We went out last night to see the great conjunction. Skies were hazy but we did get a glimpse and can say we saw it happen! Weather here has been up and down. Nights are around freezing and days are from mid 60’s to low 30’s. Dress for all aspects because you don’t know what you will encounter.
Calving season wrapped up Oct 27 with Calypso having a bull calf on a cold drizzling day, she couldn’t do it three days earlier when it was 60. So Drizlin Drew is his name. We encountered scours a A Rusty Knoll with Drew. Scours is an infection that can be brought on by many different conditions where the calves get diarrhea. There are also several types of scours. To my great relief ours was the more simple type where I supported mom with garlic and silver in her water and watched Drew to make sure he didn’t get dehydrated. After 3 days in sick bay they returned to the herd and are doing well. I now know what I’m looking for and the different colors of the scour/poop indicates the severity / type of scour. Grateful the vet did not need to be called in!
Most of the calves were bull calves, all but one little girl Sweet Eliza, Easters calf. Molly of course had another bull calf, Forge. To our knowledge Molly has only had bull calves. We were able to watch Debbie give birth to Chu-a-lug. Everyone else had their calves in the middle of the night.
Feeding hay and lots of mineral. now that we have had our shortest day I am waiting for spring. The worst of winter is still ahead but each season brings there own issues. Wayne did a great job getting in our hay and having it placed to help make feeding easier. It seems the tasks are getting easier. Live and learn, make changes to improve the how we do it each year.
Blessing to all this Christmas season!!!
