Tagging and Banding

Time to get all of the calving supplies out. We banded and tagged the first calf today.

J has the technique down pat. After he catches the calf he lays it on it's side to band it.
My job was to keep the worried mom at bay.
Next, the ID tag goes in, right for steers and left for heifers.
Then mom has to check out that everything is OK.

Blue Sky

Today we had blue sky and sings of spring. It still didn't get much above 30 degrees all day but at least it wasn't dreary grey and snowing.

The daffodils are just starting to come up,
as are the hyacinths.
We have had 3 more Herefords, all bulls.

Snow Dog

The goats and therefore, the dogs were split up on Tuesday when I went out to take pictures.

Bea was very interested in what I was doing and came running over for some attention.
She kept laying down in front of me and rolling over to be petted. I guess she didn't get the memo that guard dogs are not suppose to be pets.

Spring Calving Season

Spring calving season started today. The Herefords are due now, the first calf heifers in 2 weeks and the cows a few days after that. We were really hoping for warmer weather by now.

This first one is from V's last year's show heifer 30K.
It has been snowing but now accumulating all day. The poor little thing is having trouble getting dry.
This cross bred heifer looks like she could go anytime now.

Feeding

With all of this bad weather, the hay situation is getting critical. J has someone to buy hay from and someone to haul it but the driveway conditions are too rough to get in here with it.

He has been feeding about 8 bales a day on the 3 farms. It has been taking nearly all day just to feed. He rarely has time for anything else.
I do wish he would get a cab or at least a canopy for the tractor.

Wet Goats

J is not the only one tired of the cold wet weather. The goats have really appeared miserable this winter.

Goats are arid animals and do much better in a dry climate. There has been nothing dry about the last 3 months here. J said at least 5 nannies aborted last week. The weather has stressed them that much.
The snow has been around in some places since before Christmas.
Sometimes the only dry spot is on top of a rock.

Midnight Ride

Well, it wasn't exactly midnight and it wasn't precisely a ride but it did involve the horses in the dark.

J has been putting part of a round bale out for the horses between the barn and the house about every 2-3 days. The snow on the south facing slopes had melted so they were grazing some and out of hay.
The first cattle guard is filled in with dirt and ice (much more solid than the one at the house that we dug out last week). The phone rang at 2:18 am. The police had called our neighbor because the horses were in his yard. In the dark he thought they were his and ran them back over the hill (further from our house). He then realized that they were all brown and his were paints, that's when we got called. I rounded up halters and some grain and J and I went out to bring them back. We caught 3 and let the other 2 follow (Spot, bless him, had stayed home). We had to lead them about a mile down a frozen driveway, up the main road and up our frozen drive. All this at 2:30 in the morning with it snowing and wind gusts of 50 mph.
We now have a "horse guard" across the cattle guard at night. Be careful if you come to visit.