In Bloom at the 4Rs

It has been a little hard getting excited about things blooming when we have been having snow, cold, freezing rain and wind.  But the flowers have kept trying. 

 The cherry trees were pretty again.  Maybe not as full as some years.

 But they were stunning for a short time. 

 I still have a few tulips returning after several years. 

 And the grape hyacinths continue to expand their territory.

And who can resist a pretty daffodil?  Maybe it will warm up this week and feel more like Spring.

Just In Time

Looks like moving the goats to the kidding field happened just in time. 

 The next day we had a set of triples and a single.  Since the weather was so bad, we moved those to inside the barn. 

 It was cold with snow and freezing rain.  Those baby goats are all fine so far. 

 Then today I found 3 singles and a set of twins.  As I walked through the field I found this nanny that just had one.

 Then this yearling that just had this one.

 Then I turned around and the nanny had a second one. 

 Then I kept hearing a baby goat down past the yearling.  I finally saw this one on the other side of the fence.

 I guess she had had this one before I got there and it had rolled down the hill. 

 So I took a little trip though the fence to get this pair back together.

We have been worried about how the puppies would handle the baby goats.  So far so good, although they are trying to play with them.  When a 90 pound dog puts its paw on a 4 pound goat, it's a little rough. 

The dogs have been doing a fabulous job keeping the goats safe.  But J did see a coyote the other morning.  He grabbed his gun and took off.  One shot and he had him.  

Kid count:  13

Getting Ready For Some Kids

The goats are suppose to start kidding any day now.  And the weather forecast was for snow and freezing rain, so we thought we better get them closer to the barn, just in case.  We keep moving the kidding date later and later to avoid the bad weather but it never seems to work out. 

 But when the goats are out doing their job, 

 which is eating weeds,

 it is tempting to let them stay out for as long as possible. 

 But it is just so much easier if there is trouble to have them at the barn.  So J and I rounded them up last night. 

 They were semi cooperative. 

 The only problem being the pet bottle goats, it is impossible to herd them.  They just have to follow.

 There was a little back up at one gate, but we soon got them going the right way again. 

 We headed through the heifer field,

and made it to the barn with all 64 nannies and 2 billies.  Let the kidding begin. 

Sounds Like A Job For Otoelene

J  started the  Sandhills Shuffle today, moving cows that haven't calved onto new pasture and leaving the cows with calves behind in the old field.  Well, two cows yet to calve didn't cooperate.  

 So Otoelene and I took off to get them.  She really seems to enjoy this kind of work.  The pair were on a very steep hillside and were a bit difficult to get together and going in the same direction.  But Otoelene stuck with it and soon we had them heading up the hill. 

 I thought they might try to cut back, but we were able to keep them going the right way until they were with the other cows. 

 Two of which had already calved since the move,

 with no drama. 

Then I decided to set up the round pen.  Even though Draper is doing great with me riding at a walk, I think it would be a good idea to have her a little more contained at first for the faster speeds.  She was curious on her own and already has checked everything out.  Maybe I will get around to riding her in it this weekend. 

Ongoing Drama

We had a calf born Thursday morning that couldn't get up on its own.  I tubed it that morning and evening.

 J carried it to the barn the next day.

 He claims he is getting to old to do this.

 But the calf still never acted normal. 

  We had tried to get it to nurse by putting the cow in the chute

 but it just couldn't do it.

We ended up milking the cow and bottle feeding the calf.   Sometimes it was very twitchy, then it would run into the wall.  The last straw was when it had a full blown seizure yesterday.  My tentative diagnosis is cerebellar hypoplasia,  a condition where the brain does not form normally and from which there is no recovery.  We had to make a decision to humanely euthanize him since it didn't look like things were likely to improve. 

 We still had our calf where the cow died, so we are now attempting to graft him on to this cow.

 She was fine in the chute

 The rope is to keep her from swinging out sideways.

 But outside, she didn't want anything to do with him.

 So for the time being, they are back in the barn, in a smaller pen.

Looks like we will have a job for awhile longer.  By the way, we have had over 30 born so far without all this drama.

Product Review, Drill Brushes

There use to be a rechargeable scrubbing brush by Dustbuster, that I wanted but never got.   I don't know how I learned about these brushes, but I thought they would be the perfect substitute. 

 They are brushes that can attach to a drill. 

J was needing new Muck boots, so since I was getting free shipping I just added the brushes to the order.  So far I have used the large flat one on the tile floor and the 360 brush on the shower.  Let me just say, they work GREAT.  Love, love, love the shower one.  I can now even use up the cheap cleaner that wasn't working all that great.  The scrubbing ability more than makes up for the bad cleaner.  I've been using them for about a month now with no issues.  If you have a recharagle drill and need to do some cleaning, try these.  I got mine off Amazon for about $14. 

Bad Luck Streak

It started Sunday morning.  There was the snow there was the snow, which was melting some and very slick.  J was feeding the cows, had a bale on the spear and was headed down a steep hill.  

 When this cow got in between the front of the tractor and the hay bale and the tractor started to slide.  J couldn't stop and ran over the cow.  It looked like she may have broken a rear leg.  But, thankfully, the next day she was walking better and today just a little limp.

 But not so lucky with this cow.  She calved yesterday morning, everything was fine.  When J went to check in the evening she was dead.  It looks like she choked eating the afterbirth.  Freak accident.  But the calf was fine.

 So we loaded him in the 4-wheeler cart and hauled him to the barn. 

He had already nursed some and I milked the cow for some more colostrum and we mixed that with some milk replacer.   Looks like we have a bottle calf for the time being.