hayin

So we made some hay last week...it was looking like really nice hay too. We got to use our new/used tractor we bought this winter. A bigger one. And the new/used pin wheel rake. I got to use the pin wheel rake. My first time using it too! I am new to haying. Well, the actual driving the tractor and the doing of the haying! I love it. I get Allis, that is what we call the 40HP 6140 tractor. We name our stuff. ha ha.

See. Me on the tractor! No that is not our house. It's the guys who fields we hay's house. Read that twice real fast. I asked my husband who was coming behind me baling how the win rows were, if I did a good job keeping them straight. He said I did just fine. I was glad of that. I quickly realized to make real small corrections when moving a win row on a tractor to keep the rows straight.

 Haying together! See my boy sitting on a bale of hay? He can't wait for him to be big enough to drive the tractors!!  Having a second tractor is a real great thing. Saves time. Even though we had some break downs of equipment and then Friday afternoon it got poured on...and we are feeding this hay out first and have it real loosely stacked in the barn...we had a good day. Such is the life of farmers. Forever at the mercy of the weather. The weather wasn't calling for rain until Saturday night. Guess they were off a few hours.

My handsome hubby! 

Belle was hot and tired. Her first time haying. She had to be on a leash so she wouldn't get hit with all the equipment. She's still learning the trade of farming! She's 12 weeks old now!

We are still in need of hay for the winter for all the critters and the horses now. But we will get there with hard work and one bale at a time. We pray for our own land and fair weather!
Have a great day ya'll

belle says...

Have a wonderful weekend ya'll!! Happy summer!

20 days

 I woke about 3am. As per usual the past few weeks. And various other times throughout the night.We've been keeping an eye on Daffy since her due date being the 21 of May.
This being her first calf we wanted to be sure to be home in case she ran into trouble. She has had some signs, her udders getting bigger and her vulva swelling. But nothing unusual for a cow about to gives birth. We just would watch her. She was happy. Eating, pooping, peeing. No problem. The days ticked by.
5 days over due.
10 days over due.
14 days over due. We call the vet. They say to keep watch on her and wait a few more days. Don't worry. We call some other dairy farmers in the area. They say don't worry about her. We think, weird, she is not having this calf. She's gonna be pregnant forever! So we wait. And pray. She is still fine. Still happy and not in any distress.
17 days over due. Still fine. Her udders are getting bigger. Her vulva is getting more swollen. She still looks huge, so the calf has not moved up into the birth canal. We have been staying closer to home. Me usually always home, and if we both are gone it's only for a short time. We wait. I don't get much sleep. I'm up checking on her in the field. My husband is up checking on her.
18 days over due...more phone calls. More being told she is fine. Don't worry. It's not usual for a cow to be this over due?! Is it?! We give her one of those big calcium pills. Her udders are bigger. Her vulva is even more swollen.
3am June 10. 20 days over due. I get up and head out. I can't find her in the pasture. I run back in and wake up my husband. He put her in the barn, and forgot to tell me. I go back out and check her out. She is standing, she has some discharge. No big deal. But as of yesterday I figured it had to be soon. The calf had moved because she wasn't as wide. Her teats were swollen. I told my husband "I bet she goes tonight" while we were doing chores.
I get back in bed. I lay there awake. We hear soft mooing. (Our house and that barn she was in are close by). My husband gets up and heads out. I wait. He taps on the window and says to go get our oldest daughter. This is her cow. I wake her gently and ask her if she wants to watch Daffy become a mommy. A sleepy smile comes over her face and she quickly joins us outside. We watch. And wait.

I didn't get many pics of the delivery. It was dark in the barn and I didn't want to disturbed her hard work she had to do. We had her in the barn because of the outside temps last night, and the possibility of rain. We didn't want the calf to catch a chill.

25 minutes later she had delivered her first calf all on her own. A bull calf. She was up and licking him off. Mooing softly at him. We were so relieved. She was doing fine. The calf is alive and she is doing her job. And she didn't need any help from us on her first delivery, like her sister Dandie did on her first calf last year.

 He was up sucking, and mama was still cleaning him off. She drank some water and licked him dry and he had a good first meal!

 A beautiful sun rise on this glorious morning. What a beautiful day to be born. We left the barn and went into the house to let Daffy and baby rest and get better acquainted.

Outside in the pasture together. See her tongue licking his face? Her first milking done and now to rest and bond the rest of the day. At least until we figure out what to do with him.
As far as her first milking going? Well she was OK. She kicked the pail and danced around and mooed the whole time. Her calf was there with her. She was a bit nervous, but she knows us and trusts us. She can only get better from here on out!
Have a great day ya'll

good quote

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
Hellen Keller

belle in training

I thought I would share some of Belle's training. I'm new to training a herding dog, so if you have some kind, helpful tips I'd be glad to get them.
We were told to get her on a routine, and take her out to do chores to get used to the critters and how things run around the farm. So we have been doing just that. I try to keep her lessons not too long because she is only 9 weeks old now.
So here we go!

 Belle and I are heading out to the cow pasture to round up the stubborn cows that didn't want to come in the barn. Time to milk the cow! Yes we are only milking 1 cow at the time. We are waiting on the other to calve. We have a small herd. But none the less a herd!  (My husband is around too! I say I sometimes, but mean we)

 Walking up the cow lane. Belle looks back to be sure I am coming too. She would run ahead then look back and wait for me.

 She's working so hard here. ;) She's in my arms when we get close to the cows. She's too little and she doesn't 100% come when called, and I don't want her getting trampled.  But she is right into it and watches the cows.

 Another shot of her in my arms. See her ears and face is all about the cows! While walking the cows down to the cow lane.  Not too bad for being a lefty and taking the shot with my right hand!

And here we are at the barn. Belle is sitting with me keeping the cows from going back up the lane! She did a good job!! I think she will be a great herding dog and a huge help on the farm. I'm not bias at all ;)
Have a great night ya'll!

newest addition... on monday confessions

And here you were thinking I was going to tell you about a new calf being born. Nope. We are still waiting on Daffy to have hers. She is about 12 days or so late. But more on her another day.

The truth of the matter is living on a farm is there is an ugly side to it as well. It's not all sunshine and roses. Here on my blog I can pick and choose what I want to share. So today I thought I would share some ugly truth.
 It was about 6pm and there was a commotion outside. Well it was the hens and then we saw the fox.  Some ran outside and I went running to get our .22. by the time I got back outside the fox had left. He had pulled her feathers out and bit her leg. She was OK other that. She is still fine. That got us to thinking. We have not had any such critters come visit the farm. Other then the skunks. We borrowed my BIL Jack Russel dog for a couple weeks to get his scent around. In all our thinking we decided it was time for a farm dog. We had put off getting a dog due to lots of reasons. But the time was now. A friend of ours had some puppies.  How convenient. Australian Shepard pups. Farm and family raised, that were almost ready to leave the litter. We went out to see them. And we had chatted with him about what we were looking for in a pup. He had 3 pups that he thought would be a good match for us. On my! puppies!! They are so cute! All of em! We decided 2 of them were what we liked, and had to decide what one was going to be just right. We had another week before it was old enough to come home. So we decided to think and pray about what one. One was a male and the other female. Well on our way home we got a call...
Our neighbor called and told us something had gotten into our broilers in the pasture...
Yup. We got home and sure enough there was a pile of dead chickens in the chicken tractor. They all had the same bite makes. All were counted for.  About 20 in all. We picked them out of the tractor and put them in a bucket to dispose of them. The culprit had gotten into the back of the cab in the window part. We knew this was not the fox. A fox would have taken them to eat, not leave them in a pile. A joy killing. We figured out what had killed them and we moved on. And I'll leave it at that. But with this happening we put up a double hot wired fence around the chicken tractors and decided for sure we were getting the pup.
So meet our new addition.

Belle. :)  Isn't she just the sweetest!! Her farm work training has begun! We just love her.

Have a great day ya'll!!