Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@murphysranch ... @Mini Horses and I discussed it when she switched to the Advantage plan... and how much she was saving... especially for people that don't "need to go to the dr" all the time. Except for my replacements, and rehab and therapy after, I don't go to the dr much for anything either... it is definitely on the radar for consideration... but for the surgeries I had, I was definitely on the right thing. You figure that I have about 2500 a year in for medicare and the supplement I have.... figuring that is was cheaper in the beginning and now is more expensive... But 5 years that's 12,500... Say even 15,000 paid in... but other than the $300 deductible, I never paid another penny for anything I had done.... the ankle was over 30,000 alone...plus PT....then both knees and over a year of PT since I had such poor rehab right after... $125 a session at PT and I went 2x a week for months and months...
Still, I get it that if I have everything "done" then there is no real good reason to not change. After what @Mini Horses told me a year or 2 ago, I have been giving it alot of thought.
Do you have a supplement also ? They take out about 2,000 from my SS, a year for Medicare; and my supplement went up, which I knew it was going to... to about $130/mo... so now it is getting to the 3500 a year cost... still alot cheaper than the replacements and therapy and all... But it is coming to a point where it will be better to go on the advantage. $24 a month out of SS... dental would be nice, since I no longer qualify for it through work. Plus stopping work one of these days....

 

[farmerjan]

So, I did calves this afternoon. Got the grain in the bunk and they were pretty satisfied... came on home and got the chickens in the crate... I think they are laying somewhere but I do not know where...
I had gotten all the clothes off the line and in the house... and finally got all the meters out of the car since I am not going to anyone that needs them for the next several days. It was feeling rather "damp" out there...

I bet I wasn't in the house an hour and it was raining... could hear it on the roof. I made some liver and onions; yes I like liver... and cooked the rest of it so I can just heat it up to eat. Got the chicken that I roasted also to work on... Going to be a movie and maybe fold clothes tonight.

 

[Mike CHS]

I love liver and onions but Teresa can't have it so I might do some as my independent meal

 

[farmerjan]

A chillier wet day. It got down to 40 and no sun today so staying very cool. Some misty fog out there too.

Went up and did calves and it was MUDDY... slick. Looked in the rain gauge and we have had just a smidge over 1.5 inches... it rained pretty steady last night. It is still a misty damp out there so I did not dump the rain gauge... Supposedly it is going to end later but had a brief little sprinkle shower a little bit ago. I will dump tomorrow and record as I try to do on the calendar.

Just ate the rest of the liver and onions for late lunch. Not much to do outside with the wet.

Lost the calf that bloated all the time. The vet had said that the prognosis wasn't good with a chronic problem like that. I am not real surprised but still sad.
Seems like there have been alot of losses with cattle/calvings this year. Several on another cattle forum have had some problems too... stillborns, bad presentations, one had a calf that the cow could not get the membrane off the calf's head and it suffocated... there have been several reports of abnormally thick membranes on calves faces... one farmer was luckily there and saw it on the cam and got it off to save the calf... another with very very high end cows went in for dinner, checked the barn cam, gone for about an hour, and lost a valuable heifer calf that the cow had and did not get the membrane off the calf... you name it. Heart breaking...

I will put the calf coats back on tonight since temps are going to drop and we might get a short bout of some flurries on Wed now... but hopefully back up into the low 50's by the end of the week.

 

[SageHill]

Seems like there have been alot of losses with cattle/calvings this year. Several on another cattle forum have had some problems too... stillborns, bad presentations, one had a calf that the cow could not get the membrane off the calf's head and it suffocated

Wow. Wondering if things like this are cyclical?? Ya' know like weather? (not saying it's the weather). I know we've seen reproductive issues in dogs that we've never seen before (well at least as long ago as the 60s).

 

[Ridgetop]

He is also going to dump a couple gallons of bleach down the well in case there is something bacterial... it won't hurt it and we have done this regularly over the years to different wells when they have gotten real low and such...to treat any possible bacterial things...

Before I put in the automatic waterers for the rabbit barn we used 2 liter bottles with ick valves. We used to ad 1/4 tsp to each bottle to avoid getting green stuff growing in them. Is it possible that someone is dumping something or running a new sewer drain near the well? It wi be interesting to see what the water tests show.

 

[Baymule]

That’s too bad about the calf. Sometimes they are just a poor doer. That’s weird about the membranes over the calves face. That hurts my heart.

 

[farmerjan]

Monday morning. Got down to 35 last night. Sun is out, some clouds, but it is chilly. Quite a breeze this morning also. At least it will dry off the top of the ground a little.

Getting ready to head to town to the dentist appt for the broken off tooth/cap. Ate some breakfast and took my antibiotics... don't know what they are going to do but prepared.

Bottles in the tray to drop off at the farm. List of some things to do while I am in town, but I will be going back up tomorrow to pick them up if the farmer does the testing tonight and tomorrow morning, so I can do any other errands tomorrow too.

Glad I put the coats back on the calves last night since it is chilly out there compared to the last few days.

Better get going.

 

[farmerjan]

Been a nice and fairly productive day. It was sunny and fairly nice out. Hit 57 today.

Went to the farm and dropped off the bottles at the farm. Now the farmer is NOT going to get it done tonight and tomorrow so now I am not going to get samples tomorrow.... GRR
Really..... at least I knew that before I did my errands... as I was going to wait and go by the feed store and get milk replacer and the grain for the calves I prefer, on Tuesday... and pay last month's bill.... So, he is "hoping" to get it done on Wed eve/ Thurs morning and I am going to pick them up on the way to a farm Thurs aft.... do all that in one trip since I have a farm north of them to do Thurs aft.. Plus I need the computer at this farm, and the printer.. so it would make the trip worthwhile... of course I will have to leave 2 hours early to stop and do his computer work and all....
So, I went from there to the dentist... he was able to drill a tiny hole in the tooth still in the jaw... put in a pin and then re-cement the crown back on...says that he hopes I can get a few more years out of it... I was surprised that he could "save it".... $210 is certainly better than a couple thousand for reworking it for a bridge or an implant. Kinda wish I was in NH since my father had his implants done at the school there... I guess there is a dental school or something and he got his done for some pretty good prices... they need "guinea pigs" to practice/learn on or something... that would be fine if they are learning to do it... and better prices... and hey, just like doctors doing internships and all that... they need to learn to do things through practice with someone looking over their shoulder....
So then went from there to the feed store... paid last months bill and got more feed and milk replacer....
Then went to Walmart for a couple little things and got looking at the seeds and all out already... picked up a few pkgs of sunflowers that I love to plant in the garden... Got to take inventory of my seeds so I don't get stuff I don't need.
Then had to go south us and get the special "sterile" bottles for the water sample... going to take 2 from 2 different troughs.... $55 each... but I want to know if there is anything in any of the water up there....
Talked to the extension guy and he gave me the name of the place... the one I have taken stuff to before just north of where I was in town for the dentist, is closed now; so good thing I called to find out where there was a place... It has been several years since I took a water sample anywhere.
Talked to the vet's office, found out about fecal samples... and vet is going to call me in the morning... want to rack his brain a bit....
Talked to DS this evening... he is going to try to take the silage cart, with the headlocks, up there tomorrow, and I am going to take some ob-gyn breeding gloves and try to get a few samples from the cows that look the worst... and then can take them to drop off at the vet's office on Thursday when I am up that way also... I will be gone all day at this rate. .
On top of it, my brother is going to be here Tues night or wed morning... I think he is on his way home from friends in FL... this is the brother that took care of my parents and all that... I told DS that I have to test Wed aft... and will not be home until 8 or later... and that I am testing Thurs aft but should be done around 6 or so... so might be home by 7... so he said maybe we could meet for dinner in town north of here so I could get there on the way home by 7..... brother should be gone on Friday morning... of course it is not a week we are both not as busy... It is supposed to maybe snow/sleet late Tues night/Wed morning.... so now DS will be working a 12 hr shift, so all the daylight hours are gone, and his boss is still out... and he is not doing so great after the pacemaker... keeps having things cause him to go back to the dr's office... no idea when he is coming back to work... and we are trying to do the feeding and all... I told DS this evening that he needs to tell me which hay, to which pasture, and I will start feeding some so he can just concentrate on the silage feeding...DS is not good at delegating to me though...

ON TOP OF THIS.... jim has not been feeling good, and finally they did an MRI or something last week... turns out he had a hernia repaired 10-15 yrs ago... the mesh has come loose, and there is a small hole in the wall of his stomach, and bile has been getting into his stomach... causing so much stomach problems... and the pain... They did surgery on him today, to repair all that, and so is totally unable to do anything at the farm now... for who knows how long. So that means DS has to do all the daytime grain feeding and all that... heard that the surgery went well, so that is good... but it puts him out of commission for a bit... in the winter time when days are short and DS is pulling all this daytime work when the weather gets bad so he cannot do the feeding and chores, like he prefers to do, when he was on the night crew during inclement weather. It is stressing him out quite a bit...

Just got a text... a farm that skipped due to the frigid temps 2 weeks ago during the snow then the temps dropping so much... wants to do Friday afternoon....
Told you it would be feast or famine....

At least is is supposed to be 50's the end of the week.... Got to set up meters Thursday and Friday,,,, and have to change the brackets for Thursday(10 meters) and then change them back on Friday( 16 meters) , to how they are set right now... just can't win for losing.... I will try to get the brackets changed on the ones I need for Thursday... and get all of them loaded in the car for both Thurs and Fri .....done tomorrow... after I take the feed out of the outback and put in the forester since I take the forester up to the calves.

The good thing is the ground is drying up on the top real nice. Calves all looked good this evening after the sunny nicer day... and they seem to be doing "better" with the coats on... The night temps down below 40 degrees or so, really seem to chill them more. So it was great to get them off for the few days and now back on so they can stay comfortable. They are eating grain real good too. I have cut the 2 older ones back to about 1/2 bottles... weaning is starting. They also seem to want to get out... they saw some of the smaller calves running...tried running along the fence inside... and the ones that came up to the board fence they were nosing through the boards.... I think after we get this snow/flurries/clipper system and it clears off a bit, I will let them go out the creep gate if they want to... I will close the gate inbetween the lots so the 4 little calves can't get out, but the bigger ones could come and go... get some more exercise... and they will come for their bottles... plus they will learn to come in for the hay and grain in the bunk... and in for the bad weather... but can learn to be "cows" with the bigger calves on cows and all that...and weaning will be easier as they "expand their horizons".
And, they might get the little babies on the cows to learn to come in the creep gate with them.... which makes it easier so that one day I can get them caught up and we can tag and band them too...

So that was my day. Tomorrow will be getting ready for Wed/Thurs/Fri .... and I need to figure out how to get the 500 cow herd tested.... DS is soo busy I hate to ask him.....
Oh, I did get a chiropractor appt for Wed noon time; since I am going to be closer down there for that farm...milking after 3 p.m.... so that is good... trying to combine trips when I can...and I can go to the Goodwill's while down there before I go to the farm.... check things out. My social life... going to test cows, going to Goodwill, going to cattle meetings....

Already down to 32... mid 20's they say....
Oh yeah, we had 1.6 inches of rain; from that rain on Sat night/into Sunday.... more than I thought after all the little bit of misty showers finished up on Sunday.
Ate some chicken, going to slice the white meat off the carcass, and then cook it down maybe the end of the week... not much time to do it the next couple of days. Have to stick it in the fridge or freezer til I find some time.

 

[Mike CHS]

There is some cold weather going your way. We had a ewe drop twins this afternoon so it's probably going to get colder.