I am sitting at my desk thinking of what I should share with you this week as I look at my yard camera and it looks like April. Grass appearing through the snow, mud in the driveway and fog. This is crazy and let’s face it, colder weather is just healthier for us all. I don’t mean -40 but not these plus numbers. I understand people are dealing with pneumonia in their animals and it is ideal weather for this. It is difficult to keep your animals dry and that usually just starts this type of issue. If it isn’t icy and slippery it’s wet and sticky. Neither of which are fun when working with cattle or any other animal.
I spent most of Saturday setting up my barn for calving. Moved around gates, spread straw, and set up watering so when the time arrives, we should be ready. I like to take the leaf blower to the barn first to get rid of the cobwebs and dust. Not sure if the cows care much but it makes me feel better. Saturday was such a nice day that I put the ducks outside for awhile. I thought they would be super happy but they seemed to want to get back to their inside pen. Lexi spent a bunch of time rolling them around and they seem to enjoy that more than the fresh air. I think I will move my cattle into the yard this weekend even though I think that is plenty early. It looks like the temperature will be some cooler so it will be nice if it tightens up and they get the little bit of snow packed down. I am supposed to be in Toronto the due date week of calving. I am in a bit of a dilemma as I don’t think my mom can take over for me while I am gone. I will see if I can come up with a plan. It is hard to find a way to leave the farm but even more so when you are calving. I like my setup but there is a fair bit of manual labour that goes into calving at this time of the year, and it is not a job for everyone. That and the fact you are checking cows every few hours. It is a job that you don’t mind doing yourself but asking someone else to do it is a lot.
I was heading to pick up grain the other day and went to open my truck door and the handle broke off. Now I must roll the window down to get out and remember to put the window back up before I take off. It is less than ideal but hopefully we can get it fixed soon.
I guess if there is one positive think about this mild weather is people shouldn’t have to worry about cleaning the heavy snow off their roofs as they do some years. I was thinking about this the other day when I was soaked taking down the Christmas lights off the garage because it was dripping off just like a big rain day.
