Calf 4 - 7's

This morning I found calf number four.  Due to its condition I believe it was born last night and not this morning.

The calf is a heifer.  Which for this cow is a good thing.  I plan on keeping a few heifers this Fall for replacement cows and cow #7 always has good calves, and this calf is not an exception.

In the afternoon I went out to ear tag the calf.  It was a bit of a struggle as the calf was pretty lively.  Donna had to help me hold the calf down once I got the calf - with some difficulty - down on the ground.

Look at how straight the calf's back is.

Snow

As of 5 pm, no new calves.

It snowed briefly around noon.  The snow melted later.  It was better here than at my brother's place in North Dakota.  They got 8 inches of snow on Friday with more predicted tonight.

Even with our snow I was able to ride 45 miles today.

Big hay bale

No more calves.  Still have just three calves.

Most of the snow has melted in the main corral.  The corral is still mostly a messy mix of mud, manure and water.  About a third of the corral is starting to dry.  The areas around the feeders are still the wettest.  The standalone feeder stands in a 'lake'.  Over the Winter the heat from the cattle melted the snow under where the cattle stood around the feeder.  Beyond, the manure from the cattle covered the snow and created a berm around the feeder.  I tried digging paths to drain the 'lake'. I found a sheet of ice under the four inches of mud and manure.

Tobey the bull has started to stand in the feeder when he eats.  With the two cows off in the NE pasture he has room to step into the feeder.  The problem is that he can break the boards that make up the feeder's floor.  This morning I found another broken board.  The third broken board the past few weeks.  Half of the other boards were knocked down into the water below.  The floor boards are held up by boards that make a small ledge all the way around the feeder.  Some of the ledge's boards are partially broken.  Also the cattle pushing against the feeder's side are making the feeder cock-eyed. I placed cement blocks under one side of half the feeder to keep the boards up.  That enabled the cattle to eat from the feeder this morning.

While feeding from large hay bales appears to be allowing me to stretch my hay through the Winter, this afternoon I placed a large hay bale out in the north pasture.  This hay was from Calvin's field of tall grass.  In the past hay from these bales was hard to separate and load into the pickup.  So I will let the cattle eat from another one of these hay bales directly.  Hopefully in four days the corral will be drier and I can get back to twice-a-day feeding. (Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow morning.)

Speaking of bulls standing on their hay, I've noticed on my bicycle riding route that Chris's three bulls push their metal feeder off a large hay bale so they can stand on the hay and eat it.  Chris's metal feeder is a lightweight collapsible feeder more suited for feeding horses.  Over and over many different hay bales the bulls push the feeder off the hay and end up running a good portion of the hay.  Yesterday and today I seen the feeder tipped over onto its side and two of the bulls standing on the hay with their heads inside the feeder eating the little hay still left inside the feeder.   Chris needs to get rid of that feeder and get a heavy duty non-collapsible feeder.

While the feeder has a spot for each of the eleven cows and one bull, the cows went around and around when I let them out of the corral to eat the hay bale.  Some wanted what the other cows were eating in case it was better.  Other cows refuse to eat next to another cow.  Around and around.  Eventually they will get it settled.

Cow #110 is still being nice to her calf.  In the afternoon she lays next to her calf as the calf sleeps.  When the cows went to eat from the hay bale she called the calf to come closer.  Unfortunately with the 'go arounds' the calf had to be alert so as not to get stepped on.

Cow #110 with two ear tags and hay in her mouth, and her calf.

Mama usually get pushed around so often she stands back until the other cows settle down.

For some reason Red doesn't like the bull.  A number of times she butts heads with Tobey.  Here they made loud noises banging their heads together.  It seems like Red is the one who wants to fight.  Tobey usually just wants to get back to eating hay.

Even though they have a large bale of hay of their own, the three heifers were jealous of the cows and their new hay bale.

Calf 3 and temporary panel fence

This morning it appeared that cow #110 was letting her calf drink without my intervention.  In the afternoon I released the cow and calf from the loading corral and they went out to join the rest of the cows.  Cow #110 even waited outside the corral for the calf to slowly wobble over to join her before taking the calf to the rest of the herd in the north pasture.

No new calves today.

For the two cows and calves in the NE pasture I put up temporary corral panels to keep them in the eastern part of the NE pasture.  That is where I had placed the hay and water.  The cows wanted to lay in the western part of the pasture along the gate with the north pasture - to be closer to the rest of the cows in the north pasture.  That meant I had to make sure the gates were always closed in the NE pasture when going in to get more hay from the hayshed.  And as cow #20's front leg was again bothering her from the extra walking I wanted to keep her in a more confined area for now.

These cow's two calves are showing more energy today as they were running around and around their area.

The gate I bought at auction last Fall.

Calf 3 - 110's

This morning when I fed the cattle one cow was back under a tree in the middle of the pasture while all the rest of the cattle were in the corral waiting for me to unload the hay.  I could see a calf under a tree near the mother.  Once I started to unload the hay the mother came to the corral, leaving her calf behind.

After unloading the hay I walked out and checked on the calf.  It was a heifer and was all black.

A few hours later, after I had made an ear tag and the ink had dried, Donna and I walked out to tag the calf's ear.  The cows and bull were laying just outside the corral.  The mother cow was laying under a tree mid pasture.  We walked out and the cow stood up.  No calf.  The cow looked off to the back side of the pasture.  I checked where I last seen the calf.  No calf.  The calf was not under all of the trees mid pasture.  I walked through the snow to the back trees near the river.  There I found the calf laying next to/under a large uprooted tree stump.

I saw some blood on the ear I was about to tag.  As I touched her ear to get a better look at the blood the calf jumped up and began to run.  I had to grab on to her and hold tight.  The calf started to bawl and her mother came running.  I was able to put the tag in the calf's ear and I released her to her mother.  The mother started to push the calf away with her head.  The calf tried to get close to her mother but the mother started to push the calf harder and harder and pushed her into a tree trunk.  The calf was stunned and the mother walked away.

The mother walked all the way back to the cows outside the corral.  I had to pick up and carry the calf to the corral.  The calf was feisty and didn't like to be carried and would squirm and try to kick.  Once I got to the corral I carried the calf into the loading ramp part of the corral.  I herded her mother also into the loading ramp area.  The calf wanted to drink but the mother would hit it hard with her head.  So, with some effort, I put the mother into the middle of the loading ramp and blocked so she couldn't go forward or backward.  Then we put the calf in next to her mother.  The calf wanted to drink but couldn't figure out how to.  Donna had to position the calf's head next to her mother's udder and show the calf how to grab a nipple and suck on it.  After a bit the calf finally learned and drank and drank.  The mother just stood there.

This is the third calf for this mother.  The mother is one of the dumb ones.  When she, #120, and Rose were all heifers, only Rose understood that the bull was her answer to being in heat.  When Rose gave birth she knew what to do.  Both #120 and this one - #110 - had to be put in the loading ramp so they would let their calf drink.  Once that happened both let their calves drink without a fuss.  Last year #120 let her calf drink from the start.  #110 had to be put into the loading ramp to let the calf drink the first time.  After that no problems.  And no head butting last year.

And this year?  The dumb cow is at it again.  Unlike the other years she is now ramming her calf with her head.

Once the calf drank its fill we let the calf and her mother in the entire loading ramp area.  There was a lot of snow in the loading ramp area and I shoveled it out of there so the cow and calf had some place to lay.  I wanted to keep them there for a while to see if the cow would now be nice to her calf and let her drink.  Later I saw the cow push the calf away.  I couldn't find the molasses Donna and I had put on Buster the Holstein last year to get Red to take to him.  Donna got another jar while I did other work.  She poured some molasses on the calf and the mother licked it off.  But she didn't want the calf to drink from her.  The calf was hesitant and I moved it near the udder.  The mother kicked the calf.  We ran the mother back into the middle of the loading ramp but the calf showed no interest in drinking.

So I put a container of water and a container of hay in the loading ramp area for the mother and laid a board over part of the loading ramp to protect the calf in case it rains tonight.  I have part of the ramp blocked to where the calf can go but the mother cannot.  In case the mother continues to be mean.  Tomorrow morning I will see if the calf has drunk from the mother or if she still needs help.

Seriously!  This is the cow's third calf.  She should know how it all works by now.

Once I had the calf in the loading corral I noticed her other ear had a wound.  Mostly likely from her mother abusing her.

Molasses on the calf.

Mom... you're not going to hit me again, are you?

The meanie stuffing her face.

Calf 2 - 120's

The second calf was born this morning to cow #120, not the cow I expected next to give birth  All the cows came in for their morning hay feeding except the new mother.  I fed the cows; closed the corral gate, then took some hay out to the new mother.

A few hours later Donna stopped by to look at the new calf and help me tag its ear.  The calf is a heifer so no banding was necessary.

The calf is a dead ringer for her dad, Buddy.  I think I will call her: Budette.

Before I tagged the calf's ear I carried her into the NE pasture.  I want her and her mother to be company for cow #20 and her calf so they won't be alone.  Maybe cow #20 won't spend all her time at the north pasture gate.   After carrying the new calf I then had to herd the new mother into the NE pasture as she is one of the "dumb as a brick" cows.

Cow #20 - whose legs have been all fine lately - is now limping again.  Her front right leg seems to have a problem.  There is nothing nor no one in the NE pasture to cause her to hurt her leg, but there you go, it's sore again.

Her calf slept all afternoon near the stock trailer, on wet ground next to a snow bank.  With all the dry ground, the calf picks this spot to sleep!  The mother spent most of the day near the north pasture gate.

The new mother and cow spent all day near the north pasture gate.  The calf mainly slept.  After I fed the cows and bull after 5 pm, cow #120 had interest in joining them.  I had never seen her at the feeder at the east side of the NE pasture.    "Patrick" woke up, and his mother walked over to the middle of the pasture so Patrick could drink.   I tried to herd cow #120 to the hay feeder.    She would go this way and that but I finally got her down the shoveled path towards the feeder.   We were almost there when the cow decided go off path and through the snowbank.  I gave up herding her.  I thought of carrying her calf to be near the feeder but the calf was still sleeping and I didn't feel like carrying her.  The cow will eventually find the feeder.

Over an hour later I couldn't take it anymore.  The cows and bull had finished eating and now some lingered in the corral and some lingered in the north pasture near the gate.  The new calf was standing so I picked her up and carried her over to be near the feeder.  The mother did not follow me.    She remained near the gate along with cow #20 and her calf.  So I herded cow #120.  This way and that until she saw her calf and then went the rest of the way to her calf.  After checking her calf she drank and drank water before finally going to the feeder to eat.

In the morning I imagine all the cows and calves will be back near the gate.  These two cows are not independent and want to be with the herd.

Last week Donna noticed that cow #120's jaw was swollen a little bit on her left side.  Not sure why.  It could be an abscess, an infection or a tumor, or something else.  Since the swelling does not seem to be hurting the cow, the cattle vet recommended waiting until the cow gave birth since she was very pregnant and any medicines would not be good for the cow and unborn calf.

I have the two following photos though they don't really show the swelling.  It is hard to get a photo head-on of the cow.

The following photo is  a fluke.  No, the cow is not charging me.  I accidently pressed the camera's shutter button as I was moving my arm and the camera.  I think the photo looks neat.

Heifer thief

When I put hay in the feeder next to the barn, Mama's heifer calf - Speckles - gets her head through the gate and eats some of the hay when the cows aren't there.  When the cows are there they give the heifer the stink eye and block her access.

The other two heifers watch but do not put their head through the gate.  They either go for the hay Speckles drops, or they ram her side from being jealous.

No more calves since the first one was born last Saturday.  'Patrick' looks to be doing fine.  I have seen him drink from his mother and hop around a little bit testing his legs and his ability to jump.  Otherwise he still mainly sleeps.

Calf 1 - 20's

According to the cow gestation charts my first calf should have been born on the 14th or 15th (Wednesday or Thursday).  While I thought cow #60 looked farthest along, I checked my records and cow #20 was the first to be with Buddy the bull.  Cow #20 is the cow that broke her leg last August.  I had her in the corral with the heifer over the Winter so the other cows didn't push her on the ice and cause her to injure her leg again.  I kept an eye on cow #20.  She looked pregnant, but not close to delivering.

Wednesday came and went.  Thursday came and went.  Friday came and went.  I began to think that Buddy wasn't with her the entire time she was in heat as I saw him with her just hours after I released Buddy to be with the cows, then I didn't see them together again.  Her pregnancy must not have taken and she wouldn't give birth until her next cycle in three weeks.

This morning after feeding hay to the cows and Tobey the bull I noticed one of them higher than the others while eating from the large feeder.  A few days ago I found one of the 2 by 6 feeder floor boards broken in two.  The only way that could happen is if one of them stood on it.  I had replaced the board.  As the corral is a muddy manure mess this morning to check on why one seemed higher than the others I went through the south corral - which, while muddy and with manure, wasn't near as sloppy as the north corral.  I found that Tobey was standing with his front legs in the feeder while eating.  I let him be as I didn't feel like going into the muddy manure slop.  I walked by cow #20 and still no indication she was going to give birth soon.

I went uptown to run errands.  When I came back the cows and bull were in the north pasture relaxing.  I closed the gate between the corral and pasture so that when I put hay out in the afternoon I didn't have cattle milling about trying to eat as I put the hay in the feeder.  Walking back I looked over to the south corral and cow #20 was laying under the roof next to the barn.  Something looked off.  I walked over and she stood up.  Once she stood up I saw her newborn calf laying there.

That was a surprise.  She had given birth between 9:30 and and 1 pm.  Judging from the calf's condition, probably around 11 am or thereafter.

We still have lots of snow.  While I shoveled an area free of snow, the south corral is not dry nor very clean, even under the roof from the barn.  Also, last year Buster had scours and I had him in the south corral as he recovered.  I didn't want to chance any of the scours bug still was in the ground where a newborn calf could catch it.

My option was the NE pasture.  The trees by the road was snow free and dry, and clean.  Other than the path to the hayshed the rest is still under almost a foot of snow. For several days now I have been shoveling a path wide enough to drive between my Calvin plowed path and the trees.  I had half of the distance shoveled.

First I carried the calf from the south corral to the NE pasture and laid him on the ground where Calvin had plowed earlier.  He was shivering in the shade under the roof and laying on wet ground.  The sun was out and the ground was drier in the NE pasture.  I had to herd cow #20 over to the calf as cow #20 wanted to remain in the south corral.

The calf is a boy - a big calf - and Donna helped me band his testicles and I ear tagged the calf.  Then Donna helped me shovel the rest of the way to the trees.  She broke up the iced frozen snow and I shoveled it away.

Daisy came and supervised.  She also had supervised the previous days I shoveled.  With all the snow she had not been able to go over the neighbor with the blue house this Winter and it has been bothering her.  The other days, over and over, whenever I took a break from shoveling Daisy would come to the end of the path I had shoveled to look if she could get to the blue house.  Seeing that she couldn't reach the house she would meow at me to get back to shoveling.

Today once we reached the trees Daisy had a round-about way to get to the neighbor's place.  They have a small storage shed and she made her way over there and then spent the afternoon sitting looking and waiting for mice to come out from under the shed.  Daisy was happy.

Once I had a path shoveled I used the tractor to carry over one of the metal feeders from the north pasture.  In the feeder I put four small hay bales for the cow.  I also got an extra water trough and strung hoses from the well and filled the trough with water.

The calf is laying to the right of the trees.

The cow and calf had spent the afternoon next to the gate to the north pasture as the cow wanted to be with the rest of the cows.  Various cows wandered over to the gate to check out the next calf.  I then loaded the calf into the pickup and Donna drove over to the feeder and trees while I held the calf so it wouldn't try to jump out of the pickup.  The mother followed behind the pickup.  After I unloaded the calf on the dry grass where it felt even warmer the cow walked back to the gate.   She'll be back eventually.  The calf curled up and was happy and warm.

I put hay in the cows wooden feeders.  Later when I let the cows in to the corral to eat cow #20 was still near the gate.  I had to herd her down to the trees, her feeder and her calf.  Cow #20 hadn't eaten since morning - other than some of her afterbirth - and after a quick moo at her calf, cow #20 quickly went about eating the hay.

So.  Hopefully the calf doesn't get scours.  Otherwise they are set up nicely.

The next cow I know of being with Buddy should give birth in three days.  If she is on schedule.

Warming up and trying to make sense of this new world.

Since the calf was born on St. Patrick's day, I am calling the calf "Patrick", or "St. Pats".

Bicycle breakdown

While waiting for Spring to arrive I still am riding lots on my bicycle.  Today I was starting mile 36 for the day when my rear tire started to rub.  I stopped and checked and found the tire was worn and the inner tube was trying to bulge out.   A few days ago, as I was running short on time, I had put a short piece of an old bicycle tire inside where the current bicycle tire was getting thin.  Even with the bulge I thought the inner tire patch would protect the tube during the last two miles home.

I hopped back on my bicycle and started to pedal and the bicycle chain broke!  I gathered up the chain and, with one foot in one pedal, hopped and pushed my bicycle down the road.  This way I could move 8 mph, faster than the 3.5 mph I moved when walking and pushing my bicycle.

A quarter mile later my rear tire blew with a bang.     .....really?!!

After I got home I replaced the tube as the odds of repairing it were not good.  I replaced the tire.  Even though the chain is getting old (I had replaced it last year), I didn't have a new chain so I found a couple of links and replaced the broken links.  I noticed the cog I use on my freewheel 99% of the time was now 'shark toothed' from wear.  That would explain why my chain had some occasional slippage the past few days.  I had replaced the freewheel also last year but the steel used now-a-days isn't good.  So I replaced the freewheel with one I had salvaged from my bicycle boneyard last year after cleaning out my hayshed.

I went for a quick three mile test ride and I'm back in business.  I hate not have a working bicycle.

Snow, then sun

Yesterday it snowed again.     2.5 inches.  That makes 80.6 inches for the year.

This morning the cloud bank moved north and the rest of the day was sunny.  The temperature even rose to 41 degrees. About a normal high temp for once.  Melting actually happened.  Not as much as I expected.  It seemed as if melting only happened in areas that were sunny; shadier areas not so much.

I rode my bicycle two times today.  11 am - an hour after the sun came out.  The road was a mixture of melt and slush where the sun was and icy non-melted in the shaded areas.  A couple miles north and the road was all snow-packed and completely covered.  After 3 pm the road was mostly melted though by the time I rode 6 miles north the road became all snow-packed and covered.  Even though the temperature was supposed to be 41 degrees, some water from the road came up my bicycle tires and fell against my bicycle frame and brakes and then froze. It felt like the ice buildup on the back brake kept the rear wheel from spinning freely.

As I am concerned about dry areas for calving season, this afternoon I went out to the north pasture where the cattle were.  All except for two cows laid in the dry rain-shadow areas under a half dozen trees.  The two cows laid on the snow.  I shoveled snow from an area where the snow didn't seem too deep just to try to create another dry area.  I had frozen manure to shovel around.  Now to wait and see how quick the rest of this shoveled area melts and dries.

The view this morning....

In the afternoon Daisy took a break from her nap and went outside to drink from one of her favorite places.... the house's rain gutter.

February bicycling miles

Since I was on a roll in January and set a new mileage record, how about February?  The first half of the month was good, but then Winter came back hard in the second half with wind and snowstorms.

I had four goals, each more difficult.

1. Set a new record total for the first two months.  The old record, 705, was easy to beat considering I had already ridden 550 miles in January.


2. Ride at least 1000 miles.  The would mean riding 450 miles in February.  After riding 550 miles in January, even with three less days in February, 1000 miles looked do-able.


3. Ride at least 500 miles in February and try for the first time to ride at least 500 miles each month in a single year. Looked possible.


4. Set a new record mileage total for February which meant riding 545 miles, or just short of 1100 miles for the first two months.  Possible with some effort.

In the end I rode 475 miles for a two month total of 1025 miles.  I made the first two goals.  And due to the snowstorms and snow packed roads afterwards for many days limiting my riding, I had to put in a lot of effort and miles the last five days just to exceed goal number 2.  This morning instead of going for a short bicycle ride to get early miles I went back to sleep for another hour plus after feeding the cattle in the morning.

Calving starts the middle of March so I imagine that will impact March's mileage totals, especially considering Winter and all this snow is still here.