Bittersweet Endings

I know it's almost pointless to begin blogging again a week and a half from the end of my internship but I will anyway...

Everything has been flying by. We've finished first cut hay making which is a long process to learn. You have to mow with the discbines first. Then you Tett the hay to spread it all out behind you. After it dries then we rake it into wind-rows, bail it, and pick it up with the stinger. It takes about 2-3 days if the weather cooperates, and if it doesn't sometimes the bails have to be wrapped because the moisture content is too high. If you make dry bails like this they can overheat and start a fire once their stacked.

Cows have been hectic. Before we started breeding we were moving camps around at least every 2 weeks. As soon as July hit the pink eye started to be a problem. We treat with a cream, a powder, and cod liver oil. Sometimes we have to patch them.

5G has been having health issues lately. She loses weight like crazy, and has a problem foot so she has trouble going for water. Her baby's hanging on, but it's a little rough. Sometimes we have to pick her up with a crane to get her up for water. Today I even got to give her a jugular IV. It was kind of tricky but pretty cool.

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I spent the majority of my day pulling weeds out of Barbara's patio. I know - exciting work for a horticulturist, no? Well, I know friends working for botanical gardens where that's pretty much all they do. I guess I can't feel so bad about it.

We moved the big herd of cows in the morning and then Emily and I continued to work on the patio and she mowed the lawn.

Today I was with Nikki to work with cows. She taught me a lot of the grasses and common weeds and we moved a bunch of the dry cows to new homes. After lunch we bushwacked through the dry cows' new home to try to find them some water. We were, however, unsuccessful so we had to begin the long and complicated journey of getting them some water. Long story short, it ended with me soaked sitting on top of her pick-up. The cows got water in the end.

I also am beginning to pick out my project topic. Marco said that each intern has to do a project or long paper by the end of the summer. I think that I'm going to do something on the weeds and grasses on our farm and what they indicate about the soil and/or environment that their in. It'll be a kind of weed identification and analysis paper or powerpoint. I think it'll be interesting, and it will allow me to walk the fields which is something that I like doing.

(a wild hemp that grows in random ditches)

Failure at Blogging

So I realize that it has been almost a week since I have updated this blog.

The middle of last week rolled past with blazing heat and muggy days. I spent an excruciatingly hot day cleaning up the grape patch. I didn't see it then, but boy do they look a lot better now. I learned how to ride the zero turn mower and it was a lot of fun. I really like working in the vineyard and with the orchards.

Later on in the week I spent a lot of time working with machines, and some time moving cows. None of it was particularly exciting - but hey, that's life.

This weekend I brought Emily to the beach with me. We had a really good time, and it was relaxing but the drive would not be worth it just for a two day weekend.

It poured today at work. We ended up getting out at 3:30 because the weather was so crummy. I almost felt guilty for leaving early because I felt like I could have still found work to do. Scott told me not to feel guilty, because we won't later in the summer when we're working extra hours just to get everything finished.

I spent a good majority of the day working on the New Holland diskbine. I windexed the whole thing and then we grease gunned both discbines after that. We tightened some of the nuts under the turtles and then Scott taught me how to drive it and then we realized it was broken. Whoops. It was a long day and everyone was dead tired. The smoke alarm went off at like 3am and everyone seemed to have issues sleeping. Oh well. Whatever happens happens.

It'll be bed early tonight to compensate!

Pickin' Stones

Today I was with Ed and Scott all day. First me and Ed filled up the service truck with 200 gallons of diesel. 

Then we went down to the barn plaza and he showed me how to drive the backhoe and the telehandler. Ed took a bunch of pictures of me. 

Field 52 had to be picked so that we can plant it tomorrow. I learned how to drive the telehandler and put the stone bucket on it so that scott could drive around and put all his huge rocks in my bucket. I'm just happy that my tractor had a radio in it. 

After we finished up with that we moved a whole bunch of grass seed from the machine it was in into the broadcaster to be used tomorrow. I filled up the whole thing by scooping it with a 5 gallon bucket. It felt like a long day. 

After work we all went down to the quarry and took a bit of a dip. It was a great way to unwind and cool down after work. 

Weekend

This weekend was pretty fun. We did cow check on Saturday morning with Scott and his girlfriend. She was really nice and the check was pretty uneventful. Unfortunately, even though Scott didn't come to get us until around 9 I still woke up at 6 out of habit. After we got back, Isaiah, Emily, and I went to the wrong dump to get rid of our trash. For a moment I half understood why Sandy mutters about inbreds. We finally figured out where the right dump was - this one was a little less sketchy. After that great adventure we went up to Plattsburgh to see Robin Hood and go to Wal-mart. I spent way too much money on food, and we bought 3 gallons of milk between the 3 of us (1/2 of one already gone). We even watched a movie last night when we got home. It was super productive day. 

Cow check this morning went well. Summer didn't get up for it, but Emily and I went like we had planned to. LP35, LP23, and H510 all had sore feet this morning when we checked and  water basin was completely empty/broken so we had to fix that. Sandy flagged us down on the way and asked us to have a meeting afterwards. He pretty much just wanted to check in and chat with us. Afterwards, Emily and I drove about 5 miles up the road to go tubing. We went down the river for awhile and then came up on a bunch of people. What we stumbled on was Little Falls. Everyone was cliff jumping and hanging around and it looked like a ton of fun. Emily and I both jumped off of one of the cliffs a few times. It was probably the most fun part of the day. It took us 4 hours to get down the river - but it was well worth it to get out and do something instead of sit around outside. 

It most definitely does NOT feel like Sunday. Saturday felt like Sunday, and Sunday feels like Saturday. Go figure!

Another Cow Day

Today was another cow day for me. 

Emily, Summer, and myself were with TJ for the whole day moving and treating cows. We moved the steers (big and small) from the fields that they were in to 2 fields right across the gravel road. We had to do some running around to get them there, but that was okay. They were happier in the tall grass for it. 

We moved all the weeners into their perspective fields. My favorite little girl, TH15, managed to escape almost as soon as we put her in the field with Barbara's ladies. We had to chase her twice before we could to drop off the little boys. That took most of the morning.

After lunch we made a fence line for the bulls and trailered them up and brought them over to their new home. T-bone, however, did not want to go in the trailer. We spent the better part of an hour chasing this bull around. He must have jumped the electric fence at least 6 times. Finally we had to call in reinforcements and we got them in. 

Lastly, we treated the usual suspects down in the 5 acres. 5G and S29 are doing much better. S25 is walking better as well so that is all well and good. I'm getting better at sticking the tube down the cows throats to give pills. However, poor S10 is probably going to die on us tonight. She came down with a bad case of pneumonia a couple of days ago and is only getting worse. We gave her an IV of glucose, banamine, and B complex, but when we left she could barely prop herself up laying down. I guess we'll see in the morning. 

This is Emily kissing 5G, her cow!

Almost There

It's almost weekend! 

Today didn't seem long at all. In the morning Isaiah and I went down to the river (field 64 with the reject cows if you remember) and planted the rest of those dogwoods and bayberries. All in all we planted about 200 trees to help the hill from eroding into the river. It was a good couple hours work in the dew and the mud but it was pretty fun. I almost got sucked into a huge mud bog but luckily Isaiah pulled me out!

After that, Isaiah went to help TJ and Summer change out the windows for screens in the Grandview house. While they did that Marco let me play around in the vineyard. He told me that all 300 of their grape plants are Table Grapes. They have reliants, a sweet, pink grape; Canadice, a very cold hardy black grape; and Concords for jams and jellies and juices. He showed me how to prune them and then how to use the tape gun to train them to go on the little cordy thingies the right way. After lunch I continued to work on it with Isaiah until the day was almost over. Granted, I broke the tape guns like 60 times so it took forever, but oh well. It happens. 

Later, we treated the usual suspects. 5G had a pretty high temp today, but was good and cleaned out. S29 was fairly clean. She got her uterus sewn shut and her infected udder cleaned out, too. S25 is walking a little bit better today and she's not running a fever at all and the (ex) bull is just... well-himself. 

It was overall a pretty good day. 

Long Day Part 2

About an hour ago, Summer came running down the stairs saying "I'm not seeing things this time, there's really a cow loose"

One of the steers had gotten loose somehow and was chilling by the road. After an hour of running around in our PJ's and pounding down Marco's door we finally got him in a field with the bigger steers until morning. 

Glamorous. 

Long Day

Today was a really long day. We started first thing by moving around cows. We shuffled and sorted all the ladies to be vet checked. Down came the rain and in came the vet. She stuck her hand up the butt's of about 100 cows and told us if they were good to breed or not. I got to catch the cows as they came down the chute and only let 2 go. That's not so bad, I guess. 

After we put everyone back where they needed to go we treated a few cows that needed to be treated, and we fixed a few things that need fixing including a watering trough. There really wasn't much to write home about today that I haven't already talked about. It was a pretty normal cow day. 

One Week Down

Today was the busiest day that we've had since I've been here. The morning started with Summer, Isaiah, and myself putting up fences near the cattle shack for the ladies that used to be in 33 to move over into. It went pretty quickly. TJ commented that our fence line looked like we were knocking down a few beers while we worked on it, but hey - it got done. After we went through and checked the electricity on all the fences we moved the cows across the street and into their temporary home. 

We then checked a few cows. N7 (the one-eyed bandit) looked a lot better today. Where her eye was all clouded over is almost totally clear so she didn't need an eye patch and we just treated her with sulfur. S25, the mom from yesterday, is looking better. We're hoping the swelling that's pinching her nerve will go down and she will go back to walking completely normally again. The other infection gals are starting to look better. Temps are getting down and their uterus' are almost all cleaned out. One cow has an e-coli infection (I don't know how to say the technical term) in her uterus and a sore foot so she's being treated for that as well. 

After lunch we moved all the divas from field 63 to the 5 acres area. They will be checked at vet check tomorrow along with all the other gals that we moved. 

I finally got to do something horticultury today! We planted a pear orchard in back of the shop. Scott drilled holes with the skid steer and we came behind him and planted 250 trees. I have to say; I am not a fan of bare root trees. They're no fun to plant. Hopefully they'll get watered in tomorrow and I'll get to see them finally flesh out some leaves. 

Sad Day

Today was kind of a bummer of a day. 

We started the morning by going out to fence a field, but didn't get very far. Marco called us up to 5 acres to birth a cow. Unfortunately, the calf was way too big and it took us almost an hour to get him out. He was dead before he was even born. He was just to big, and coming out backwards so his hips caught on his mothers. He pinched a nerve in her back and she had trouble walking afterwards at first but hopefully she'll get better. 

Then Summer and I fenced in a huge field. Fencing is hard. My arms are in so much pain!

After lunch we planted trees in yucky clay soil so it was slowwwwwww going. I'm excited to move cows tomorrow. Hopefully we'll see how that goes. 

Here's a picture of the ladies watching me plant trees. 

This Weekend

This weekend was pretty cool. Emily and Isaiah arrived on Friday. They're both very cool people. It'll be a good summer. I'm pretty excited. Emily's mom came, so we went to Rick's Place on Friday night and tried Michigan Dogs. It's kind of like a hot dog with a sloppy joe on top but it's delicious. We saw Ed and Pat there and it was kind of fun to be in a little local place. We came back, talked for awhile, and then went to sleep. 

I got up on Saturday morning to check cows with TJ. We caught the (ex) bull and gave him some banamine to help the swelling in his balls. He tried to lurch through the head hold and broke a couple of needles on me, but I ended up able to give him the shot. After, TJ had me check the "divas" while he went and checked the boys  to cut down on time. Well one divalicious cow decided that it would be fun to chase me down. I'm so glad that big animals don't scare me or this job would be a nightmare. Later that afternoon TJ, his fiancee and I went up in the lake placid region to deliver some meat to a diner. We ate up there and then took the scenic route home. We got to drive past the olympic training centers and the ski jumping facilities. It was so crazy and intense!

When I got back Emily and I went for a walk around a few fields and hung out and then we went into downtown Essex to The Old Dock Restaurant for their opening night. It was a little pricey but delicious and right on the lake. We came back and line danced in the living room a little bit afterwards. 

Cow checking this morning was interesting to say the least. TJ and I got to Sandy and Barberas house and P30 (remember the one that lost her voice bellowing for her calf?) and 2 others were wandering around the road. They are NOT supposed to be doing this. So we spent our first 30 minutes of the morning chasing them through the woods and trying to get them back where they belong. They just walked right through the fence. So we had to re-put up fence. Then we treated the (ex) bull and finished cow check. LP35's foot is looking worse so tomorrow morning we'll probably bring her in to look at it. Poor girl. 

After work we took Emily's mom over to Burlington on the ferry and went to the tiniest Walmart ever. It was a full day affair and now I'm exhausted. I'm trying to fight of a cold, still. Hopefully I can do it! 

Day 3

Today was like the most stupendous, fun day ever!

I got up (per usual) and went up to work. I brought my muck boots to join all the boys' in the shop. However, as seen in the picture below, my pair is not quite like everyone elses. It's good to stand out from the crowd...

First off, one of the chickens got eaten by something last night (not fun).

Then me, Zip, and TJ went to go check cows. First we checked the ladies and little ones over at the 5 acres. Everyone seemed pretty okay over there. Then we checked the "divas" over  by the river. These sassy heifers get super curious whenever we come around and have to come up and sniff and be excited. Then we checked the reject cows, the bulls, the steers (both fields), and finally TJ took me up to the nursery. It's a whole lot of pregnant or to-be-pregnant cows and a lot of little guys. Some of the mommas that we moved the other day are still bellowing for their babies left over in the 5 acres areas. 

Right after that, we had to go back down to the steers to get LF69. This poor boy has been crimped (a form of castration) at least 5 times and none of them took, so Marco surgically removed his testicles. I'll spare you the picture for that but it was an interesting procedure to watch. We wrangled up the boys, fly sprayed, and loaded 69 into the trailer. When we got to the cattle shed to do his business one of the cows was in labor! I got to witness my first calf pull of the season. Little TS21 was born today. She was a cute little angus but we had to keep an eye on her because for awhile her mom wanted nothing to do with her. After that excitement we snipped 69's manhood and went to lunch. 

This afternoon TJ and I went back up to 33 (the nursery) and gave them some minerals. Everyone came ambling up the hill for them. Apparently it's like a treat for them because everyone was pushing and shoving to get to the feeder thing. We did the same with the ladies down at the 5 acres. Then we rounded up N7 and the 3 other cows that needed to be checked because they had an infection from giving birth and retaining little bits of placenta. We checked the first 3 cows' temps (all of them high) and then cleaned out some of the gunk from their placenta. This involved me sticking my arm shoulder deep into a cows butt. Cow poo is a lovely color on me - let me tell ya. 

After Marco helped us replace N7's eye patch he left and TJ and I gave the shots to the new mom and baby. I got to give both Sub-Q shots to the mom which was really hard. On the second one she kept shaking her head and pulling the needle out which wasn't pretty because then she started to bleed and blah... I felt really bad for her. Then I got to ID tag the new baby girl and do both of her shots, weight measurement, and umbilical clamp. I learned a ton today!

I'll take you for a ride on my big... red... tractor!

Today started like yesterday. I woke up early, ate breakfast, went to the shop to meet up with everyone. 

First thing, Marco sent me with Ed. He's a pretty cool guy, that Ed. He was going to teach me how to disk on their MX350. I was a little bit more than petrified since the back wheels were about a foot taller than me! 

Conquering my fear, I climbed on in, watched Ed harrowed up a few rows and then tried it out for myself. With all that glass up there it's really not that bad at all. The only part that I have problems with is coordinating the klutch and the gears and the 6,000,000 things that are going on at once! 

We rode around on the tractor until well after lunch. At that point we helped Scott put away some of the Lewis' windows and attempt to fix a flat on another large machine. I'm not exactly sure what this one did but it was big, too. 

When that was done we went to fix the pushing lawn mower but that never happened. A Heiffer got loose from 33 South and we had to herd her back to her cranky friends. They're not very happy with us right now since we took their babies away from them yesterday. Sorry, ladies!

Day 2 was another good day. 

Day 1

So today was officially day 1. 

I woke up at 5:30 in the morning because apparently that's when it gets light out in NY. I slept in a little bit longer, then got up and got ready for the day. Got to work at 7 with Summer. Learned how to punch in. 

TJ took me around to the Cattle Shack and I got to see a little calf that was born within a few hours of us getting there. I saw the reject cows in field 64, and I got to go see the bulls before we had to go back up to the Cattle Shack to move Heifers. 

The Heifer moving was really interesting. We started by bringing them all into a big round pen. Then we sorted the babies to be weened and the mommas. The mommas went through first. Some of them got pregnancy checks and then they were either put into a pen to be moved to field 33 or a pen to be moved to field 64 and a few were just let back out into the area they were originally in. After that, we brought all the calves to be weened. They got nose bands to keep them from drinking any milk and some of them got tetnas shots or castrated and then they were turned back into their original field. 

After this we brought all the cows to be moved to their respective fields. They were very happy to be trailered and brought to greener grass. The last thing that I did today was sort through the rest of the cows that had been in another field. Some of them had infections, so TJ taught me how to give them fever reducing and infection fighting shots in their neck. It was kind of intimidating at first because I didn't want to stick a needle in them, but then it was sort of fun! I felt like a vet. We also tagged some of the new babies including my favorite. B2 is a little Brama that looks like a bunny rabbit. I don't care what his name is, I'm going to call him bunny. His ears just flop all over the place when he runs and it's totally cute. I'll try to take a picture of him tomorrow if I get the chance. 

That's all for now!