A pat on my back....

Calving season 2018 has started hot and heavy. We have about 10 cows in the maternity ward with all of them being cows that I AI'd. That is a pretty big deal for me. We decided in 2014 that I would take the AI course and start AI'ing to help save money. Well last year I had two AI calves stick but unfortunately one was born premature and didnt make it. If you look at past blog post, I shared that experience with you. Well this year I am 2 for 7 so far, with the remaining cows ready to go at any time. I am pretty excited with 2 as that for me is a big accomplishment.

Having the security cameras up and running has really helped alot. As we speak we are watching the new momma cow lick her calf clean from the comfort of our warm home. While we all went out to make she the birth was going okay, we don't have to spend hours in the cold keeping watch.

2 down.....70 to go!

2018

2018 started out with cold weather and a good freeze, but 2 days later we are flooded and antipicating ice. What a mess. We took advantage off a good Black Friday sale and added a security system to the calving barn which will hopefully allow us to keep a closer eye on the cows so inturn help the calves. It has been quite an improvment and already is allowing us peace of mind. I told Will tonight that I might have to pull the plug if he keeps waking me up asking....is that a calf? Needess to say, there is a learning curve to it all. 

We received 2.5 inches of RAIN today so Will spent the day creating trenches to keep the water flowing as the temperature is hoovering around 33 degrees. After the trouble we had with the ice last year we are extra caution to keep water flowing. Hopefully we can escape the predicted forcast of freezing and then snow. With the cold weather we had the first few weeks of January the frost is very deep so we might be pumping water out of the field to clear the pond! Mother nature is one powerful women.

This year we retired our herd bull V56 Jalnie. After keeping almost all of his heifer over the last few years it was time to say goodbye, so Will has been busy looking for a replacement. After looking through our records and our calving rates we are needing to eliminate some of the old cows and replace them with more productive heifers so Will is also looking for breds to buy. Never ending....

Well, Lyndin is ready for bed and  I need to finish lundry and go checks cows (in person as I keep reminding Will is something that still needs to be done) before I can get some sleep.