Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Mini Horses]

More FJ pics from summer fun

Potatoes in garden... First up then mulched. June-july 2023

 

[farmerjan]

More sharing from FJ.....

Sorry for the overload. Just looking at pics that are not artic temps!!

Last May raking sorghum-sudan grass for hay.
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Actually, looking at these pictures, this is some of the first cutting Orchard grass hay. It is harder to see on the phone when it is so cold out and I am sitting there trying to not look at the outside thermometer...

 

[farmerjan]

Got down to 1 degree on the recording thermometer... It is up to about 15 already and the sun is out so "looks" much nicer than the last 2 days.
Water is running in the house... even with the not very "tight" 100+ year old foundation on this place. It did freeze when we had those several frigid temps and the high wind (last year or the year before).... Opened the cabinet doors in the kitchen since they are on an outside wall.... just as insurance.
Hopefully that is our coldest night in this stretch...

Heading up the hill to the calves as soon as I get the car started and warming up so the bottles don't cool off too fast while I am up there feeding.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Coffee is ready. I’m not. It’s 14F and cold. Wet humid cold and wind. Sleet and icy roads, no thank you, I’m hunkered down and staying home. To go outside, I have on my lounging sweatpants and long sleeve baggy Tshirt. Over that I put on a thermal shirt, a fleece shirt, BJ’s heavy sweat hoodie. A knit hat with hoodie pulled up to keep wind off my neck. Then Carhart bib overalls that belonged to my son in high school with way too long legs, so I roll them up. Then a Carhart coat, rubber boots, gloves and I’m ready to go outside. Yeah, go pee before I put all that rigamarole on. No matter how I adjust the straps on the Carhart overalls, the crotch hangs to my knees.
I’m ready for a centerfold picture in the magazine Miss Idiot Farmer.

I was cranky yesterday morning that I HAD to wear my heavy Carhartt coat to do chores at 8 degrees . The zipper died on my usual jacket (it’s actually just the outer windbreaker shell part of the jacket that I wear over a sweatshirt) the day before. I get too hot once I start moving.

 

[farmerjan]

Well, it was not so bad a day as it could have been, even with the temperature not hitting 30... The sun was out, there was a little dripping when it was directly on something that was metal... like the car... but it sure wasn't "warm" out there. The recording thermometer hit 36 with the sun directly on it for about an hour... but dropped right back to 29 when it moved behind the tree limb...
The forecast is for it to go down to 16... well, I think they are a bit off.... it is already 16 at 7pm... it will get colder... Skies are mostly clear so the air temps drop like a rock. Luckily there is not much wind... but that is supposed to pick up again... warmer on Thurs (tomorrow) ; like about mid 30's? but then some cold coming back in and some snow late Thursday into Friday... no rain in this forecast.

Bottle calves all look good... ate good. I made a list for DS of the cows that we had moved to doug's for the preg check so he could move them back... he said he wanted to get them out of the barn lot and they needed to come back anyway. Took the 3 open heifers, and stuck them in the other field there with other cows and a bull in there to breed them back... they have small calves now... They get one chance with this bull... he will be in there until about March 1st (so DS says)... and they will get rechecked... that would make them due to calve in the fall instead of this spring... losing 6 months time... IF THEY SETTLE to this bull. Can't blame it on the other bull as he had 8 out of the 11 bred... and I am assuming Jess, the longhorn, is also bred... she does not get checked since we do not have a chute she can go down with her horns.
DS moved the other 8 back to the nurse cow pasture...., and a smaller cow with a new calf, that will go with the spring calving bunch... there are already 2 at the nurse cow pasture with little calves...they won't breed back until 45 days or so fresh so that would put them at the tail end of the fall ones again... let them have a little time extra, and get bred back in June for spring calves the next year... instead of these winter calves. So there will be 8 to calve in Mar-May time frame... and these 3 others with calves now... plus there is the one that I think also got bred young as she looks like she is pregnant... not due tomorrow, but getting close....

Went to get the calf coat, and found 2 bottles like I like with the ridges in the sides, with the wide mouth screw on tops..... Got both of them so I have a spare... I had just 5 bottles, so I would make one with double strength milk, and take a 1/2 gallon jug of hot water, and then after I fed out 4 bottles, could take the concentrated bottle, split it in half in another bottle, fill each half with half water, and have 2 full bottles to feed out... it worked but not having to do that will be nice. The only 3 qt bottle I could find has the small "neck" with the nipple that snaps on it not screws on, and it is a royal pita to clean them, so I did not get it. I did get a long handled bottle brush that will work good in the 3 qt bottle. Got the calf coat but it is not quite as heavy as the other kind I got here local... But it is the "twin size"... so I got it as a backup. The calf with the "sheep underblanket" will be growing out of it because it fits much tighter around the back legs.. so I will at least have something to put over on her if I need to. But anyway... it was a fairly productive trip. Roads were clear so no ice or mess to contend with.

Went back up and fed the calves and came home. Ate another bowl of the split pea soup... and put a pot of potatoes on to boil for making some mashed potatoes. Once again I forgot to take a chicken out of the freezer out in the building... GOT TO REMEMBER tomorrow. Since we are going to continue to have cold weather for another week, it will be good to stick it in the oven...

A week ago we had daytime temps in the 50's and low 60's... What a change.

Treated myself to having my hair washed and trimmed before I went to get the calf coat/supplies earlier... Feels and looks nicer... plus not having to hurry up with the limited hot water situation here.
But, at least I have some hot running water...

Might see about taking the explorer down to the place and see what they say... give me an estimate of the cost of "detailing" with the paint touchups and such... Going to have to clean off all the snow first and then run it to warm it up... it does have a new battery so it ought to start without any issue... I do need to get sweet feed too for the calves. I saw all 6 in the feed bunk after feeding bottles this morning... so the youngest twins are learning from the other 4.... YAY .

Time to maybe curl up and watch a movie or something...

 

[farmerjan]

Today was not bad earlier... Was down to 14 last night but warmed up to 36... some sun for about an hour then the clouds came in. Been cloudy all day. Got another call about the 4 head at the pasture that need to be moved... Jim took a couple sq bales for them yesterday.... Well, seems the cow that was supposed to get shipped this fall when we got them all in (yeah, it's a REAL LATE FALL now...) has a new calf.. REALLY??? So I went up there and yep, new calf. She must've gotten bred back soon after she calved (which that calf is still there....grrrr) because the whole purpose of putting her there was to NOT get bred back... Oh, well, calf looks okay... but the neighbor that called said she could take them over a bale of hay and I said, no, thank you , I will be up there in a bit. I get there... waiting on Jim to come with some gate panels and some hay, and here comes the neighbor... with some hay... and I explained to her that we were going to set up panels and get them in to get them moved... so did not want to feed them yet. And she said, oh the poor baby out in the cold ...(she has pampered horses).... I said we have had several that have calved and the cows know what to do....
So Jim got there and of course the cow takes the calf up in the field as we are trying to get the panels set up... So once set up, I told Jim to go ahead and go, that I would feed some hay and see if I could get them in...
Cow did not want to come down out of the field... so I fed 1/2 of one bale and the 3 others came down... gave them a little grain and then left.

Went and picked up my milk at the farm a little later and went by there and the cow came down but not the little baby, but got 4 in the pen. Called DS and asked if he wanted to try to go up in field and get calf... but that probably she would bring it down tomorrow... so he said to wait to see if she brings it down tomorrow. He said he had a lot of feeding to do anyway.
So I fed the other half of the bale, gave them some grain so it was a "good experience".... and put the other sq bale in the back of the car so no "do-gooder" neighbors takes it upon themselves that the cows need more hay....but they aren't eating it like they are starving or anything...

I will go back up there tomorrow and see if I can get all 5 in the pen... and get them moved out of there. The cow and new calf will go to the nurse cow pasture... she is my old cow, so I got a bonus calf out of her... planned to ship her and wean the calf... I don't think she has a lot of milk but she has some age on her, no teeth. She will do better at the nurse cow pasture and I can grain her, and all of them some. Another one of the "they should have been moved 2 months ago" deals with DS....

All that took up a good part of the day; in between normal stuff...

So tomorrow after I go feed bottles, will see if I can get them in the pen... DS will have to take an hour off work to come get them if I get them all in... because this is a very tight spot and he has the longer trailer hooked up to the truck and I hate to try to back it in places... and there is snow and all on the roads up there... dirt road county north and they are not the best at getting their roads cleared off... Nope, not going to do it and screw the truck/trailer up or get it stuck or anything.

 

[Baymule]

Inconvenient but at least the old girl brought you another calf. Hope she brings it in today.

 

[farmerjan]

Chilly day... started out at 27. We got some light snow/flurries overnight... maybe 1/2 to 1 inch total. It has cleared out a bit, more sun peeking through. But the wind has picked up and it is getting colder... we are supposed to get colder tonight and really bitter temps... the next 2 days are supposed to be windchill in the minus temps.... sure hoping they are wrong, but it feels like they might be right.

Went to the pasture after asking DS when would work better for him.. He said mid-day would be good... so I went up, called them in and then texted him they were in. Stayed there until he came with truck and trailer... and we got them loaded... Jim came and he and I loaded the 4 gate panels on the truck after DS left. He took the cow/calf to the nurse cow pasture and her last years calf knocked him down as he was shutting the trailer gate... and so it is out with the cow again... but... she is mothering the calf good and he looks okay... I think (hope) she had weaned the other calf off her... So, anyway, I will have to see if I can get it to start coming in with a couple of the other ones through the creep gate... and get it out of there with a couple others that will need to be weaned too... Not going to get bent out of shape over it... it's done...it happened.... I will work on getting it fixed...
At least they are out of that pasture... and she will get better feed at the nurse cow pasture....

And after digging through some papers, the cow was 75 days bred when she got put out there, and was supposed to be brought back to the barn by NOV... so the calf could be weaned and she could have that last calf... doesn't matter at this point... she has a new calf, she is taking care of it, and hopefully the other calf is weaned off...

Another 2 hours, and will be back out in it to go feed the little calves... and then come in and hunker down for the night. Wind is blowing the light snow everywhere...

 

[farmerjan]

Calves fed and it is cold out there... a brisk "breeze" ... down to 24 already at 7 pm.

Cow and calf and her older calf and another pair, were in the grass area where I took the fence down, grazing away... calf was running a little so acting good. Will make sure tomorrow that she finds her way around the hill to where the water is... although she can follow anyone else in there... she will be the "odd man out" for a bit until she assimilates into the rest of the herd... there are 3 other small calves that this one can learn to play with once it gets a little bigger...

Calves drank their bottles fast and went to the bunk... even though the grain was put in there this morning... I am taking about 2 gallons of water with me for them to drink in a new 10 qt rubber bucket...had to tie it to a board as someone wants to play with it and it got dumped twice. Nice that it has a handle... and the rubber won't crack the way the 5 gallon buckets do if they freeze hard or you try to get the ice out and bang them too hard. The 40 gallon oblong troughs and the 20+ gallon round tubs from protein/molasses licks are all full and frozen... not worried about dumping them... if it warms up next week they will thaw out anyway...

Ate a part of a "hanging tender" piece of beef... cooked it like a steak in the cast iron pan, some mashed pot and some vanilla pudding I made last night. Lots to do but think I am going to get out a movie since I never seem to get to one... got a 5-pack of Sandra Bullock movies awhile back at the Goodwill... need some good laughs this cold night.

 

[farmerjan]

Cold this morning but actually not as bad as I thought. 13 was the low, It looks like the sun is coming out but there are a fair number of clouds in the sky too. No apparent breeze out there right now. Going to head up to the baby calves in a few minutes.
Get through this weekend of very cold and then it is going to warm into the 50's with rain for several days... Typical winter here in this part of Va anymore. Used to be we got snow and it stayed... not much rain in the winter but now it is more rain...
Got another mouse on the counter in the kitchen... stopped at Deb's to check the house and check her traps, she had gotten a couple over the weekend and there was another one there too...

I see the birds have found the feeder, at least I see them on the ground eating seeds... I will fill it more today for them since it is going to be so cold. Guess I will find out how cold it feels in a minute when I go out to start the car so it is warm and the bottles do not get chilled going up to the calves.