I think we will all agree that we hope the “special weather statement” we keep seeing and hearing about misses us! Sunday’s weather created enough mess for the week. It is very difficult to keep animals dry in this weather. I am thinking of all my friends calving now and hoping the cows hold onto their calves until this weather straightens out. I know some farms have been battling pneumonia and this weather won’t help that situation. I just keep thinking it sure is hard to find a good time for calving and how much we battle weather all year long. Thankfully Lexi isn’t so keen on getting dirty, but it is hard to go across the yard without getting dirty feet. It is not easy to keep the floor clean these days and to top that off we also have a house lamb that wants to cruise around with Lexi. For the most part she is in a dog kennel. We tried some diapers on her, but they are a bit too big; I might have to purchase some pull-ups. Or better yet she should live in the barn, but my mom thinks she will be too cold. Black Bettie hasn’t enjoyed sharing the house with Lexi and now we added a lamb! The only lamb we have is the one that is in the house but any day now we should be seeing a few more.
With a long weekend coming up and as well breeding season nearing for me, I am planning to vaccinate cattle this weekend. I might regret not doing it this past Saturday while the sun was shining. I have a couple of options on where I can run the animals through, so we will have to just pick the one that is less likely that you will lose your boots. This is one of the bigger vaccinating events since all cattle must be done – cows, calves, yearlings, and bulls. It is a job that you somewhat dread, but it sure feels great when it is off the list!
We had a great work bee at the Sales Barn on Saturday. The guys worked very hard setting up the new sorting system in the old pole barn. Jo Bragg was kind enough to provide us with an excellent lunch. We are planning a cleaning bee this Friday at 10 am. We will tidy everything up prior to our sale which is April 23. Remember we have some great cooks running our canteen and it will be open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Come for lunch and check out our new place!
Just a reminder from the Abattoir staff – they understand it is a tough time of the year to keep your animals clean but please make an extra effort with some sort of bedding to avoid a penalty or worse yet your animals being condemned at the plant.
Wishing everyone a Happy Easter weekend. Let’s hope Mother Nature provides us with good weather on Friday or we could be in for 30 more days of miserable weather. Be safe everyone!
