Life Happens

Yesterday I went to the feed store and picked up some milk-replacer for the calf. Later after I was home I made it a bottle of milk, and I fed it. I fed the calf that had a hard time getting up on its own and was the runt of the two. After it was done, I made sure it was all good to go and then I left and got other stuff done at home. In the early evening I fed the cows hay and checked on everyone and then got ready for dinner. Our neighbor, Mrs. Clay, made us a dinner and cake as an early birthday dinner for my mom and I. She made some really good food last night for us. After we got home, I came up to the farm to check on the cows again, and I unfortunately found something I had hoped I wouldn't find. I found the calf that I had bottle fed was kind of sprawled out and was not moving. I got in the pen and as it turned out, it had passed away. I got it covered up with a blanket for the night and then came home. It died from natural causes and it is possible it had issues from when it was born. When you have livestock, in time you will eventually have a deadstock. You can't get upset with mother nature; that is what a farmer does for a living, is work with mother nature. I put 18 pieces of wood on the fire last night. Today I went up to the farm and checked on the cows and threw in some hay for them to eat. Greg who helped a lot this syrup season came and picked up some pints to sell at work. I left and headed to Lowell to get some mineral and grain for my cows. I stopped by the farm on my way home and unloaded it into the barn and fed the cow that had calved, a scoop of grain. I came home and later went up to the farm to get the calf and take care of it. Later in the later afternoon, Greg stopped by to get another case of pints. Mike Wisner also stopped out to pick up a bunch of syrup for Whitney, so she wouldn't have to drive out here. I went up to the farm with Paige and she helped me get some stuff done. I got Edie, cow 901, separated from the rest of the heard by making her chase after the ear of corn I had. I put her in the vacant small pen. My sister closed the door behind it and then I worked on putting up some fence panels to make a little area for her to come outside. Because the panel up against the barn has nothing to stop it from moving, I put a water tank on either side to act as a wall to hold the panel. Before I started to fill the water tank, I got the pressure washer out and cleaned up the tank. It took off any green gunk or poop, and then I began to pressure wash the other tanks I had. My sister and I carried two out of the barn and around the long way because the doors are too small to fit them through. She held them up and tilted while I sprayed and cleaned them out. I came home to get some gas after the pressure washer ran out. Mom and dad were getting ready to go to a town hall meeting that was about an ordinance. I came back with gas and finished pressure washing the tanks and I filled two tanks of water. Inside the barn I worked on cleaning up and organizing some stuff. I moved stuff around and swept up all the hay and chaff that was on the ground. I threw down some more hay and fed the cows. I got the little tank that was in the small pen out and pressure washed it as well. After the tanks filled, I blew the hoses out and hung them up. I fed the cows hay for the night and then came home. I put 13 pieces of wood on the fire and then closed up stuff.