The Abscess

The weeks and weeks of rain paid off with a nice cutting of hay.  I hope to be mob grazing next year with movable fencing and then keep standing hay for winter. This year, though, we needed to get some hay put up for winter food for cattle and sheep.

It is always nice to get the field cut. It looks tidy and trim. I am hoping we get some good rain the next few weeks so that it will grow nice and tall before the first frost in October.

Molly has yet to fully recover from foot rot. Her back foot is still bothering her so I had the vet come out and tend to it.

Cows are not like horses in that they do not volunteer to have their feet held up and inspected. We got Molly into the milking stanchion to feed her grain and then proceeded to tie her back foot and pull it up and out with a rope so the vet could look at it.

He cleaned it all out of muck and then saw the issue. She did have a considerable abscess on the bottom. He slit it open and was able to get a fair amount of thick pus out.

She is still not walking very well, although some swelling has gone down. We gave her another antibiotic shot last night, hoping to see more rapid improvement in a day or so.

In the meantime, I am keeping her close so I can watch her and feed her.

I have 4 cows I am sending to a neighbors farm to  be bred by his beef bull soon. While sorting out those 4 cows, I noticed one had a huge and hard udder. 

Annabelle has been dry for several months, but I brought her in to see if it was a milk issue.

I was not an udder full of milk, but it was swollen and very hard, so I had the vet check her out too.

It was an abscess as well, so he slit and drained the huge volume of pus. I do not know how she got this infection, as it could have come from a simple poke by a twig. It was gross though and I am sure she feels better with it drained.

I am also keeping her close to watch her and make sure it keeps draining some. 

Meanwhile, Indiana and Willow got to spend a night with their grandparents. I was in charge of their chores and discovered one of Indy's pigeons had escaped. I tried for two days to catch her but failed. Luckily nothing got her during the day or night, and Indiana was able to catch her. 

Finally, I am slowly getting my homeschool books and activities and schedule figured out. One activity Rose wanted to do was sew a quilt for her bed.

I found a free pattern that is quite simple and pretty and then we ordered her fabric. She has it sorted out and should be ready to start sewing this weekend. The pattern uses pre-cut fabrics known as a Layer Cake.  I am excited to see her finished quilt top!

Also, in preparation for the school year, I am decluttering and deep cleaning the house....room by room. It will take me an entire month, but so far I have deep cleaned one bathroom and the laundry room. I focus better when the house is clean, and I know the days will get more hectic as the wedding of Journee and Jared gets near. Like I said, one room at a time. I have a list of all the rooms and I mark them off as I finish them. 

Happy Thursday Ya'll!

Peace,

Sam

Monday Molly

What a busy weekend we had around here!

My Rock Star, Indiana, had a concert Saturday at a local small town festival.

This one was a bit different in that several kids played new to them songs. Everyone did great but what stood out to me most was how much fun everyone had.

Of course a good chunk of my time this weekend was spent getting Belle used to being milked again.
The first week after calving is always the most stressful for me.

Not only must you make sure the calf is nursing and getting enough milk, but there is always the concern of mama getting mastitis when she freshens.

Belle has been clear of any mastitis but she has one quarter that seems dried up. It gave just a small amount of liquid and the quarter never did get full. I know this quarter was working previously when she calved so I am not sure what to think. It was negative of mastitis so I decided it would be best to make sure it dries up completely.
I am the queen of 3 quartered cows it seems.

Milking is going well with Belle once I can get her locked into a stanchion. I am hoping today gets even easier.

I also got in a shipment of more meat chicks and also some baby turkey. I plan to raise them all on pasture and process them this fall. I have not pre-sold any turkey yet because I have not raised them before. I have heard stories about how difficult they can be so I am waiting to make sure they all survive.
Yesterday I did notice they like to pile up on top of each other, leaving the bottom babies to get smashed. Only one has died so far.

My Monday consists of a long list of chores, including the cleaning of this messy house. More coffee might be in order.

Happy Monday Ya'll!