Long Days....

Today was a LONG day.  It wasn't necessarily that hard or bad, just lots to do.  It started out with a new baby boy this morning.  Both mom & baby did well.  Warren & Gail are gone to a dairy meeting for a couple of days, so Brent & I are slugging through everything on our own.  Before we even got cows milked, the garage door installers, our electrician, and the concrete crew pulled into the barnyard.  It was a little crowded for awhile!
We continue to pick up the "leftovers" (trash & junk) from the barn demolition, and keep cleaning up behind all the cows and the 4" of rain we had over the weekend.  We really needed the rain, but I think we have enough for awhile now.  Beggars can't be choosers, and we were definitely begging for some rain prior to this week.  Now it sounds like we may get several showers in the next week.
On the good side, we FINALLY have new straw.  We ran out shortly before the wheat was harvested, so we were having to be a little stingy-er than we would have liked with bedding for awhile.  With the roof finished on the barn, we were also able to mount fans to get our cows through the nasty heat wave last week, and use that new bedding to give them a break from the mud that is everywhere after the rain.
Tonite brought another bundle of joy, a new heifer.  I found her after Brent & I ate supper, but since there is that mud everywhere, we went ahead & moved her to the calf barn into nice, dry bedding, and got her fed new colostrum (full of antibodies & proteins that her body needs to fend off infections) before going to bed ourselves.
It was a long day, but it had a good beginning & a good ending, and lots accomplished in between!

She was a little tuckered out after we moved her.  (It wasn't a hard trip - she got to ride on Brent's lap in the front seat of the ATV)   She drank down a whole bottle of milk, and I hope is ready for another bottle in the morning.  You can see another of the calves peaking its head out to check out the new arrival!