Friday, November 5, 2010

Farmgirl return


I've been really busy. Canning freezing and working the farm stuff. Family issues and weekly therapy sessions take up so much time. I just got my newest MaryJane's Farm Magazine. I want to make some of the ornaments she has listed. She has a whole list of holiday beverages also. The alcoholic kind. If I hadn't stopped drinking, I'd try out a few of those two!
I'm going to try to post pics of my critters. I bought a calf six weeks ago. I saw a sign on the way to a Dr. Appt. Jersey Bull Calves $20. So I stopped and bought one. Then I had to get milk replacer and a bottle at tractor supply. I took Beth back to school and came home for the big van. I called my husbands uncle. I said " I bought something and I need help getting it home." He swore a bit and then agreed to help. I drove the van to his house and he drove it to the farm and backed it up to the barn. I helped load the calf in the van and we came home. I used a dog leash to unload the calf from the van and walked/dragged the calf to the goat pen. Once I had him settled I called Hubby and told him what I bought. I fully expected him to throw a fit because we really weren't prepared for a calf but instead he said why didn't you buy two. So now I have Moo Moo the calf. We knew we had to castrate him so we bought a banding tool and now he is a steer.
That is something else I learned. A cow is female and grows into a heifer. A Bull is a male unless you castrate him, then he's a steer. I figure if it moos it's a cow. But you can't talk like that around other farm people, it annoys them.
So for the past six weeks I have gotten up every morning to give the calf a bottle and then again at night. It takes one 50lb bag of milk replacer to feed a calf for eight weeks.
He is now finished with the bottle but he still sucks on everything. It was funny when my daughter went out to help and the calf was trying to eat her butt and suck on her elbows.


I have a system. I throw scratch to the chickens so I can get in the gate, toss food to the goats so I can harness the calf. I bring the calf out of the fence to the field so he can eat grass all day. Now I just have problems with the goats because they have figured a way to get out of the fence and they visit the calf.
So that is what's going on now. I hope to post pics of baby bunnies next week. If all goes well and she has a litter and doesn't kill any of them.

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