Flood

This week we experienced Mother Nature.  She brought us a lot of rain and with that rain, she also brought flooded river banks.

We have a nice picnic area on our farm down by the river.  We spend a lot of time down there and we often take our trailer down there and camp overnight

Here is a before the flood pic:

June 2009

This is what the picnic site looks like now after the flood:

There is a ton of river silt on the ground.  Up to about 4 inches thick in some parts.

This picnic table and wood have been repositioned by the water.  They are not supposed to be in the bush!

Our grain field.  We had just underseeded this field this year.  Hopefully the underseeding survives.

This is a fence in between two fields.  There isn't supposed to be a lake here.



Flat hay filled with river silt and sticks.

Flat hay.

Molly checking out the grain field.



Another shot of our grain field.



The power of water is amazing.  There is no stopping water when it wants to move.

The good thing is that our home is safe.  Our trailer is safe as well, as we didn't move it down to the river for camping.

Have a wonderful day.

Luv Tracy

Bottle Baby

We have a bottle baby named Harry.  Harry was born on June 5, 2011.  His momma didn`t love him :(
We were watching for her to calve, because last year, she was a heifer, and she didn`t like her calf then.  We decided to give her one more chance and keep her over for this year.  Well that was a mistake! 
On the 5th, Eric and I were over at the neighbours helping him handle cattle.   So before I went, I checked the cows.  I knew that this cow would calve sometime today, so I went over to the neighbours for a few hours.  At 11:00 I came back home to check on her.  She was still farting around doing nothing, so I went back to the neighbours.
I came back home to check on her at 2:30.  She had the water bag out.  I went back in the house to have a bite to eat, and would check her in 30 minutes.  At 3:00 I was heading back out to check on her progress.  That is when I heard a deep bellowing coming from just behind the barn.  It sounded deep like a bull.  But we don`t have a bull right now, so I knew it wasn`t that.  So I ran out there and momma had just calved.
The other cows were up with her too, and bugging her.  I chased them away.  I called Eric to see where he was and that I needed help.  He was almost home.  He was only 2 miles away.  I could hear our truck racing from the time I called him!
The cow was doing ok with the calf at this point.  Kinda licking it.  Not really hurting it at all.  Eric arrived and I said to him, ``maybe she will take him this year``.  He said, ``just wait until the calf starts moving``.
As soon as the calf started trying to stand is when the cow came ``unglued``.  All she would do is bunt it and knock it down.  So Eric and I decided to bring the cow into the head gate.  Sometimes with cows, if you get the calf sucking when they are in a head gate, they will calm down enough and take the calf.
Well, this cow is very much a pet.  She would let Eric milk her and not bat an eyelash.  But as soon as the calf came in to try and suck, she just blew up and started kicking and writhing in the head gate.
Another trick we tried was putting a paper bag over her head.  That works with sheep.  But didn`t work with her.  We tried everything with this cow.  She just had no instinct to be a mother.
We brought her into the headgate twice a day to milk her out, so we had something for the calf.
She was good with walking in, she was great with us.  As soon as she seen her calf, it was like Jekyll and Hyde!
So, now we have a bottle baby named Harry!
Harry is a good calf.  He really likes his milk!  We have taught him how to be a pail bunter (drink from a pail instead of a bottle).
He is getting bigger everyday!  He is quite rough at times.  He wants to play, but he is just at the right height to take your knees out!

Harry drinking from his pail.  There is a nipple on the pail and he sucks the milk.  The pail holds alot more liquid than a bottle does.

Harry following Eric.  He is like a puppy.  Notice his tongue sticking out!

Eric teaching Harry how to eat hay.