(Note the anti-Elvis wire covering.)Busy day yesterday. Men cleaned the barn, fed cattle and worked on a plugged gas line on the 930 Case and a broken transmission fluid line on the 4490 Case (always something).
Liz went to Duanesburg for some guinea keets we found on Craig's list. Here's hoping we can raise them and have resident guinea fowl at Northview again. At one time I had around 70 of them. They provided much entertainment with their continuous state of avian hysteria, as well as teaching the horses not to spook at feathery bombs going off under their noses a hundred times a day. They also liked to fly up to the top of the 70-foot tall tower and sit there and shriek at everything that passed.
Meanwhile, I did the usual house chores and bookkeeping and processed some beautiful beets my dear brother and sister-in-law dropped off on Sunday. You'll have to ask my mom the story about me and my adventure with my first baby food, which just happened to be beets. Let's just say that I liked them and leave it at that (I'll never tell).
Meanwhile, after a historically cool summer it has gotten hot, in a fast and furious fashion. I took out the digital veterinary thermometer yesterday and stood in the milkhouse by the sink. The compressor was running to cool the milk and it was over 103 degrees there.
I don't know how far over because I couldn't stand the heat long enough for the thermometer to turn off.
If the cows had their way they would just stay in the barn all the time with all the fans running....I wonder what all those animal rights folks who think it is cruel to put bovines in a barn would think of that! When we open the door for milking they crowd inside and rush to their stalls as fast as their feet will take them. Heading out the other way is just as slow as coming in is fast. Wish we could leave them in, but when they are in, stables have to be cleaned and bedded every day and the feed brought in...it just takes too much time in summer when there is crop work going on. They do have lots of shade and a creek and pasture to rest in, but they love those big barn fans. (So do we by the way).
Oh boy, what a beautiful photo!
ReplyDeleteCow question: Is it unhealthy for cows to stay barns, say, over the winter? I heard somewhere that they get illnesses if they aren't out and about.
I suppose, if it's true, it's no different from people getting sicker when everybody's stuck inside over the winter with all the germs.
Boy, have you had rotten luck with the equipment this year!! Glad you enjoyed the beets! I love your last photo, the colors are great!! I feel for the animals this time of year when the heat goes above and beyond comfortable!! The horses stay in the shed most of the day! I hate to do anything with them when it is this hot, so I wait until an hour before dark!. Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteI love my little peepers! The pied one is SO adorable!!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your keets. They are very cute when they are tiny :)
ReplyDeleteIt's been very hot here as well. Makes farm chores uncomfortable for everyone. Our animals stay out but under the run in sheds most of the day unless a good strong breeze pops up then they will venture outside. Otherwise I see them out browsing at night.
Sorry about the tractor issues - always something isn't it? We have truck issues. Time to swap the junk in - I HATE swapping vehicles.
Hope the cooler weather heads your way soon!
ahhhhh...the shade and the creek sure sound good to me!
ReplyDeletethese are the days i wish we had a pool...but i think here in the great northeast, it would get very limited use for what they cost! and the upkeep...but it sure sounds nice about now!..i'll have to settle for an old water tub!
I love a good fan just like the cows do!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your guineas, sounds like you have lots of experience with them. They are pretty funny critters.
Keeeeeets! So happy you have them, enjoy the entertainment.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a busy day! Guineas are funny but definitely not the brightest birds.
ReplyDeleteJune, thanks! Of course when any species is more crowded there is more opportunity for the spread of germs. However, with our winters here if they were outdoors they would certainly suffer. We do keep some big heifers out most of the winter, but once cows are milking their udders would freeze in extreme weather. The like to be in when the weather is nasty, just like we do. In summer they love the big fans. In winter they like their warm beds.
ReplyDeleteLisa, thanks...more beets last night. They are SOOOOOO good!
Cows were crazy coming in last night. Turns out a big storm blew up quickly and they wanted IN. Then of course when it was time to turn them out they didn't want anything to do with that even though the storm was over.
Paints, they are nice little birds...if stupid
DEb, thanks, seems as if summer came all at once. What a storm we had last night
Anon, boy do you have that right! Liz was begging to get in my garden pond yesterday. lol
fC, hoping we can keep them alive with all the varmints around. They are awful wanderers, but I miss their watchdog characteristic. Thanks
Teri, thanks. We were happy to get them...thanks again to the Farm Side, which pays for pretty much all my entertainment (I am a VERY cheap date. lol)
CTG Ponies, it was, it was....
I love your new little babies! Some day I really would like to have some, I really would.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
i have a solution to the 4490's problems and it involves the acquisition of another tractor... maybe a 7520 jd? or better yet a 4440 with front wheel assist!!
ReplyDeleteI have no barns left with electricity. My cows do hippopotamus impersonations in the ponds on hot days!
ReplyDeleteLInda, I enjoy them so much...or at least I do when they are grown. Right now they are in a crate in the kitchen and I think I am allergic to them...sneezing madly every day. lol
ReplyDeleteAlan, so do your looking around, and do your math, trade it in and just extend the contract. I am sick of it too.
Paul, when we have traveled we have seen a lot of cows loving the water and puddling around in ponds. Oddly you rarely see it here in NY. I have no idea why that is, but when we went to Missouri Auction School and drove around the Missouri and Kansas countryside we were astonished to see cows in the water!