April 27
This past week was cold, windy and more snow. Last Thursday we put the last two pairs out of the barn and into pens with windbreaks and roof shelters over the corners so those new babies could get out of the wind and snow. Friday evening grandson Nick came by and we gave him his birthday present. He’s 30 this year!
Andrea had Christopher that weekend and she started harrowing the field below her house, using the little jeep to pull the harrow, and Christopher played with toys in the back seat. Sunday Charlie came to help us tag and band the last little bull calf.
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That afternoon Emily and AJ brought their old washing machine and installed it in place of my old one that I have to fill with hose and buckets. They have a newer one and their old one works better than my old one!
Monday we put Maggedy and her calf up in the field with the other cows and calves. That darn cow had to fight several other cows. They fought for more than an hour and we had to referee to make sure no calves got run over and trampled. When it all ended, Maggedy was pretty sore and probably had a bruised udder. We hope she doesn’t get mastitis. These darn cows have to re-establish their social order any time they are apart for even a few days.
Yesterday Andrea harrowed several fields, then made a couple of rounds above the house with the cows and calves, but her little jeep overheated and quit. She and Lynn used the tractor to pull the jeep and harrow up through the gate into the next field where it would be safe from cows and calves rubbing on it or getting tangled in the harrow.
This morning Andrea came early and we again fed the cows along the edge of the field so she could harrow the rest of it. In the cooler temperature the jeep started and she was able to finish harrowing the rest of our fields.
When I did afternoon chores I checked the calves and found Sweet Pea’s calf (Pea Wee) staggering around, dull and uncomfortable. Andrea helped me get that pair in from the field, to one of the shelter pens. We debated about giving him castor oil (best remedy for a shutdown gut from bacterial toxins) but this calf had diarrhea; his gut hadn’t quit working. So we figured he was just in pain from diarrhea and gut cramps and gave him an oral antibiotic and an injectable. We put him behind a gate panel so Andrea could hold him between the gate and the fence while I gave him the medication.
By late evening he seemed to be past the worst discomfort and was nursing his mom again, so we probably caught it early. He wasn’t dehydrated yet, so we didn’t have to tube him with fluids.
May 6
The first part of last week was hot. The creek is high; the snow above us is melting. Andrea started a couple of ditches last Friday; we’re a month behind last year on getting irrigation water started, and need to get the fields watered. The wind has dried things out after the snow went off.
We had to get the heifers off the field below the lane so the grass can start growing, without them grazing, so that morning we lured them into the pens by the barn. With them out of the way, Andrea and I moved their feeder to a high spot near the gate and used step-in posts to create a hot wire enclosure around the feeder. Lynn brought a new big bale for their feeder and we let them out into their smaller “home.” They grew up in pastures with hot wire so they respect an electric fence.
Saturday morning we called our Canadian kids and wished young Joseph a happy birthday. He’s 6 years old!
Charlie came out and helped Andrea get both her “dead” four-wheelers out of the sick barn and up to her house for him to work on. He ordered parts and we hope he can get them running again. Andrea has been using Lynn’s four-wheeler for several months.
Monday Allan Probst brought eight dump truck loads of rocks to spread on Andrea’s driveway so it won’t be so hard to get up and down in wet weather. Andrea brought the rest of the little bales from the stackyard on the feed truck, and I helped her unload and stack them by the calving pen where we can grab a couple each day to put with the big bale for feeding cows. Allan also brought several loads of bigger rocks to the stackyard to spread over the area where we nearly get stuck every spring.
Tuesday we discovered a garter snake in the bathroom. It must have crawled into the house through a hole by the pump. I picked it up gently and put it out the window.
Friday Andrea and Carolyn went to Sam’s graduation ceremony in Twin Falls, getting two of her degrees from that college. Sam is still working on several other degrees as she prepares to become a registered nurse, but has two completed.
May 14
We had cooler weather this past week, with a few nights below freezing. Last Sunday was so cold we built a fire again in the woodstove. That afternoon Jim helped Andrea finish cleaning out the calving barn. Using his little trailer, they took five loads out to the heifer’s lounging area in the field below the lane to build up that spot so cattle have a dry place to sleep when that field is irrigated. Water was already starting to sub up in the barn so it was good to get the old bedding out.
Tuesday it rained. Lynn was supposed to locate a water well site for the new veterinarian on a 37-acre lot above town but it was too wet and muddy to hike around on it.
Friday we got everything ready for branding and removed the stored stuff out of the sick barn and put hay bedding in there for the calves so it wouldn’t be dusty. Yesterday we vaccinated the cows, branded and vaccinated the calves, vaccinated and put brisket tags in the yearling heifers, and vaccinated the bulls (and branded Barney, the bull we bought in November) and put fly tags in all of them.
We had a good crew with Charlie and Roger helping. Dani brought little Ammarie down in her baby bucket, and the month-old kid slept through most of the branding. She’s the youngest member of the branding crew!
