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| All the babies under a nice roof |
I haven't had the opportunity to be "in charge" of Calf Country since Captain finished the shed remodel until after Captain had hernia repair surgery last week. He's doing well but has that lifting restriction thing going on.
So I get to be in charge.
Now, instead of individual huts outside with the calves tethered by nylon collars snapped to 6-foot chains, each calf has a 4x4 foot individual pen with a straw bedding that doesn't get wet from rain or cold and wet from snow.
This is also nice for the person in charge because it eliminates standing out in the open which might include blizzards, torrential rain, or gale force winds. Now we are all nice and cozy under the shed roof.
It is also nice because the milk house is attached to the south end of the calf shed so there is no more carrying pails of milk from the barn to the huts; it's all right there in one handy-dandy spot.
So, right now we have nine calves on milk. For me, I feed them in three groups of three. That's easy math for this number-challenged girl. I've been doing this for 9 days now, and it's been going quite well.
Until this morning.
Today, every one of those little stinkers decided that head butting the pail of milk as I tried to set it inside the pen for them to drink was a good idea. Turns out I got my "shower" before I got back to the house. Plus a couple of bruises where the pail came up and hit my arm.
But they all got fed. Even the stupid--yes, I said stupid--Brown Swiss calf that simply can NOT figure out how to drink out of a pail unless someone puts their hand into the pail of milk so the calf can suck on their fingers.
I have a hard time with this because I am short and bending over the pen panel for as long as it takes the calf to drink all the milk gives me a backache. When I finally get straightened up, I tend to walk like a penguin for a few steps before everything in my spine lines back up again.
Most of the time, I have a couple of "helpers" when Charlie and Lucy decide to tag along.
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| Charlie having breakfast |
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| Lucy just wants to play fetch with her ball |
While I'm feeding milk, Captain is able to drive the skid loader to feed the bigger steers. To save him the aggravation of climbing in and out of the skid loader multiple times, I carry the pail of pellets to dump in the bucket and also run the on/off switch for the bulk bin that has the corn. This, by the way, is also handily situation on the south end of the calf shed.
Once Captain and I have both finished up our separate tasks, I carry grain to the newly weaned calves and Captain walks along with me.
Depending on how early we got started on chores, we might have time to check out what's ripe in the garden before I start work.
See, I have new hours now because I have a new job. You all know I've been in school for the last couple of years chasing my Health Information Technology degree. I'm in my last semester with a graduation date in December. Being so close to having the degree allowed me to apply for a specialist position in the Health Information Management department--that's the department that deals with all things medical record-related both incoming and outgoing. I got hired in the section that deals with incoming records.
It's been a nice change of pace after the hustle and bustle of being an administrative assistant, although I do miss the people I worked with in that role. I have two weeks of training left before they turn me loose on the world, and I truly think this is what I'll be doing for the remainder of my career at Mayo Clinic. It will be nice to be settled into it soon.
Thanks for coming along to Calf Country with me!
Blessings, my friends!
