Tag - You're It!

Recently, we feel like we are playing a big game of tag, especially on the weekends.  My roommates in college and I used to have a saying, "Ready, Set....NAP!", as we were 4 pretty busy people, and so when we got a chance (say from 12:30-12:40 after lunch and before we had to leave for a 1 o'clock class) to get a quick power nap in, we took it.  We'd set the egg timer, turn the lights off, and curl up on different corners of the bunk beds. 
At our house, we're finally getting some kind of a schedule; a reliable 8+ hours of sleep, and usually a decent afternoon nap.  We measure naptime not necessarily in hours, but in how many cows' feet can we get fixed, or how many heifers we can get rearranged.  We've learned that if there is something to be done, you need to be semi-organized and ready to hit the door as soon as she goes down, so that you have maximum time outside to accomplish tasks. 
Last weekend felt like a big game of tag as Gail was gone with the Holstein juniors for their Spring Thing event.  Gail has been coaching dairy bowl for a LONG time, which is to say that she has forgotten more random Holstein dairy facts than many of us will ever know (trust me, her son is absolutely brimming with these little tidbits)!  So, this is the weekend that the local kids actually got to compete against kids from around the state.  That also meant, the calf caretaker was gone, and we had to fill in.  Brent & I seemed to go back and forth from the house to take turns with Ainsley and get the chores done in between.  By Sunday morning I finally felt like I had a system down (and had remembered how to get up early enough so that I could get everything done before somebody woke up).  

 But, she's always SO happy when she wakes up!

I really have lots of good posts saved up, so you'll get a few when the year's meetings come to a close, and I quit going to bed with stories of pig closeouts in my head!  Here's hoping that the white Shorthorn heifer that Brent has been promising me arrives soon (but really not tonite - I'm not sure what equipment I'd have to dig out from the snow to get her moved).

In the meantime, let's think spring!

A Great Valentine's Day

No suprises, no fancy supper, no jewelry or flowers.  We've never been that type, and that's just fine by me.  I'm perfectly happy that when I found a newborn heifer calf late at night, that you would climb out of bed, put on your Carhartt's, and meet me in the barn for drying off, bedding in, vaccinating, and getting colostrum to a newborn calf.

Lots of things are different from when we were in college:

-I never thought in a million years that I would own my own pair of white jeans.
-I never knew Brent could be such a good pig snarer.

And, many things haven't:
- We can be ready to leave the house in 10 minutes
- Farming, and specifically livestock, is who we are & what we do

 And, a Valentine's gift of helping save a calf, is a perfect gift!

Traditions

So, 30 days of blogging in November wore me out, and December was filled with some pretty serious colds for all of us (thankfully, Ainsley's was minimal & short-lived).  However, back to a New Year with new stuff on the farm & in life.
As I slowly work to take down the Christmas decorations, I am reminded all of the traditions & history that go with some of the decorations.  Two, in particular, are special to me in our house. 

 This is my generational stocking.  Grandma made one from each grandchild, and it incorporates things from multiple generations.  Mine is made out of a velveteen vest that my mom wore, and is decorated with trimmings and lace from a great-great aunt?  (I even called Grandma to confirm this tonite, and I think I'm off a great or two yet-oh, well - It's the thought that counts).  My brother's is made out of the jacket from my grandmother's wedding dress, and has pieces of lace from my mom's wedding dress.  Ainsley's is still a work in progress, but thus far is made out of my mom's blue pigskin jacket, trimmed with material from my 4-H sewing project, and several other objects, some yet to be determined.  I've got a LONG ways to go before I have to make these, but I even looked at my old high school letter jacket in the closet when I was home, and went "hmm....."

Another favorite in my house is the "Moving the Bear" on the Christmas countdown calendar.  This was something my brother & I fought over whose turn it was to move the bear, and I swiped it from my parent's house a few years ago so I could have it here.  Brent learned in no uncertain terms that he was not allowed to move the bear.  This year, Ainsley & I moved the bear everyday when we got home from the sitters, and hopefully she'll enjoy moving it over the years.

Traditions are important....traditions are the stuff memories are made of.  Cows don't always cooperate with traditions.  I was able to go to Christmas Eve service for the first time in close to 10 years (4:30 & 11 pm services don't exactly jive with a milking schedule at 5 PM & 6 AM) this year, and thoroughly enjoyed it; though I did forego the candle lighting.....holding a squirmy 3 month old & hot wax don't mix!  When we were supposed to leave for a family Christmas; Brent went out to feed cows.  He came in about an hour later with a "I have no idea when we'll be able to leave - the chain broke on the silo unloader, and we have to deal with it now so the silage doesn't freeze in the hole & prevent us from feeding cows till it thaws".  (Thankfully, Warren & Brent got the hole cleared in good time)
Some traditions I could live without.....

Day 30: AI Gun Warmer

I talked yesterday about how we find and choose bulls for our herd.  This little device allows us to get our cows bred in the middle of winter.  

After the semen is warmed, it needs to be kept warm until it is used in the cow.  In the middle of winter, as Brent walks from the parlor, where the tank is kept, to the heifer pen, this can be 3-4 minutes, and when its below freezing, the temperature drops pretty quickly.  So, one day I came home & found Brent had bought an AI Gun Warmer.  When I saw the price tag ($400), I was fairly skeptical, but that first month we used it, we went from a very poor conception rate in the heifer pen (something that has always frustrated us) to a very good one, and so I shut up very quickly about the cost, as with that kind of improvement, it paid for itself very quickly.  It is now a handy device that hangs in the laundry room on its battery charger for use whenever the cold winter strikes.

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Day 29: Tank

I wrote this summer about why you don't mess with the bull on a dairy farm.  While you never want to mess with the head male of nearly any farm species, dairy bulls are particularly known to be mean and downright dangerous.  Therefore, a majority of dairy cows in the U.S. are bred using AI (Artificial Insemination).  This also allows us to utilize the best genetics in the world, as we can access bulls from Germany or New Zealand, or across the U.S. or Canada.  It allows us to use the best genetics, and do our best to improve our herd, and correct the flaws in each individual cow.  Instead if we had one bull on the farm, every cow in our herd would be mated to that bull for a time, creating a lack of genetic diversity, and potential problems.  We will occasionally raise a bull or buy a bull from another farm to use for awhile, but it usually isn't much more than 6 months and on a few cows or heifers, not the whole herd.  For example, we found that Kahlua sires REALLY big calves at birth, causing us to have to use chains & pullers in order to deliver the calf.  (and right now, we are blaming the colds we both have on the cow that we spent a night pulling a calf out of)  If we had a whole bunch of those calves, we'd be in for a long winter for both us and the cows.
Instead, Brent spends hours pouring over bull catalogs that come from the different AI companies with the different bull choices available for our farm.  We can buy a variety of different bulls that work for the variety of different cows on our farm.  Some cows are short and stocky, and need to be a little longer & longer; some need better udders, or better feet; while yet others aren't producing much milk, so we try to improve their production in the next generation.  The semen is stored in a tank, and available for whenever a cow is ready to be bred.  

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Day 28: Feed Pusher

Fresh feed for the cows at all times is a must for any livestock farmer, and especially for dairy cows.  In our old barn, the feed bunk was in the middle of the barn, which on the plus side, meant the cows always had access to feed, but on the negative side, it meant that the tractor had to drive into and back out of the barn.  As someone who is going to have to feed cows next week, I am VERY glad, that we don't have to back up out of the barn with the mixer wagon.  However, that also means that we have to push up feed several times a day.  We don't have a skid steer dedicated to this job, so we typically do this by hand.  While not particularly physically taxing, it is time-consuming, and one of those things that interrupts your day when you are trying to get other projects accomplished.  (It's a great job for younger kids.....I'm sure that will be one of Ainsley's chores when she gets off the bus someday!)  A new product came out a couple of years ago, that is on every dairy farmer's Christmas list who has to push up feed several times a day....a REALLY cool feed pusher.



If anyone would like to contribute to our family present, we'll gladly accept donations! :-)


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Day 27: Back Scratcher

Kaliedoscope scratching her back

Your cat gets a scratching post.  Your dog probably loves getting scratched behind the ears.  Why not the cows?  This is the equivalent of the cow's scratching post.  It has big brushes on the top & side (when this picture was taken, the side brush was needing replaced), and the top brush is mounted on a big spring, so as to allow it to fit a variety of different shaped cows.  The cows can walk under it or alongside it, and get a good scratch in.  The seem to enjoy getting their tails scratched, or scratching around their ears on their head.  
There are even fancy circular ones that actually operate on a motor that turns on when the cow touches it. 
 
 
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