Getting Ready

The last few days have been very warm here, highs in the 80's.  Lots of flowers are getting ready to bloom soon.

Corral bells
Allium
Iris
Poppies.

It's been a beautiful time to work in the yard.

StockTrailer

Looks like we will be traveling in style to the cattle show next month.  We just got a new 20' Ebey aluminum livestock trailer.

It should be a vast improvement over our 1972 stock truck and J's dad's 30 year old steel trailer.  Anyone need a '72 chev ton truck with a 12' cattle bed?

Working Cattle

J and I worked 37 fall calves yesterday.  Today V helped us with 27 yearling heifers.

They were getting their pre-breeding vaccines.
V worked the head gate and didn't miss any.
She also did the dewormer while I vaccinated.
J is always happy after the job is done. 

Tomorrow J is judging a cattle show in Lee County.

Hip Lifters

One of our first calf heifers is down with calving paralysis. She got her back down hill when she was calving and her calf was dead and hip locked.  J had to pull it with the calf jack.  The pressure of the calf stuck in the pelvis causes damage to the nerves going to the rear legs.  Now she can't get up on her own.  A neighbor has a set of hip lifters we are borrowing.

They crank down over the pelvis,
then chain to the tractor's front end loader
and lifted up.  (Much easier looking in the pictures which don't show the 30 minutes of fighting and struggling with a 900 pound animal that wants to do something else.)
The hip lifters help support her weight and allow her to regain strength in her rear legs. Hopefully, she will be able to get up on her own soon.  J says farming is not always sunshine and roses.

Grape Hyacints

My grape hyacinths have been blooming for nearly a month.  They are very prolific spreading by seed and by multiplying bulbs.

When I planted these arborvitae I ended up with a grocery bag full of bulbs to give away.  I even stuffed some into holes in the yard.  They were pretty blooming in the grass until it  was mowed.

Drivinig Lessons

The 4-H club had it's monthly meeting at a stable that in addition to giving riding lessons, gives driving lessons. The kids had an introduction to harnessing the horse then all got turns driving.

I think V and E enjoyed driving but neither one seems to want to do it with their own horse.

Locks of Love

I finally got the the hair salon after 2 years and got my hair cut.  V said at least it looks better than it did but I still need to dye it.

I did have over 12 inches to donate to locks of love.  I understand that they sell the gray hair to offset costs.  Not that I'm admitting that mine is gray though.

Azaleas

After 5 years I have decided that my yard is just not suitable to grow azaleas.  The first 2 years they did bloom and look nice, but since then they have done nothing but shrink.  This was not even due to the goats.

Even though there is still some visible green I dug them all up.  I have not decided what to put in their place yet.  I guess it will depend on what's on the clearance table at Lowes.

Happy Easter

Goat Banding

It was raining this morning so the goats were easier to get into the barn.  They dislike being wet.  We used this opportunity to band the male goats.

E's job was to catch the little ones.
I held and J banded.  It only took about 30 minutes to catch and band them all.  The only problem was as we finished with one we would open the door and put it outside.  Before long they were running around trying to get back in any little hole they could find.  I heard a saying one time "if it won't hold water it won't hold a goat."  There is a lot of truth there.

Show Cattle

The girls worked with their show cattle today.  The tied them up and brushed on them some then lead them around outside.  They all seem very gentle especially compared to last year's steer which we weren't even able to get into the show ring.

V has become much more relaxed this year working with the cattle.  She has named her steer Midnight.
E's heifer is doing well but still requires a little encouragement.  
I'm not sure if V was this tired or just afraid to move with Oreo pinning her down.

Happy Birthday

One of the goats that had triplets 2 weeks ago wasn't doing well with one so we thought we would feed it.  It has now been 10 days and it still won't suck on a bottle.  I have been having to tube feed it almost daily.

Emma has been helping with the clean up.
E has named it Squirt so you know it probably won't last much longer with a cute name like that.  Also, it's hair is not that curly, it is just from Emma's licking.

Happy birthday V!  It looks like you have graduated to the 3 candle cake.  Best wishes for past, present and future.

Blue Bird

The blue birds are fighting over the nesting boxes now.  They usually do well until the tree swallows arrive and throw them out.  

This blue bird has been confused lately.
Every morning he flies against the sliding glass door for 20-30 minutes.  The window is getting to be a bit of a mess.

Flowers

Despite the rain and cold, signs of spring are emerging.  I planted these hyacinths bulbs last fall.  This is the first time I have tried hyacinths. I think they have turn out nice.

My purple leaf plum is in full bloom now.  It always has such a sweet smell.
The wind is suppose to get up tomorrow so all of the blooms might come off the yoshima cherry trees.