Snow in South Carolina is a big thing...
an event to be celebrated, enjoyed, and then...
gone when you wake up the next morning!
it's a weather related one night stand...
not this time...
it began snowing late Sunday night...
snowed most of the day Monday...
began sleeting last night..
this morning we woke up to a total forest...
it looked all nice and pretty...
like fresh snow waiting to be enjoyed...
but it wasn't...
one look at my porch steps told me differently...
it was 6 inches of snow with 1/2 inch of ice on top
being a farm wife i didn't have the option of hanging out inside the house all day...
someone has to feed baby calves,
check on ewes,
and make sure all the kids are accounted for and okay
(goat kids people).
i began my morning by filling up 5 1-gallon jugs
to haul hot water to the barn to mix milk ...
i loaded the jugs
my soon to be 3 year old
into the make shift wagon/sled
and pulled the whole contrapation
kid and all to the barn...
the path was slick
my son thought it was WAY more fun to go fast than i did
but we made it...unharmed down the hill to the barn
the calves were happy to see us
as the milk warms their tummy
for the most part everything was fine
we did have a calf that needed special attention
he wasn't doing good last night and this morning was worse
he wouldn't get up or drink...
tubing him was useless
its discouraging...
i have spent the last 5 days morning and night
feeding him
ensuring his health
but the weather has gotten the better of him
you learn that with the gift of life comes death
you deal with it and move on
the ewes however were fine...
we are starting to see many of them bagging up...
preparing for lambing
the kids crazy as ever...
jumping all over their mom...
the hay bales...
and my son
and one of the previously weak calves had greatly improved!
I am happy to report i didn't have to
tube a single calf this morning!!!
For you non-farming folks..
To tube a calf you mix up a bottle of milk
pour it into a hard plastic iv bag kinda thing
this bag has a long semi stiff plastic tube on the end of it
you must keep the tube bag right side up
until you are ready to give the calf milk
otherwise you are wasting...
time...
milk...
and money!!!
You then take the semi stiff tube and place it in the calf's mouth
making sure the tube is on the left side of the calf's mouth
you ease it down the calf's throat
the entire time you have to make sure you are on the left side
the left side goes to the stomach
the right goes to the lungs
once you are certain you have the tube in the calf's stomach
your turn your bag upside down and milk gravity feeds into the calf's stomach
this is a great way to feed calves that aren't doing well
it helps ensure the calf is getting enough to eat
with weak calves it is also good
as the calves don't have to use up all their energy sucking down a bottle..
so after my morning rounds...
we headed back up to the house...
going up hill is much harder than walking down hill...
especially if your little man rocks the make shift sled thingy.
he enjoyed playing outside for a while...
we attempted to venture out to pick up
milk for us...
another bag of milk for the calves...
feed for the calves...
and a few other random supplies...
no such luck...
we are stuck again...
this time in front of our porch door...
William's not going to like this...
(he had to pull us out last night too)
i spent the rest of the day...
doing laundry...
catching up on emails...
hanging out with wild man...
(who is teaching teddy bear to ride the rocking horse)
and explaining why we can't go outside
and ride Bartow or Force today...
instead i caught him with a bottle
of apple barrel paint...
redecorating his chalkboard wall...
the chaise lounge...
and himself...
we are looking at day 3 of being at home tomorrow...
i got the call about an hour ago...
no school tomorrow...
I suppose i could do some lesson plans...
but really i plan to sew...
i don't know what yet but i will be making something!!!
Until then have a great evening!!
Posts
