I guess I could say that we gave been "caught with our pants down", at the farm. Typically spring doesn't officially arrive in our part of MN until early May. This year we have been treated with some awesome temperatures (in the 70's) for more than a couple days! These warm days have really pushed the plants along. Our alfalfa fields are currently on track to need harvesting almost 2 weeks earlier than scheduled. Our neighbors have been planting corn all week. Last year (2009) we would have been laughing at them, since we still had snow in some fields at this time! (last spring was abnormally cold and wet) Today I had to start mowing the lawn around the dairy barn~which I normally don't do until May 1st, but the grass REALLY needed. I love the smell of cut grass though, it was amazing! Since it appears that we have lost 2 weeks of time we are "caught with our pants down".
We would have used those 2 weeks to do some many other tasks. I have so much trash to pick up in the ditch that goes past our farm...apparently people have yet to learn NOT to litter! Makes me so mad, when we work so hard to have a nice farm site and take care of our environment and others just throw their trash in our ditches. Oh well...I will get to trash later in the coming weeks. I need to pick up the AgBag (plastic that we use to store our silages) plastic that blew away during the winter storms and hid in the snow drifts. We need to finish up last minute touches in the parlor before the milk inspector comes~I am almost there but not quite. I have also been working on doing some much needed fixing in the parlor on the milking equipment. It works just fine, but there are some parts that need to be replaced. New works just a little bit better than used. We have a couple of lots with manure in that need to be hauled out quick before the corn and beans go into the soil...and FINALLY we have fields to work also to get started planting our own corn....phew I am getting tired just thinking about it. So...here we go, trying to fit in 2 extra weeks of work into as few of days as possible....one thing you learn on the farm is to always be "flexible"!!!!
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Warm March Weather
Oh this Sunday was wonderful. Even though it was cloudy, foggy and rainy...the snow is melting and the temperatures are rising.
This morning we were greeted with a cow in labor. #97, who is 6 years old was in the process of calving, we decided that since she started before we found her that she may need some help. We assisted her labor and delivered a beautiful baby heifer calf. We named her Tracy. Within an hour Tracy was up and running around. We quickly milked #97, fed Tracy, and made sure that #97 was eating her morning meal of TMR (total mixed ration). Seems like we only get heifers on Sunday mornings, which make us late for church, but at least we have an excellent excuse.
We got to church, went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and returned to the farm to finish feeding the rest of the cows and heifers. Rest assured no animals ran out of feed, since we usually feed extra on Saturdays to make sure that the milking cows, heifers and dry cows have enough feed to let us enjoy church and a nice "day date". After swiftly feeding the animals, we went home and enjoyed a lovely walk outside. Though brisk, the 35 degree temperatures feel like a tropical paradise compared to a few short weeks ago when it was 35 below zero instead.
This weather is giving me the "itch" to play in the dirt. I am eagerly looking forward to planting my garden and planting our first field of corn. Spring-like weather also gives me the energy to tackle last minute projects at home, before I would rather spend my time outside in the garden. I managed to fully clean the kitchen this weekend and living room. I don't know how much more I will accomplish since we have a busy week scheduled on the farm, but we will see, with this new energy I may still find time. And I am so thankful to have my computer back!
This morning we were greeted with a cow in labor. #97, who is 6 years old was in the process of calving, we decided that since she started before we found her that she may need some help. We assisted her labor and delivered a beautiful baby heifer calf. We named her Tracy. Within an hour Tracy was up and running around. We quickly milked #97, fed Tracy, and made sure that #97 was eating her morning meal of TMR (total mixed ration). Seems like we only get heifers on Sunday mornings, which make us late for church, but at least we have an excellent excuse.
We got to church, went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant, and returned to the farm to finish feeding the rest of the cows and heifers. Rest assured no animals ran out of feed, since we usually feed extra on Saturdays to make sure that the milking cows, heifers and dry cows have enough feed to let us enjoy church and a nice "day date". After swiftly feeding the animals, we went home and enjoyed a lovely walk outside. Though brisk, the 35 degree temperatures feel like a tropical paradise compared to a few short weeks ago when it was 35 below zero instead.
This weather is giving me the "itch" to play in the dirt. I am eagerly looking forward to planting my garden and planting our first field of corn. Spring-like weather also gives me the energy to tackle last minute projects at home, before I would rather spend my time outside in the garden. I managed to fully clean the kitchen this weekend and living room. I don't know how much more I will accomplish since we have a busy week scheduled on the farm, but we will see, with this new energy I may still find time. And I am so thankful to have my computer back!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Busy Days at the Farm
Well it's been a bunch of busy days at the farm lately. Between the birth of 8 calves this week (7 bulls and 1 lonely heifer calf) and a couple of sick cows, oh yeah and the good 'ol Minnesota winter...it's been a busy time!
First the bull calves. We have had 13 bulls out of the last 15 calves born at the farm. The 2 lonely heifers could really use some more friends, so I am hoping that the 2 cows due at the end of this week don't let us down.
Sick cows: nothing that we could really help, but we have 2 cows that have ailments that we and the vet cannot explain. I hate it when we call the vet out and even they can't figure out what is wrong with our sick cows. It's frustrating not knowing what's wrong with a sick animal-they can't tell us where it hurts or how they feel so we have to work smart and watch them. We watch how much they eat, how long they stand to eat, how long do they rest, are they chewing their cuds. We take their temperatures. We listen to their lungs, heart and stomachs. Using these observations we try to decide what might be wrong with our cows. These cows have digestive upsets, basically we have 2 cows that ate something they shouldn't have or they didn't eat as much as they should have. We treat sick cows like this without antibiotics, but instead with probiotics. It is never economical to treat cows with antibiotics-we lose the cost of the drugs as well as the milk lost that we will need to dump until the drugs leave the cow's body. Therefore, we try other methods, that take more time, but in the end are better for the cow and our pocketbook. We have been treating the 2 sick cows with alfalfa meal drench, probiotics, yeast, magnesium, calcium, choline, and other B-vitamins.
One cow has been responding well to the treatment, however the other decided to roll her stomach....her abomasum. Cows have a 4-chambered stomach, containing the rumen (fermentation chamber), omasum, recticulum (the honeycomb-looking stomach-1st stomach) and abomasum (the true stomach-just like our stomach). When cows have a disruption in their eating pattern, they can fill with gas-which causes their stomach to inflate and float out of place, thereby slowing or even stopping the flow of feed through the stomach. The rumen is a warm, wet environment for some awesome little microbes! They turn food that we as humans can't eat into usable food for cows. When there are problems, the microbes can start dying off, making the cow feel even worse. As a result it is very critical that we keep our cows healthy and eating. Surgery is the only option for a displaced abomasum. After a quick shot of tranquilizer, the vet and I worked for about an hour to relieve the gas in the stomach and stitch it back in place. Within an hour and a half the cow was back to normal, with nothing to show more than her sutures on her side. Needless to say, surgery is expensive and we have to put the cow on penicillin, so we hope to work to make sure a displace abomasum never happens-or that cows don't get sick in the first place.
The MN weather-rain for 12 hours plus 14 inches of snow on the ground=mushy mess everywhere! Slush is everywhere, getting stuck, cows getting wet, lakes forming from puddles, and mainly crummy weather to be outside in....hoping it gets better soon.
First the bull calves. We have had 13 bulls out of the last 15 calves born at the farm. The 2 lonely heifers could really use some more friends, so I am hoping that the 2 cows due at the end of this week don't let us down.
Sick cows: nothing that we could really help, but we have 2 cows that have ailments that we and the vet cannot explain. I hate it when we call the vet out and even they can't figure out what is wrong with our sick cows. It's frustrating not knowing what's wrong with a sick animal-they can't tell us where it hurts or how they feel so we have to work smart and watch them. We watch how much they eat, how long they stand to eat, how long do they rest, are they chewing their cuds. We take their temperatures. We listen to their lungs, heart and stomachs. Using these observations we try to decide what might be wrong with our cows. These cows have digestive upsets, basically we have 2 cows that ate something they shouldn't have or they didn't eat as much as they should have. We treat sick cows like this without antibiotics, but instead with probiotics. It is never economical to treat cows with antibiotics-we lose the cost of the drugs as well as the milk lost that we will need to dump until the drugs leave the cow's body. Therefore, we try other methods, that take more time, but in the end are better for the cow and our pocketbook. We have been treating the 2 sick cows with alfalfa meal drench, probiotics, yeast, magnesium, calcium, choline, and other B-vitamins.
One cow has been responding well to the treatment, however the other decided to roll her stomach....her abomasum. Cows have a 4-chambered stomach, containing the rumen (fermentation chamber), omasum, recticulum (the honeycomb-looking stomach-1st stomach) and abomasum (the true stomach-just like our stomach). When cows have a disruption in their eating pattern, they can fill with gas-which causes their stomach to inflate and float out of place, thereby slowing or even stopping the flow of feed through the stomach. The rumen is a warm, wet environment for some awesome little microbes! They turn food that we as humans can't eat into usable food for cows. When there are problems, the microbes can start dying off, making the cow feel even worse. As a result it is very critical that we keep our cows healthy and eating. Surgery is the only option for a displaced abomasum. After a quick shot of tranquilizer, the vet and I worked for about an hour to relieve the gas in the stomach and stitch it back in place. Within an hour and a half the cow was back to normal, with nothing to show more than her sutures on her side. Needless to say, surgery is expensive and we have to put the cow on penicillin, so we hope to work to make sure a displace abomasum never happens-or that cows don't get sick in the first place.
The MN weather-rain for 12 hours plus 14 inches of snow on the ground=mushy mess everywhere! Slush is everywhere, getting stuck, cows getting wet, lakes forming from puddles, and mainly crummy weather to be outside in....hoping it gets better soon.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Another Minnesota Winter
Oh Geeze, looks like another Minnesota winter has arrived at the farm. We tried to hold it off as long as we could, but it turns out we ran out of time. Needless to say this wet fall has made for a major delay in our "to do list". We are still trying to finish up fall work and some fall work will have to go undone. But winter prep also was left behind.
These last 2 days we have been dealing with frozen hoses and water pipes. If we had enough time, we would have "winterized" these items, but we were busy doing "fall" things. As a result we spent at least 30 minutes these last 2 days thawing out the hoses and pipes to make sure that the cows and heifers have adequate water. The cold weather makes for difficult starts for all of the tractors. Some tractors, critical to our daily operations couldn't be started today. The cold weather makes everything twice as difficult, and that's not fun when we are calving many cows.
Today we welcomed 3 new calves! 2 heifers and a bull calf. All of them healthy and happy. Because of the cold weather we had to work fast to get the calves dry and warm. Once they are warm, filling their stomachs with warm milk from their mother's (colostrum) is very important. All of our calves drink at least 1 gallon of colostrum in the first hours of life. The cooler temps and weather also make life more stressful after birth, so we make sure that each calf is vaccinated for any possible disease and feed additional milk during the day to ensure that they have adequate calories to stay warm. For some calves that are struggling, we will cover them in a calf blanket and/or use a heat lamp to warm them. Making sure that their mothers are inside and protected from the elements is also important. Cold air and wind chills can cause skin on cow's teats to freeze and crack. The cold weather also stresses the mother, so we make sure the 2 months before the birth that they consume enough calories and protein to grow a healthy calf as well as care for her needs. Nevertheless, cold weather makes for extra work, but we love what we do. Just, grateful for insulated coveralls, heavy sweatshirts, and stocking caps!!!
These last 2 days we have been dealing with frozen hoses and water pipes. If we had enough time, we would have "winterized" these items, but we were busy doing "fall" things. As a result we spent at least 30 minutes these last 2 days thawing out the hoses and pipes to make sure that the cows and heifers have adequate water. The cold weather makes for difficult starts for all of the tractors. Some tractors, critical to our daily operations couldn't be started today. The cold weather makes everything twice as difficult, and that's not fun when we are calving many cows.
Today we welcomed 3 new calves! 2 heifers and a bull calf. All of them healthy and happy. Because of the cold weather we had to work fast to get the calves dry and warm. Once they are warm, filling their stomachs with warm milk from their mother's (colostrum) is very important. All of our calves drink at least 1 gallon of colostrum in the first hours of life. The cooler temps and weather also make life more stressful after birth, so we make sure that each calf is vaccinated for any possible disease and feed additional milk during the day to ensure that they have adequate calories to stay warm. For some calves that are struggling, we will cover them in a calf blanket and/or use a heat lamp to warm them. Making sure that their mothers are inside and protected from the elements is also important. Cold air and wind chills can cause skin on cow's teats to freeze and crack. The cold weather also stresses the mother, so we make sure the 2 months before the birth that they consume enough calories and protein to grow a healthy calf as well as care for her needs. Nevertheless, cold weather makes for extra work, but we love what we do. Just, grateful for insulated coveralls, heavy sweatshirts, and stocking caps!!!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Weather is becoming Mentally Frustrating
This weather is becoming mentally frustrating. Yesterday it rained, again....just enough to stop field work and reverse any drying that happened in the fields this weekend. Today the sun was supposed to come out, but we enjoyed a cloudy, cool morning with damp heavy air. This air also didn't allow anything to dry, and when the sun did come out it was 2 hours from sunset. No drying happened today.
We are hoping to get into the fields tomorrow, working to haul some more liquid manure out of the milking barn pit. Once we finish this task, we will pull the pump out of the pit and take it to the neighbor's place to be repaired before we need it again. Once we finish that job we look forward to cleaning out calf huts and hauling that manure and bedding out to the field on Friday. 60 degrees in the forecast for Friday and Saturday makes me hopeful that we can FINALLY hit the corn and soybeans. Once those our out we can start making some much needed bedded for the cows and heifers and haul out our pack manure (7 months worth of manure and bedding from about 160 cows). Stay tuned, I hope to have some videos of all of this action~!
We are hoping to get into the fields tomorrow, working to haul some more liquid manure out of the milking barn pit. Once we finish this task, we will pull the pump out of the pit and take it to the neighbor's place to be repaired before we need it again. Once we finish that job we look forward to cleaning out calf huts and hauling that manure and bedding out to the field on Friday. 60 degrees in the forecast for Friday and Saturday makes me hopeful that we can FINALLY hit the corn and soybeans. Once those our out we can start making some much needed bedded for the cows and heifers and haul out our pack manure (7 months worth of manure and bedding from about 160 cows). Stay tuned, I hope to have some videos of all of this action~!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Uuufda!
Uuufda! A phrase used in Minnesota-kinda like a sigh.
This is the best way to describe the last 2 weeks at the farm. Uuufda! We have been so busy making hay. We thought we were done last week and then the neighbor came over on Monday night to offer his alfalfa to us. We took it, so yesterday we were busy in the fields again, chopping another 30 acres of alfalfa. We have been dealing with the 3rd driest May in history in Minnesota, and a windy one at that. Last week were making hay with 50 mph winds and 97 degrees...this week it was 80 degrees and NO WIND. As a result we cut alfalfa yesterday morning at 8 am, and we were not able to start chopping it until 10 pm. We finished at 2 am this morning. We are finding that 4 hours of sleep is not enough to function well...so nap time was taken today ;) Uuufda! Makes for a long night and an even earlier morning.
We are looking forward to working on some summer time project tomorrow...getting our sprinkler system up and running for the lactating cows and hauling out the last of the calf manure in the calf barn.
Also an update on Joey...she's growing so well! I hope to have pictures up soon....she's eating about 1.5 pounds of calf starter (calf feed which contains corn, oats, and a protein pellet, all coated with mollasses for a special treat) a day.
This is the best way to describe the last 2 weeks at the farm. Uuufda! We have been so busy making hay. We thought we were done last week and then the neighbor came over on Monday night to offer his alfalfa to us. We took it, so yesterday we were busy in the fields again, chopping another 30 acres of alfalfa. We have been dealing with the 3rd driest May in history in Minnesota, and a windy one at that. Last week were making hay with 50 mph winds and 97 degrees...this week it was 80 degrees and NO WIND. As a result we cut alfalfa yesterday morning at 8 am, and we were not able to start chopping it until 10 pm. We finished at 2 am this morning. We are finding that 4 hours of sleep is not enough to function well...so nap time was taken today ;) Uuufda! Makes for a long night and an even earlier morning.
We are looking forward to working on some summer time project tomorrow...getting our sprinkler system up and running for the lactating cows and hauling out the last of the calf manure in the calf barn.
Also an update on Joey...she's growing so well! I hope to have pictures up soon....she's eating about 1.5 pounds of calf starter (calf feed which contains corn, oats, and a protein pellet, all coated with mollasses for a special treat) a day.
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