down to 28... and up to 44 but it was a very chilly 44... with a light breeze... it was grey and cloudy until late afternoon... and we got some sprinkles off and on... and the ice started to fall off the limbs on the trees and such... right after we got home...

I am going in to take a shower and go to bed shortly... I got about 4 hours sleep and am just tired... do not like doing these early morning herds anymore... It just takes all the energy out of me for the rest of the day.... plus the constant backache....... not fun.....

It is down to 33 and it feels just cold...they say mid-low 20's.... UGH.... I did not feel up to doing the chicken and waiting for it to cook tonight... I plan to do it tomorrow... and then will have it for a couple meals...

 

[fuzzi]

Glad you didn't have to face ice on the roads.