Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Thursday. Been a couple days...

First, my heart goes out to Dana (@Baymule ) for the loss of Sheba... it seems to be the last few months have been rough for many with their pets/partners/animal friends...
DS had been dealing with the diabetes with my dad's dog, Spirit... he got really skinny, they finally figured it out, he was mostly blind, and was actually coming back around a little... then the invisible fence collar wasn't picking up too good, he got out of the yard... someone picked him up, took him to a vet 20 miles away, and DS went nuts looking for him for 24 hours, got a call from the sheriff... found all this out... got him back,,, but he was without his insulin and it was downhill from there... it's a bad deal with the person who picked him up too as they misrepresented him to the vet they took him too... all his collars, dog coat everything was "gone"...claimed the dog was totally neglected etc.... DS took him back to his vet as soon as they got him back... but I think the damage was done...
Anyway, they upped his insulin, way too much too fast in my opinion, and he went from good one day to down the next...then better then worse... I told DS to go back to his old insulin amount and try to up it a LITTLE at a time since he had been doing pretty good before... and then he just didn't have any interest to come out of his night sleeping cage in the house...couldn't get up and stand, and DS said he was suffering; and I had to come get him as DS couldn't deal with having him put down..

2 days ago, lost a cow trying to calve, have no idea what happened... feet and nose presented correctly, and found cow out flat dead...found her the that morning.... could have had a heart attack for all we know... not sentimental like a dog or cat, but still upsetting, and financially a big loss...
We are just starting our spring calving... had one a couple days ago... most should start the first of March but there were 6 that went in with the old bull earlier, so could start the 13th of Feb... and one did... so we officially are into spring calving...

Weather has been pretty warm the last couple days. Upper 50's and 60's some sun and some clouds... we are supposed to get some rain for the next couple days... then temps dropping on Sunday with maybe some snow/rain... a couple days of chilly with nights in the 20's again... then back to more normal 40's and 50's...

My owner sampler farm called and had gotten their samples... worked good to go by and pick them up yesterday afternoon on the way to test... so will get the computer work done and reports printed off, to drop off tomorrow when we go test the 500+ cow herd in the morning... Sometimes things work out....

It is cloudy out, supposed to have some rain off and on... temps in the 50's . Most all the snow is gone except the big piles from where they plowed it...

I stopped and got chicken feed out of the bin yesterday afternoon... will start mixing it again today.

Took a carton of 18 bought eggs and hard boiled them so I can eat egg salad and deviled eggs.
The NH pullet is laying 2 out of 3 days, langshan hen every other day, Leghorns still very sporadic...but they will get better as the days get longer.

Yesterday took the truck and went to get some sq bales from DS, and took them and the feed to the barn, managed to get backed up to the door and got the sq bales and the feed over the gate and into the barn and got the feed in the cans... DS came and got the silage wagon, and filled it, took it to grant's next dooe, got that one and took it to the barn to fill it and the tubs, and was going to take it all back to the snyders... so she got her silage yesterday afternoon... He was going to take the tractor and take hay and feed since he nearly got the truck hung when he went to get the silage cart out of grant's... he could not get near where he feeds the hay... it is really wet/deep mud as the snow and rain has worked into the ground... and the ground underneath is still very hard... so it is like a foot or 2 of mud and then the water does not go down through it more... until the ground starts to thaw and let the water perculate down. But around the hay rings, it is just knee deep ....

Okay, I need to get on the farm stuff... and it is starting to rain lightly. I will go to snyder's now before it gets too wet on top and I have trouble getting around up there... then will come home and work on the computer stuff/packing samples.

 

[fuzzi]

So sorry for your losses.

 

[drstratton]

Thursday. Been a couple days...

First, my heart goes out to Dana (@Baymule ) for the loss of Sheba... it seems to be the last few months have been rough for many with their pets/partners/animal friends...
DS had been dealing with the diabetes with my dad's dog, Spirit... he got really skinny, they finally figured it out, he was mostly blind, and was actually coming back around a little... then the invisible fence collar wasn't picking up too good, he got out of the yard... someone picked him up, took him to a vet 20 miles away, and DS went nuts looking for him for 24 hours, got a call from the sheriff... found all this out... got him back,,, but he was without his insulin and it was downhill from there... it's a bad deal with the person who picked him up too as they misrepresented him to the vet they took him too... all his collars, dog coat everything was "gone"...claimed the dog was totally neglected etc.... DS took him back to his vet as soon as they got him back... but I think the damage was done...
Anyway, they upped his insulin, way too much too fast in my opinion, and he went from good one day to down the next...then better then worse... I told DS to go back to his old insulin amount and try to up it a LITTLE at a time since he had been doing pretty good before... and then he just didn't have any interest to come out of his night sleeping cage in the house...couldn't get up and stand, and DS said he was suffering; and I had to come get him as DS couldn't deal with having him put down..

2 days ago, lost a cow trying to calve, have no idea what happened... feet and nose presented correctly, and found cow out flat dead...found her the that morning.... could have had a heart attack for all we know... not sentimental like a dog or cat, but still upsetting, and financially a big loss...
We are just starting our spring calving... had one a couple days ago... most should start the first of March but there were 6 that went in with the old bull earlier, so could start the 13th of Feb... and one did... so we officially are into spring calving...

Weather has been pretty warm the last couple days. Upper 50's and 60's some sun and some clouds... we are supposed to get some rain for the next couple days... then temps dropping on Sunday with maybe some snow/rain... a couple days of chilly with nights in the 20's again... then back to more normal 40's and 50's...

My owner sampler farm called and had gotten their samples... worked good to go by and pick them up yesterday afternoon on the way to test... so will get the computer work done and reports printed off, to drop off tomorrow when we go test the 500+ cow herd in the morning... Sometimes things work out....

It is cloudy out, supposed to have some rain off and on... temps in the 50's . Most all the snow is gone except the big piles from where they plowed it...

I stopped and got chicken feed out of the bin yesterday afternoon... will start mixing it again today.

Took a carton of 18 bought eggs and hard boiled them so I can eat egg salad and deviled eggs.
The NH pullet is laying 2 out of 3 days, langshan hen every other day, Leghorns still very sporadic...but they will get better as the days get longer.

Yesterday took the truck and went to get some sq bales from DS, and took them and the feed to the barn, managed to get backed up to the door and got the sq bales and the feed over the gate and into the barn and got the feed in the cans... DS came and got the silage wagon, and filled it, took it to grant's next dooe, got that one and took it to the barn to fill it and the tubs, and was going to take it all back to the snyders... so she got her silage yesterday afternoon... He was going to take the tractor and take hay and feed since he nearly got the truck hung when he went to get the silage cart out of grant's... he could not get near where he feeds the hay... it is really wet/deep mud as the snow and rain has worked into the ground... and the ground underneath is still very hard... so it is like a foot or 2 of mud and then the water does not go down through it more... until the ground starts to thaw and let the water perculate down. But around the hay rings, it is just knee deep ....

Okay, I need to get on the farm stuff... and it is starting to rain lightly. I will go to snyder's now before it gets too wet on top and I have trouble getting around up there... then will come home and work on the computer stuff/packing samples.

Sorry about the loss of your cow, calf and your sons dog. None of it is ever easy. I hope the rest of the calving goes well.

 

[drstratton]

I just looked up your Langshan hens. Those are beautiful. What color is yours? I saw, blue, black and they also come in white?

 

[SageHill]

Sorry about the cow.
It sure does seem like a bad year for pets and livestock. So many losses. I know of a few that are battling serious health issues with their dogs.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry to hear all the "bad" Jan. It's piling up! Nothing we can do sometimes but, still ya feel guilt. Here, too.

 

[farmerjan]

I just looked up your Langshan hens. Those are beautiful. What color is yours? I saw, blue, black and they also come in white?

Yes, the 3 accepted colors are White, Black and Blue... to make the Blue, which does not breed true as most blue colors don't ,,, you will get an occasional splash... black and white crosses to make the blue... and sometimes you will get a white with black and/or blue feathers splashed through their feathers.
I love the "U" shaped back and very upright tails... Mostly they are a very quiet calm breed too... even the large fowl roosters... Have never had a male that has been aggressive.
One of my NH cockerels is chasing the other some...they are feeling their oats.... and the pen is not real big... I want to get the other pen set ready for them that the turkeys were in... set up 2 separate breedings... then switch roosters and breed them the other way... mark the chicks and see which mating produces better color and type... The extra hens will all be good layers so should not be a problem to get rid of extra females...
Leghorns decided that it hurt too much to lay... the first 2 eggs had bloody shells... so they are refusing to lay any more.......

Oh, my bantams are black... The whites and blues in bantams are more rare... I want to get some of each... and would love to have some big ones again...
CHICKEN MATH.....

 

[farmerjan]

Heading to bed... we had sprinkles and light rain for most of the day... Everything okay at the barn but it was getting slick on top when I went to snyder's... cow and calves very mellow after eating their silage and all... she ate her grain, and there was still quite a bit of hay in the manger in the barn, so did not give her more.

Hit 58 today... late this afternoon it started to rain more steady... I did computer work for the one farm... printed his results to drop off tomorrow... and got both farms samples packed.
DS said he might move the group of cows around... he would let me know... Finally at 5 I took samples down to UPS and called him... he said he didn't because of the wet, and that he was probably going to just feed a little more then go get some sleep so we can go test early tomorrow... then I dropped samples, walked into walmart to check out the bread ingredient lists, and he calls... said all the calves came in the barn on the one side, so thought he would put them through the chute and do the vaccinations... if I got home I could come help but that they could manage it... I said that if nothing else he needed to write down every one they did... so that I can check them off as to who is producing what size calf and such... comparisons for the better producers....
By the time I got done, it was really raining and I just decided that I didn't need to stop and get boots and then go to the barn to get wet... GF had written each and every one down so I can start comparing to the list of calves that came off our cows... some are bought calves too, but that is okay...

So, got home, bought a chicken since it was already cooked and hot... lemon pepper roasted... and got some of the plain italian bread... both the itatlian and the french do not list milk... but they do say that there might be trace amounts of milk and sesame... I think from being made in the same place/area.... It's only like $2 so I got a loaf that was sliced... see if it causes any reaction....
Picked up some cooked shrimp, that were marked down due to the date... that was a nice surprise...they are not cheap....

Ate chicken for supper... got on here, and now headed for bed...

 

[drstratton]

Yes, the 3 accepted colors are White, Black and Blue... to make the Blue, which does not breed true as most blue colors don't ,,, you will get an occasional splash... black and white crosses to make the blue... and sometimes you will get a white with black and/or blue feathers splashed through their feathers.
I love the "U" shaped back and very upright tails... Mostly they are a very quiet calm breed too... even the large fowl roosters... Have never had a male that has been aggressive.
One of my NH cockerels is chasing the other some...they are feeling their oats.... and the pen is not real big... I want to get the other pen set ready for them that the turkeys were in... set up 2 separate breedings... then switch roosters and breed them the other way... mark the chicks and see which mating produces better color and type... The extra hens will all be good layers so should not be a problem to get rid of extra females...
Leghorns decided that it hurt too much to lay... the first 2 eggs had bloody shells... so they are refusing to lay any more.......

Oh, my bantams are black... The whites and blues in bantams are more rare... I want to get some of each... and would love to have some big ones again...
CHICKEN MATH.....

We all know about chicken math...lol I've also discovered bee math... need to keep supplying my friends and my own honey addiction...

Thank you for the information. They are really beautiful birds. Can't wait to see what you get from your different breedings.

Those leghorns will start laying again, they are egg machines. My girls are all on again off again right now, even though they have extra light in the mornings. Once it warms up and the days are longer, they'll be keeping us and our friends well supplied.

 

[Baymule]

Thanks for the mention, Sheba was a heart dog.

That sucks about the cow, I hate these "have no idea what happened" deaths in our animals. The cow and calf was a financial hit as well as one to the heart because we love and care for all our animals.

How sad for your Dad's dog, and your son. I have observed over the years that he does really love his dogs and is devastated when it goes all wrong.