That's been the theme song for my life the past week or so. With J working at one end of our land and M at the other I feel like all I've been doing is running around from north of Glentana to south of Opheim to west of Opheim and back again, to Glasgow for parts and then to the east end. One day, J told me he would need me the next day because he was going to have a couple of short moves to make. Then M came home and told me I would have to go with him the next day to move him back home. I wasn't sure how I was going to be everywhere at once. M had to delay getting to his tractor for while we got J set up for the day. That's when I decided that everybody needed a "buddy" (or two) to follow them around and make sure they had what they needed because I just can't be everywhere and do it all. Then my mother-in-law deserted me after the last rain and went to her house in town--not fair! J finished seeding Sunday night so we have all breathed a big sigh of relief.
That gave me time to go to the graduation of my niece and a neighbor girl and hit one graduation party. Today we had rain so M and I spent the day working on reporting for the Farm Service Agency, our crop insurance agent and the Department of State Lands. I wonder every year why anyone would think it is a good idea to have the government involved in farming (or just about anything else for that matter).
R is home temporarily while waiting for his summer job to begin so has been put to work. I get the feeling he hasn't really missed the farming scene that much.......
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I Want to Check You For Ticks
Yes, it's tick season. One night we found two attached to Pete's head and the next night we found one in his ear. The first one I pulled out took a little scalp with it. Another day I saw something on the floor that looked like a bean--about the size of a kidney bean and kind of gray-green. I picked it up wondering what in the world it was and saw little legs moving. A big, fat, blood-filled tick. GROSS! Now we don't just pet Pete, we're feeling for ticks. Poor Pete has gotten a little gun shy. He's also full of cockleburs after day out with M doing some fencing. I'd love to take him to a groomer and see what think of him at the moment.
I have bad news to report about poor little Tina. One morning I went into the barn like every day to let her know I was there so she could get herself up (it took awhile sometimes) while I went to get her bottle ready. She was in the back of the barn and the way she was laying gave me a bad feeling. I made M go and look and yes, she had died during the night. She was fine the day before and had eaten really well. I suppose it was for the best, but I kind of miss her. Now when we go to feed I feel like I'm forgetting something.
We had an inch and a half of rain over the weekend so the seeding operation was shut down for a few days. They were going to try to get back to it this afternoon. In the meantime, we sent some cow-calf pairs out to pasture and loaded up some other cows to haul to another pasture. That went really smoothly, thank goodness!
Yesterday M decided it was a good day to pound some posts since the ground was soft after the rain and left the clipping for me. So I wandered through prime tick habitat this afternoon to clip the fence wires to the new posts. I've felt a bit crawly ever since so I might need to be checked for ticks!
I have bad news to report about poor little Tina. One morning I went into the barn like every day to let her know I was there so she could get herself up (it took awhile sometimes) while I went to get her bottle ready. She was in the back of the barn and the way she was laying gave me a bad feeling. I made M go and look and yes, she had died during the night. She was fine the day before and had eaten really well. I suppose it was for the best, but I kind of miss her. Now when we go to feed I feel like I'm forgetting something.
We had an inch and a half of rain over the weekend so the seeding operation was shut down for a few days. They were going to try to get back to it this afternoon. In the meantime, we sent some cow-calf pairs out to pasture and loaded up some other cows to haul to another pasture. That went really smoothly, thank goodness!
Yesterday M decided it was a good day to pound some posts since the ground was soft after the rain and left the clipping for me. So I wandered through prime tick habitat this afternoon to clip the fence wires to the new posts. I've felt a bit crawly ever since so I might need to be checked for ticks!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Adventures in Ranching
I guess I can't say we are "cowboying" anymore. The other night we heard a young man say he's not a cowboy, he's a rancher. Of course, he has a full-time job in town and doesn't really take care of his own cows much so I'm not sure he qualifies as a "cowboy" OR a "rancher". Anyway, there is a distinction between the two.
My Tink (erbelle) has turned into Tina and is still alive and relatively well. She has not, however, learned to suck from her mother. We had a rain delay over the weekend so M had some time to get the cow in the maternity pen daily for a few days and try to get Tina to nurse. She really can't figure it out or it's too hard for her, but we've pretty much given up hope that it will ever happen. So, I get to bottle feed her twice a day. We've been so proud of ourselves for saving her, but now we're wondering why since she'll never be worth anything and we're not sure what we'll do with her. Her mother and M are not friends so she may not be here next year. She's not mean, just obstinate.
Now we have Norman. We had a cow that lost a calf and a friend who was bottle-feeding three calves so we took one off his hands. He had named him Norman, and he's a nice big boy. We started him out on one cow, and she was okay to work with but not too excited about Norman. The next day we found a 3-day old calf dead in the pasture and the mother was still being protective so we decided to try to put Norman on her. We skinned the dead calf (yes, that was a bit disturbing) and duct-taped the hide to Norman. The mother latched onto him pretty quickly; we just had to get Norman comfortable with her. He was a bit "flinchy" so we have a hunch he'd been knocked around before. We put them in the maternity pen a couple of times and he nursed well. Then yesterday morning I walked into the barn, and he was nursing her all on his own. Hallelujah! We will still keep a close eye on them, though.
Yesterday was a full day of moving cows around. We brought our heifer calves home so we can start synchronizing them and getting them ready to artificially inseminate and hauled feed troughs and buckets. Then we sorted cow-calf pairs to go to two different pastures and hauled some to pasture.
This morning we sorted off six open cows to put with the heifers to be AI'd. That was a bit of an adventure. Four of them were happy to amble along and be herded to the pasture while the other two were off like a shot, usually in the wrong direction. Yes, there was cursing but no, not from me.
It is a cold, gray, windy day so I was happy to get sandwiches ready for the guys and send M on his way to the field so I could come home and warm up! J got back into the field yesterday afternoon after a few days off due to rain and finished up the lentils. Now he is back to seeding wheat on his march back east. We're about half done with the seeding and hoping the rest goes quickly and painlessly!
My Tink (erbelle) has turned into Tina and is still alive and relatively well. She has not, however, learned to suck from her mother. We had a rain delay over the weekend so M had some time to get the cow in the maternity pen daily for a few days and try to get Tina to nurse. She really can't figure it out or it's too hard for her, but we've pretty much given up hope that it will ever happen. So, I get to bottle feed her twice a day. We've been so proud of ourselves for saving her, but now we're wondering why since she'll never be worth anything and we're not sure what we'll do with her. Her mother and M are not friends so she may not be here next year. She's not mean, just obstinate.
Now we have Norman. We had a cow that lost a calf and a friend who was bottle-feeding three calves so we took one off his hands. He had named him Norman, and he's a nice big boy. We started him out on one cow, and she was okay to work with but not too excited about Norman. The next day we found a 3-day old calf dead in the pasture and the mother was still being protective so we decided to try to put Norman on her. We skinned the dead calf (yes, that was a bit disturbing) and duct-taped the hide to Norman. The mother latched onto him pretty quickly; we just had to get Norman comfortable with her. He was a bit "flinchy" so we have a hunch he'd been knocked around before. We put them in the maternity pen a couple of times and he nursed well. Then yesterday morning I walked into the barn, and he was nursing her all on his own. Hallelujah! We will still keep a close eye on them, though.
Yesterday was a full day of moving cows around. We brought our heifer calves home so we can start synchronizing them and getting them ready to artificially inseminate and hauled feed troughs and buckets. Then we sorted cow-calf pairs to go to two different pastures and hauled some to pasture.
This morning we sorted off six open cows to put with the heifers to be AI'd. That was a bit of an adventure. Four of them were happy to amble along and be herded to the pasture while the other two were off like a shot, usually in the wrong direction. Yes, there was cursing but no, not from me.
It is a cold, gray, windy day so I was happy to get sandwiches ready for the guys and send M on his way to the field so I could come home and warm up! J got back into the field yesterday afternoon after a few days off due to rain and finished up the lentils. Now he is back to seeding wheat on his march back east. We're about half done with the seeding and hoping the rest goes quickly and painlessly!
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