It's TGITh here at Liberty Farm. I've been on a four 10-hour day work schedule for over a year now so our weekend begins on Thursday evening. I just got a $1500 quote to grind out the old mortar and tuck-point our chimney, including re-laying the part above the roof where much of the mortar is gone. So, I don't know if my cocktail should be for celebrating the arrival of the weekend or lamenting this home maintenance outlay. We hope to turn our old greenhouse into a garage this summer, complete with a concrete floor and new driveway, and this is going to break into our budget.
We're seeing Sugar let the new bull calf, Porter, nurse more and more. She won't stand there and chew her cud like she does for her own calf, Taffy, but if she's preoccupied she's not so quick to knock him into next week. I really hope she comes around soon. We're letting Porter nurse at milking time when she's in the stanchion and Taffy is learning to nurse about an hour beforehand, so we're doing good to get about one and a half gallons a day. That ain't gonna cut it for long. When (if) Porter begins nursing ad lib, Sugar's production will hopefully increase to match and we'll be able to separate the calves at night and milk once a day in the morning. If we don't get at least two and a half gallons at that milking, I'll be disappointed. Right now, she's eating about $6 a day worth of organic grain (corn, spelt and Fertrell dairy mineral). I hope to be able to cut that back but we want to see her gain a little weight.
I'm very pleased to be able to report that there are no signs of mastitis in the milk. We treated her with a second round of antibiotics and all is clear. Tomorrow is the first day we'll be able to drink it. We still have our herdshares until the end of the month, so I'm hoping to make some cheese this weekend.
All the pasture mowing is done and I'm hoping for rain. The lambs are growing like weeds and the mommas are in good condition and still making plenty of milk. This will be the third year we haven't used any deworming drugs. Right now, the sheep are limited to grazing on the hilltop, where they rarely go unless there's no grass down near the barn. I'm saving that lower part for Sugar and the calves. Since cows and sheep don't share internal parasites, this is a good way to break the host/parasite cycle.
I bought 10 bales of first-cutting alfalfa today to give Sugar. She needs some dry forage to firm up her poop. Cow poop is never really firm, but right now it's practically liquid. Sorry for the graphic description, but that's life at Liberty Farm. As my butcher told me, "beef cows burp and dairy cows fart. You need to encourage that."
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
July 6, 2009
Happy belated Independence Day from Liberty Farm! I'd hoped to get pasture photos last weekend but didn't get around to it. I'll have to turn my daughter loose in the field with the camera. She's a 10 year-old budding photographer.
We picked up an Ayrshire cross bull calf on Thursday morning. Fortunately, we got there before he was fed and were able to take him home in the back of my Jeep Wrangler without him peeing or pooping. I wrapped his rear end in a blanket for the ride but now that I've seen him in action, I know that would have been inadequate. His name is Porter House. Sugar doesn't like him much but has gone from trying to kill him to tolerating him in the stall with her and Taffy, so we're making progress. We let him nurse from her rear quarters when she's in the headgate at milking time but are hopeful that she will soon let him nurse in the pasture.
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
July 1, 2009
Got about 4 gallons of milk today. Unfortunately, it all has to be dumped since we gave the antibiotic infusion. We'll be able to drink the Friday evening milking without any residue of the meds.
Sugar is getting pretty well trained to the milking process. We're getting a bull calf tomorrow. He's an Ayrshire cross. Hopefully she'll accept him without too much difficulty.
Pics later. I hope to get the camera out to the pasture this weekend and get some lamb photos. They're a cute bunch!
Sugar is getting pretty well trained to the milking process. We're getting a bull calf tomorrow. He's an Ayrshire cross. Hopefully she'll accept him without too much difficulty.
Pics later. I hope to get the camera out to the pasture this weekend and get some lamb photos. They're a cute bunch!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
June 30, 2009
I didn't get to go to Mass on Sunday because Sugar had cold ears that morning. Cold ears are one of the initial signs of milk fever and the 72 hour danger zone wasn't up until about 2:00 pm Sunday. So I stayed home to keep an eye on her and it turned out to be nothing. Since I was home and outside, though, I took the opportunity to build this:
It's a headgate with feed box attached. What a difference this has made! Sugar can no longer dance around the barn in a 180 degree pattern while we're trying to milk. She can still move around some but she's getting better about that. It was hard to get her in there at first but at the last two milkings she's walked right in and put her head through the bars.
Unfortunately, she seems to have freshened with mastitis in one quarter. A well-meaning but ignorant relative squeezed some milk from one quarter about 10 days before she calved, thereby eliminating the natural wax plug. The colostrum from that quarter was slightly chunky. Unfortunately, her edema (swelling) is worst in that quarter so the calf is avoiding it. We gave her an antibiotic infusion Sunday evening and Monday morning. If the milk is still chunky on Wednesday, I will milk her out every two hours from the time I get home in the afternoon through the night along with applying hot compresses and maybe some minty balm or coconut oil laced with cayenne pepper. The heat gets the blood moving and helps with the edema and with getting the infection down and out.
We've been feeding handfuls of raspberry leaves a few times a day and massaging to help with the edema. Her teats are spaced far apart and hanging low because of it so we're only able to get two teat cups on her at a time when we milk. It's no big deal to do two at a time. As of this morning the milk is still pretty yellow from colostrum content.
We've been getting about a gallon per milking since we started in earnest Sunday morning. If she keeps that up after her pure milk comes in, I'll have to assume she's holding out on us and only partially letting down. If that's the case we'll have to get sneaky and bring her calf in to stimulate let down and then take the calf out and get the milker on. I'll be reading up on other tricks today.
If anyone has any suggestions, please comment.
It's a headgate with feed box attached. What a difference this has made! Sugar can no longer dance around the barn in a 180 degree pattern while we're trying to milk. She can still move around some but she's getting better about that. It was hard to get her in there at first but at the last two milkings she's walked right in and put her head through the bars.Unfortunately, she seems to have freshened with mastitis in one quarter. A well-meaning but ignorant relative squeezed some milk from one quarter about 10 days before she calved, thereby eliminating the natural wax plug. The colostrum from that quarter was slightly chunky. Unfortunately, her edema (swelling) is worst in that quarter so the calf is avoiding it. We gave her an antibiotic infusion Sunday evening and Monday morning. If the milk is still chunky on Wednesday, I will milk her out every two hours from the time I get home in the afternoon through the night along with applying hot compresses and maybe some minty balm or coconut oil laced with cayenne pepper. The heat gets the blood moving and helps with the edema and with getting the infection down and out.
We've been feeding handfuls of raspberry leaves a few times a day and massaging to help with the edema. Her teats are spaced far apart and hanging low because of it so we're only able to get two teat cups on her at a time when we milk. It's no big deal to do two at a time. As of this morning the milk is still pretty yellow from colostrum content.
We've been getting about a gallon per milking since we started in earnest Sunday morning. If she keeps that up after her pure milk comes in, I'll have to assume she's holding out on us and only partially letting down. If that's the case we'll have to get sneaky and bring her calf in to stimulate let down and then take the calf out and get the milker on. I'll be reading up on other tricks today.
If anyone has any suggestions, please comment.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
June 27, 2009
Taffy was born a little before 2:00 on Thursday past. She will be going back to Jennifer's uncle to be eventually bred. We'll be buying a bull calf ASAP to let Sugar raise for our own beef and to help consume the milk supply.We milked for the first time on Friday morning. We were going to hand milk but decided it would be best to get Sugar used to the sound of the vacuum pump and the feel of the machine from the start. We only took about a gallon and it was a chore! Friday evening we were going to milk a bit more to relieve the pressure but it didn't work out. I had the bright idea to tie the calf with a rope halter near Sugar's head. The calf fell back and Sugar jerked her neck and pulled a fence staple out the wall that she was chained to. Oops!
This morning milking went much better. We took about 3 gallons, stopping when the flow slowed down but leaving some to try to avoid encouraging milk fever. We did two things better this time. Firstly, we led Sugar out of her stall onto the concrete floor. This way we avoided getting cow poop from the bedding all over ourselves and the milk bucket. Secondly, we left the calf in the stall out of sight so Sugar could concentrate on her grain. Her udder is still swollen huge but it's not so hard and tight.
Friday, I had a few flakes in the strip cup which can be an early indicator of mastitis. I didn't use the cup today but will tomorrow and find out which quarter the flakes, if any, are in. Mastitis is serious business and needs to be treated sooner rather than later if she has it.
We probably won't milk tonight but will start tomorrow, twice a day, in earnest. The colostrum should clear up soon and we'll have good milk! Also, tomorrow afternoon will mark 72 hours since freshening and the threat of milk fever will have largely passed.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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