rachels.haven's Journal

[rachels.haven]

Last night I did not pay the barn, now garage cats a can of fancy feast each and close them up because it was snowing/raining so I figured they'd come in on their own. I guess they thought the fancy feast hunting was bleak and I needed help or maybe because it was so close but not in my boots it was a threat but this morning there was a mouse by my boots. Daily fancy feast it is, I guess. No mice in the boots.

 

[rachels.haven]

Oh, and 3 days until Eri's due date.

 

[farmerjan]

Hey, they are doing their best to take care of things... great for the cats. Less vermin, less disease, less wasted grain....

One other thing to think about as you look. Granted most 4-H and FFA and other type of show animals ought to be tame and halter broke.... BUT.... many are somewhat spoiled and in my experience a "too tame" one is one of the worst ones for breaking for things like hand milking. Especially since they are often older when they get bred and calve. "Pets" are too bratty and spoiled and often are a real trial to get to teach to "be a cow"..... hear that alot on the dairies where the kids have raised a heifer and then she goes into the milking string.... after her show days are over....
Not all of them... and I wouldn't rule one out... but something to consider. Animals also will get totally used to the person that raised them... and they might tolerate something you consider totally unacceptable.... And waiting on that first calf until they are 3 is just not the best.....

Wasn't your husband due to have that eye dr appt the end of Jan?????? Any news???

Did the house in Mass ever get sold? You had those other people looking at it after the crazies.....been hoping it was sold and you were done will all ties to the insane people up there...

That nurse cow looks like she could have some dutch belted in her... most jerseys if crossed with a holstein don't have that wide amount of white...

 

[rachels.haven]

Hey, they are doing their best to take care of things... great for the cats. Less vermin, less disease, less wasted grain....

One other thing to think about as you look. Granted most 4-H and FFA and other type of show animals ought to be tame and halter broke.... BUT.... many are somewhat spoiled and in my experience a "too tame" one is one of the worst ones for breaking for things like hand milking. Especially since they are often older when they get bred and calve. "Pets" are too bratty and spoiled and often are a real trial to get to teach to "be a cow"..... hear that alot on the dairies where the kids have raised a heifer and then she goes into the milking string.... after her show days are over....
Not all of them... and I wouldn't rule one out... but something to consider. Animals also will get totally used to the person that raised them... and they might tolerate something you consider totally unacceptable.... And waiting on that first calf until they are 3 is just not the best.....

Wasn't your husband due to have that eye dr appt the end of Jan?????? Any news???

Did the house in Mass ever get sold? You had those other people looking at it after the crazies.....been hoping it was sold and you were done will all ties to the insane people up there...

That nurse cow looks like she could have some dutch belted in her... most jerseys if crossed with a holstein don't have that wide amount of white...

Our closing date on our Mass house is Feb 10th. After the last thing that went down I won't believe it until it's gone.

The eye appt happened yesterday. It was very encouraging (someone was a BIG ball of nerves a few days leading up to and the ride there understandably). They decided to take him off the eye med that had a side effect of messing up corneas and loss of visual acuity. They're adding a beta blocker drops. They DONT want to keep his eye pressure in the single digits, which is wonderful. 13-15 milimeters of mercury is fine, which is where it is currently. The eyes fight a reduction more than that and it can damage them (Mass docotor derps didn't seem to realize that) And the doctor took lots of time and discussed things and listened at length with DH while I waited in the car. Surgery in the future will probably happen, but not yet because those procedures can cause issues in and of themselves and his state does not warrant it yet. DH is a very "interesting" glaucoma patient and they are happy to have him and not just a liability. Being willing to discuss and listen should make it more likely he'll be able to keep his sight longer. He'll be back in 2 months or sooner if there are any concerns.
Amazon wants their programmer to keep his sight so insurance should cover much of everything and the rest the pay will cover. I feel so blessed on that.

Sorry I forgot to update on that. I'm still absorbing it myself. Cow research was how I chose to move on.

 

[farmerjan]

SO VERY HAPPY for the results of DH's eye doctor appt. Sounds like they have a "clue" about things and are really wanting to help and work with his concerns. I am so glad for you.
Don't want to jinx the Mass closing..... but I am going to cross one set of fingers for it to go off quietly.....and FINALLY...

We were far enough inland to not get affected much by this last storm... and it was a cold front from the west that actually gave us about 2-3 inches of snow and turned it bitter cold again. 15 this morning, wind chills in the single digits... and it is already down to 12 with temps forecast to go into the single digits. Are you cold there too???? I bet you are glad that you are not up north anymore either.... not with what they were getting in snow.....

 

[rachels.haven]

SO VERY HAPPY for the results of DH's eye doctor appt. Sounds like they have a "clue" about things and are really wanting to help and work with his concerns. I am so glad for you.
Don't want to jinx the Mass closing..... but I am going to cross one set of fingers for it to go off quietly.....and FINALLY...

We were far enough inland to not get affected much by this last storm... and it was a cold front from the west that actually gave us about 2-3 inches of snow and turned it bitter cold again. 15 this morning, wind chills in the single digits... and it is already down to 12 with temps forecast to go into the single digits. Are you cold there too???? I bet you are glad that you are not up north anymore either.... not with what they were getting in snow.....

I was wondering how you were faring with this storm system I keep hearing is rolling through. No, we are blessed not to be cold. 20-30's at night, 40-60 by day this week. Somehow we're not getting what you are and I figured you were fairly close by in terms of weather. The worst I see is that on the 2nd we're supoosed to be between 17-34 but everything else is downright balmy comparatively (although they do change forecast fairly often). IF temps were going to take a dive or it was going to snow I'd say it would be on the day my two does go into labor this week whenever that will be.

 

[Ridgetop]

I like the nurse cow idea. When Dan is old enough to be in 4-H he can do a replacement heifer project using the nurse cow to rase a bottle registered dairy calf. Or yoi can get a couple of dairy bull clvesand raise them for baby beef or to sell.

I did notice that the Craigslist ad showed it had been posted for 30 days or more. Maybe they would negotiate on the price, if they want to get rid of her. And I would check to see what breed was the sire of the heifer calf. She looks black, but it might just be shadow in the barn.

On another point though, if you have dairy goats already why do you want to milk a cow? That is a lot of milk. With heavy milking dairy goats, you can get about 1 gallon daily each. A cow will give 4-6 gallons daily (or more) and cost a lot more to feed.

 

[Mini Horses]

On another point though, if you have dairy goats already why do you want to milk a cow? That is a lot of milk. With heavy milking dairy goats, you can get about 1 gallon daily each. A cow will give 4-6 gallons daily (or more) and cost a lot more to feed.
[/QUOTE

Which is WHY I have goats, not a cow.....

But I believe the cow is because DS Dan wants a cow......right?

 

[rachels.haven]

I don't want a cow. Once we get going we're swimming in milk already with goats. Mini Horses us correct. Dan and I had a discussion last night and we decided for economic reasons we should wait until/if we have herd share customers before revisiting the cow issue. For now.

 

[Baymule]

That is great news about your husband's eye exam. Finally, a doctor that listens and talks some sense. He seems to be very caring about his patient.

Not going to mention that other house in that other place........

So the cats want Fancy Feast or else! haha, feed us or you get a dead mouse in your boots. I think I'd be shaking out my boots from now on before putting them on!