Today we all worked on the not-so-pleasant task of working our Holstein calves (the ones we bottle-fed last Fall). 
We had 57 calves to do, so it took about 3 hours. Mother helped us get the calves in the right pen and then went in to bake bread and do other things. Andrew was in charge of chasing the calves in and then banding them; Jacob held the tail of the calf for Andrew while he was banding and then reloaded the bander and, finally, chased the calf out of the chute when it was finished;
We had 57 calves to do, so it took about 3 hours. Mother helped us get the calves in the right pen and then went in to bake bread and do other things. Andrew was in charge of chasing the calves in and then banding them; Jacob held the tail of the calf for Andrew while he was banding and then reloaded the bander and, finally, chased the calf out of the chute when it was finished; 
my dad caught the calves in the head-gate, gave them their 7-way shot, and dehorned them; and I wrote down the numbers and took notes about the calves, refilled the syringe and put the blood-stop powder on the calves' head after Dad was done with the dastardly job of dehorning. We were all so glad when we were finished and could chase the calves back out to their small pasture. 
The calves just laid around the rest of the day and took it easy. I'm sure they'll be back to their normal rambunctious selves in a few days.When it came time to get the milk cows in the lot behind the barn tonight, they really did not want to be in the lot! I suppose they were able to smell the blood from the calves, and that really spooked them. I got a video of my bull bellering--sounding like he was the one in pain! You can also see the cows sniffing the ground--trying to figure out what had been going on there...
The sky was so pretty tonight, so I took a picture of it. You can see our house beneath the shiny clouds...
Things are going well in the goat barn now days... The triplets are growing fast and, after a desperate push and shove time, they all somehow manage to get their tummies filled with milk. This picture turned out funny, as just when I snapped the picture, the mother goat turned her head back, so it looks like we have a head-less goat!
This is the kids' favorite corner of the barn to snuggle up in. Aren't they cute?
Well, I still have an e-mail to send to a friend tonight, so I'd best post this now and get to it...
Sleep well friends~
2 comments:
I do enjoy the pictures of all the animals. Sounds like you never have a dull moment!
Kimberly
cute goats! :)
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