It has finally warmed up a bit out there - we've been in a deep freeze for so long we're almost used to the feeling of ice crystals taking over our chest cavities when we're outside. A wind chill factor of below forty is not a good thing.
It has been a busy week at work for Glen. He spent last Sunday feeding and bedding down all the animals on the place, but when it is as cold as it has been, they go through a lot of feed. By last night the cows had to have eight more bales but he didn't have the day off to do the job. We had a quick supper after work and I went out to help him do the chores - two people at the job might not cut the time in half, but it sure does help.
The bales are not all stored in the same place, and this year none of them are in the yard. He has the green feed bales across the road, south of the house and the hay is a quarter of a mile east of the yard. It might not be all that handy, but if there ever was a fire that got away on us, we wouldn't lose the whole year's feed, either. Going to fetch the bales into the yard is the most time consuming part of the job, so while he did that, I filled the oat pails for his early morning chores and carried them over to the gate where he needs them.
Last year we cut the strings off the bales right out at the feeders. He may be comfortable out there in the dark, amongst the animals, but I can't say that I like it much. It's not that any one animal decides to knock you over (after all, you're feeding them and they like that), but what does happen is they get shoving each other around to get the best feeding spot, and the puny little human at the end of a bovine chain reaction collision doesn't stand a chance of not getting squashed. This winter Glen has decided that it's easier to bring the bales into the yard, set them down under the yardlight, and take the strings off where you can see what you're doing. This is about 1,000% better in his wife's books. The only animal keeping me company last night was a little border collie who was happy with an occasional scratch behind his ear.
We were out working under the stars for about two hours. It started out pretty chilly, but once you build up a bit of a sweat with the work, you warm right up. It had been foggy the night before, and then snowed big feathery flakes for most of the day. Everything was decorated in fluffy and white - the walk up to the house was gorgeous, the maple just east of the garage almost glowing white under it's covering of snow.
Today I've done the usual Saturday work plus getting ready for an evening out with girl friends. The Redvers Activity Center does an annual Ladies Night Out fund raiser - and this year's theme is to come dressed in the fashions of the year that you were born. I was having trouble coming up with something suitable but in Googling the year in question, I came up with the idea to go as Elvis, who cut his first record that year. I'm almost ready to head in to town; my hair is slicked back, I'm all studied up on Elvis trivia, and my suit is in at my friend's place (that would be Marilyn Munroe). I'm doing the young Elvis so, no, it's not a sparkling jumpsuit. I also reek of aftershave lotion. Going as a man, I thought I needed that touch - but I think maybe I got carried away with the stuff. I wish I had a guitar - but then, people would want me to play it. That's one of the reasons I don't have a guitar in the first place - I can't play.
Hopefully everyone gets into the spirit of the evening - it's going to be a lot of fun.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
BACK TO NORMAL
Finally, a normal Saturday morning. And a beautiful one, at that! Glen is off to work this morning - the oil patch is up and running again after the break they take over the holidays. He hasn't been called in too much yet and that has been good as he has a lot of chores to do around here.
Now that we finally have the 2007 calf crop weaned the chores doubled as the adult herd has to be fed one place and the juveniles are somewhere else. The cows are easy to feed as they have the rest of the standing corn to finish off and their bale feeders are all spread out and easy to access with the tractor. The young ones are a different story. They are in the red barn pen. This gives them extra shelter from the weather, access to lots of water, and a big feeding of oats every morning and night. What it isn't is spacious. They are not crowded, but when Glen pulls in with the tractor to feed bales or spread straw for bedding, there is not a lot of room to maneuver- it's not a job that's easy to do after work in the dark. To add to the situation, these young animals are just kids and think everything is a game. With the slightest stimuli (the tractor does it for them) they race around the pen like a bunch of elementary students at recess. Glen has never run over one of them, but I really don't know how he has managed it.
He fed them their pails of oats before he left this morning, but I had said that I would do the rest of the chores. This means bottle feeding our orphan, Charlie, and carrying pails of chop to the feeders. I also filled the 18 pails of oats for the night feeding. I haven't ventured into the pen with the freshly weaned calves yet. If the tractor gets them excited, you should see what they do when Glen walks in with food! Eventually they will settle down - until then I will stay away. I have this theory that a broken leg from a 300 pound calf kicking up its heels in fun is going to hurt every bit as bad as a kick from an angry animal. They are more used to Glen's scent and aren't quite as crazy when he's in the pen as when there are strangers nearby.
So, with barn chores done, I'm back to the housewife duties I tend to every week. I also dug out our humidifier and filled it up. I know that a trip to the tropics works wonders on dry Canadian winter skin, but if you can't go to the moisture, then the moisture will have to come to us!
Now that we finally have the 2007 calf crop weaned the chores doubled as the adult herd has to be fed one place and the juveniles are somewhere else. The cows are easy to feed as they have the rest of the standing corn to finish off and their bale feeders are all spread out and easy to access with the tractor. The young ones are a different story. They are in the red barn pen. This gives them extra shelter from the weather, access to lots of water, and a big feeding of oats every morning and night. What it isn't is spacious. They are not crowded, but when Glen pulls in with the tractor to feed bales or spread straw for bedding, there is not a lot of room to maneuver- it's not a job that's easy to do after work in the dark. To add to the situation, these young animals are just kids and think everything is a game. With the slightest stimuli (the tractor does it for them) they race around the pen like a bunch of elementary students at recess. Glen has never run over one of them, but I really don't know how he has managed it.
He fed them their pails of oats before he left this morning, but I had said that I would do the rest of the chores. This means bottle feeding our orphan, Charlie, and carrying pails of chop to the feeders. I also filled the 18 pails of oats for the night feeding. I haven't ventured into the pen with the freshly weaned calves yet. If the tractor gets them excited, you should see what they do when Glen walks in with food! Eventually they will settle down - until then I will stay away. I have this theory that a broken leg from a 300 pound calf kicking up its heels in fun is going to hurt every bit as bad as a kick from an angry animal. They are more used to Glen's scent and aren't quite as crazy when he's in the pen as when there are strangers nearby.
So, with barn chores done, I'm back to the housewife duties I tend to every week. I also dug out our humidifier and filled it up. I know that a trip to the tropics works wonders on dry Canadian winter skin, but if you can't go to the moisture, then the moisture will have to come to us!
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