Randomness

I have to type really fast here as I can hear a thunderstorm moving in. Yes, it has been wet and rainy here the past couple of days; typical spring weather. Yesterday in the rain hubby did his bush-hogging (mowing) up on the old homestead, then he spread some fertilizer. After about 2 hours of doing this he came back in soaked, but glad the job was done.

While he was up there bush-hogging he found the remains of a calf fetus; apparently one of the cows aborted a couple of days ago. This happens occasionally. He figured out which cow it was and looked at his records; she was due in about 31/2 months. Her udder swelled up and she is milking OK, I believe.

Hunter is back at it. He got two turkeys for himself, but he loves hunting so much that he's up here again. This time he told hubby that he's getting one for US! Great! Never having gutted or plucked any fowl of any kind, this ought to be an adventure. Maybe he'll be kind enough to gut it for us while he's down there. Hubby said maybe he'd have his mom do it, but I won't let her do it by herself. If I help I'll send a feather or 5 to anyone who wants some. Ha.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The thought of gutting a bird creeps me out. I'm a real wuss when it comes to stuff like that.
May 7, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Oyster

It isn't even halfway through the month yet and I have run out of lists or anything amusing to tell you about the dairy. So here is a poem I picked up on a homesteading forum. It does deal with ag issues, just of a different sort... Enjoy! The Oyster Baxter Black The sign upon the café wall said OYSTERS: fifty cents. "How quaint," the blue-eyed sweetheart said with some bewildermence, "I didn't know they served such fare out here upon the plain." "Oh, sure," her cowboy date replied, "We're really quite urbane." "I would guess they're Chesapeake or Blue Point, don't you think?" "No ma'am, they're mostly Hereford cross . . . and usually they're pink But I've been cold, so cold myself, what you say could be true And if a man looked close enough, their points could sure be blue!" She said, "I gather them myself out on the bay alone. I pluck them from the murky depths and smash them with a
Read more

Like Cats A'Fightin'

Image
That's a local saying when it's snowing hard. Snowing like cats a'fightin'. You can look out and see the fur flying. Ellen had never been outside while it was actually snowing. She was enchanted. She had to have a bucket of it to carry around. It was in the mid-20s but we took a bit of a walk before coming back in for a nap. The snow is still too dry to be able to make a snowman, it is really powdery. So far we have somewhere between 3 and 4 inches, I would suspect.
Read more

The Blind Calf Story

Image
This happened last month. I thought it was an interesting case. Wed Aug 15th 2007 8:30 AM: Went out and brought new heifer calf and cow in from field. Not too sure how old calf was; umbilical cord sort of dried up, but calf still seemed damp. Left her with cow all morning ‘til maybe early afternoon, then separated them. Beautiful, normal calf. 6 PM Fed calf bottle. She slugged back the whole thing. Thurs Aug 16th5:15 AM (approx) Calf comatose. Or as near as I could tell. She was on her side, non-responsive, drooling, head on ground, eyes closed or just barely opened. I tried to feed her bottle but she only swallowed convulsively once or twice, then milk just drained from her mouth. 5:30 AM. Husband went out and looked at her. Drug her out of pen and out of the way to be taken to boneyard later after chores were all done. She was barely breathing and as I said, totally non-responsive.This was a real grief as the cow she came from is a great milker and to get a heifer from her was a joy.
Read more