Raking the hay

Still working on my hay.  I had other stuff to do the past few days so I only finishing cleaning my haybine this afternoon.  The grass seed and pollen was a challenge.

Here are photos of it on top of my haybine after I was done cutting my hay.

Even though I had an air compressor to blow off stuff, it wanted to stick to the haybine.  I had to also use a wire brush to loosen the stuff up.  Also, inside the haybine, where the hay goes once it is cut, there were lots of seeds and pollen in areas.   So I crawled under there to clean that area.  I got it clean but a lot of stuff was in the air.  At the end of the cleaning I was reacting to the seeds and pollen.  I was never allergic to the seeds and pollen before this year, but I am finding I am now.   At least to how the grass grew in my hayfield this year.

Allergy to grasses is very common. Grass allergies can present in a variety of ways, including nasal symptoms (runny nose, stuffiness, sneezing), asthma, and eye symptoms (itchy, watery/red eyes). People can also have skin rashes (hives or skin welts) after exposure to grasses, but this is much less common.

My nose got stuffy and congested.  My throat started to close off and it was harder to breath.  I was wearing a t-shirt and my exposed arms got very itchy.  I tried blowing my nose.  It kept being congested.  I drank water and gargled.  No change.  I had to wash my arms with soap and water.  Then I saw the skin rashes on my arms - the hives and welts.    After an hour everything disappeared and went away, and I was back to normal.

After I put the haybine away I checked the hay rows.  The top looked dry and fine with baling the hay into bales tomorrow.  But then I looked underneath the hay rows.  The hay was greener.  Most of it was dry enough to bale, but not all of it was.  A number of areas were still wet grass.  Maybe 5% was wet.  Ummm... not good.  Last Winter one of the large hay bales had big sections of moldy hay.  I must have had an area that still had wet grass when I baled the hay.   I don't want that again this Winter.

Because the hay rows are decent sized, I didn't plan to rake the hay as I didn't need larger hay rows before baling.  And I didn't want to spend the time raking the hay.   But that changed once I saw wet spots in some parts of the hay.   With rain in the forecast starting Sunday I am running out of time I can continue to wait. 

So I started raking.   If I had known I would be raking the hay I would have skip doing stuff earlier today and skipped some stuff other days.   I didn't start raking until around 7 pm.   I still hoped to only do a few rows.  Then I thought I would switch and then just rake the hay cut the second day of cutting.  But starting in the middle didn't work as I would have had to rake three rows together to then give me room to move other rows.  Two rows together looked to be all my baler could handle.  I went back to the outer rows.

Still I thought I would only do a dozen or so rows.  But then on occasion the hay rake would stop raking the hay.  I was raking large rows, and if the hay was all dry there would be no problem.   But 8 times the rake stopped turning. I have never had that happen to my hay raking over all these years of raking.  I would have to get out of the tractor and pull the hay away from the rake.   And guess what, my bare arms started to itch slightly from the hay.  What is with this allergy?!!   I couldn't tell or predict areas that were a problem where wet hay was underneath the row and where the hay rake would stop.   So I decided I would rake all the rows.

I got 60% of the rows raked.  Tomorrow I will rake the rest of the rows before I begin my hay baling.  Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

Some rain

So much for the very slight chance of rain.   Earlier this afternoon I saw a cloud overhead.  Not really any clouds to the west or east of this cloud.  And this cloud was mainly overhead the hayfield, and not formed in the usual direction clouds form around here.  Please, no rain.

Then the cloud moved off and no rain.  Good.   Later in the afternoon while I was cleaning the haybine I heard a few low rumbles of thunder.  A kind-of cloud was overhead again.  Not much to the north or south in regard to clouds.  It didn't look like a rain cloud.  The cloud moved overhead and continued on eastward.  As the end of the cloud was overhead it began to rain.  What? Really?   A few moments later the sun came out as the cloud continued eastward.  The rain continued.  Then it got stronger.  I took refuge in the tractor.  After a bit I went in the house as it continued to rain.   It didn't look like rain to the north or south of me.  I called Donna to ask if it was raining at her place, and it was.  Finally it quit raining at my place.  Tonight I checked the weather service stats and they said we had gotten .05 of an inch of rain.  Enough to get stuff wet.  *argh!*   I'll see what tomorrow will bring as again there is a slight chance of rain in the afternoon.

Hay is cut

I finished cutting my hayfield today.  I wasn't sure I would get it all done as I got a later start than I expected.  A late start getting out of bed.  Then I had to go and fill the water trough for the cattle still in the neighbor's field.  The neighbor was outside and I talked with her.  She has two large trees and one is looking sickly.  I don't know why.  The other neighbor across the street was having her trees sprayed.  So I and the first neighbor went over and spoke with the person spraying the trees.  Once I got the ball started I turned it over to the neighbor to talk with the sprayer as what to do about her tree.

Since the fuel gauge on the tractor doesn't work, I don't trust how much diesel is in the tractor.  So I went about bought more diesel and then poured it into the tractor to fill the tank.

Since everything was dusty and dirty I got my air compressor out and blew the tractor and haybine clean.  The tractor windows were still dirty so I got water, towel and squeegee and cleaned all the tractor windows inside and out.

When I stopped hay cutting yesterday I had just reached the first power line tower.  I decided to use a hand scythe to cut the grass around the tower's legs.  It makes it easier and safer to cut around the legs.  This took time.  I only cleared the grass around one tower's legs as time had passed and I wanted to get to cutting the hay.

Then I had a full breakfast.  

After I started my tractor it stopped.  It hadn't done that in a while.   The tractor didn't want to restart.  It was like the motor wasn't getting any fuel even though the fuel tanks were full.  I had to use the tractor's fuel primer a few times in trying to start the tractor.  After 20 minutes or so the tractor finally started.

So I got a late start.  The cutting went well.  It had been 18 hours since I last cut the hay.  In the photo you can see the one cut I had done today versus the other cuts I did yesterday.  So the drying is happening.

As I hadn't got my full amount of sleep the night before, after a few hours I was starting to get tired.  So I stopped and went and refilled the cattle's water trough as it was pretty much empty.  As the tank filled I watched the cattle.   The newborn calf had woken up at the far end of the field and ran out to be with his mother.  After a bit he wandered here and there among the cattle getting closer to me.  He was jumping off-and-on and testing his ability to move around.

Once the trough was filled I got back to hay cutting.  I was awake now.  Just at dark I finished the hay cutting.  So I did get done.  Tomorrow I will use the hand scythe to cut the grass around the other power line tower's legs, and also clean and park the haybine.

Now to wait for the hay to dry.  Weather forecast is for temperature in the 80s tomorrow, then a few days of low 70s, then back to 80 degrees. We're finally warm.  It feels hot to me as I am still used to our earlier cold Spring. The slight chance of rain is now a very slight chance of rain.  Hopefully the hay dries sooner than later, though I imagine it may take a little longer than usual.

Start of hay cutting

Today I started cutting my hayfield.  It appears the rain has stopped for now with only a slight chance one day this week.  I waited since the last rain earlier this week for the field to dry out, and it appears it has.

First I had to put my harrow into the NE pasture where I will later take it apart and put it completely away for the year.  Before I did, I drug it around the corral and extended corral to smooth them out since the cattle was last there.

I got start with my hay cutting after 3 pm.  This time I started the hay cut driving the tractor in the lowest gear.  Usually I try driving in a higher gear but often that doesn't work well for the first hay cut.  And since I fertilized the hayfield this year, and with all the recent rain, the grass has really grown tall.  

Last year I had to drive in the lowest gear and stop on occasion so the haybine didn't get clogged up.  I expected the same this year.  Surprisingly, it did not happen.   Only once did the haybine get grass clogged up.  My first circle around the hayfield was in the lowest gear.  On the second and later go-arounds I was able to drive in a gear one step faster.  I don't know why.  The grass is tall and thick.  I did replace, at the end of last year, about a third of the haybine's teeth with sharper teeth.  And while I - and others - usually wait until the alfalfa starts to flower before cutting, this year I did not.  None of the alfalfa is flowering.    That may be because of our cold Spring the alfalfa is behind schedule. Maybe the alfalfa and grass behind schedule has not hardened/thickened/firm up and matured yet.  So they are easier to cut.  At any rate I am happy I can go a little faster than the slowest gear.

Tall hayfield

I try to cut as close as possible to the outside fences.  This time I had to spend much more time watching and moving as it seemed as if the haybine wanted to go towards the fence.  A couple of times I had to stop and back up so as not to hit the fence.

Later in the day you can see stuff on the haybine.   Due to all the recent moisture it was not dusty outside.  But I got this dusty stuff.  I think it is seeds and pollen as most of the hayfield grass has gone to seed.   The pollen part was very annoying.  I had to leave the tractor windows open as the windows got coated with this 'dust' and it got hard to see outside the windows, and I didn't want to stop every 15 minutes or so to clean the windows.  Having the windows open was a problem as the pollen made me sneeze a lot.  My nose got stuffy and my eyes itchy.  This pollen dust was the hardest thing to handle today.  Normally pollen doesn't bother me.  But this was too much.

Also the noise was loud.  Years ago Donna had given me earmuff headphones.  After a couple go-arounds I went and got them and wore them for the rest of the day.   By the end of the day my head was getting tired due to their weight.

Early on I saw this turkey walking.  The grass is so thick I doubt the turkey could walk in it.  At the end of this row the turkey then turned left and left the hayfield and walked across the road to my neighbor's

It appears I got half the hayfield cut today.  I should get the rest cut tomorrow.

Surprise! Calf 13

I had a big surprise this morning.  When I went out to check on heifer #60, I noticed a decent sized calf standing over a very small calf.  Initially I thought it was the calf that was born a few weeks ago as that calf is smaller than the other calves.  Then I noticed this calf was all black with no white markings, and this calf did not have an ear tag.

What?!!!   Where did this calf come from?!   I counted all the calves in the field to make sure this was a new calf.  I should have 12 calves.  I had 13 calves. 

Then the calf's mother walked over and the calf stood up to drink.   The mother was one of the replacement heifers.  This replacement heifer was born on March 7, 2021.    Her mother was Sugar.  Hence the 62 on the ear tag.

Here is a photo of the replacement heifer mother just after she was born last year.  So you can compare her to how she looks now.

The calf is not mad.  He just has Toby's face and look.

The mother is 15 and 1/2 months old.  A little young to be a mother.  Fortunately she had her calf successfully and the calf came out ok.  One doesn't like cattle to be so young when they first give birth.  Bad stuff can happen.

The new calf is a boy.

In the afternoon Donna came over to help me band and ear tag the calf.  We walked in the field and couldn't find the calf. We found the mother but not the calf.  I swear I saw the calf this morning and didn't imagine it.

The cows and the mother cow followed me when I walked over to the trees to search for the new calf.  These cows have gotten into the habit at mooing at me whenever I walk in the pasture they are in.  My "divas" always seem to want something from me even though they have all they need.

20 seconds long:  https://youtu.be/SjccTbmQgfU

Donna and I walked all around the field looking for the calf.  We couldn't find it.  I walked back to search in the trees once again.  We are in the neighbor's field, and she was having a guy build a porch for her house.  Donna asked the guy if he seen the calf.  No.  He came out to help us look.   On our second time around the pasture Donna found the calf laying in some tall grass kind of in the center of the field.

Then it came time to band the calf.  I think the calf is less than a day old.  But maybe two days old since we had such a hard time finding the calf in the grass.  Why I wonder if the calf is more than a day old is the calf was a handful trying to hold down.  And the calf started to bawl and wouldn't stop.  We had the other guy stand and watch the other cows.  Those cows were still in the trees but knowing Mama, whenever a calf bawls - even if it is not her calf - she will come over and try to make us stop.   But this time Mama didn't come over.

When I initially tried to hold the calf down on the ground the calf tried to get up and almost carried me away on his back.  Fortunately I was too heavy for the calf and I was able to get him back down to the ground.   When banding and/or ear tagging a calf I never had a calf bawl as much as this one did, or had a calf as strong as this one is.  This calf was bawling just because I was holding him down as we didn't start doing anything else yet.

But we finally got the calf banded and ear tagged.  I got off the calf and it jumped up and started to walk away.  The calf's mother finally started walking over towards the calf.   The calf was walking to the corner of the field, away from his mother.  I walked over as I didn't want the calf to go all the way to the barb wire fence.  He did.  Before I, or his mother, could reach the calf he pushed his way through the fence.  So I had to crawl through the fence to get to the calf.  By this time the mother was at the fence and the calf came back to the fence and was trying to get through the barb wires again.  I grabbed the calf and lifted it over the fence dropping it on the ground.  The mother came over and the calf got up and started to drink from the mother.

Being so young, the mother doesn't have a large udder.  The mother's mother has a very large udder.  I am hoping this mother's udder will increase in size as the milk flows.  The calf was able to find milk to drink.  The calf was aggressive trying to find milk and drink.

I think this calf is Haynes calf, and not Toby's calf.  Partly because the calf doesn't have a similar face as Toby had, and partly because I sold Toby last September.   The mother would have been only six months old, I think too young to be bred.

If this is Haynes calf, this is his first calf born.  So, yes, Haynes can breed cows.  And he has nice looking calves.

Or this is Haynes second calf.  Heifer #60 is older by five weeks than heifer #62, and on Sunday heifer #60 had something that looked to be after-birth, or a placenta pre-maturely detached and now hanging out her rear.  I didn't find a calf when I looked before.  Since Donna and I had trouble finding this calf, maybe I missed finding the calf in the field #60 originally was in.  I looked again this afternoon in that field but still could not find a calf.  What is up with heifer #60?

Cattle into neighbor's field

This afternoon I moved the cattle from the middle pasture over and into the neighbor's field.  The neighbor has stuff in their field, but they also want the grass eaten down.

Still in my middle pasture.

Maria and her calf were elsewhere in the middle pasture as the calf was sleeping.  I had to herd them to join the rest of the cattle.

Here you can see the cattle flattened the pile of dirt I had dug out from around this tree stump in the middle pasture.

In the neighbor's field the cattle had to check the trees out.  Here the bull is rubbing against the dirt of a tree that had blown over.

These two replacement heifers decided to fight.  And fight. And fight.    One would push the other heifer backwards.  Then that heifer would gain her footing and push the other heifer backwards or to the side.  One time a heifer was pushed into the tree next to her in this photo.

It was hard to break them up from fighting as I didn't want to get pushed into a tree accidentally.  Once the heifers got out of the trees I tried to get them to stop fighting.  They did, but then would walk side by side.  It was like a bull courting a cow for breeding.  So I worked more on trying to get them walk away from each other.  They separated but the one wanted to come back.  I ran after it shouting and waving my arms.  I had to go in a circle as the heifer tried to circle around me to get back to the other heifer.  But I got them apart.  I didn't see them next to each other or fighting when I checked on them later in the day.

This is one of the heifers that fought.  This was after I got her away from the other heifer.

One of the fighting heifers had something coming out her rear. (I noticed this before she had started to fight.)   It looked like either after-birth, or like the one cow I had whose placenta prematurely detached before her calf was born.   But this calf wasn't pregnant, it was one of my replacement heifers.  Later I remembered this was the heifer who I saw was in heat and with the bull with back on December 20.  Six months ago.  I had separated them back them.  But maybe not soon enough?

So maybe this heifer is pregnant.  Now it could be that either she miscarried her calf and this is some after-birth as she was 6 months pregnant, or her placenta prematurely detached.  I looked around for a dead calf but didn't find one.

I noticed this heifer tends not to hang around the other cattle as they roam around the field to eat.  The heifer tends to go and lay by herself.  I'll have to keep an eye on her and maybe talk with the cattle vet tomorrow.

Cattle into the middle pasture

Wednesday the cattle convinced me to let them into the middle pasture.  There is still plenty of tall grass in the northern pasture, but it is good to rotate the cattle among the pastures.

Still in the north pasture.  Also, the river is high from the Spring runoff and the recent rains.  A small low area of my pasture has some water.

Haynes the bull

Here the cattle are in the middle pasture.  I had delayed letting them into the middle pasture because I dug around three tree stumps in this pasture.  Due to the wet weather I haven't been able to burn the tree stumps.  So the dirt is piled next to the stumps.   I had hoped that the very wet dirt would discourage the cattle from rubbing in the dirt.   Nope.   Almost immediately the cattle went over to one of the dirt piles and rubbed their faces and necks in the wet dirt.   I didn't get an after picture of one cow - the red cow in the third photo - as her face was all covered in mud.  She must have closed her eyes when she rubbed in the dirt.

While all the cattle had gone into the middle pasture, Maria and her calf remained in the north pasture as Maria's calf was sleeping.  I went over and woke the calf up and then herded the two to the middle pasture.

Road closure

With over 2 inches of rain Wednesday with our all-day rain, areas around the Valley are having road and water problems.  When Donna came over Thursday she told me the cross road down the way was closed.  After ear tagging my calf I rode my bicycle down to see why.  The cross road crosses a river, but the bridge should be high enough not to get flooded.  Why was the road closed?

It wasn't due to flooding.  A half mile away from, and above, the river I discovered a cement truck had gone off the road.  The ditch is steep and the truck had tipped.  I don't know if the accident separated the barrel from the cement truck, or if the workers had it detached so they could more easily get the stuff out of the ditch and onto other trucks.

Ear tagging calf 12

It rained all day yesterday. So I didn't ear tag the calf.  This morning it had stopped raining finally and Donna came over to help me ear tag the new calf.  Fortunately the cattle were just outside the corral and not at the other end of the pasture.  Still the calf is over a day old and can now run.  And I had to run after it.  At one point I finally caught the calf and was holding it.  The calf started to bawl.   Then I looked up and Mama (not the calf's mother) was standing right there looking at me.  Uh, oh.  I tried to push Mama back and ended up letting the calf go.  Donna, who is afraid of Mama was a ways away.

So, time for something different.   I had Donna go over and handle the gate to the NE pasture and I herded the calf and her mother, Maria, into that pasture.  They then went into the corral.  The corral was muddy from our all day rain yesterday.  I was able to finally catch the calf in the loafing shed, and then standing and holding the back end of the calf against the loafing shed wall so she couldn't back up, Donna came over to help hold the calf's head and I was able to ear tag the calf.

Done.

I then herded the cow and calf back out to the north pasture to be with the other cattle.

Freshly ear tagged.

Calf 12 - Maria's

Finally!  Finally!!!   Maria had her calf today.   Last year she had her calf on May 31.  Instead of moving forward when she had her next calf this year, she moved backwards.

I found the calf late this afternoon.  The calf was dry and alert and was born sometime earlier in the day.  Hopefully not when it rained overnight.

The calf is a heifer.  That makes 7 boys and 5 girls this year.

Since it was late afternoon when I found the new calf I will wait until tomorrow to ear tag the calf.

When I walked back out to the far end of the north pasture to take a photo of the new calf, the herd who were eating just outside the corral, followed me to Maria and her calf.  Then when I walked back they followed me back to the corral.  When I was getting closer to the corral, Panda and a few other cows started mooing at me.   What?  What do you want?  You have tall grass, water and salt.  What more do you need?   Divas.  My cows are divas.

The new calf has a little white on her face.  Similar to her mother's face.

Willow tree and poo

Here is a recent photo of one of the willow trees the beaver(s) ate last Fall.  All the trees are leafing out this Spring.  Even this one. And yes, the river level is high now.

Walking in the middle pasture I found this.  I'm not sure what kind of animal did this.  I don't have any free roaming dogs nearby... but maybe a dog?   I don't know.