Chainsaw work

I need to do something.  Can't stay in bed all day moping for Daisy.  A few days ago I pruned some of the branches from my apple trees.  Late this afternoon I put a new chain on my chainsaw and cut some tree trunks.  I have a few box elder trees growing right next to my pole shed.  They were planted by the birds many years ago.  One tree is growing right against the wall.  So I have been trimming it back slowly year by year while a younger tree near this tree, and a little away from the wall, is growing.  Of the "bad" tree I was down to it only having two large trunks growing away from the pole shed.  The two trunks were because the tree trunk growing out of the ground right against the wall, had split into two trunks and then grew sideways and up away from the wall.  Today I cut off one of the split trunks using the chainsaw.  Next year I will remove the other trunk.

Then I cut up the tree in the north pasture that had fallen down earlier this Winter.  This is the tree the cattle ate all the needles off of.   Earlier I had cut up half the tree using a handsaw.  With the chainsaw I cut the rest of the tree.  I left the older stump alone as the cattle like to rub against that stump.

As you can see some branches went right into the ground, then froze in place.

I then cut up another smaller tree that had blown over right along the north/middle pastures fence.  Then I started cutting up the tree trunk from the tree that fell over on top of the apple tree last year.  That tree can be seen in the background of the first photo.  I was able to easily cut up the short section on the left of the photo. 

Then the longer section was a challenge.  The end of the tree was laying on the ground.  I thought I could cut the section laying on the ground and then remove that section.  But the end of the tree was frozen to/into the ground.  As I was removing the chainsaw, the longer section of the tree trunk then broke off and dropped slightly to the ground.  This action trapped my chainsaw blade and chain in the cut.

Using a large earlier cut log section I tried to knock this section loose from the ground.  I couldn't.  I had to go home and get a sledgehammer.  After a number of blows I finally broke this section from the ground which then freed my chainsaw.

I decided to call it quits for the day.

Calf 2's ear tag

This afternoon I put an ear tag on calf 2.  She made it through the night fine.  At midnight I saw the cows and their calves, and also Muscles, were all laying on the hay in the shelter.

In the morning before I ear tagged the calf...

Last year's calves, and a cow, were all looking at the new calf this morning.

After I ear tagged the calf.

In this photo calf 1 and 2 look to be the same size.  But they are not.

A couple of photos of calf 1 who is sharing the corral with calf 2.  The reason calf 1 has an orange tag is that was the last orange tag I had left.  Previously I tagged the female calves with orange tags, but last year when I thought I now needed new calf tags, orange wasn't available so I changed to using yellow tags for the females.

Calf 2 born in 2021

Surprise!!!  A calf was born this afternoon.   What a surprise!   I don't let the bull be with the cows (except for the accidental breeding of cow 60) until June 1, so that should mean the earliest calves will be born is around March 10.  I just double checked the gestation chart.   Today is about 16 days early.  I know babies can be born early, but this early?  Thankfully the calf looks to be fine, and doesn't look to be premature.  Speckles is the mother.  Last year she had twin calves.  They were born March 27.  A few days ago I noticed a few of the other cows - not Speckles - looked pregnant and getting closer.  I thought at the time, I wouldn't be surprised if you gave birth right away on March 10.  Now I will have to check the cows more often to make sure there is not another calf born early.

The calf was born this afternoon. It is another heifer.  I went out around 4:30 pm to check on and count the cattle and check the hay.  I had given the cattle another large hay bale yesterday.  At the far end of the cattle - the middle of the pasture - I saw a black shape on the ground next to a cow. They were under a large tree and the black shape didn't look to be one of the tree's roots that are partially above ground at their start from the tree trunk.  I walked and found a baby calf.

The calf had been licked by her mother, but these days and temperatures, it takes longer to become completely dry.  My guess is that the calf was an hour or two old.  The calf's fur looked to be the same 'wetness' as the calf born in January, and that calf was less than three hours old when I found her.

Fortunately the high temperature today was 47 degrees.  The calf was not shivering and she was laying next to her mother on the dry ground under a large tree.  But this is February. The overnight low temperature will be in the 30s; snow is on the ground; and it was raining lightly.  The calf needed to go into the corral and be with the other cow and her calf in the straw.

Donna came to help me.  I brought along a plastic shed to transport the calf.  We found the calf and her mother under another tree nearby the first tree.  The calf was standing.  I wasn't sure it would stay on the sled so I picked the calf up and carried it.  I'm getting old as I had to stop and rest three times by the time I reached the corral.  Mama, the grandmother cow, ran over to see what Donna and I were doing.  More what I was doing as Mama then saw me carrying a calf.  Fortunately Mama only kept an eye on me and didn't attack me.  Mama is protective of calves.

Yesterday I had put out more straw to lay on for cow 60, her calf and "Muscles", the calf with white muscle disease.  Part of the straw was already starting to get wet, so I got more straw out for them to lay on.  The calf was warm when I carried it, but now it was starting to shiver slightly.  Speckles laid down on the straw.  Eventually the calf laid down next to Speckles.  Being newborn the calf still is figuring out how to lay down.

Cow 60, her calf and Muscles were eating hay when we arrived.  While we were there they stayed away from the straw area.  Since then I looked several times to see how all were doing.  Donna and I were worried that cow 60 can be a bully and were concerned she might chase Speckles and her calf from the straw.  Thankfully she didn't.

The first time I checked on them all but Muscles were laying on the straw.  Cow 60 doesn't like Muscles to lay near her.  I had to look for the newborn calf.  She wasn't laying by Speckles but was laying right next to cow 60's back.  I had to get up close to check that cow 60 didn't lay on the calf.  Cow 60 then got up when I reached to touch the calf to make sure her legs weren't under cow 60.  The calf was fine.

I just checked a few minutes ago.  Cow 60 and her calf were by the hay feeder.  Muscles was standing in the rain next the straw area. Speckles and her calf were laying in a different spot in the hay, and were laying right next to one another.

Only a couple of photos.  I'll get better photos tomorrow when Donna and I tag the new calf's ear.

Since the calf was not completely dry, Donna rubbed the calf a little drier with a towel.  The calf didn't want to stand still and would walk away from Donna as she rubbed it.

Snow. More than predicted

One to three inches of snow was predicted overnight and today.  A little snow fell before I went to bed late last night.  The next morning at 8 am when I fed the cattle I found lots of snow.  My guess is four to five inches of snow.

I shoveled a little snow, then went back to sleep.  When I got up later the snow had quit.  I spent the afternoon shoveling snow from the house to the backyard.  Then outside the hayshed.  Then I cleared a number of circles out in the north pasture to place the late afternoon hay for the cattle.  I still have snow in the rest of the backyard to shovel, and the front driveway.  I did shovel the driveway where the tires go.

By the time I was done it was 7:30 pm, after dark.  And I'm a little tired and sore.

The forecast starting late morning tomorrow is for more snow.  Four to seven inches of more snow by the time Sunday ends.  Plus the wind will pick up and the temperature will drop below zero.  I plan to put a larger hay bale outside the corral tomorrow so I don't have to fed the cattle for a few days.

I put some more straw for the cow and her calf to lay on in their sheltered area as their previous straw was getting compacted.

Winter is coming again.

No bicycle riding today.

Are you bothering my child?

I want to check your pants leg again.  That ok?

No, I'm not your Mama.  I don't have milk.

Yum. Yum.  Food!

In the blue tub is a mineral supplement for the cows to lick.

By noon the sun came out.  The temperature got up to 41 degrees today and it was nice outside.

At one point I thought the next weather and snow was coming before I would be done shoveling the snow.  But the clouds didn't come closer before sundown and they stayed up against the mountains during the rest of the afternoon.

January bicycle miles

I planned on riding my bicycle less this year than last year.  So far, that is not happening.  January 2020 I rode 460 miles, the second highest total.   January 2021 I rode 530 miles, now the second highest total. 

The highest January mileage total is 550 miles. So if I had planned on riding more miles I could have set a new high mileage total for January.

Calf 1 Day 3

Another good day for the baby calf.   In the morning when I was out to feed hay to the cattle the baby calf was with his mother.  She then decided to come over and check me out.

Then back to mama to drink.

Here is a 1 minute 54 second video of the calf checking me out: https://youtu.be/aG-SoGfRW4Q

At the end of the afternoon when I fed the cattle a second time the calf had energy.  She was running around the corral where she and her mother are located.  She has a lot of energy for a calf that is barely three days old.