Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[fuzzi]

@fuzzi just a 4 hr pill, cheap, effective...usually just one clears it. If needed I'll take another, or on another day. It clears for me.
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Sudafed. Gotcha. It's my go-to for sinus pressure but not for the drippies. No antihistamines work for me, no Zyrtec, no Allegra, no Claritin. Benadryl makes me sleepy and jittery at the same time, so no. Flonase works a little.

What actually works well is blocking my nose with tissue or cotton balls, but I look silly, hate to do it in public.

 

[farmerjan]

Wed. Been a couple of okay days, but don't seem to be accomplishing much.

Monday I went back to the barn around noon... DS was working on some braces on the next fence over... and so I got the hammer and a bunch of staples in the box.... and headed down the hill to pick up where I left off the day before... DS had done about 5-6 posts and I had done a bunch coming up the hill... If I do them coming up the hill, it isn't like I am climbing the hill all at once... so not as strenuous.
So I worked on it and DS wound up leaving to go to his father's after awhile... I said I was going to hopefully finish it off.. The friend that has been doing some work for him came to do some more fenceline clearing. I get up within about 6 posts of the end and I hear one of the bulls bellowing... and then look down and see one walking up along the new fence, on the other side... and "talking " to all the heifers we had just brought home from the pasture... UH OH.... NOT GOOD.
So I called DS and asked if he had opened a gate to the bull lot... that I had a bull coming up the hill... he said no, that he hadn't been in the bull field... but I needed to see if I could get him back down and back in the bull field... He called the guy and asked him to go help me..
We got a bucket with some feed... went out and around to the lane and down to the bull lot... going to go in the field next to the bull field and see if we could call the bull back down the hill ... and found a totally "smushed" ...looking like a bowed out pretzel.... gate laying on the ground. Seems the bulls had gotten into a shoving..."I'm the BIG BOSS" kind of match and had totally destroyed the gate. There was another one out, along the fence with the bred cows... and a bull in there with them that I didn't know he had brought home and put in there the day before... A neighbor had been using that bull and instead of putting him in the bull lot, he had put him in the field with the bred cows .... I guess because it was dark when he got back with him... That would have been fine, and actually the better thing to do... BUT.... he didn't tell me... so I figured that the bull had gotten over in there too...

So Dennis and I got the bull walked out of the field with the cows... and the bull that was in the alley between the fields, came up and got both of them back into the bull field. Then we propped up the smashed gate.. he went down with his truck, to the end of that field and managed to get the other bull that had gone up by the barn... to come down and then got him to walk along the fence as I stayed at the gate... and we got the bull back in there too. Then he went and got another gate that was in the field with the torn down fence they are replacing posts... and brought it up and we put it across the place where the bent up gate was ... with the bent up one. The bulls has snapped off a post right at the ground level too... 16 ft gate... posts are 8 ft on center.... so a post in the middle of the gate... snapped right off when they destroyed the gate. It was a light weight gate that we had there, that he had put up for the time being...to block a hole.... DS had a logging chain on the trailer there...and we wrapped it around the gate against another post on one end... and tied it to the post in the corner too. The trailer had fencing boards on it that he was putting up along the top of the guard rail that he had installed between the 2 fields. The guard rail is to stop the bulls from going down and pushing against the fence to the next field... bulls like to go along and rub their shoulders along the fences... so there are boards along the bottom... then the guard rail at shoulder height... and a board above it, to give it more "height" to deter them from wanting to go over it.

DS called a little later to see how we had managed and I told him the gate was shaped like a pretzel... but we had gotten them all in... and the one had gotten over into the field with the bred cows.,... and that is when he told me he had put that bull in there the night before... and I said well, he should have told me that as I thought he had gotten across the fence there... so we had gotten them all back in and put up the heavier gate alongside the bent up gate... and hopefully they will stay put for now.

I went back and finished nailing off the rest of the fence on the posts... So that stretch is done...Guess I will see about maybe working on the next stretch....

Then I came home and got the clothes off the line, and went up to do the jersey and give the holstein his bottle.

Tuesday I was feeling a little off... still have a bit of a scratchy throat but don't really feel "sick"... Didn't do alot all day... just little stuff.

It was more cloudy, some sun on Tuesday... we got some sprinkles/light showers Tuesday eve... a little bit overnight.
Today, got up to a little sun peeking but the ground was wet on top. It clouded over pretty quick. It is grey and damp out there. But still pretty warm. Might get some more showers, light rain later today.
Then the weather is supposed to get windy, turn alot colder... Today is 60-70, dropping to the low 40's tonight....and then tomorrow is supposed to be highs in the 40's and windy.... so a 20 degree drop from today's highs to tomorrow highs.

I have to take the meters to the farm that I am going to test tomorrow so they can set them up in the morning to go through their wash cycle. No hoses, they have their own... so that's good. I will run them up there in a little bit. I need to go to the mechanic's and see how they were getting along to get on a schedule to take the outback in for the wheel bearing replacement. And stop and get the tire balanced that we put on the forester the other day... got a little bit of a vibration... probably the one we put on when I had the flat... can't remember if it was balanced as it was a spare... not bad but it is annoying.

 

[Ridgetop]

Wow! It is a good thing that you train your cattle to come to a bucket. I am surprised that the bulls were so calm and went back in to their field, particularly after having had their "shoving match" with the gate.

 

[Baymule]

When the BIG BOSS shows up with a bucket of feed, the bulls know playtime is over.

 

[farmerjan]

Ha Ha, @Baymule ... they just know that if there is a bucket, and I call, there is feed which is a treat.... and we do NOT keep crazy or wild or MEAN bulls.... if they get an attitude, they take a permanent ride....
These guys were just doing some "establishing a pecking order" for some reason.... maybe because he had the bull across the alley with the cows... and they get "talking/bragging" across the fences... who knows...

COLD morning... was down to 31... cold wet light rain overnight. I forgot to look. It was cloudy off and on all day...
Took the meters to the farm this morning... came home and got the bottles in the trays, did a few little things. I didn't/don't feel good... nose running like a faucet... little bit of that nagging headache you get when you don't feel up to par.... and little bit of a low fever....

Went up to the nurse cow pasture.... I had left her in yesterday, so after feeding her, and a little for the holstein heifers, fed the holstein a bottle....and put her out. I am going to start taking a partial bottle to see if I can get the jersey to try it..... I don't think he is getting enough.... he had his head in the bunk with the cow this evening... he is not rounding out like the holstein... They both were outside running and jumping in the little lot when I went up there yesterday... but it was 25 degrees warmer too....

I got the holstein bull calf that is weaned, that was out loose, in the pen with these guys..... he needs a little extra.... and the cow seems to be ignoring him... he won't try to nurse since he was never on a cow... and he can clean up the grain too.... I put a little in the bunk separate from hers, he went right to eating it.... and he can eat the hay in there... maybe clean up some of what she is picking through... The 2 holstein heifers are too aggressive towards him and he backs away from the bunk. So this way he will get more to eat until I can get him moved to the house.

Went back to test and it went good. Fast milking but the cows don't make a whole lot either... he is not strictly organic, they get some grain in the milking parlor, and forages... no corn silage but does feed sorghum haylage and hay... he bottles raw milk there, and has "herd shares", but because they don't milk much, it goes faster. Milked 120 or so in less than 2 hours...
It was cold and damp... and then about 4 we got some snow squalls that were really impressive... like you could not see outside the barn....
So first snow of the year really. There was a dusting some places since the ground was cold. It didn't really add up, but a fore warning....

Because they do not have heat in the barn... in fact the siding was just put on the sides in the last month, and no heat in there yet and the ends not finished/closed in, he said he was going to have to drain all the water etc... because that area runs 5-10 degrees colder than here at my house.... and he did not want to have to deal with the meters freezing... so we only tested this evening... I will go back tomorrow to do the computer work as I just wanted to come home... not feeling too great... he was going to run the wash system and then drain and pull the meters off the lines which is fine. Won't hurt if a little water freezes inside the valves... not going to use them for several more days at least... I will go back around 10 in the morning, to punch milk weights in the computer... and the young girl I worked with on setting up the computer, has some questions so we will work them out in the morning after she gets back from breakfast, after milking and whatever chores she does. That means I DO NOT have to set the alarm to be there by 5:15 a.m. Thank you very much.

Weather is supposed to warm back up starting Sat... to more normal 40's and 60's days... Just a cold snap for now... I am thrilled to be able to stay in early.

Going to bed... I ate a sandwich and am not hungry... had soup for lunch today... Just want a hot shower and bed....

 

[Mini Horses]

Hoping you feel better! Sleep well.