Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

The caregiver heard the "crash" I guess when it flipped. He has been on the mower twice with my brother there and had done good. So he was told that he could do around the house and barn area where it was FLAT and one or the other brothers would get the driveway next time, they were there. POA brother has been trying to encourage him to get outside and he was enjoying getting out and walking to the barn/garage and actually doing some puttering (?). He supposedly told the caregiver he was going out to get the mower and she went out to make sure he got on it and all; said he was doing fine so went in the house to get his lunch or something....he's been walking with just the one cane and alot of the time without it around there....
He knew he didn't belong on the driveway and hill... he said when they got him to the hospital that he guessed he lost his first bar room fight.... he's not a drinker much and never goes to bar rooms... so it was kinda funny after the fact.... he admitted to POA brother that he shouldn't have tried to do that.... The caregiver is not supposed to be an in his back pocket babysitter.... they are there to help with the housework, his meals, take him places, watch out for him when he goes from house to barn but even brother said he needs to get more independent in his movements & walking, so I am not going to fault her....
Worse than a little kid doing something they know they are not supposed to do, been told and told that they will get hurt if they do xyz.... but then doing it anyway. Well, now he is paying for it.

 

[farmerjan]

Okay, it was hot today, humid, in the 94 degree range... then clouded over and looked like we might get something... thunder & lightning to the east and north.... well, they got a couple real thundershowers... stayed about 3-5 miles north and really soaked them.... did not come quite far enough south AGAIN....

Took 5 chickens to the neighbor and a couple soup bones and a pkg of hamburger... I just did not have enough room in the freezer and had taken out some of the bread I had frozen to get the beef in. I will go get some tomatoes over the weekend.... I told them I just didn't have the time before then with us getting in cattle tomorrow and shipping Friday...
I am sure DS will want me to go to town to stay during the sale... have heard prices are up a bit... so here's hoping. Took feed to the couple of old cows and their calves at the one pasture and 4 of the 7 head there came down for it when I called. This is the first time since he set up a few panels there... take a few times for them all to decide to come...the one old cow that is the thinnest will come for grain when called so she will get the others to start coming with her...... going to probably pull off the calves and leave the old cows for a few weeks to dry up and hopefully put on a little more weight. They are a bit thinner than I would like... but they are old - old... and this was their last calf deal anyway. I actually would prefer to take the cows and calves and just sell them all at the same time and be done with it.... even if they are not as well fleshed as I would like. BUT.....

Did not get very many in at nurse cow pasture... and DS said there are some pretty big calves out at the one big place, so there will be another bunch going in a few weeks I think.... I will make sure I can get all the ones in at the nurse cow pasture. There are 4 that need to go out to the one place that should be bred and if not will be ideal beef.... they have had 2 chances... and then I will have more room at the nurse cow pasture pen, to get the others in. 2 or 3 calves go in the barn regularly through the creep gate, so hopefully they will get the others to start following them in and then stay in for the feed. I think I am going to go get a sq bale or 2 and put in the bunk for them to munch on since the grass is short.... Part of the reason I think they are not going in is the heat too.... it is cooler down in the trees along the old RR bed, near the water trough.

There are about 20 cows/calves in the field that they are going to bring in tomorrow... so that will be more than a trailer load... usually take 15 -18 of the 4-5 wts.... There are probably a few heifers there that we might keep.... don't know til we see them up close in the barn lot. These will not be weaned when sold.... but the cows are mostly dried up so actually they are mostly weaned... but not on feed like the ones we sold earlier this year. They will stay in the barn lot with the cows overnight, with hay and water... and get loaded out pretty early Friday morning I guess... before it gets too hot and they have to sit in the trailer, waiting in line to get unloaded....I think he has a few still in the barn lot too... I have no idea what is what anymore... he moves stuff around and tells me ....sometimes.... and sometimes it is weeks later.... I can't keep up that way. Very aggravating....

Going to check the weather... then quit for the night. Got PT at 9 in the morning and then have to come back for another of the online "training sessions" . Luckily I will be able to rewatch them also next week.... but the thing about it... they are for a new version of our program that hasn't even been released yet... so we won't be able to use it and by the time they release it, I will have forgotten all about it... SOOOOOO DUMB and a waste of time if it is not ready to be put out for us to use.....

 

[Ridgetop]

Can you record the training sessions to watch later for a refresher just before they want you to start using it?

 

[Bruce]

"I'm going to ride my horses until I am 105 years old. One day I'll get thrown off my favorite Paint horse, hit my head on a rock and DIE."

And then ride in heaven!

Jan I'm so sorry about your father. We all have our "stupid" moments, and mostly get lucky not to suffer from them too much. But eventually the odds come out on the wrong side. I hope he can get somewhere that your brothers can visit.

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop , yes the "training sessions" will be available on the website in a week or two. So they will be available whenever they do put this version into effect. But I think it is a dumb way to do it... with a fake herd to play around on.. but we can't try it out on an already existing herd that may have some of these different things that would actually make sense if we had a chance to change things around.... Whatever....

Hot already... had PT and came home and getting ready to get on the Zoom video thing for work. Going in to get a drink and a sandwich and then see if we can get a better connection than yesterday.
Calling for t-storms again but radar shows it staying to the west in the mountains on the Va/WVa border. They got hit at the PT office where I went yesterday. Branches, leaves all over everywhere... one huge partially dead tree broke off and came part way down there....lodged up against another tree. Going to be a mess to get it down. Don't know how much rain they got but they said it poured.
Left the clothes out yesterday to "tempt" the rain. Going to bring them in after the video call before we go get the cows in; since it didn't help.

 

[Ridgetop]

Wash your cars and trucks? Weather is crazy all over the US. Hot where is is usually cool, cool where it is usually hot, wet and dry are reversed!

 

[farmerjan]

Starting to get light out. Warm and muggy... only got down to 70. Another hot sticky day... pop up storms and rain that never seem to pop up here.

Got the clothes in and the radar was showing that we might get some real good pop up t-storms after 7-8 p.m..... NOPE.... nothing.... rain stayed mostly about 50-60 miles north this time.

Went to the barn about 8. GF was getting ready to leave she had to go get her daughter ( with the ex) so she could go home to get to bed for school today. It started last week.
Seems she and her sister had gone up in the pastures and got all the cows in during the day on the 4 wheelers. The one group way in the back field had gotten in with the ones in the front field... and on top of that, I had no list for them... So instead of 20+ cows/calves... there were something like 30-35 and not all had calves. This is another of the...." he decides to have her help him, they move stuff and no one tells me who or where." It will take hours for me to sift through papers from last year, and preg checks and figure out all that are out there AND who they are supposed to be pregnant to for this falls' calves....
And there were 2 new calves... 1-2 weeks old... and one was on a cow with an older calf on her.... Again, because of these cows getting moved around and then not keeping up with their status and when they might be due.
I put my foot down and said that ALL these calves are getting weaned that we don't sell....
So we sorted cows from calves.... then sorted about 5-6 calves with pinkeye/cloudy eyes to be worked through the chute. Then went through the other calves to pick and choose. Have 6 heifers we are probably going to keep back for replacements out of this bunch.

So the ones we are keeping and their mothers got sorted down into the lot to get out of the way. The ones that went through the chute to get eyes treated, and their mothers, got stuck down in the lot with the keepers, out of the way... The ones I could not find any current "sheet" on... and the mothers of the ones we were selling got put in the barn lot with a roll of hay for the night. If they are not weaned calves, then we do not separate them from the cows until they get on the trailer to go to the sale. If we separated them last night, they would have been screaming, the cows would have been screaming, and fences and gates would have been taking a beating and the calves would have dropped 25-50 lbs overnight.
It was after 11 when we got done, then switched trailers since there were over 20 to go and one cull cow that was open....needed the bigger trailer.... I checked her again and could not feel a calf... she had been called open 3 months ago... but wanted to make sure she hadn't been short bred... She was an '09 so 12 yrs old... and is in good flesh so time to get sold is now.... got the trailer backed up to the loading alley and all, ready to go. DS says he may as well stay at his own house... and that he planned to be at the barn at 4 to sort calves off the cows and load to be in town between 5-5:30.

Okay.. I get up at 3:45... get dressed and go by his house, no lights, no truck so I figure he was at barn. Get to barn... no lights. WHAT???? So, I call him, no answer...go in, turn on barn lights.... then I get the buckets and fill them at the feed bin... and call every 3 minutes... 8 calls..... I cannot carry the buckets in, with the knees and trying to "wade" through cows... I will get shoved and cannot risk falling and getting hurt. He finally texts me that he overslept and was on his way.... WELL, if he had gone to his house to sleep... 3 miles away.... knowing he had to get back in 4 hours... instead of driving 25 minutes each way which meant he would get about an hour LESS SLEEP.... he wouldn't have overslept and been an hour late because if nothing else I would have gotten him up.
I was pi$$ed but you know what... he's the one that will be late for work this morning.

If the buckets of feed had been in the alley where the chute is, I could have shut the gate to the barn and then put the feed in the bunk, without having to wade through the cows....then let the cows in, and had them pretty much sorted for him.... but I am not going to risk getting hurt at this stage of the game. he got there and carried the buckets of feed and the cows followed him in to the bunk and only had to get in about 6....
So anyway, we sorted the calves off the cows, got the one cow we were selling... and noticed a calf that looked like it was a bull calf so cut him out... going to have to run him in the chute and see what the story is... did he miss banding one when they were younger???? Since bull calves will take a .20-.40 hit, we weren't going to ship him today. There are more to go in a few weeks... some from the nurse cow field, a few that got their eyes treated, and some at that other pasture that he said there were some bigger ones... we will just band this one if he is a bull still... then send him the next trip.
I had planned on going with him to take the calves... but I was switching gates and all so the ones in the front lot (with the treated calves and the ones we are keeping) could come in for water... we had shut that extra gate last night as a precaution.... just in case someone in the barn lot... got a gate open or went over a fence... they would not get out with the ones in the front lot..... and he thought I wasn't going to go and he left... then he called me and said he hollered for me to see if I was going but I didn't hear him over the cows bawling... and that I was switching gates so everyone could come in to get water.... and that was fine.... told him that I was getting everyone situated and didn't hear him so no big deal.
I got the gates done, keeping the cows in the barn lot for the day or more, since they will be mad.... and they can eat the hay and clean it up some... we will check out that calf's status... find his mother and keep the pair with the ones that were treated... turn the rest out in the pasture in a day or 2 when they get over the calves being gone. Plus, I am going to go and write down every single number and check against all my records before they go out to pasture.... 4 of them were on my last list with a big "where are these cows" note.... and several others I have no idea where they came from without looking them up and we were not worrying about it last night while trying to sort. Most of the ones that I said "I don't know" I am thinking we had already sold off their calves.....

Clipboard is at the barn from last night... I will go get it later. Will get the weigh ticket with the info on the calves, how they sorted them, and all that... and go to the sale later. I need to go and get a new sponge mop "head" to use as the old one is pretty crummy.... so will go early enough to go by the store... and then eat lunch at the stockyards.

 

[farmerjan]

So, I posted that since I have been known to accidentally erase things....

Just heard from him, he is at work.... will stop and leave the weigh sheet and my wallet that I had put in the truck .... at the house; when he goes by here in a little while. I am going in to do a sink load of dishes.....
Then I will hang another load of clothes that are in the washer... soaking the socks.....
Got to get bottles in the trays for testing in the morning..... then go by and do the horse, take feed to the nurse cow pasture and go check cow numbers, get the ones in the lot all written down, and get the clipboard so I can work on getting a new list with all these that are going to be together to calve..... record the service sire on this sheet so it is easier to know which bull sired which calf when they are born.
Also going to go by and feed at the pasture where those 7 are, and feed them some grain too to get them coming so we can get them caught up pretty soon.
Did notice that 5 of the 6 heifers we picked out as probable keepers... were out of the same bull..... easy when the sire is right there on the sheet of the cow/calf pairs.... that bull throws nice calves...sad thing he is getting some age on him...and last year several of the cows with him came up shorter bred or open... so he might be on his last year... DS took the big red bull down to put in the pasture to use as a clean up bull in case this one missed any cows.... don't want to have a bunch of opens... and this way we will pretty much know what calves are by what bull.....I think we might have a BSE ... breeding soundness exam.... done on this bull next year before we put him out to breed... he might not be putting out enough... or damaged.... sperm. And it might have just been the heat or something last year. Guess we will know this fall when we preg check the group he is with... and I plan to have them ultrasounded so that it will be more accurate....

Then I think I will go to town early.... do my shopping, go to the sale, and sit.... DS will come in later on.......

 

[Baymule]

I guess the GF doesn’t understand how you sort and keep track of what calf belongs to which cow. The real problem is lack of communication. Since your son isn’t going to suddenly get a brain fart and start letting you know what is going on, perhaps you could ask the GF to put you in the loop? Maybe you and her could talk a little more so she knew how difficult it makes it for you when the cows are all scrambled together. It’s worth a shot.

Have fun at the sale, and have a good lunch too.

 

[farmerjan]

GF has made the comment that she doesn't mind helping occasionally, but it is not what she wants to do all the time. I reckon it wouldn't be a bad idea to ask her, but she doesn't go help tag them, or work them very often. She is help in the barn to do shots or eartags because I just can't work that fast with the knees... I am just not mobile enough....Getting them in the other day was partly because they can ride on the 4 wheelers.... and since DS has never even tried to teach me how to ride either one of the 4 wheelers... because it is not usually available for a "fun ride" so someone could teach me... and I had never really cared when I could take the truck... but this place the truck is not very handy.... and one of the problems I have with DS is he is always in a hurry to do things except when it comes to what she wants to do....
The gate got opened in the back between the 2 fields....don't know how.....we have some problems with people that hunt... turkey this spring...and others that just "go back there"... remember he just signed the papers a couple weeks ago... and we need to not make enemies... but there will be changes so that if a gate is shut, it will da*n well stay shut.... if we have to put padlocks on them with combo locks so that they are all the same for those of us on the farm. He will have a few others of his friends start hunting so we can cut down the deer numbers....and most are pretty smart , to know that DS is anal about keeping gates shut if shut, and open if open. So, it was a PITA but in some way okay, so I can get them recorded.

SH!!!!!!T... DS just called and said the cows got the gate off the hinge at the barn, broke part of the old one there, and got down in the front field with the cows that we sorted off last night with the keep calves and the treated ones... said a couple were out in the driveway.... but he got them in.. so I need to go check on them in a little bit he said. They want to be on the hill, and are mad because we did not put them there and they want their calves.... This is another thing... have not been able to do much "fixing" of things... because once you hang a gate on hinges... it belongs to the property (owner)... so that is why all the gates up at the barn at the nurse cow field are tied to posts with strings. Same as any other place we have rented... Not going to hang a $75-$150 gate to "give to " the landowner because his old gate is literally falling apart when you open it. . Plus the fact, some of what is there, are starting to get weak and old....30 years there... they don't last forever....And we are replacing the old gates with the HEAVY BULL GATES in places there is alot of pressure against them... like here at the barn. He made the comment last night that he was going to have to replace a couple of the gates that were getting pretty bad.... and there are a few fences there around the barn that we are going to replace... remember he just did the culverts so we can get back and forth between fields there..... BUT.... as you all know, that takes money and with taking on a mtg payment that is about double what the rent used to be....even though it is better because now at least it is his.... things are tight for awhile....that is why I am hoping my predictions are right and that bred heifers and cows will be up in price the next year or two..... sell a few and put some of the "profit" over what they might have been worth, back into the farm... partly why I have been pushing buying some of these 6-7-800 wt heifers because they are close to or ready to breed and will cut a years' time off them getting into production.

Okay, did the dishes and filled both the dish drainers.... got the sample bottles in the racks for tomorrow....going in and change clothes... because I am sweating to death and I wore the clothes to the barn this morning that I wore last night knowing they would get dirtier.... and now I can put on some clean ones to go to do the errands and go to the sale. Gotta get that sponge head so I can do the kitchen floor.... before the stove comes in the house....