Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[SageHill]

It's got to get better.
So sorry about the cat and the calf.

 

[murphysranch]

I'm so sorry for the kitty and the calf.

 

[farmerjan]

Been a couple busy days and I have to get up to go back to test a farm for their 2nd milking so am going to bed...... hopefully will be able to catch up with things tomorrow night. Been trying to get the 1st calf heifer to take one of the twins, but it is nearly a month, although small... and it wants it's own momma... BUT.... it does go on her when it is hungry and she is not kicking it or anything... not mothering it, but tolerating it... so we will see.
Did the 550 cow herd this morning..left at 3 a.m...... 120 this afternoon and tomorrow morning.. don't have to leave until 4:30..... we are supposed to get in the cows with small calves from the one field and work the calves and blackleg and move some to grass.... going to be a long day again. I am tired.....

 

[Baymule]

Hope you get some rest soon!

 

[Ridgetop]

Sorry abut the cat and the ca;f. Hope the cow takes the heifer calf. Bad stuff comes in waves.

 

[farmerjan]

Thank you to all on my losing the cat. His sister is really clinging... she is "lost" without him. Looking for a couple kittens off a farm to bring in... will be taking another chance with the road... but maybe.... they will get smart... These 2 did good for 2 years... Silkie, the sister, has not gone very close to the road since she went near her brother that I laid near the road on the lawn... and ran for the house...she has been right around the house every time I have seen her since...

Going to bed, shortly, as I am beat. But we had a very good afternoon, bringing in the cows/calves..... working the calves, sorting them and getting most moved out to pastures... a few back up in the calving field.... GF and I compared notes on all the calvings, she had some I didn't have and I had some she didn't have... got everything coordinated.... No sense in fighting the situation...

There were more that had calved than I thought since I didn't have them all.... Which is great.
"Armed" 2 for pregnancy... one is definitely preg... and old cow of mine I am pretty sure is open... She got put back up in the calving field with one of DS's cows that lost her calf... it was crippled from a baby, and died after about a month... Make a decision on what to do with them later... won't break us to keep them a little bit longer...They are all where we can get them in fairly easy to sell if that is the decision... I think DS is going to put his cow that lost the crippled calf, back with the bull... if my old one is open as I think, she will get sold...
One of them that was "still preg" in that field, calved today which is good also.... there are 2 with calves up there... the cows came in but the calves did not...so just put the cows back up there with the other few... 9 cows total, up there now and we moved 23 out with calves.... so there will be a few more to get out to move to pasture to get bred when we get the next large group in from the other field...

There are only 3 left in that group to calve; since we got the lists cross referenced... which is great. Plus 2 that we think aborted... so only 5 without calves in there... not looking for the 2, to have calves.... might get surprised but I doubt it... Hopefully the other 3 will calve here pretty soon. The 2 that I think aborted, will get checked when we bring in that whole group to get the calves worked, blackleg vaccinated, and them moved to pasture ... probably within the next few days so we can stop feeding.....

GF was helpful in the barn today... and she has been doing alot of the silage feeding with the skid loader when he has been out going around the pasture fences to make sure the fencelines did not have trees and brush on them and such. I am not and never will be a fan, but getting stuff done when she is in the "help out mode" is smart...
DS had said, on the drive to and from the dr visit the other day.... that he realizes that she could change her mind in a few months like the last couple times... and he is not as invested as he was but for now it is working... his demeanor is a little different than it used to be about her... still catering somewhat, but maybe he has his eyes open... He said she is finding out about how she cannot spend money like she was, she doesn't have it... and he said they don't eat out much... comments on how he brings drinks and snacks with him to the kids ball games instead of buying at the food stand...especially the practices, but she will buy food..... and I realize it is for them to help make some money... but still, DS tries to save money when he can... and how sometimes he tells her she needs to be more mindful of spending so much....he does not seem to be spending the money he was, and they do not have co-mingled accounts either he said... her money is hers, and his is his... they share some expenses and I am sure he contributes with groceries and such.... but does not seem to be in a "spending on her" frame of mind anymore...

It is what it is... I can tolerate it or have a bad relationship with them both... I don't have to be around her alot.... and she has tried to keep a low profile most days with me... I guess not knowing how I would react... Like my ex husband... tolerate some of it, some days.

I'm going to bed, I ache all over from all the work hours and short nights, and today's cattle working. I also did get the samples packed and dropped at UPS late this aft, so they could go out.
Then I used the mower to go around the perimeter of the property for when ever the fence guys come back... at least it will be easier to cut again if I need to... and gives them a little easier way to line up the posts... Ran the 4 batteries out, it was nearly dark... put it in the carport as they are calling for some showers/storms..... put in 2 charged batteries and have the other 4 on the chargers. They will be ready to go tomorrow also...

Heifer is still tolerating the calf but not mothering it... If she does not let it nurse in the pen without putting her in the head catch tomorrow... I am going to dry her off, put the calf back with it's own momma and twin brother... put the heifer up to get rebred with the other heifers at snyder's nurse cow pasture... not her fault a perfectly healthy looking/acting calf, just died.... she's young so ought to breed right back.... she will get another chance. Not going to spend time twice a day to put her in the chute indefinitely... thought she would let the calf on her in the lot... she is not mean to it, so I can't get upset with her. Being a 1st time mother, she does not have that intense a reaction to want to mother... she was good with her own... but she does not "want a calf" so much as most older experienced cows seem to...Since she is my heifer, I have decided she is entitled to a second go round... and the twin can go back to it's birth mother... It is not the end of the world... would have gotten more milk being a "single" on a cow.....

Have one, a 2nd time(lactation) cow with a teeny tiny calf...about a week old.... about 40 lb size that looks like it should have been a twin... that DS is concerned is not getting enough to eat... She has milk... no one has ever seen it nurse... but it is a spunky little thing... so we moved it in the little lot where the other heifer that calved too young is, about a month ago... and the cow that had the twins that were so small (that I just took the one to try on my heifer), so she could get fed a little extra and we could keep up with them better...
I want to watch her and the calf's condition... GF says it is all sunk in, but it really isn't....to me it looks okay for the size... they aren't going to look all filled out when they are that small...not at a week or 10 days... will take a month to "look normal"... I want to see some manure too so can do that in this smaller lot. We got her in the chute and she has milk... good amount in 3 qtrs... not much in the other, but I told DS that maybe the calf had nursed that qtr....Calf is just little... might have been a twin that she lost one, and we didn't find... or absorbed it or something..... but if the calf is eating okay, she will go out in to a pasture somewhere in a couple weeks... let it get some size and strength to it...I can try a bottle, but the teats did not have a "plug" in the end so not like the calf would have trouble sucking it... We'll see.

So that was today....

 

[farmerjan]

Another warm mostly sunny day in the low 80's... Hoping tomorrow is basically the same... even a little bit of clouds would be okay... Just no rain PLEEZE......

Headed to the shower... leaving early... looking forward to this "social day out".... No one to answer to, no guys, no kids, no animals except what we want to buy....

 

[Baymule]

What a fun day! Y’all have a wonderful day!

 

[fuzzi]

We're on the way, see you soon!

 

[farmerjan]

Sunday morning. 57 and up to 61 cloudy and wet out there..

WE all met up around 8:30.... So very nice that @fuzzi got hooked up with @canesisters and a stay over at her place... That was very nice of @canesisters to host her at her house... Reminds me of the generous hospitality that @Mike CHS and his wife Teresa showed to me, when I made a quick trip to their place and had the opportunity to meet with @Baymule in person.... they were about half way from me and from @Baymule ... a little closer to me, but I don't think a trip to Texas is in the cards so was glad to take the time and go down. Mike and his wife are wonderful people... @Baymule is a HOOT......

Anyway... someone else will have to post the picture, you know my lack of "electronic skills".... @canesisters sister came with them also... so she did the picture taking of us 4 BYH ladies. Thank her for us again @canesisters .

This "Swap meet" has grown to such a size that seeing it all in one day is very difficult and tiring. We started out together... but the crowds made it difficult... and when someone would stop to see something and the rest moseyed on... we kinda got split into 2 groups... @fuzzi seems to be very knowledgeable about stones and things for crafting and there were several places for her to indulge... @Mini Horses gets sidetracked with goat people when they get into a conversation and I of course get sidetracked with chicken people...
And as you have probably read on @fuzzi 's post... trying to educate stupid "experts" of 18 MONTHS, on the qualities of the American Bresse chickens that are supposed to be the answer to the Cornish X meat birds... for farmers to raise... Didn't even know the cycle of roosters inseminating hens and the amount of time their semen can last in a hen's tract to fertilize the eggs for saving for hatching...

Yes, the cornish x are somewhat lazy birds, yes they are messy, yes they "sit around" alot... yes their legs are not designed for long life carrying in the bird... BUT.... the can successfully be raised out on grass... loose or in a chicken tractor situation. Yes they eat alot, but they do and WILL forage for bugs and such... They do have a more mild flavor... as in "bland".... compared to birds that run out all the time... but they will have a more flavorful meat than ones raised in a confinement situation.
And if raised out on some sort of a grazing/grass/free range situation... their legs will develop stronger and will keep them going for longer. And the shortest time from gain to butcher is the goal...

Oh well... maybe in my I am tired of younger people that think they know more than they know and become instant experts on something... Especially when these experts cannot even answer a simple question... like I asked them approximately how long to a decent butcher size... they started telling me about how the cornish x cannot stand up on their legs and that they have very bland tasting meat where as these Bresse have more flavor etc and so on... I had to ask 3 times to get an answer of about 12 weeks rather than the cornish at 8 weeks.,...

For those of you not familiar with chickens... the rooster will mount and breed a hen frequently... they do not have to "be in heat" like a mammal.... but due to the egg formation process.. the sperm do not just swim up and get an egg fertilized... Think about the process of an egg down through the oviduct, to go from a yolk, to adding the "white" which is the albumen...to the membranes and finally the shell before being laid. The spot on the yolk that will accept the sperm and start to develop, HAS to be fertilized at the very beginning of the whole chain of egg formation.... so the hen is designed with a storage area gland/sac at the opening of the cloaca and it releases sperm regularly to "swim" to the area where the yolk starts.
One source said the sperm can be viable for 4 weeks... we always used the 2 week rule... eggs can/will be fertile for at least 2 weeks after a mating... maybe more than that but I never tried it.
That is why we would have some pens with a single female or maybe 2, and rotate the rooster we wanted to use for these breedings... between cages/pens.... 1-3 days with each hen and then move... When we wanted to switch males to do a different breeding, we would leave them without a rooster for a week, then start with a new rooster, but would not save the eggs for at least 2 more weeks so that they were fertile by the new rooster... If the hen has not been with a rooster, the eggs are often fertile after a few days matings... but sometimes not for over a week-10 days.

So back to the swap... the weather was good overall... some sun, but we had a brief period of a few sprinkles... sun was out some too. Glad it was not beating down, that would have been too hot.
We didn't wind up eating any lunch together... after several hours we sorta met up again, and @canesisters "group" were going to meander through some more stuff on their way to the car... they had gotten some donuts and such when they first got there which they shared... but were not really hungry. @Mini Horses and I decided we had seen enough... more and more crafty things and we were more interested in the animals... so she went with me to the car.. with my stuff... then she found a place where a car had pulled out right near the opening to across the road to the swap stuff... so I moved the car there.. and then we walked back to the friend that had my Buff Leghorns for me... She went from there back to her car... I did offer to take her... as she was parked up in the field in the opposite direction... but the traffic was UNBELIEVABLE... and I sat with the guys at the chickens for a bit... then a couple of the sons/friends carried the crate with the birds to the car just across the road and loaded it... My friend said I could take his crate rather than try to put them all in boxes and pull them in the wagon I had... The wheels do not swivel right and it is awkward.. got a new one that a friend borrowed so got stuck with my old one.. ....

So it was a shorter day than planned... @Mini Horses and I talked about in the fall... maybe meeting up first, going around with whomever wanted in pairs/groups... then agreeing to meet like at 11 or so... getting some lunch and sitting and talking/visiting a bit... MAYBE there will be less people???? Or just all saying okay, we will meet at 11 at the feed barn and then eat and visit... so no one has to get there too early to meet up...
It's not like we can see it all in a few hours.. and the crowds are just getting huge. It is not so much a poultry swap... or even just related poultry type things/crafts... It is a full fledged "flea market, craft fair thing with animals thrown in" huge thing. We said it would be nicer to have the animals in a more localized area... and the other stuff in another "area"... BUT...

Maybe I am getting less tolerant in my ....
I did get a trio of good Buff leghorns and he threw in a couple extra hens that are not as good... I said I could use the eggs... and wound up buying the pair of black Langshan bantams he had... I used to have black langshans in bantam years ago and some large ones not that long ago that the coyotes decimated.
The buff leghorns are just pretty... and they are show quality so might be able to raise and then show some next year. Same with the langshans. Need to get things set up better for them. Glad I got rid of the rescue roosters.... My NH bantam rooster is very happy to have some company... he is outside the pen and they are inside, but at least he has some contact.. I was not able to find any hens for him... going to see if I can get with the guy who had the extra roosters last fall... and get some eggs. Got a different phone number for him so maybe this will work.