Oh the weekend

It has been a great weekend but just like most weekends they never seem to be long enough. We are still calving and I talked to Brad yesterday and we are officially under 30! I think the number is 29 to be exact but at this point who is really counting besides Branden, Brad, and I!

Yesterday we had to call the vet out because we had a lady down that couldn't get up. Brad was out feeding and spotted her and called and got Dr. Tim on the way. Branden and I waited for Dr. Tim and showed him the way to the lady. When we got out to her she had gone down on a little island in the middle of a pond, figures. After taking her temperature and a quick feel of her uterus the vet had it narrowed down to two culprits, milk fever or grass tetany. Grass tetany is due to low levels of magnesium in the cow. The ladies are out chasing the green grass right now and the immature grass doesn't have all the nutrients yet that they need. It happens most often in cows that are nursing calves two months old or less. Milk fever happens when the cows calcium level is too low.  It happens most often 10 or so days after the mama has had her calf. She puts all the calcium she has stored into the milk for her newborn calf and doesn't have enough for herself.  Bad news both of the culprits can end in the cow dying.

Good news is both of these can be treated and that is exactly what we did. Dr. Tim took some blood so he could go back and test to see which culprit we were dealing with and we gave her two bottles of mineral solution through an IV and she was up and out of there in no time. Turns out she had milk fever, if it was grass tetany the guys would have to keep a close eye on the herd to make sure no other cows were being affected.

We are donating two of our goat kids to an FFA member in a nearby town so we sorted the two off that he is taking with their mamas so we can start the weaning process. Man those goats are stubborn and make a lot of noise when they don't want to do something! Certainly not like handling cows that is for sure.

We ended the night with dinner and game night with some of our friends. It was great so see everyone and we had lots of fun. Hope everyone else had a great weekend as well!

Back in blogging action

Hello friends,

It has been a whole week since I have posted anything! A lot has happened in a week. Last Saturday I went home to see my grandma who has been very sick. I had to see with my own two eyes that she was still alive and kicking. She is still alive and kicking and seems to be getting better. I love you Grandma! It was great to see the rest of my family as well. I had been missing them.

We had a big deadline at work this week so I was feeling the squeeze from that. Made it through in one piece and am still alive to tell about it. I always consider it good when you meet a deadline and the day after the deadline you go back to work!

Life on the ranch has been steady. It seems that the guys have been having 3 or 4 calves a day on a regular basis. I don't know the official count but if I had to guess I would say that we have right around 40 or a few less to go. Yay! We have had a bottle calf now for about three and a half weeks. Bottle calves are fun for about the first few days and then it gets to be a chore to feed them and pretty expensive as well. We haven't lost any calves so we didn't have a mom for our little orphan. Last night we were over at our friends house and just that day they had a cow that had lost a set of twins. Little orphan Annie might have just found a home! Andrew brought his mama over and the babe and the mama are in the barn now working on getting acquainted. Once a calf is used to being fed by a bottle sometimes it is hard for them to go back to the teat. Hopefully the lady will take our orphan and everyone will be happy.

I am not going to say it too loud but I think that spring might be officially on it's way. Branden brought me some buttercups the other night that he had picked out in the pasture. I took the dogs for a walk this afternoon and saw a whole bunch more. I love spring time on the ranch everything is so green!

Well I better sign off for the night I am headed tomorrow into town to do some grocery shopping. It could be a long day!

TGIF

This guy looks like he is ready for Friday doesn't he? I can say little guy the feeling is mutual.

Not a whole lot to report from the 50 this evening. Calves are still hitting the ground which is a good thing. If I had to guess I would say that we have about 65 left to go. Not the same pace that we had last week but better than a stick in the eye!

It sounds like we are going to go into town tonight to the crab feed that they have at the Gun Club for a few hours in between checks. Should be a good time. Hope everyone has a great Friday evening!

Wonder

I was just outside and it is a very clear night out there. The thermometer shows 33 so it's not freezing out but not real warm. I looked up at the sky and could see all the stars. When I say all it seems there isn't a star out there I couldn't see (I know that there is but you get what I am saying). If you have never been in the country away from the city lights you have never really seen the stars. Sometimes I wonder if those city slickers know what they are missing!! There is something about looking up at the huge dark sky and seeing all the bright stars that is very humbling.

Branden says the last time he knew we had 85 ladies left to go. That child's play right? The guys could do that in a week :) The weather is supposed to be unsettled this week which is a pretty good indicator they could be busy. Seems like those ladies like to have their babies when it is freezing cold outside and especially in the middle of any kind of snowstorm. I will keep you posted!

Well I am going to take my cold medicine and hit the hay!! I have a cold I have been fighting since this weekend, no fun! Good night everyone!

A week in the life

It has been a real busy week here at the ranch, Branden figures that we have had 70-80 calves this week!!! That is a lot of babies!! This means that we are over half way through with the calving for the year, even better news!!! The guys have been working real hard and it is showing. We have nice healthy calves so far. The weather has been fairly decent this week and when you are as busy as they have been that helps.

I tried to spend as much time outside today as I could since it was so beautiful out. I did have inside chores to do so I would have liked to spend more but I will take what I can get. Last weekend I got no laundry done since there was a part out on our pressure tank for the well that was broken! That has meant catching up on a lot of laundry this weekend. I am getting the itch to do spring cleaning already and got some accomplished this afternoon. Feels good to start spring cleaning.

I am going to sign off for the night. I have my second pan of cookies in the oven and am planning on getting some good TV time in when I am finished. I tried last night but fell asleep before I got that accomplished. Have a great evening!!

Lessons learned from LuLu

People of the blog world meet LuLu, she was my father-in-law's dog. She is purebred English Bulldog, and she lives in our basement. She is a very peculiar dog and after knowing her like I do I think I could learn a thing or two from ol' Lu.

Lesson 1: There is such a thing as a face only a mother could love I mean look at her. 

Lesson 2: Basking in the sun and taking in the rays is worth it every chance you get. 

Lesson 3: Although being stubborn doesn't always get you what you want the majority of the time it works. Lu lives in her own little happy bulldog world totally unaware of what is going on around her. I imagine it with large lounge chairs with little white bichons coming by with bits of steak, chicken jerky, and other bulldog treats and not one single human to tell her what to do and when.

Lesson 4: Looks aren't everything, you can certainly make up for it in the personality department. Lu is my little diva dog, if Mama ain't happy ain't nobody happy!

Lesson 5: No matter what you look like, smell like, sound like, eat like, or act like there is always someone out there that will love you. 

Lu lives in the basement and when she is sleeping it sounds like there is a grizzly bear hibernating down there. If she has gotten into something that is not agreeing with her she will clear a room. Her nickname is pig pen because she is happiest when she is filthy dirty. She drools on anyone and everything. Stubborn is an understatement and doesn't even begin to describe her attitude problem but heck deep down I love the girl!

So far not a real busy night at the ranch. On my way in the driveway tonight I saw two brand new calves and few that had already gotten up and sucked for the first time. I haven't got the total calf count for the day, Branden has been napping in his recliner. Well I better get going the diva is calling, she needs to go outside!