Post by thystledown on Dec 7, 2023 11:27:49 GMT -5
Nothing serious like so many people. My father used to sing "A farmer's lot is not a happy one." Just frustration. A compendium of minor ills. I only got 1.25 gallons of milk today. This has been an ongoing problem. I had to go out of state when my single 24 y.o. daughter had a medical emergency. I went on a Sunday and got back on a Wednesday evening. I milk OAD with two calves on her during the day. She was producing 3.5 peak and was at about 2.5 which was good when I left. the cow was left in her pasture with her two calves full time while I was gone. Hubby cut her grain ration back to about 4 lbs twice a day rather than 6+ while I was gone 'cause he didn't think he knew how to grind more. Then she got sick when I cam back and increased the grain ration--bloated and production dropped. She stopped eating the second cutting hay and only ate the first cutting. She's back on 1st cutting during the day and 2nd cutting overnight. She is in the barn at night with her face in the hay. We did get back up to 2 gallons for a day or two, but then it has dropped again. I rarely get enough to bother separating, so the fridge overflows with bottles of whole milk we cant use. I give it away as much as I can. I don't make cheese with refridgerated milk and don't have time now either. I make cheese in January, February and March. I may not have enough production by then. I just want to quit. I might as well milk a goat for this. I try so hard. I make almost everything we eat. I even grind our own flour. I cannot find sources for what I want any other way, and it has made a huge difference in my health. So I can't just quit and say I'll just spend the $$ and buy it. And getting the organic grain from the only mill in NY and northern PA is a real pain. Delivery is prohibitive for what I need, so I have to play a game of getting bags delivered to a farm that is getting a delivery and there are no organic dairies near by. I've been 6 weeks getting the grain I'm supposed to pick up today --an hour away. I have spotted napweed invading our hayfields. I've had 3 horses with stomach upsets--not full colic-- since we started feeding the hay this fall, and I suspect the napweed. Vet doesn't know. Cooperative Extension didn't call me back. Ticks were terrible this year and I'm treating a pony for chronic lyme. I need to get the Jersey bred like last month, but hubby doesn't feel well and does not want to bring the bull home. It has to be led, because we have a road that cuts our farm in two and no way to stop traffic to drive cows across. I can't catch her heats to AI and it is late to play that guessing game anyway. I don't want winter calves. And I have one in the pasture right now. the roller-coaster weather last winter cause one cow and one horse to abort. The cow was separated from the herd, but broke through a gate to get back with the bull and herd, so she got bred. She and her new tiny baby won't go in the shed at night, so they are sleeping out in the rain and snow. Fortunately it was 40f and raining when the calf was born, but now is snowing classically and covering everything. And 20'sF. And this calf is the only heifer the cow has had in 7 pregnancies and she is old now. And we really want this calf as her replacement. And the Jesey went skiing when we came out of the barn. I had checked to see if it was slippery, and it didn't seem to be, but she slid about 8 feet. She was on a lead rope. She ran into me--a glancing blow, but now my back hurts. She did not fall down or do splits, thanking God. Or fall on me! And then the milk separator decided to spin while I was running hot water in it, running water all over the table and the things on it while my back was turned to wash the machine. I could go on , but you all get the idea. It all seems awfully unrewarding right now.