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

Rain. More Rain.

 This image sums up my life right now. Demanding baby, demanding farm. Exhausted me.

"Nap when the baby naps" is the most often heard term a mom will hear when raising babies, but the reality is that meals must be cooked, other children must be cared for and the laundry must be washed. Add to this list the farm must be managed and you have my situation today.

This post is not to complain about all the many chores and demands, but to rather explain that there are days when the farming gets tough.

We have had lots of rain this year, which is a stark change from the horrible drought we suffered last year. The hay is thick and the grass recovers quickly. It has been so nice.

Except it has been hard on my herd of cattle. Although the cows have lots of dry pasture to stand in and graze, they tend to stand in water. When it rains inches upon inches within a few days, the ground becomes very wet. 

I knew that the wet ground could be an issue for my sheep and horse, but it seems the cows have suffered most. We have been battling hoof rot over here.

4 cows had hooves that were swollen and sore. A call to the vet confirmed the issue and we began treatment right away.

This girl, Ivy, had the skin break open above her hoof and there was a ulcer type of sore. We managed to get copper sulfate on the wound daily and it has healed up nicely.

 My girl Molly, however, had the worst case with all four of her feet swollen. After several treatments she now has only her back feet swollen, but one back foot is so bad that she will not put much weight on it. 

So we are still giving her medicine for pain. We are also feeding her grain to get some weight back on her, since she has lost many pounds. Poor Molly!

This morning she had a little puss oozing out from her foot, so I am hoping it will drain and start to heal.

I have been bringing cheddars out from the cave and this one is particularly yummy. I had run out of cheesecloth, so instead of wrapping it with lard and cloth I rubbed it down in olive oil and Thai Spices that I purchased from a local spice company. The results are delicious, and this 7 pound wheel is nearly gone! 

The baby turned 9 months old last week. He is crawling every where and getting into anything within his reach.  It always amazes me how quickly a baby can move and get into things.

It has been super hot every day here, with high humidity. The result is a heat index of 100 and greater. The only way to spend the day is in air conditioning or in the pool. Even the pool feels like bath water, but it is still refreshing. 

ome homeschooling supplies are starting to trickle in from various suppliers. My main focus this year is STEM, and I have purchased a couple of robotics sets. The kids are excited to get started. 

You might have noticed the blog look differently, thanks to photo bucket. I have been working on fixing broken widgets and expired photo bucket photos. Thanks for sticking around while I clean house here.

In the meantime, send good thoughts this way for my cattle and I will post updates!

Peace.

Sam

Greener Grass

I have found Fridays to be my one day to sit and enjoy the morning. Because of the many projects I am wrapping up before starting school and having this baby, I have been extremely busy.

One major project I started was to write up a junior entomology curriculum for the younger kids. I searched high and low for a bug program for the boys to no avail. Everything was geared for much younger kids, and Zeb is especially ready for something with more detail. I will post an update once I am finished.

                        ****One of many bugs Zeb has found around the farm and admired****



This was also a summer of no rain. It was very dry and hot until late July. We finally started getting some rain and the grass finally decided to grow.

In fact, it was too dry for a cutting of hay in June, but we should get a good cutting in a week or so. This should, along with all of the pastures, give us enough food for the cattle this winter.

A couple of days ago we moved all of the cows into the yard around the house.

                                   ****Valentine and Molly****


No fancy landscaping over here. I use cows to mow the lawn and I honestly do not care if they munch on bushes.
Not to offend anyone with beautifully landscaped yards, but I truly find more peace in watching my cows graze the yard. Grass based farming has so many advantages and we are blessed to have the ability to farm in this manner. Thank you Joel Salatin for all of the inspiration!

                       ****Baby Chance, who is not so much a baby any longer****


They were very excited to move to fresh grass and spent a good part of the moment jumping and bucking their way across the yard. We will let them graze a few days before moving them again.

Journee's elderly goat has spent each morning, now that they are cooler, basking in the morning sun on the drive. I have washed the drive twice this week of goat droppings, but it is a lost battle.

                   ***Brownie. One of the steers ready to process this fall***


Our next big project is too get a blueberry orchard planted. This would be an easy task, except we must fence the orchard to keep the cows from chewing down the bushes. Devin will be better able to tackle the project once Dragon Con is over.

We spent a good deal of time Tuesday sewing the finishing touches on some cosplay costumes for the Dragon Con event. I know it will be  great time for everyone attending.

Moving the cows, cutting hay and prepping school supplies must mean one thing: Fall is almost here.

It's time to soak up these last few days of summer and that is exactly what I plan to do this weekend.

Happy Friday Ya'll!!!

Sami

Summer of Birthdays

It was a summer of birthdays.

Willow celebrated her 14th birthday in June. She loves to celebrate at the lake, so a lake gathering is what we do.
Willow loves having her best friends and siblings at the lake. We always pull out the jet skis, and all of my kids LOVE jet skis!

My ever loving bug boy always seems to find a new critter to hold and examine.

Fletcher loves playing in the wet clay/mud.....so common here in the South.

We also had a new calf born near the end of June.

We came home from a family dinner to find that Penny had calved while we were gone. She had a healthy bull calf that is half Jersey and half Swedish Red.

I usually band my boys into steers and raise them for beef, but I decided to raise this guy for a bull. I will need a bull next year to breed many girls.  Indiana has named him Kai. Here's to a new farm adventure.

Finally, while we were in Florida, we celebrated Zeb's 7th birthday. Actually we celebrated his birthday and a friend's birthday, who came to the beach with us.

Of course Zeb got more items for his constant bug collecting.

We bought a couple of ice cream cakes from a local grocery and ordered pizza for dinner.

The next day Zeb bought a hermit crab with his birthday money. I am happy to announce that his little crab, named Happy, made the trip home and is living happily in an aquarium habitat.
Zeb likes that he now owns two pets. He got a leopard gecko for his 5th birthday and that little guy is still doing great.

It has been a summer of birthdays. It has been a summer of family gatherings and friends hanging out.

We still have a few weeks of summer left, no school here until after Labor Day.

This weekend I plan to work on some sewing projects and finish getting some school stuff organized. I will update next week on my new curriculum.

Happy Friday Ya'll!!

The Easter Bunny

Never a dull day here.

Easter morning we woke up to find Annabelle in labor. Annabelle was born on the farm to our first milk cow Lucy. You can see the post about Annabelle HERE.

We had Annabelle artificially inseminated with sexed Guernsey semen, hoping for a nice heifer with the fabulous traits of both Jersey and Guernsey.

We were not disappointed at all.

Although Annabelle did require a slight amount of help via us pulling, the calf came out beautifully and a good size for a heifer.

 I was a little worried when Annabelle did not immediately pop up and start licking her baby. In fact, she just layed there in sort of a daze.
Thankfully I have reliable farming neighbors with years and years of experience. Farmer Joe assured me that Annabelle would soon perk up.

We assessed the baby and she was breathing fine, so we carried her to Annabelle's heads she could sniff her.

Within seconds Annabelle was perking up and licking her new baby.

It did take her a while to get on her feet, but she did quickly once other cows started sniffing around.

Of course Willow insisted that we name the calf Bunny since she was born on Easter. Who could argue with that?

Annabelle is doing good milking, especially for a first time milker. She lifts her feet some but doesn't kick, and Bunny is a darn good eater.

We let her out to exercise and stretch her legs today after her breakfast.

All in all, a good dairy week so far :-)

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!

Excessive Cow Selfies

I do take lots of cow selfies. I can't help it, really.

One of the benefits of having milk cows free range all over the property is that we get to know them very well. They have personalities and they know their names.

                                                       *Lucy is doing quite well!!!*

It feels very natural to snap a picture with my favorite farm animals.
They follow us around everywhere and we are able to notice more quickly when something is *off* or they don't feel themselves.

This morning we woke up to a very slight covering of snow on the ground combined with some ice. The wind is gusty and brutal, especially for a Georgia farmer.

                                                *Annabelle is due to calve in 2 months!!!!*

The chores today included extra food for everyone and knocking the ice off the water troughs and dishes. We milked the cows and made sure everyone was present and receiving a good scratch under the chin.

The calves spent each night locked up in a barn stall and the youngest, Red, still has a heat light in his stall. The babies did fine overnight but were happy to see us this morning.

                                         *Annie has grown a ton! She will be a great Angus mama one day!*

The big cows decided to cram themselves under the back deck and next to the basement door. I suppose that was a nice wind break for them, but it did mean we had to shovel cow patties off the concrete and around the door.

Now that most of the chores are done, we can spend the day inside and warm. I have chili cooking and brownies are baking. The dogs are sleeping on any soft rug or bed they can and I am hoping to sew today.

                 * I decided to burn feed bags and now the cows are thinking of making S'mores*


Everyone stay warm!
Happy Weekend Ya'll!!

That Cold

That dreaded cold.

Usually I can shake it off in a few days...but not this time. I literally spent almost my entire days in bed for 7 days!
Then I attempted to be better and  act myself for another 3 days, failing miserably. I would manage to make it until about 2 pm and then have to crawl into bed and take a long nap.

Needless to say, not much happened here for a couple of weeks other than the basics. I am ever so grateful that Indiana can manage the cows and did ALL my milking while I was inside a warm house.

My ambitious list of projects and activities have been pushed aside until I get my house back in order and school work caught up.

Today we had hoped to see some snow. Yes I hoped for the white stuff. If it is going to be cold, at least give us something pretty outside.

Instead we got sleet and rain. Unfortunately there are several more weeks of winter, so we might still get some snow...a rare sight in Georgia.

We had issues this morning with the milk pump being frozen. Literally, it froze up. Indiana and I found a brood lamp and hung it above the pump to keep it warm tonight. Tomorrow it should work more smoothly.

This winter we have really gone through the hay! I am hoping we can last winter, but we might find ourselves buying some hay from a farmer down the road.
I have been trying to keep the girls extra full and Lucy is starting to look and act more like herself.

We spent a great deal of time outside today moving the hens and breaking ice in water troughs. I admit that it felt good to be back outside and helping with chores. Life is getting back to normal around here.

I even found time to take pictures with my babies. This is Chance. She's still a bit camera shy, but she's getting better.

Happy Hump Day Ya'll!!!

The Color Green

It's not that life has been uncontrollable, but it was time to sit and decided what I want this upcoming year to encompass.
Farming has taken a new level, with 15 cows, and I have found myself to be consumed with ways to make it all function more smoothly and with more self sustaining qualities.

My beef cow operation is starting to grow, albeit slowly, but that is not a bad thing. I have 3 heifers now that will one day make great beef cow mamas. Slow can be good, especially since grass based farming requires lots of grass. I hope to start leasing nearby land for my cattle this year.

Egg production was very low last year, so I am raising 80 pullets in anticipation of being overwhelmed with eggs come spring. If I need to sell off some of the hens I will, but I am hoping to cover my feed costs with egg sales.

I have yet to decide how many pastured chickens to run this year. I am still feeling the exhaustion from raising 3 batches last year, and it might take a longer break for me to feel the enthusiasm of raising more birds. If you have raised pastured poultry, you know what I am feeling.

I will never be without a few pigs in the forest. They are extremely easy, profitable, and nice for my own freezer. Expanding the fence line through the woods will happen as soon as the weather plays nicely.

As my milking cow numbers increase I am finding ways to manage the lactation and pregnancy schedules a little better. It would be, of course, more simple if I could AI the cows myself, so that could be a potential skill to learn this year. I am hoping to get a few farmers together and have a class taught. Details, details.

Cheese, cheese, cheese! My cave was nearly wiped clean through the holidays, so I am currently crafting cheeses to fill it back up full. Looking for new flavors, I have been inspired by some of the larger creameries and hope to have a few fabulous wheels ready this spring. I have also come to rely on a couple of simple, yet delicious wheels to always stock my personal refrigerator. Ricotta Silata and Queso Fresco have quickly become staples in my kitchen, as they are delicious, versatile and simple to make.

School never really stops. Sure we have days where we sit down with books more than other days, but in reality it never does stop. My goal and hope for this year is to find what they are most passionate to learn and focus heavily in those areas.

I have a fiber studio full of unfinished projects that I am determined to finish this year. That sentence almost made me laugh out loud. :-)

The break from the web was a much deserved and needed rest so that I could spend some time analyzing what I hope for 2016. Farming and family top my list, as they should.  Now I only need get through the cold, dull and lifeless days of winter. I much prefer the days of spring, when trees bud out and the landscape turns green. Green is my favorite color. It always has been.

Happy 2016 Ya'll!