Moooving

Seeding officially ended on Wednesday.  The goal is always to be done before June 1, and they went pretty hard the last week to make that happen.  We took the boys and families out for supper to celebrate on Tuesday night (M only had five rounds left so we weren't too premature).  Now we turn our attention to ranching again. 

Yesterday we played a game of musical pastures.  We needed to get the replacement heifers home so we can start the AI process next week and needed to get the cows with calves to their summer pasture.  The cow-calf pairs were roaming between two pastures so in the morning M and Junior pushed them all to the south pasture.  That gave us a buffer zone for when the replacement heifers came in.

Moving heifers is pretty easy.  Once you get them headed in the right direction (west), they're off and move pretty quickly.  It was about a two-mile jaunt, but it didn't take long.  Then we rounded up the cows and calves and headed east with them to the pasture adjacent to where the heifers had been. 

Moving pairs is always an adventure, and the more cows and calves you have the more difficult it can be.  Last year we had cows strung out for a mile and calves not keeping up and turning back looking for their mamas.  We tried a bit of a different tack this time and moved them a mile into the neighbor's water corral where they could rest and pair up (sort of) and then moved them the second mile.  Those on the 4-wheelers (M and R) were busy keeping the calves going in the right direction.  The cows knew where they were going and were happy to go.  We could have used another 4-wheeler, but one of ours is down at the moment.  We found two sick calves in the process.  One got a ride in the pickup and the other slowly made its way.  They received some medicine when we reached our destination.  I hope they're doing okay today.

M and R are busy getting the backhoe ready so they can try to repair the water line at the barn before we have heifers in there next weekend.

Still no progress on the bathroom project since our rain event turned out to be nothing but wind.  I only need an hour, but an hour is really hard to get sometimes.

Forgetting Something?

For a few days now I've been feeling like I've been forgetting something....oh, yeah, I haven't checked the cow cams.....because, there's nothing to check!  Our last heifer calved last week.  I was sure she would calve last Wednesday because M was seeding, R was rolling, and I was having a girl's day to celebrate Sawyer's first birthday so no one was around.  She didn't, but I kept telling R I thought she was close.  Before I headed out to help M the next morning I checked the camera and sure enough, she was in the process.  R had to admit that I am always right, haha!  He ended up pulling the calf but was very happy to be done with the heifers.  We still have three cows left, but they are on their own.  Maybe R can get back to a normal sleeping schedule.  R and I hauled the last four pairs to pasture so it's getting quiet around the barn.  That happened none too soon since we discovered a broken water line to the corral and had to shut the water off until we can get that fixed.  A top priority since we'll be bringing heifers in to AI in a little over a week.

We are on our last day of seeding, thank goodness!  J finished up yesterday and M is running around seeding spots that J left that were too wet or that he couldn't do with the big drill and the odd stuff like some oats.  They'll still have their CSP mixtures of turnips and radishes to put in a little later.

Everyone is tired and crabby so some time away from each other to rest and relax may be in order.  I'm hoping for a rainy day so we can finish the bathroom project from hell.  More on that later--hopefully with pictures of its completion.

"Pull It"

Say what?!

A couple of days ago we had a beautiful day and everyone was super busy.  M was at Opheim seeding, R was north of Glentana rolling, and in between running for the guys I was planting some flowers that my sister-in-law had given me.  It was getting close to 5:00 when it occurred to me that I hadn't checked the cow cams to take a look at the heifers.  I had been over there around noon making my daily check to make sure that we didn't have any more sick calves.

We only had three heifers left to calve, and we've all been so busy with farming that we had kind of lost interest.  I checked the cow cam and there were one, two.....where's the third one?  I panned over a bit and there she was on her side with feet out and not moving much.  In a panic, I jumped in the pickup to head over to see if she was alive.  On the way I tried to call R, no answer.  Then I tried to call M, no answer.  And I'm thinking what do I do, what CAN I do?  Who else can I call?

Just as I got to the corral I finally got R on the phone and told him I thought we had trouble.  When I got to her she jumped up.  Oh good, not dead!  She had been lying right by the gate into the shed, but she jumped up so fast that I wasn't able to get her in there.  I made a few attempts to get her in to no avail.  I didn't want to chase her around the corral too much and get her all worked up.  R told me to go to the house and let her settle down, watch her on the cow cam and hope that she had it without a problem.  He wasn't near his vehicle and didn't think I had time to drive the 20 miles to get him and get back.

M was working about 40 miles from here and when I finally got him on the phone and explained the situation he said, "you're going to have to pull it since we don't know how long she's had feet out".  I'm sure I got real quiet on the phone.  He assured me I could do it since I'd helped him many times and knew what to do.  J was on the tractor by my house so I called him and told him I needed help.  He got real quiet also when I told him what we needed to do.  He's not a fan of cows and isn't around them too much.  He's probably been around when we've pulled a calf, but it's definitely been awhile.

As we're driving over, J says to me "do you know what you're doing?"  I assured him that I did and just needed him to help me a little.  It took us a couple of tries to get her into the back pen and then she entered the barn at about 50 mph!  She was a little excitable, but we actually got her into the maternity pen and head gate with no trouble and went to work.  I went in and got the chains on and then we pulled.  I elected not to use the puller thinking that J was big and strong and shouldn't have much trouble.  In hindsight that probably wasn't the best decision because it was a pretty tough pull.  J had to put his whole self into it, and I would not have been able to do it by myself.  I'm happy to report that mother and baby are doing well and J and I are pretty proud of ourselves.

Lesson learned, and I have been keeping a better eye on the cow cams!  These last two heifers need to just hurry up and get it done.

"Your Heifers are a Pain in My Ass"

That's the call I got from R one morning.  He had had to pull a calf from one of my heifers around midnight and another one that morning.  I had to go to work and wasn't helping with chores, so M called to let me know one of my heifers was calving.  I watched them on the cow cam until I had to run out the door to get to work.  The next day I broke the news to R that the heifer had a twin sister still waiting to calve so he'd better keep a good eye on her.  She, however, had a good size calf unassisted on Sunday so I'm done.  It's their own fault for giving me the little girls.  We only have four heifers left to calve and a handful of cows.  This time of year everyone loses interest in the cows, but we've had cold, wet and windy weather so we have to continue to be vigilant.  M has found some sick ones out in the herd.  We need some sun and warm so we don't have a repeat of the problems we had last year.  The grass is being pretty slow to green up and grow.  It, too, needs some sun and warm!

Spring seeding is going along at a snail's pace because, well....because Spring is progressing at a snail's pace.  Last week I drove to work in a couple of inches of slush because we had snow and this week the ground was white again.  It's not unusual to have spring snows, but we'd rather have nice, warm rain.  I think J got in a day or two of seeding before it was too wet again.  We thought we'd have an early spring, but it's not looking like that will be the case.  They've continued to have problems with the new sprayer.......yes, BRAND-NEW sprayer.  The service guys get here in a hurry now when they're called and the salesman is nervous! 

K is pretty sure there is no hope of us being done and ready to celebrate Sawyer's birthday on her birthday (May 21).  What was she thinking, having a baby in May?!  Almost as bad as when I had one in August.  His birthday party almost always consists of pizza and beer in the combine.

Sawyer made her first foray into the field and played in the dirt.  She discovered sticks and rocks and leaves and thoroughly enjoyed herself.  She's walking like a champ and is a busy, busy girl!

Adoption Agency

Since my last post we've had two more adoptions.  One night R was pulling a calf from one heifer while another was also calving.  That calf was small and frail.  R tried to give it a bottle and thought it would last through the night and we could try again, but it was dead by morning.  I had heard on the radio that a neighbor had a calf for sale.  When M called about it he had already sold it, but later in the day he called back and said he had another set of twins if we wanted one.  M went to get it and we had very little trouble getting the new mama to take it.

A couple of days ago M decided to cut the splint off the broken-leg calf and see how it was doing since it was starting to smell.  He discovered that the ends of the bone were sticking out an open wound.  Very ugly.  We cleaned it out, applied some disinfectant and gave it a shot of antibiotic.  We tried to wrap it back up again, but the break is so high that we can't really stabilize it enough for him to get up on it so I gave him a bottle for a couple of days.  Yesterday R and I kind of made the decision to destroy it because it would never heal, and he knew he'd have to do it because M would never be able to.  R got busy and didn't get it done.  This morning we had another set of twins so M thought we'd give one to baby Bolt's mother.  He's still waffling on what to do with baby Bolt so I gave him another bottle. 

I think Bolt's mother is a bit tired of being moved into the barn, out of the barn, back to the barn, but she likes her ground feed so is pretty easy to work with.  M was not too optimistic that she'd take to a new calf after having Bolt for a couple of weeks, but we put them together and she didn't fight it.  I checked the cow cam a little while ago and the calf was trying to nurse and the cow wasn't fighting it so that's a good sign.  I don't think many ranchers try as hard as M, but it's always a shame when a good mother doesn't have a calf.  Too bad this one was kind of stupid while giving birth.

We are in full-on farming mode now and everyone has been on the run.  Yesterday our brand-new sprayer made it 20 minutes before it broke down.  That stressed everyone out because J was ready to switch to peas and that ground needed to be pre-sprayed.  We knew the wind was supposed to howl today so it was important to get as much done yesterday as possible.  They thought they fixed the problem and it worked for another 30 minutes before it had problems again.  They tried something else and it has been working since then.  Apparently someone at the factory didn't put something together right.  That's been a common and frustrating problem on new equipment lately.  As much as we pay for stuff it should work properly!

I was just having my morning tea thinking I'd have the day to myself when M called to see if I was up because we needed to move the water truck for C and get a seed truck for J and feed the cows.  R was already on the road to Glasgow with a load of lentils.  And, oh yeah, we needed to haul feed to the guy feeding our replacement heifers.  We did manage to get home and have lunch, but then R called in a panic because he had a bunch of cows and calves in the yard and needed help.  We got that taken care of and proceeded to load feed buckets.  We delivered those and came back and picked up J who had moved his tractor and drill and then I got to come home, around 5:00.  M is still at it somewhere.

There's rain in the forecast so maybe tomorrow will be a calmer day.  I've already made it known that I have a haircut tomorrow afternoon that I am not missing--I'm desperate!

NICU?

The craziness continues, and I said last night that the barn was starting to look like neonatal ICU while M was feeding one calf and I was feeding another.  First there was baby Bolt with the broken leg who actually can get around on his own pretty well. Then the deformed calf died so we bought a twin from a neighbor for that cow.  She was a bit uncertain at first so M and R took some hide from her dead calf and duct taped it on the new calf.  The cow immediately showed interest in it then.  It only took one time in the head gate to let it suck and she is now very attentive and protective.  Our third successful adoption!

A couple of days ago we had a heifer calving in the corral.  R had a tough time getting her in a pen, and we could see on the cow cam that something wasn't right as soon as the calf was born. R ran out right away to clear the airway and make sure it was breathing.  It apparently aspirated some fluid because it was gurgly.  It still hasn't gotten up, and we've tried to feed it multiple times with limited success.  It has enough energy to fight us a little bit and beller.  It tries to get up but hasn't yet so M had to get the cow in and milk it.

Yesterday just before dark M was doing some disking by the calving pasture and saw a cow with feet in the air, never a good sign.  He called R who ran out to check and discovered the cow was still alive and trying to have a calf.  It had somehow gotten onto its back and couldn't get back over.  R pulled the calf, with much difficulty since it was huge, and got the cow back over but let it rest.  The calf went to the barn and got a bottle.  R checked on the cow through the night, but it wasn't getting up.  M fed close to it this morning, and eventually it got up to eat and he was able to get it to the barn so mother and son are now reunited.  She'd better rest up because that big boy can eat!

Today M was again disking and saw two cows fighting over a new calf.  He wasn't able to convince the one to leave it alone (by beating it off) so had to get R and a 4-wheeler.  They got  one cow to a pen where she gave birth shortly thereafter.  It's funny how they'll try to claim a calf when they are getting close to calving themselves-- how can they not know they still have one inside?!?!

The calf was down in the bog and getting played out so R took the sled out to get it and its real mother.  It's cold and windy today so they'll be glad for a little more shelter.

My first heifer calved this morning so I was keeping a close eye on it through labor.  M gave it a little assistance while I was gone to warm up a bottle.  He said it would be easier for me after I went through 80 heifers ( only 20 to go).  He was wrong!

J started putting seed in ground yesterday so it's about to get busier around here.  I keep wondering if he's a bit miffed that M has been MIA in that department since he's been so busy with cows.  I'm afraid to ask.  Just thank God every day that R is back to help us.

How Bizarre!

In my last post I mentioned that calves were coming fast on Sunday.  That continued after I posted.  R went to a birthday party so M and I were on cow duty for the evening.  M went to check just before dark and later I went to help him put a heifer in a pen where we could watch her closely on the cow cam.  She was a bit agitated but was slowly progressing.  He decided to go check on her, and I was watching the cow cam.  As he was on the way over, she was pushing the calf out but was too close to the fence and literally pushed the calf right through a panel.  I kept willing her to move before that happened, but she didn't.  Then when the calf was half out of her she decided to get up.  When she did that the calf was ripped out of the panel but was still in her.  She made a half lap around the pen before it fell out.  Not good!  M was there shortly after and made sure the calf was alive, but he hadn't see what had happened and didn't want to get her any more worked up by getting into the pen.  Throughout the night I kept looking to see if the calf was up and never did see it up but did see that it was moved to different spots in the pen.

Just before I went to bed and after R had gotten home I checked the cameras one more time and noticed a heifer lying in an unnatural position in the middle of the corral.  About 30 seconds later our phone rang with R calling to tell M that a heifer was dead.   M had been there not an hour before and nothing was in distress or even lying down at that time so it appeared to be a sudden death.  Very strange.

I had to go to work in town on Monday so didn't help with chores.  M called to let me know that the calf from the night before did not come through unscathed.  It has a broken leg.  At first he thought it was just near the foot but later determined that it is broken high in the front leg.  M tried to immobilize it a bit, but the break is in a difficult spot.  This morning we put the cow in the head gate and helped the calf stand and nurse and supplemented with a bottle.  It's going to need all its strength to heal and hopefully survive.

Also yesterday they discovered a calf with a back leg bent forward and it's backside pushed to the side.  It was apparently in the womb like that, poor thing--and poor cow trying to give birth to it like that.  We're not sure what we're going to do with that one, but M says we're not going to let it starve to death so we gave it a bottle also.

K and Sawyer and a friend and her little girl came out today to see the calves.  I told M they'd think they were at a freak show!  We didn't show them the deformed one and at least the little girls could pet the one with the broken leg since it wasn't going anywhere fast.  It has now been named "Baby Bolt".  Sawyer squealed with excitement when she saw the cows and calves and petted Bolt.  Maybe she'll be our little cowgirl.  She certainly isn't afraid of anything!