Biscuits Blog

Calendar Girl pictures

2006-10-28T09:42:00.000+13:00

Here are some new pictures of my adorable Birman kitten.

Playing Hide and go Seek.
My turn to go and find her ..... 7... 8... 9... 10... ready or not, here I come!

Brushing her teeth.

"No mummy, I'm not hiding anything! Honest!"

After all the fun and games, its time for a rest.

The male species

2006-10-17T20:11:00.000+13:00

I was dating a real estate agent for a while.

We met in a nice bar (and it really is a nice bar - not a sleazy drop-out kind of place with old men hanging into their pint of beer) and from then on we hit it off extremely well.

Every second weekend he would go up north and pick his kids up and bring them down here.

We talked about anything and everything. He told me he wanted a future with me and some day he wanted me to work for him as his PA.

After a while he started to distance himself from me and within a week he broke up with me.

I knew he was going through a divorce from his "ex-wife" and 2 young kids (1 and 3) were caught up in all this. She lived 2 hours away from him.

Anyway, last night (some 2 months after we broke up) I sent him a text message telling him his stuff was still at my house and I wanted it picked up.

His WIFE read the message and called me at 11:30pm while I was asleep. She was so upset that he cheated on her but didnt hate me - which I found odd.

It turns out they were just separated and not getting divorced and she has moved back in with him. He denies me even knew me and we ever met.

When he went to pick his kids up, he never actually came back down and stayed with her! I never met his kids because they might tell his "ex-wife" about me and she may cut off all access to his kids.
He told me that she was a right bitch and he hated her guts. She would tell him he could have the kids and when he got up there she would change her mind on him. This is why I never met his kids.

Where do men get off going around using women, and lying to them? This whole incident has really shaken my trust in men. How can I be sure that the next man I meet is telling me the truth?

I’ve sprung into Spring!

2006-10-13T13:50:00.000+13:00

The lambs are frolicking around the paddocks with their brothers and sisters ... the calves are away racing each other around their paddocks with tail high in the air, and the smell of freshly cut lawns lingering in the warm Spring air. The daffodils have been and gone, the roses are budding up and the blossoms are out in force.
Spring.

Boy am I glad the Spring is finally here and the weather is finally starting to warm up! What a crazy winter we’ve had down here in the near Deep South. They say the snow was a 1 in 60 year thing, so maybe I might be around to see the next “big one” … god save you all if I’m still around by then!

The plants that I planted the day before the big snow have done it hard. Most have lived but quite a number of them got damaged beyond repair.
On the note of gardening – mine has taken some plastic surgery since the snow.
I decided that some of the plants that were ruined by the snow I would not replant, and decided to remodel the entire shape of the garden. My decision to do this was helped along by the landlord not doing anything to fix the lawn that grew stones. Needless to say, it didn’t go down too well with my lawn mower when it (the lawn) needed a haircut. Sparks everywhere, holes in my legs from stray stone pieces and paint chipped off the walls of the house and garage also by stray stones. It was scary business to venture out there with my lawn mower!

Miraculously the roses that were at least 1 ½ foot deep in snow survived with minor breaks!
They are now leafing up and budding up too. I’m exceptionally thrilled that I am growing roses in the desert! Horray!
I gave them a squirt of spray the other evening to rid them of the sap-sucking aphids. I even splashed out on something (spray) that cures black spot!
I think I’m getting a handle on this rose gardening thing, but I still prefer my vegetable garden any day! At least that’s productive.

I stole some soil from a pile out in the paddock (hey, not like a paddock doesn’t have dirt, eh?) and dumped it over the fence with the help of my trust-worthy assistant Mrs Red Tractor. I’ve built up an area of around 7x4m that’s about 30cm deep. I haven’t put a wooden edge around the soil yet, and I’m undecided if I will. It will look nice if I did, but I’m more interested in the produce than the look of the garden itself.
I’ve got 3 rows of spuds, 2 rows of corn to feed the thieving cows, 2 rows of carrots, 1 row asparagus peas, 1 row salad mix, and there was something else but I’m buggered if I can remember what it was!
I’ve got some tomatoes to plant out there later too.
My zucchinis and pumpkins (they’re inside at the moment) will go out by the septic tank later on. Mmmm nothing like shitty flavoured vegetables to get the bowls moving! Hhmm … in a deeper thought, that’s recycling maybe? Eewww!

Boy has it been windy lately! There have been reports on the news of school roofs flying into neighbouring houses. The spouting on my house has been ripped off by the wind. Thankfully, no damage to my rose garden when it landed.
Pictures will follow at a later date. My PC isn’t as young as it once was so its having memory issues (Alzheimer’s) with what its supposed to do when you press the ON button…

The Big Snow

2006-06-20T20:58:00.000+12:00

Sunday was a beautiful, warm windy day, with a reasonably strong NW wind blowing.

I was out planting some shelter trees around the house, knowing that tomorrow (Monday) the weather was supposed to turn SW and bring rain with it. So it was perfect time to be planting trees.

It blew and rained all night. Great for the trees I had just planted :D

I woke up at midnight and got a drink of water because I was thirsty and was cooking in bed. It was still blowing hard and raining heavily.
A little later I got up again and had another drink. Silence. I went back to bed and threw a few blankets off my bed and went back to sleep.

I was woken up at 5am by a friend who sent a text message that read "Snow". I lay in bed thinking ... 'snow? ... what the....'
So I got up and looked out the window.
It was snowing! And heavily at that! I couldnt believe it. It must have been a joke surely?!

The power was fading in and out, and apparently it had been doing that since 3am. Finally, at 5:30 the power went out for good.
The weird thing was, my hosue wasnt cold inside, and with the amount of snow outside I'd have expected it to have been cool. Anyway, I had lit the fire.

All day Monday there was no power, but I had a land line phone so I wasn't too badly set.
I started work early, at 7:30am and got the cows out of the crop, which was totally ruined by the snow. Cows where out all over the place.
First thing was to get them fed. All 3 mobs (total of 600 cows) were merged into one on this small piece of ground, and were fed ample baleage and straw.
I finished work early that day, and completed the days work (bacially just feeding out as there wasnt much more that could be done while it was still snowing madly) at around 11am.
The snow finished snowing around 1pm. All day I had tried to contact my mother who is partly disabled and farms alone. I knew she would need help out there but I had no way of getting out to her place with the thick blanket of snow on the ground.

Tuesday rolled over, and still no power. Tuesday also brought no phones either. And to make matters worse, Fonterra closed down and with that went my cell phone reception. My cell phone battery was almost dead too.
The same feeding plan was set out for today as was yesterday. 10 baleage and an endless supply of straw and hay.
I went around today and pulled up the wire fences that were hidden under the snow, and went over half the farm recording broken fences that needed fixing, where trees were down on fences etc.
I took the employers truck and went to check up on my mother, who turned out to be alright after all.
The neighbour came down my road tonight with the grader blade on behind his tractor. He graded the whole road for me and my driveway too so I had some access to the outside world, should something nasty happen.

Wednesday was the same again. You could tell by now the cows were sick of the cold ground and were getting tired of standing all the time. They were resorting to laying in a sea of freezing cold mud.
The cows were not the only ones getting sick of the cold weather.
I hadnt had a shower since Sunday, and meals werent proper. I had no water, and only 2 candles.
I went into town to get some supplies, like bottled water and candles. I got the last 2 packets of candles on the shelf.
I went to my mothers tonight to watch some TV. Living alone out here you get bored, especially with no power so it meant that I was having really early nights (7:30-8pm). I left her place around 7pm because I didnt want to leave it too late and risk worse ice on the roads.

Thursday and I had power and phone back. WOHOO. But still no water! My water supply comes from my employers well, which runs off his power, and he still doesnt have any power. He jacked up a pump to get some water out to feed the stock, and both his and my own houses. Needless to say, I was able to finally have a shower rather than resorting to Baby Wipes to wash myself with.
Cows got fed the same today.
My employer came up to me today and said that I could take my time off, effective from tomorrow. At last I can get some time to myself and relax for a while.

Here are some pictures I have taken.

$1m damage to the storage building belonging to Fonterra.

Neighbours shed, or what once was a shed.

No power will be running through these any time soon.

The leaning tower of ... electricity!

Just a little bit broken...

Beheaded.

A view from my paddock out to sea.

My house. Taken on Friday.

A good strong fence that roughs any sort of weather, as you can see.

A shrub thats a bit bent out of shape.

This is only some of the damage done in the area.
There are 100s on powerpoles damaged as shown here, and there are telephone cables damaged also.
People are still without power and phone 9 days after the big snow fall hit the region.
Power men have been brought in from all over the South Island to help restore power to homes still in need.
And they say more is expected later this week, and the Moon Man says that on July 10th there is going to be an even bigger dumping of snow to the same area.

While some North Islanders may think "so what, they get this every year - no big deal" well I'm sorry to tell you guys but we do NOT get this sort of serious snow fall down to sea level, at the thickness that it is... plus the massive area of the Canterbury region that it has covered. People who have lived here for years have never seen anything like this in this area before.
And Aucklanders has the balls to complain about a 4 hours power outage on the same Monday we were hit by the snow storm!

I'm stuck

2006-03-31T12:39:00.000+12:00

Well, the job is going fantastically well, as is the new house and I'm all well and settled in here.

As I said, the job is going well, but I find myself stuck here.

I've no responsibility on the farm, and each day is the same thing. I've learnt all that I can learn for the time being (for at least another 2-3 months) until winter hits and our roster and the daily routine changes.
I'm stuck in the sence that I'm bored with the same thing all the time, and I see myself looking for the next challenge. I want something new and different to learn.

Every day is the same:
Up at 4am,
Milk cows until around 7:30/8am
Have breakfast until 9ish
Go out and shift 4 gun irrigators
Feed out 8 bales of baleage
Feed out 1 bale of straw
Home by 12 noon
Out again at 2pm to get the cows in
Milking by 3pm or just before
Home by 5:30pm
In bed by 9ish

I've had the boss on about teaching me to do cows feet, but he says thats his job since its easy enough for someone who doesnt know what they're doing to get seriously hurt ... fair enough, BUT I still want to learn how to do it!
He also wont teach me to use the post driver since women have "extra danglie bits that get in the way"! Grr pees me right off that hes holding me back because of my gender.

I know how to feed out baleage off the waggon, drive new and old tractors, shift fences, shift K-Lines, shift gun irrigators, milk cows, treat cows, spot cows in trouble, assist calving, feeding calves etc.

I just want something different to do.... something harder .... a challenge!!

I'm finding it too easy here. Dont get me wrong, dairy farming doesnt have to be a complicated job, but I need more. I want to learn more.

I can leave yes, but I dont want to. I do like it here and I know in another few months I will learn more things as winter settles in.

Breathe in.... breathe out ....

A general update

2006-02-04T18:34:00.000+13:00

The job is going wonderfully.I've been given more responsibility around the farm, and I dont have people second judging my jobs or checking that things are done correctly. It feels GREAT!

Its a shame though, because Germaine is being 'picked' on by Grant. She is having back surgery this month and will be out of work for 6 weeks. She is a bit of a blonde and cant do some jobs properly, but its sad that she is being the target of Grants ego. Long complicated story - I wont get into it.

The house is getting along well. Well, at least I think it is! I was supposed to be in there ages ago but some thigns popped up that hadnt been done by some people which has delayed my arrival in the house.All my stuff is moved in except for my bedroom furniture.
I expect to be in there by the weekend.

I plan to plant out an orchard at the new house. I've got a Moorpark apricot tree, feijoa trees (6), grape vine, fig tree, limequat tree. I want to get some pears, plums (especially greengage!), nectarine, peach etc.

I also have planned for over Winter/Spring to buy a hot tub/spa pool to place outside the deck area. The boss strangely enough has no objection to this, as long as he can pop over for a dip!There is a pool place in Timaru so I'll go in there and get some quotes for tubs and find out about the fencing regulations.

In general, I'm feeling really great. I've got a fantastic job, and a beautiful new house. Now, the only thing I'm missing in a partner to share it all with!

Its all starting to happen, at long last!

2005-12-27T13:08:00.000+13:00

The new job is fantastic. Great boss, great work mates too.

I have a new house that I am moving into. A brand new Keith Hay home that was put on site just over a month ago.

Plumber and Electrical person(s) were due about 2 weeks ago to hook things up and make the house suitable for me to move in.

In the mean time, I've been spending up large on some new items to make the house full.

Thus far I've purchased:
Brand new dining table and 6 chairs ($499 from Harvey Norman yesterday)
Brand new washing 5kg machine ($548 including 4 year extended warranty)
Brand new vacuum cleaner ($150)
Brand new cutlery sets x2 ($60 total for the 2 sets)
Brand new dining set x2 ($40 for the 2 sets)
Brand new tumblers ($14)Brand new pot/pan set
($110)Brand new electric jug ($40?)
Brand new blender ($60)
2nd hand, in mint condition, lounge set ($1200 delivered). Consists of 2 2 seaters, and 2 1 seaters (lazyboys).

Now all I need is:
Microwave (they're pretty cheap to buy now)
Fridge/freezer
TV

Some pictures of the house. The pictures aren't too great because I had little time to take them, but will take more soon. The colour doesn't show up too well either.

The kitchen. The window has views out to sea.

The deck. Sliding doors from out of the lounge, office/small bedroom window, followed by two more bedrooms.

Standing at the far corner of the lounge looking into the kitchen.

Gobble Gobble??

2005-12-05T19:31:00.000+13:00

I went to the junk market today and seen a pair of turkeys and thought they'd look pretty nice here at home. I also spied a mother chicken with 5 babies and a pair of while/brown pigeons.

The turkeys I plan on breeding this season (I have homework to do on this first) and then use their young next year for Christmas dinners. I'll get my homekill guy to do that since he does do poultry.

Mr Turkey

Mrs Turkey

It was funny watching them today when I let them out. Whenever someone/thing made a noise, Mr Turkey made his noise.

Later tonight Mrs Turkey was hanging out with the hens. I was sitting on a bucket watching from a short distance away when she got a fright. Not sure exactly what happened because she was blocking my view. Anyway, she puffed herself up and started to get nasty to a hen, then Mr Turkey came over and puffed himself up too to help back up Mrs Turkey. At this stage I went over to investigate and make sure the hen could get out since both turkeys were holding it against a fence. Isnt it sweet that he would look after her in that way?

Views from work

2005-12-05T19:23:00.000+13:00

Some of the views I have while at work are really nice.

While this isnt the best picture of the sea from the farm, it is the view you get from standing in the milking yard.

Again, another picture from in the milking yard which shows the vast size of the dairy factory a few KM up the road.

A day at the Saleyards

2005-11-14T13:35:00.000+13:00

I took 4 of my weaner calves down to the saleyards today.

I sold 3 of my cow reared Friesian bull calves for $307 each, and my big sappy Hereford/Simmy cross bull went for $335.

I brought 4 friesian heifers to rear.
1 @ $80
2 @ $70
1 @ $30 (has scours)

So all in all it wasn't a bad day out.

A good morning

2005-11-13T11:35:00.000+13:00

It seems I may have stumbled across a good thing when I was talking to Mr DS.
Mr DS leases our bull off us each year to put over his cows. This morning we took one of our bulls over to him to use for the season and I was talking to him about rearing calves.

He said he wasn’t too keen on rearing them next season and would be interested in buying weaner calves but wasn’t too sure about it since the last lot he got, about 7 of them got out and were spread all over the place… down roads, on other peoples property etc.

So I said to him I would rear some calves for him next year if he was interested.
It seems I may at least have come across a good thing when selling my calves. At least this way I know they will go to a good home (to be slaughtered at 2 years old though), I am guaranteed that they will go when they are ready, and Mr DS knows that the calves he buys will be of good quality and will be relatively quiet (not fence hurdlers). So all in all it should be a good outcome.

If he is still keen next year, we’ve just to discuss some things such as what rate he will buy them at, how many he will want etc.

Midge, look what I have!

2005-11-10T12:38:00.000+13:00

When there was a Thursday sale at the Temuka Saleyards I spied this little Jersey heifer. Being Jersey, they are cheap to buy so I brought this heifer for $300 and she weighed in at 320KG.

She is going to one of the beef bulls we have and should produce a nice coloured calf (either gold or white depending on bull. One bull is a gold Simmy and the other is a Charo)

She is such a sweetheart!

2005-10-05T20:59:00.000+13:00

I have Grace here at home now, so I can put the time and effort into getting her trained well and good since it was hard to do while at work.

I got a picure of her sitting in the yard looking like a right spoilt tart .... but my sweet tart :D

It's going to be hard when I have to give her back :(

She is a big girl now. I will get a nice picture of her tomorrow strinking one of her famous poses.

How my job is going.

2005-09-17T20:54:00.000+12:00

I’ve been at my new job (on the same farm where I was rearing calves) for a week as of tomorrow.

My days have been so long. That was something I wasn’t prepared for but it really hasn’t bothered my body as much as I’d have expected it to.

Because I can’t stomach food on the mornings, I go without anything until lunch. Usually by lunch I’m not even hungry so will have a drink and keep slugging on going until dinner before I eat anything substantial. By then (dinner) I’m still not hungry but I know I must eat something.

My days usually start around 4am, and I’ll be inside any time after 7pm. Usually in bed by 9pm, 9:30pm at the latest. With 2 hours off during the day – on each lunch and breakfast.
My lunch is stuffed by having to feed my own calves here at home and shift my own stock. Breakfast is usually stuffed also with having to do house jobs.

The hourly wage isn’t fantastic, but the hours you put in make up for that.

While the work isn’t all that hard, and I’m coping well without feeling like I’m about to drop dead, I’m finding it overall to be reasonably easy.
6-7 hours of the day are spent milking, 1 hour getting cows/calves in, 2 for ‘my time’ and the rest doing other odd jobs like shifting irrigators and fences etc.

I learnt yesterday that my “full time job” as was told when I took it on isn’t after-all going to be “full time” since needs a senior herd manager as he doesn’t have one and he hasn’t had a day off since June. So when this senior herd manager comes on I will be without a job. I was told he (my boss) was going to be picky and people of the calibre he is looking for don’t come along often and he will be picky as to what this person must know and have experience with, so my job is pretty secure until at least November-December. He still wants me to move into the 3 bedroom house which is provided for me. I’m just waiting for the person currently occupying it to move into her new house which has just been built.

First day at new job.

2005-09-11T19:26:00.000+12:00

My day started at 5:30am. I arrived half way through the first milking mob of milk supply cows.

Finished milking and all cleaned up by 9:30am and went home for an hour to feed my calves and do some house jobs.

Went back to work at 10:30am and started levelling out the face of the maze pit. We don’t need to feed out anymore since there is enough grass. By the time that was finished it was noon.

Went home for lunch but took the long way to get a smoothy on the way home. And just as well I did because I was locked out of the house.

Got back to work at 1pm and get the calves in from the paddock. By the time that was finished it was after 2pm and Rebecca got the cows in to be milked again.

Got through all 3 milking mobs and all cleaned up by 6:45pm.

Now to cook tea….

What good deed do you do for your community?

2005-08-31T17:59:00.000+12:00

Over the past couple of years I’ve been thinking about doing a few calves for the Wrightsons IHC Calf Scheme.

Well this year I’m got 2 little Friesian X Jersey heifer calves (names Amanda and Tinkerbell) that were destined for the bobby truck and would have gone down the gurgler. So I rescued them and now have the problem of what to do with the little blighters.

So then I thought that the IHC may want them.

I called Tony at Wrightsons and he said to talk to Peter. So I talked to Peter the following Monday and he said to talk to Nigel, but Nigel wasn’t there so I had to wait until Monday just been (29th) before I could talk to him and register my interest in going a good deed for the community and donating these 2 calves for the IHC calf sale on December 5th.

3 in 1 day.

2005-08-30T18:55:00.000+12:00

I went up the back of home this morning to do some stock work.
One of the cows due to calve in a few days had already spit out her Belgian Blue heifer calf. So with that I took all cows into the race way and split them up – the ‘about to calves’ to the house paddock with the milkers, and my cows with calves at foot into another paddock with grass.

Simones heifer who raced into the world a few days early.

About 9am one of the cows I had just got from up the back started calving – our first pedigree Ayrshire heifer (calf this is) for the season (we already have 2 pedigree bulls born so far). So her name is Danielle.
She got her body modification brass earrings this afternoon.

Early afternoon I went for a walk up the back again to get a calf that didn’t come out in the morning when I was splitting them all up. I noticed one of the heifers that was moved from up the back to the home block was “on the job”. I ended up calving her Belgian Blue bull out of her since she gave up pushing in the end.
This is his first wobbly stand.

These Belgian Blue calves will be sold on Monday at Temuka Salyards and should fetch (according to the agent) well over $200 each.

Disaster Strikes UPDATE

2005-08-27T19:00:00.000+12:00

The bull calf I got from where I work which was going to go on the Bobby truck and took home has had a turn for the worse.

I took him to the Vet a couple of days ago to get the extra external cord (it isn't his navel cord) all sorted out and let me know what to do about it.
The vet was concerned this cord may have been a bowel cord in which case would have resulted in a $200+ surgery to fix it, which I wouldn't have opted for.
It turned out not to be the bowel cord so all was well.

I had 2 options:
Tie the area up
Don't tie the area up.

Each has its pros and cons.
If I went for the tying up option it would have almost positively resulted in an abscess that would have needed draining not to further down the track. I opted not to tie the area since bugs and bacteria were most likely to have been present inside the area despite my regular cleaning of it.

This calf is on antibiotics, and has been for several days now.

We had a case similar to this about 8 years ago and the hole got larger and larger as the calf grew. The vet put that calf down.

The vet said this wasn't the same situation as what we'd had before which gave me some relief that I may be able to save the calfs life. The vet I seen did rattle off some long word (I hate it when they do that!) as to what this was, but I'm buggered if I can remember it.
For those thinking "stupid woman, its a bloody hernia" - it isn't. You can't push it back in and the vet confirmed that.

So tonight while I was putting him on the cow, and after I had tagged him I noticed some blood in his navel so a closer inspection revealed this horror mess.

So I have called my boss back to let her know what has happened since I thought I spotted another case similar in her AB heifer shed last night.

I have 2 options:
Call the vet and get charged 60 call-out fee + whatever the vet uses and charges up for the calf while out here
Tie the area up and keep it clean.

So tomorrow I'll get a nice piece of string and tie the area up nice and firm, but not too tight, and then on Monday I'll consult the vet again and let them know what has happened and what I should do next.

*UPDATE*

I gave the vet another call this morning. This time I spoke with my favourite vet Andrew. He does all the work here on the farm when he is available.

I told him the past history – that the calf was taken into the vets (I don’t really want a $60 call-out fee when we were going through the same day to collect more calves, when I can be charged a $35 clinic fee instead) and was looked at then, and given some Bovicillin by that vet.

So his antibiotics have been upped and put on Bivatop, along with a shot of anti-inflammatory. Andrew came out and looked at the calf when dropping the anti-inflam off for me and said he wanted to look at the calf. Immediately I thought “NO not another bill!” but he didn’t charge me for the call-out, which was really fantastic of him.

There isn’t much that can be done about this calf at the moment, other than what I am already doing and that is washing out the infected area with iodine and injecting him when needed.

Andrew explained to me that this is actually one of the 3 umbilical cords. Apparently from what I can gather, there are 3 when inside the mother. During calving, 2 get ‘cut off/pulled off’ and retract into the calf???? And the main navel cord hangs out. These other 2 cords must be inside the navel cord.
Is all a little fuzzy around the edges for me since this is something I’ve never run across before.

Andrew explained this is a common problem in the larger born calves (and this particular calf is a THUMPER (I told the vet on the phone this morning that he is about 45kg, and the vet thought 50kg when he viewed the calf) which is the reason why I wanted to give him a try or I would have put him on the bobby truck that morning) and the more exotic beef breeds where there is a larger navel purse type thing.

Andrew said that on Friday I could stick a rubber ring on the dead/rotting cord.

About time!

2005-08-24T14:27:00.000+12:00

Edna was due to calve on August 20th.

Sunday rolled by, as did Monday and Tuesday.

I got home this morning at 10am and went to the run-off to get some baleage. At this time Edna was showing no signs of calving any time soon.
I arrived home about an hour later to find her slurping up the birthing fluids. She had finally spit out a nice sized black bull calf.
She was incalf to our Red Devon bull.

She will also have a new free whopping big friesian bull calf on her which I got from work today. He has a funny navel where some part of his insides has come out through the middle of his navel cord. Both navel and other cord have since dried up BUT at the top where the navel meets the belly it is still quite red and raw in there.
He has been injected and washed so will keep a close eye on it. We had another calf like this about 8 years ago which the vet ended up putting down.

Roughing it with the Big Boys

2005-08-23T17:58:00.000+12:00

There is a calf at Lyns where I am working that has struck me as a calf who holds tht special 'X Factor' to make a show great cow.

Calf 138 aka Grace is a calf who I am now breaking in to lead. I hope to this coming October take her to the Timaru A&P show, and in March to the Winchester / Geraldine A&P show just to see how she goes.

Training started this morning, and she is a natural. She isn't scared of anything which will make my job easier.

About the "Roughing it with the Big Boys" - there are 2 families down here who are always at the shows trying to aim for top spot, and where is the cometition if there are only ever those two families against each other? Well, this year I'll give them a run for their money with my entry :P

*UPDATE* New picture added:

I had a good cattle person have a good look at her this morning and the only fault she has at this stage of her life is narrow front legs in the brest area. This may grow out as she ages. Otherwise he commented by saying "she was a very striking calf" and "That she had a good length" in her body between the shoulders and tail.

The Story Of A Sick Calf

2005-08-17T20:17:00.000+12:00

My cow Opal who calved on the 1st August had an AB heifer that was replaced with a Friesian bull calf.

Since then this replacement bull calf has had another 3 brothers all sharing the same mother.

This particular calf has developed a bad case of scours.

I noted that around the 8th he was looking odd, and near 9th-10th I interfered and fed some electrolytes to him while keeping him off the cow all together.

He’s always been perky and keen for a feed but he hasn’t had an energetic sucking motion.

So he’s been on electrolytes since then with a small amount of milk in between.

On the Monday 15th I seen his poo and it was looking nice yellow and firm – how it should be. So that night he drank ½ a litre of cows milk.

Next morning scouring through the eye of a needle again so back on electrolytes he went again.

I took a very liquid stool sample into the vet this morning and he suspects either of 2 things:
*No to little colostrum
*Bug/virus

So I hope this sample will come back saying he has some bug since he is the only calf from this particular property with these symptoms.
If he has no colostrum at birth – he would be well and truly a very dead calf by now.

I gave him some scourban this morning under vets advise, along with some bivatop. He since picked up but isn’t out of the woods yet.

Tonight he had 1 litre of electrolytes and 1 litre of whole cows milk with 30mls of scourban mixed in.
After his feed I offered him some calf meal, which he ate without trying to spit it out again so that’s positive.

Now to wait and see how he is in the morning.

He is due for another injection of bivatop on the 20th. The test results of the stool sample should be in by Monday to tell me what is the matter with him and why he is scouring so much and for so long despite all my efforts to try and prevent it from happening.

You'd be wrong to think they would know better.

2005-08-13T20:28:00.000+12:00

First off, the people I work for (share milkers – meaning they own the cows but not the property) have only been on the farm since June.

The other calf rearer has been rearing calves on this property for the last 5 years (this being the 5th year). Apparently from what I’ve been told, calves were last year being born with a defect in their feet. Which is a defect on the bulls side since there isn’t any one specific cow spitting out these calves.

This year, the same issue is here with the defect in the feet. Some calves stand on their toes, or unable to stand on their hooves but rather with their joints bend over.
Looks bloody terrible.

You would think that knowing this happened last year that they (farm/property owners) would not use the same bull again the next insemination season – right? Wrong! (The share milkers brought their cows)

There was a bull calf that came into the shed yesterday. Its navel had been bleeding so they (people who collected the calves) tied it up. I knew this the second I looked at the navel (why it was tied). Now, this lady who owns the property came along and was talking to the other calf rearer while I was busy feeding the newly hatched calves. They were talking about this specific calf when I heard “just cut it then” and before I could turn around and say “NO! Don’t do that!!” the calf was pissing blood out of what was left of a navel.
So I raced over and gripped the area between my fingers to stop the blood pissing out. They got string and tied it up while I was biting my tongue, as not to say something I’d later regret.
Tonight we removed the rope from the navel because I was concerned we may have also blocked off the pizzle disabling it to urinate. No blood squirted out so on went more iodine and left the calf to it.
This is a calf I may be bringing home yet. It was jabbed with antibiotics to help fight off any bugs that got into the wound area.

Why oh WHY don’t people use common sense anymore?

Todays photos

2005-08-11T14:05:00.000+12:00

Some pictures of my stock that I took this morning.

Martha and her bull calf.

They grow up so quickly!

Edna.

Little Amanda. Look how small she is in size next to the hereford bull who himself is small.

Amandas little head.

Milk bar is open. Opal feeding her 4 calves at once.

This brings new meaning to the term "Shit head".

Little Amanda

2005-08-08T18:47:00.000+12:00

Its damn hard trying to get a picture of a calf who just won't stand still!
I had time tonight to get a picture, or try to get a picture of little Amanda the X-bred heifer calf I was given.
Quality of pictures are poor due to the little one not standing still long enough for me to get the camera all set to take the picture, or when I did she wasn't in it and she'd be half way down the end of the paddock!

She would have been doomed today to go on a ride on a bobby truck if I hadn't felt sorry for her and brought her home. All the others at the farm think I'll bringing more home yet!

I named her Amanda since it means "Deserving love".

Perks of the job

2005-08-07T20:21:00.000+12:00

I think else where on this blog I've stated that I'm now calf rearing on a local dairy farm not any more than 5 minutes away.

Well, I've not got 400L on penicillin milk a day at my disposal, and a free calf.

Reason I get all this is: there is no place to store the milk and would otherwise be tipped down the drain and the calf (friesian jersey cross - pale coloured but will turn black) would be donged on the head.

The calf is just a very tiny (stands as tall (short) as your knees) and wouldn't be worth 5c at the local saleyards and if sent on the bobby truck she would just be dumped.

So I'm on the hunt for a name for this little girl. Needs to be old fashioned to go with the theme I have, and it needs to suit her large personality.

If I have time I'll post up photos of her tomorrow.

Introducing 'Opal'

2005-08-06T19:27:00.000+12:00

Here is my new nurse cow. I got her last Thursday the 4th and she has since been an amazing cow.

Shes from a large dairy herd locally. Because she is from such a large herd not all cows have one-on-one time with the handlers but this cow must have been a pet as a calf. Shes super friendly and will let me walk up to her in the paddock and put new calves on here without any fuss at all! I'm very thrilled and impressed thus far. Although she is very quiet (which is unusual for this type of cow from that type of farm) she doesn't like it too much when I near her shoulders so I must go up to her from the rear end first.

She is being treated for a small case of Photosensitivity. I'm using Filter-Bac on her red area as per photo to help filter out the sun from this sore spot.

She has 4 Friesian bull calves on here at the moment. None of which any are her own birth calves. She moans if none of them are near which is heart-warming to see.

Well, I'm famous now.

2005-08-04T21:20:00.000+12:00

But when they heard the reason for the journey's haste – to get Helen Clark to Christchurch Airport for a flight to Wellington so she could attend a rugby test – they weren't impressed.

Once they learned the reason, a number had contacted police and made complaints about the driving.

The trial of those involved – a civilian driver, four police officers and a diplomatic protection squad member – is before Judge John Strettell and is expected to take up to three weeks.

Facing charges are police officers Alister James Doonan, 50, of Timaru, dangerous driving; Simon Raymond Vincent, 32, of Ashburton, dangerous driving; Ian Howard, 36, of Timaru, two charges of dangerous driving and one of following too close; Clinton Brian Vallender, 43, of Waimate, party to dangerous driving and an alternative charge of causing dangerous driving.

The PM's driver faces two charges of dangerous driving, one of following too close, and one careless driving charge, while the diplomatic protection squad officer has been charged with six counts of being a party to dangerous driving and six alternative charges of causing dangerous driving. The civilian driver and the protection officer both have interim name suppression.

The crown intends calling 31 witnesses, including motorists and their passengers who saw the motorcade, police officers in charge of the prime minister's Waimate visit, as well as other police staff and an expert witness who will discuss the speed and risks involved with the motorcade.

Opening the crown case, Tim Gresson said the court would hear how the defendants had incorrectly interpreted the situation as one of extreme urgency requiring speeds well over the legal limit and driving in a fashion that was patently dangerous, whereas it was a situation of "constructed urgency as opposed to actual urgency".

He said that Vincent, the lead driver from Washdyke to Templeton, had stated he had driven the Ford Explorer ute at speeds of 160-180kph and had acknowledged the vehicle was prone to rolling on corners at high speeds. He had also said the ute's sirens were ineffective at such speeds.

Many of the civilian witnesses will refer to the motorcade's excessive speed, overtaking in the face of oncoming traffic, vehicles following too close, and overtaking with insufficient clear road ahead to be able to safely do so.

Orari woman Rebekah Welsh told the court she felt sick and turned her back on the motorcade because she was convinced there was going to be a major pile-up at the Orari Bridge.

Ms Welsh thought the second vehicle in the motorcade was going to overtake as it approached the bridge.

She turned around as she didn't want to see what she knew would be a head-on crash if there had been a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.

Ms Welsh, who lived on a property near the bridge, told the court there was a slight rise in the road as it approached the bridge and there was no way the driver of an overtaking vehicle would be able to see what was coming.

She believed there was a possibility of a major pile-up on the the bridge and it made her feel sick.

There was no vehicle approaching and the second vehicle, carrying Prime Minister Helen Clark and Aoraki MP Jim Sutton, did not overtake the police ute leading the motorcade.

Ms Welsh was outside and the sound of sirens and noise of the revving vehicles alerted her to the approaching motorcade mid-afternoon.

From the way the vehicles were travelling she thought they must have been on the way to an emergency when in fact they were travelling from Waimate to Christchurch airport as Miss Clark's planned flight from Timaru had been cancelled.

When, days later, Ms Welsh learnt the reason for the quick trip, she "thought it was pretty off" and she made a complaint to the police.

Four other motorists giving evidence yesterday had all initially shared Ms Welsh's views that there must have been an emergency.

Timaru man William Smith thought it was the Armed Offenders Squad driving towards him when he met them just south of Ashburton. The three vehicles were travelling so fast and close together that he "really just wanted to get out of the road".

He pulled over and parked on the roadside for several minutes as he was "a bit staggered" and "shocked" by what he had seen.

The speed and proximity of the vehicles to each other had concerned him. He told the court he would have accepted the speed if in fact it had been AOS members on their way to an emergency.

Other witnesses spoke of the speed the motorcade was travelling at between Waimate and Timaru.

"If anything had been on the road and they had had to pull up in a hurry they would have wiped out all of us," Sheyrlee Roberts said.

Mrs Roberts and her husband were travelling in a line of about eight vehicles when the motorcade passed them near St Andrews.

"We thought there was an accident or something drastic up ahead. We thought that was what they were going to."

Teenagers and Soft Porn

2005-08-03T18:15:00.000+12:00

I was reading a thread today on a forum.
The subject was “Don’t read if you’re underage”.
Inside the thread was a link to a website which you had to pick which set of breasts were fake/enlarged. (I scored 17/20 correct).

Now, this topic has since been locked and link removed because some people underage were going to this website.

What got me think (Uh-Oh!) was why is it so offensive for teens to see body parts? Why do parents try and censor them out of their lives? It isn’t like they’re not stupid enough to not know what a breast or penis is anyway, right?!

Having been brought up and raised on a dairy farm, the ‘mating’ side of life was nothing unusual or hidden from me.

I’m not trying to encourage or say it is OK for young teenagers (especially those younger than teenagers!) to view ‘soft porn’(?), I can’t see why people try and hide simple things such as a picture of some woman’s breasts from them.

The new pedigree Friesian Cow

2005-08-01T21:19:00.000+12:00

I was at the saleyards today.

Looked through the store cattle pens and seen a friesian cow 'on the go' (calving) so my nose picked up on a possible bargin.

I did some research to find out what company was selling this cow, and if at all she was going to be sold due to her unfortunate timing in giving birth.

Found out who was selling her and told the agent that I was interested in taking her home.

Foot traffic picked up around her pen and she was starting to get very pissed off, so the agent got her on a truck and took her to his place (5 minutes away) to calve quietly in his yards.

This cow had a mate in the sale also, who had calved a few days earlier.

The agent was interested in the cows mate, which I've been told sold for $670. If this mate was sold for a reasonable price, he would take both cows at that price.

I wasn't there for the sale since I was in Timaru giving edivence in court.

Got home and phoned up the agent to see what was going on with the cow.

She calved a AB heifer calf. The vendor wants to keep the heifer calf and will replace with a friesian bull calf, which suits me fine as a bull is worth more money than a heifer.

So I've now brought her for $650, with a free (or I'll tell myself she only cost $550 and the calf an extra $100 to make it not sound quite so painful) friesian bull calf thrown in.

Called yet another agent in Christchurch tonight to see what the prices of bobbies are like up that way, and I've stuck my order in for 2 beef X (any beef breed will suffice) calves.

I'll pick my new cow up on Thursday some time.

Holiday photos and diary entry notes

2005-07-27T18:46:00.000+12:00

Here are the pictures I said I'd post up of my holiday overseas.
Please keep checking in as new pictures will be uploaded to this post when
they are ready.
I will post a note at the end of this thread when the last photo and message
has been uploaded to here.
Note: All text in italics is a diary entry notes.

Tuesday 19th July 2005
Arrived at the Christchurch airport at 11:35am. Had one very small problem
crossing the road at an intersection. Couldn't see a car behind a horse float
turning off the main road. Nothing happened. Filled out luggage tags and
placed them on luggage. 12:50pm and we are ready to sign in and leave bags
behind. Didn't buy anything at duty free on the way to Brisbane. No point in
loading up on booze now and bringing it back again when we leave to come
home. Got on the plane at 3:45pm. And boy does this plane have some up and
go! The clouds are nothing short of amazing up here.

I am looking out over my wing and I can see some ice starting to form.
Spent my first Aussie dollars on a lovely sandwich. Only cruising at 41,000
feet and its apparently 20c in Brisbane with an Easterly wind. At 5:30
(AU time) we are ready for landing. Arrived at the apartment building at
8pm (AU time). Going for a walk down town to get some tea bags since
there arenone in the apartment building. Also going to get some milk. The
weather is raining and windy here, but nothing like what weexperience back
in NZ. The showers are heavy, but only last a fewminutes before they're
gone. Had issues finding the light switches. I was slapping around the walls
where you would naturally expect to find a light switch butnone were there.
They were very thin and on the edge of the doorframe.

A night from the apartment building we were staying at.

Wednesday 20th July 2005
Woke up this morning to the sound of some birds calling. Unsure what they
are at the stage but I'm, sure I will find out sooner or later. The plan for today
is to walk around and go shopping while working out where places are
around the place. I brought some clothes (they're dirt cheap where while on
sale!). I must have spent in total of $230 of clothing on special. Normal retail
price would be well in excess of $500. Went to a Tandoori and Curry house
for tea and it was terrible. We're not going back there again. Food was horrible
and very over priced for what we got. I brought a 'roo for $7 and a nice clock
for $10 at a tourist shop.We went back to the apartment and dropping the days
shopping off and sat and watched the birds in the river below our balcony.
Went out again and spied this really beautiful bird. Its got a blackhead with a
long slightly curved beak. Its tail feathers have blackmesh type feathers growing
over top of the tail. Really pretty. I don't know what it was called and those who
I asked had no idea either.

I am really surprised with how clean and tidy the area is. There are no tag
marks from young idiots, and there is no rubbish layingaround the streets.
Another thing I noticed is that people here are very thin! A lot of buildings
are going up around the area including a 70 story building. I'm not sure why
it is going up or for what reason. Its nearly complete. We made a 'sand man'
in a neat shop today. We seen a man making candles from scratch. He has
heaps of them there - all really lovely.

Houses around here go for anywhere between $270,000 - $700,000 for the
'lower class' of the area. For the higher class they START at $5m.

Thursday 21st July 2005
They have a lot of lorikeets flying around here. Just like our blackbirds,
sparrows etc in NZ, these parrots fly wild and are everywhere.

The plan for today is to go and visit Sea World. I've never been to a Sea
World of any kind before so this is sure to be neat. We seen the polar bears
swimming and resting in their nest, people swimming with sharks, dolphins
playing, birds and all sortsof other animals there. We seen a seal show
which was really fantastic.

I brought an opal bracelet for $55. Went to "baritalia" (highly recommended
restaurant if you're in Surfers Paradise) and we enjoyed our meal there very
much. After last nights meal we think we will visit this place each night in-case
we miss out in a really nice meal at some other place knowing we could have
had a nice one back at baritalia. The Asian shop keepers are very pushy into
getting money out of you.

A picture of a bird that landed on our balcony.

Friday 22nd July 2005
We went to the information place and booked in our trip to Tropical fruit
world. It was well worth the trip out there. Brought some chocolate sauce
made from a fruit that tastes like chocolate. I also brought some things you
can add into avocado dip. Tastes lovely. We got free sampling of the fruits
they had there. One thing we noticed there was the people from overseas
(placed where English would be their second language) seemed to be very
arrogant. The guide we all had said NOT to eat at the 'bar' due to health
reasons etc. These people just kept on eating right there despite being told time
after time. It wasn't just their kids doing it - but the adults too!

I noticed on the trip out to Tropical Fruit World that there was a lot of
rubbish along the highway.

Saturday 23rd July 2005
We went to the information place this morning to book in to go to the
Australia Zoo. We were too late by about an hour so we booked it in for
Monday. Nett wanted to go to the Pacific Fair so we hopped on one of the
many frequent busses and got a ride there. God it was huge there. Like a
small city in itself. Very easy to get lost in there. I brought a couple of
dresses and Nett got a hand held vacuum cleaner thing. Picked up the ring
I brought yesterday. It was too big so needed to be adjusted to my finger
size.

Sunday 24th July 2005
I can't get over how the lorikeets fly wild here. They seem to be the only
birds you see around here, with the exception of the white bird in an above
picture. The men here are quite cute! And not many are short either. Quite
a number of them are very tall. I'd say very few people here are over weight
too. A lot of women are very skinny. I also noticed the area is more of a
young persons place. Not many of the older generation are around here.
Clothes when on special are really on special! I've picked up a heap of clothes
- some of which I will have to end up posting home or my bags will be
overweight! The weather overall hasn't been bad at all. A little windy, but
the sun is usually always out. Normally always some clouds in the sky. The
place we eat at every night is really lovely. I told the bosshe should move to
NZ and open up another place here. If youlove food, you will love this place!
Went on a 2 hour boat cruise around the river that we look out on at the
apartment. The houses were amazing there. Before I went on the boat right I
got a photo taken of me with a couple of parrots on me.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the Australia Fair. Its a better sized
and better laid out mall. I brought a few clothes there. I wouldn't mind
coming back here in a years time only for a few days to hit the shops.

Monday 25th July 2005
I had a picture taken of a boa constrictor wrapped around my neck. He was
a pretty thing. I don't know why people are so scared of snakes. The one I
had on me was a babe! I alsoshortly had my picture taken with 2 large
parrots sitting on my arms.

I got to hand feed an elephant. She left elephant juices on my hand. I took
haps of pictures of all the amazing animals they had there. I got a really lovely
shot of a tiger. I think the Irwin family have done a great job at setting it up
really well. Its a days trip there. I seen Steve for a split second on his
motorbike about to scoot off somewhere. I never seen him for the rest of the
day. I ended up getting quite sun burnt up there. The sun was beautiful and
hot. The bus trip up there was a real eye-opener. I have never seen traffic
jams like that before. We were stuck in a 'car park' for about 20 minutes
which was 20KM long. I got a picture of the traffic merging after we went
through the toll booth place.

We had our last meal at Baritalia tonight and the boss gave us a free
dessert each. We're supposed to be moving apartments tonight but we never
did.

Tuesday 26th July 2005
We had out bags all packed and ready to move out. We asked to leave our
bags in the reception area and that was fine. We went into the mall a few
minutes away and I did a little light shoping and sent some clothes home.
We sat down for a few moment and I felt really ill. Got really hot very quickly
and felt faint so raced off to the toilets and collapsed on the way there. I felt
a bit better after 10 odd minutes and we left the mall and walked back to
were our bags were and sat outside on a seat. I felt ill again so rushed into
the building and got the guy to open up all the security gates to let me into
the toilets. Both 'ends' were fully working so I'm buggered if I know what bug
I've picked up. Got on the shuttle to the airport and felt fine for the rest of the
day (I now have e cold). Booked in and did some duty free shopping. I brought
2 1L bottles of baileys for $55, 1L jim beam for $29.95, 1L 42 below for
$29.95 and a 200ml bottle of jack d's for $5. Landed in Christchurch airport
and the temp was only 6oc ... a considerable drop from the 20+ we were in!
Got in the car and grandmother drove me out of town - or that was the plan.
Came to the second roundabout and a taxi crashed into my car. The driver
wasn't giving me his name so I called the police and they sorted it all out.
Insurance is dealing with it all now.

So thats a fine 'shashing' way to end a holiday.

Oh, and for those interested: I came home with a bruised brand NEW car, a cow
down with a prolapsed uterus, and a near dead hen (its dead now) ... and a cold.

Last post before I go

2005-07-18T23:48:00.000+12:00

The time is 11:55pm Monday 18th July and not surprisingly I’m awake. If I weren’t then I wouldn’t be typing this message.

In another 9-10 hours I’ll be leaving here and spending 2 hours on the road and arriving in Christchurch and will spend the remaining of the day passing the hours somehow in an airport.

I think I’m been relatively good tonight and only sank down about 2 or 3 gins. I don’t know how many but it wasn’t near enough to cure the bad case of nerves I’m suffering from right now.

At 3:55pm I’ll jump on a plane and fly into Brisbane airport at around 6:45pm.

I have left the care of my collection of animals in the hands of my mother. I wonder how many will be dead on my return? Last time I left her to take care of my stock one of my pet chickens was dead. She now has 34 chickens to look after rather than the small flock of about 10 I had earlier when she killed one.
On my return home (probably around 2-3am Wednesday morning) I won’t post up a blurb about my adventure, but if I’m alive enough later in the day I might just post a little (big) blurb about my trip over there.

Lovey Dovey

2005-07-17T12:46:00.000+12:00

I caught on camera a common act of love this morning between Pinky (Galah) and Buttercup (yellow ringneck).

buttercup saying "noooo don't look!"

Pinky grooming herelf with Buttercup trying to get a closer look

The newly proud mother

2005-07-13T15:51:00.000+12:00

No, I'm not talking about me (phewww) but rather my new heifer/cow I brought Monday.

Here she is with her adorable little son at home in the front paddock:

The new incalf heifer

2005-07-11T16:45:00.000+12:00

This afternoon I brought myself a new 'nurse cow'.

She’s a Hereford Friesian cross breed. She isn't far off calving at all, with a nicely formed udder there and a very floppy fanny. Just a bit more room left in the udder.
She is in-calf to a Simmental bull so either sex calf she has it'll be kept.
I'll let her rear this one calf first, then wean it off at around 130KG and depending on her udder size and how much milk she is producing I'll stick one more on for sure, and possibly another one at the same time.

I get the funny feeling when I was moving her from paddock to paddock here at home tonight that if I had a bucket of nuts she'd come running right for me.
Reason I come to this conclusion is when I was rounding her up she walked (calmly) towards me then veered off in the right direction.
Plus, the mate she was sold with (I went halves in this pen with another farmer who took the other heifer) had a bobby calf tag in their ears and the vendors don't have breeding stock so they would have had to have been hand reared.
I'll get a picture of her tomorrow.

Ok, so she isn't incalf anymore. She had her calf last night.

Ready, Set, GO!

2005-07-08T11:49:00.000+12:00

I went in and booked the tickets to Aussie this morning. Return trip for 2 adults only cost $842 incl. taxes.

I had planned on taking my grandmother with me last year, but ACC stuffed up and I never received my payout when I should have.

So on the 19th July at 3:55pm I'll be flying from Christchurch across the ditch and landing in Brisbane at 5:45pm.

Arriving home on the 26th July. Leaving Brisbane at 5:30pm and landing in Christchurch at 11:50pm So my grandmother and I will probably sleep in a motel that night and travel home on the bus the next day.

I'll be taking my camera with me. I think it only holds 56 photos so will have to make the most of that and upload everything when I get home.

My cell phone will work over there which is great, but if people call me then I foot the bill!

We're going to Sea World for sure. Not sure at this stge of the other ones we'll see.

Will for sure hit the shops there Buy some cheap clothes and get the christmas presents.

Packing List
Cell phone and charger,
Clothes,
Comfy shoes,
PASSPORT,
Money,
Diary,
Camera,
Toiletries.

Rearing Dairy Calves Questions (Lets not get confused with Beef)

2005-06-28T15:23:00.000+12:00

First off is it viable to raise calves using powered milk or are you starting with a disadvantage when competing against dairy farmers.
You can rear calves on CMR (Calf Milk Powder) but you will need to also supply the calves with additional feed such as meal/nuts.
My personal opinion is that you cannot beat natures milk (Whole Cows Milk) after all, it was designed for calves right?
The main problem with rearing on CMR is that it costs extra money. A bag of CMR will cost anywhere between $60-$120.... per bag! You will need 2 bags per calf.
Now, lets say you buy a calf for $50.
Then you buy your 2 bags of CMR at lets say $70ea
Then a few bags of meal at $15ea
Your total is $235.
Now if you rear that calf to on-sell at weaner weight (100KG), you will make bugger all profit in return. If you rear to keep for the freezer, then cost doesn't really matter too much.
Cows milk IS natural. CMR is artificial and has a whole heap of unnecessary additives in it that don't NEED to be in there.
You can go to a local farm to you and buy his colostrum milk for around 30c litre, and if I was going to do calves this year I would buy in whole milk.
My personal opinion is that calves look a whole lot better on real milk than CMR.

Will all yours live under shelter and for how long?
Calves like any other animal will need some sort of shelter all their lives. Ideally, bobby calves (4 day olds) should be quarantined when brought in at 4 days old for at least 3-4 days before being let outside. Reason being you don't know what bugs that calf has and if you have other calves you don't want the bug to spread. This also gives you plenty of time to check out their poo - you just don't know how much the other person has fed this animal and if it has the scours. After that, leave them a shed of some sort to access at all times until around 3-4 weeks old (it all depends on the calves really and how well conditioned they are)

What profit rate do people aim for?
About 3 or 4 years ago, 100KG Friesian bulls were making $400 clear to the vendors hands. Today you'd be lucky to make $300 clear.
A lot will depend on the season when you sell. If you rear spring calves, sell before Christmas to make the best $$. Profit will depend also on sex of calves, and breed.

Is there a high lose rate?
That's really a hard question to answer. You will always have deaths no matter how experienced you are with calves. Deaths can happen due to many factors.
Just to list a few:
No colostrum at birth,
Poor caring of animal,
Poor weather conditions,
Bugs and diseases.

I have read 2 different theory on early weaning of milk and hard feeding. or access to hard feed but continue milk for longer. What method will you be using, sorry can't remember what they were called.
From the get-go my calves have access to meal. This helps to develop the rumen and creates the bug to help break down hard feeds. At around 75KG I drop feeds back to once a day, and at 100KG they're weaned off milk completely. They will continue to have meal until they're sold. I hope this has helped you in some way to make your own decision on how best it is for you to rear your calves later on down the track.

The Dirt Muncher

2005-06-26T21:07:00.000+12:00

The rotary how came in this afternoon and munched up the area where my new vegetable garden is going.

Here are the pictures:

Before.

The muncher in action.

Half way through.

The final result. The dirt is so fine and loose now - just fantastic.

Its about time!

2005-06-23T22:15:00.000+12:00

I had my operation back in January which put me out of work for a couple of months, and during that time I had opportunity to think about the job I had where my boss didn’t respect me wishes to be moved. I asked him face to face to be moved out of the sheep and into the cattle where I belong. He laughed at me and walked off.

So then once my 2 months was up (March) I started looking for a new job.

I’d called several people. 1 of which I couldn’t get any positive feedback about and he said he would call me back with an interview time – he never called back. If someone doesn’t have the decency to call back and be professional about employing people then he isn’t working for.

Another person I called up said he was thinking of taking on a young boy. At least he was honest about that and he took down my details in case something happened and he would need another worker. I’m yet to hear back, but he sounded as though needing someone would be a way off anyhow.

Then I seen an ad in Saturday’s paper and called up for the job of Calf Rearing. Apparently I knew this lady from the saleyards but the name didn’t ring any bells.
I went for my job interview on Tuesday afternoon and when I seen her I instantly recognised her. She called back that night with the news she was taking me on.

The farm is milking 950 Friesian cows so I will possibly be rearing around 400 calves with the help of another person (has no previous calf rearing experience).

I could also possibly be rearing the calves for the farmer I did calves for next year.
He has a smaller herd so feeding shouldn’t take anywhere near as long – an hour at most probably.

The new farms feeding times are 8am and some time between 3 and 4pm. Each feed should take 2 hours.

With the old farm feeding should only take around 1 hour, and I will do his calves first and get them out of the road to make time for the bigger herd in case it may take longer.
So I’ll feed his calves around 6-6:30am and again at 2pm.

Just as well I like calves.

Can we have it now?

2005-06-19T18:45:00.000+12:00

Well I made a fool of myself, but hey, whats new!

I said we were in for a wet winter/spring.

HA!

So far this winter we've had 0mls of rain. Yup. None. Zilch. Zip. Zreo. None.

The spring in the garden is usually flowing with water at this time of year. There isn't a sign of water anywhere.

The river is also usually full of water too, but you guessed it.... dry as a bone.

The water level has droped so far as to say our well at the runoff (right next door to the river) has almost nearly run dry - and ALL our stock is over there!!

I bet we're gonna pay for it in the spring though.

So now whoever has the rain, send it our way pelase. We're in desperate need of it!

It will be sad to see you go

2005-06-16T15:42:00.000+12:00

I took my cat ‘Pussy’ to the vet yesterday afternoon to get her annual check-up and flu vaccination booster.

While there, I got the vet to give her an all-over check to make sure she was all fine, and set for another cold winter.

Pussy is probably 13-14 years old now, so she has had a long, happy and wonderful life full of all sorts of adventures of farm life.

The vet put his ear plugs on her heart and he told me she has a murmur. He said it wasn’t too serious at this stage, but when things start to go wrong, it will all happen at once and that is when things need to be taken further, ie; putting her on drugs etc.

I don’t personally feel that at her old age, drugs are going guarantee that she will have quality of life. I think, that when things all start to go wrong with her, it may be best to put her to sleep and to end any pain and suffering she may be in at that time.

The vet couldn’t tell me how long she had left, as kidney disease usually kills them in the end (which she doesn’t have). He said she may have “months and months” left in her.

He also said, I should watch for any signs of bloating in her stomach, going off feed and drinking lots, weight loss, as these are all signs that something is going wrong and something needs to be done about it.
When her time comes, she will be a dearly missed part of the family. And although you don’t usually see much of her around the house (there are just far too many interesting things to be done outside with the chickens!) her presence will be missed dearly.

In her memory (when the time comes of course) I will get a photo enlarged, and printed in black and white and will hang on the wall.

Its all falling into place now

2005-06-15T15:11:00.000+12:00

I've been planning making a new vegetable garden this winter.

As some may know, I made a "new" vegetable garden last winter, and thinking about it now, I think I did it the hard way, but not to worry - it got done and finished for spring/summer planting.

Now to try and explain (will post picture when I get around to it)... my first vegetable garden is on the South Side, and is about 1.5m - 6m.
The "new" garden I made last winter attached onto South Side garden, but was put out to the East Side. East Side garden is about 2m - 5m.

Ya with me still? Great.

Now my plans for a new garden will be attached to the East Side garden, but put North of the South Side, so the end result will look much like a horse shoe shape garden. The new garden is about 3m - 5m.

So now I'm in the process of digging up the soil (will borrow a rotary hoe) and will get some prices for some timber of some sort to put around the edge of the garden. I'll need a fair amount since I'll put it right around the whole '3 beds' so its all matching.

It's amazing what you can find...

2005-06-11T12:28:00.000+12:00

When you clean out the freezer!

Several icebergs had attached themselves onto the side of the freezer, so I thought it was time they were removed.

Switched the freezer off so I wasn’t fighting an up-hill battle. Only a blonde would forget this important step.

As I was removing all the meat onto the garage floor with a sheet to prevent dirt attaching itself to the bags and then transferring dirt into the freezer, I found some treasures!

I thought we were out of lamb, so I went and brought 4 hogget ewes last month. Ha, I had no need to. There was a whole box full of 1 whole sheep! (OK guts and everything wasn't ther so it wasn't a whole sheep...) How could I miss that? Simple – a whole cattle beast was parked on top of it. Thankfully, the lamb meat looks OK and seems to be no freezer burn on the packets.

I also found some venison. This meat has been in there for a while (about a year now). The butcher had 2 deer to ‘do in’ and one of them he left hanging for too long and the meat started to turn, so I don’t know what meat came from what carcass so the cats are getting the remaining few packets I found (including 1 rolled stuffed roast!)

Mother tipped a bucket of colostrum out in the freezer (apparently it was an accident), so along with the icebergs, I had to remove all this colostrum too!

Some meat has been in the freezer or at least 10 years. I kid you not! Somehow some meat got stuck in boxes with ice (probably from the big shift from the West Coast to the East Coast), and could never remove the boxes (stuck with ice to the bottom of the freezer) and I finally removed the boxes along with ALL ice. Cats will love the meat – and they better too since its porterhouse steak!

I found a nice size roast pork too, and some bacon – all of which was buried under the mass of beef.

So now the icebergs are out of the freezer and melting on the driveway with the hens pecking at it. The colostrum was out there too, which the dog thoroughly enjoyed. All meat is in the right place and easily accessible – for how long is totally unknown.

Now, if you don’t mind I’m going to wrap my fingers around a hot mug of Milo!

Brainwashed by society.

2005-06-07T10:19:00.000+12:00

As most of you will know, I sell my poultry eggs to private customers.

Well, I have 2 hens, which lay “green eggs”. The egg itself inside is still the normal colour (orange yolk and clear whites) but it’s the shell that has a different colour. The shell is also quite thicker and harder to crack then your typical brown and white egg shells.

Anyway, 2 of my customers have decided they don’t at all want any green eggs. Why? What makes these eggs any different from brown or white eggs? Nothing! It’s the shell colour that puts them off. Why? I can’t understand that. The egg is perfectly normal inside. If I cracked a brown and green egg into a cup you couldn’t tell me which egg came from what colour shell.

Its society I tell you. Its corrupted and brainwashed people into disliking anything that isn’t ‘normal’ or accepted into society as being ‘ok’.

So now I’m stuck with these green eggs that no-one wants. My tastebuds don’t like the taste of eggs so me eating them is out of the question. And there is only so much baking you can do for 2 people…

Buddies

2005-05-27T21:19:00.000+12:00

I went out to feed my hens this morning and spotted these two taking a rest together on the old rotting waggon wheel.

The picture doesn't do justice to how nice it was to see the two on them in that frame.

Gawd what a day!

2005-05-25T17:39:00.000+12:00

Got up and was going to feed my some 38 hens, then decided not to since mother hadn't fed her calves yet, and I didn't feel like being molested by her calves at an early hour.

Went down to the boys school at 9:30am to pick up the barrel of scraps for the chickens.

Went to the run-off since we got home and shifted the cows. A different heifer was out this time so I think the battery must be flat, or something else fishy is going on. (new battery over there running the fence. The recently 4 day old "charged" battery is only running at 0.6v).

Shifted the white heifer into the yards to be brought home, then put the 2 new cows in with the main calving mob.

Then decided to move the 4 sheep into the triangle since the grass is shorter plus better quality (not rank). They should last at least a month in there.
Moving the sheep was a pain. There are no race-ways over there so you have so slowly coach them down the fence-line and through the gate. Well my gate flopped over so they weren't interested in even going near the gate, but wanted to stand there and have a good ole look at it though. Damn sheep! Then they gave me the run around for 10 minutes before I finally got them through, after having to put the gate back up right (it isn't on hinges). Now whats the bet they would have pushed their way out by the morning!! :(

Cut up a load of wet wood and put it on the back of the Ute this morning, then brought it home and unloaded (threw) it over the 6ft fence and into the shed were it will be sorted over winter in the deer shed.

Had a 5 minute break while mother went down and put up a fence for the white heifer to go behind here at the home block. She is an escape artist, and very cunning at it too. She rubs her head on the standards, pushes them over then steps over the hot wire!

Went to the run-off with horse float and brought the white heifer home.

Went through to Temuka with a chicken poo sample to get a vet to look at it.

Went through to Geraldine and paid my bills and got lunch (subway).

Then by the time I got home it was 4pm, sat down and ate my lunch.

Project calves - ~SOLD~

2005-05-16T18:42:00.000+12:00

Went to the saleyards today.

Took down my 4 project calves from January and sold them. Mother also put 2 of her calves in the pen, and I threw in Richie for good measure. So the pen of 7 were sold.

I told the agent I would want $270 as my reserve but was given a weak look in return as if to say I was setting an unrealistic high price. (Our weaner calf market crashed) So he told me we should set around the $250-260 mark.

At the end of the day I didn't really care what I got for them. I had a strong feeling I was going to make a loss on them, so I just wanted them gone. I wouldn't get the winter feed money back out from them over winter, and being cold in winter they wouldn't do a hell of a lot of growing anyway.

So the auction started. Bids were put in quickly which made me sus' that the agents were running it. Bids slowed down after $260 .... then $265 .... $270 .... $275 .... $280.

So I was chuffed - $10 a head more than what I really wanted.

I brought 4 hoggets at the sale today for only $40 which was the cheapest of that section of the sale. They're Merinos. They're a bit light in condition (not too bad, could easily put one in the freezer now and get enough meat from off it) but we've got plenty of grass at the run-off for them to fatten up on.

The ASD hasn't been filled in correctly (was a computer print-off and not a photocopied version) so I will keep them for a month before chucking one in the freezer, then flick the others off as needed.

Lot #9

2005-05-13T06:54:00.000+12:00

Phone rang at 5:45am and I didn’t answer. The phone/fax in the kitchen is unplugged at night so the phone in my bedroom is the only one that can ring.

So anyway, 5 minutes later, just as my eyelids were getting heavy, I heard the sound of a truck pulling up just out on the road.

Well it seems that she’s arrived, and made it known!

She was kicking her pen mates, the truck walls, and the walls on the load in/out ramp, people, the walls in the pen once she’d been gotten off the truck. And what a bloody hassle it was to sort her out from her pen mates!! Bloody nightmare. She either wouldn't get off the truck, or made good exercise of walking back up and down the load in/out ramp.

Tulloch’s never left here until 6:20am.

She’s in good health, other than her good mental kicking ability, which is a bit sour as one could easily put it.

Another busy day.

2005-05-10T18:16:00.000+12:00

Don was arriving this morning so had to get stock sorted by 9am.

He looked at the calves at the runoff and said that #11 didn't look too flash. #12 looks shit, so I figure he got the numbers muddled up. There isn't anything wrong with calf #11.

Took the bull over to the runoff and put him in with the cows.

Came home and brought the calves from up the back of home to the shed to be done for lepto and viracare.
One of the heifer calves had a ball of crap caked on her tail so that was removed. It looks like the tail is broken below the ball of crap, and there is a bit of blood there too so she was jabbed to stop infection getting in.

Sat down for 5 minutes to have a drink then was back over to the runoff with the float to pick up the bull calves and bring them home
5 have been sorted out to go to the saleyards on Monday, and the rest were put up the back for winter.

Took Richie up the back to be weaned. He finished his milk powder, and I had asked for some milk off a farmer but he doesn't have enough so the calf will be weaned. Hes about 80KG so is big enough to go off milk and onto some good tucker to get fat on.

Cleaned out the chimney this afternoon. Fire wasn't going to well but it burning better tonight.

Went to the boys school and picked up the scraps from there. Since we've got no pigs to feed, all scraps are going to the hens which they just LOVE.

Barry arrived around 3pm to put up more of the decking thing.

George arrived (old mental guy who has a crush on my mother) just as we were about to sit down and have tea! I don't like him much. He treats me like a 3 year old. He always seems to arrive when we're about to eat which pisses me off. He said he was only going to be here for 5-10 minutes, and that was at 6:05pm - its now 6:50pm and he is still here.

Bye bye Betty

2005-05-09T21:04:00.000+12:00

Well today I sold Betty down a the local saleyards. I couldn't get my hands on any winter feed no matter how many people I asked, or left messages with, so getting rid of her was the easiest option for the paddocks and her health.

I sold her with two of her smaller calves (Harry and Sylvia) and I have kept Byron to go with the rest of my weaned calves to be sold in spring.

Betty

Sylvia

Harry

I know the person who brought them so I know they'll be well looked after. Hes a local dairy farmer himself, and also does a number of 'nurse cow' too so she'l be happy.

She didn't arrive

2005-05-07T11:39:00.000+12:00

Got up at 4:30am after the truck never arrived when he said he would (2:30am).

So gave him a call and he was 5 minutes away.

2 minutes later he was pulling into the driveway.

So he backs up to the ramp and takes off the pen of 4 (we only brought 1 but they where all put together for company on the long trip) and he asks what lot was ours. Mother yells out "lot 9" and he looks a bit pissed off at this time. No lot 9 on the truck! Only lots 10, 11, 21, 24.

Looking on the TB certificate it states Lot 9 is for us - but it isn't on the truck!

What had happened was that at the place where all cattle were being shipped from, another truck got in before Tullochs (the company we use for stud stock) and he took all the TB certificates.
Our truckie had written down on paper what lots were to go to what farm (after phoning around). So our heifer was dropped off at Hamilton, and the Hamilton farmer has his other heifer down here in Southland.

Ssooo.... the Wrightsons agent was the one who fluffed things up by telling the Hamilton man he got lot 9 when he didn't. Because our truckie didn't have any TB certificates (the other truck took off with them and it was an hour later before our truckie received his TB certificates) he was going by Hamilton farmer and his word.

Lot 9 is due to calve July, so we hope like hell she wont slip with the stress of all this travel. But, if she does then there is much we can do about that.

What a fantastic way to start the day :D

Its been a busy day

2005-05-06T17:15:00.000+12:00

Went through to Geraldine this morning to sort out the registration for my car. The little card in the window says it expires on the 16th/5/05 and I've received no bill in the mail it get it redone again. So into the post shop I waddle with the rego number to see if the ownership has been changed, and it had. On the computer it said that my registration runs out on the 16th/11/05 so she printed out me a new registration card and off I went.

Popped into the supermarket for some milk and brought mother a bottle of wine for mothers day.

Went to the saw mill and loaded the back of the Ute up with sawdust to go inside the pigs house for when the new weaner pigs arrive. The might be coming next week some time.

On the way home I stopped in at the Geraldine Orchard to see what they had in there. Nothing much. Brought half a big cabbage for $1.50. It'll last quite a while for us.

Got home and put all the sawdust in the house ready for the pigs. Also threw a tarp over the roof since it leaked.

Got a phone call and was told the in-calf cow brought at a Ayrshire Auction up in the North Island is arriving tomorrow morning 2am on Tullochs.

Spent the remaining of the afternoon burning rubbish piles out in the chook enclosure. I got a rake and brought together all the loose bits of wood for a nice 'smooth' finish on the ground. Looks nice and tidy until the 38 hens deal to that.

Great picture of Pigeon

2005-04-28T14:53:00.000+12:00

Pigeon

2005-04-25T19:51:00.000+12:00

Remember I brought 2 pigeons last month? Well for about a week now only one of them has been hanging around here. I don't know if the other has flown away, or one of the wild cats made a meal of it.

Here are some pictures of the remaining pigeon:

Bbrrrr its COLD

2005-04-24T21:00:00.000+12:00

Last night we had a brilliant lightning show on display in the sky last night. I stood on the toilet seat of all places, half hanging out the window with my film camera taking pictures of it. I don't know if any of the pictures will be any good... will see when I get the film developed. We had a good dose of hail last night too.

Today was blimmin cold. We only reached 7oc. But what made it seem even colder was the wind chill. We've had strong cold winds here all day.

This shows how strong the wind was

Its not a pretty picture

Dark clouds coming inland after being out to sea all day

2005-04-22T19:46:00.000+12:00

My gardening forum got a update today.

Click here to view my forum.

Anyone is welcome to join, infact I strongly urge you to since there are only 18 members at the moment.

There is a Lounge for people to 'sit and talk' about anything. The forum isn't strictly a 'gardening' one...

Look out New Zealand...

2005-04-21T16:09:00.000+12:00

I'm legally now qualified to drive on the roads as of yesterday 2pm.

I passed my drivers licence first pop - which I'm thrilled about. Took me long enough to get to this stage, but I'm finally here!!

I drove mum home from hospital yesterday and I tell ya, I was shaking like a leaf in the wind. A cat ran across the road right in-front of me and I was scared I was gonna squish it flat, and a person pulled out in-front of me coming from a side street. I nearly shit my pants!

I'm addicted

2005-04-17T17:38:00.000+12:00

Yup, sad but its true.
I'm adicted
Oh so very addicted.
To TradeMe

I've brought:
Carrot seeds, asparagus seeds, 3 heirloom tomat oseeds, french bean seeds, fennel seeds, asparagus pea seeds, long green radish seeds, and I'm moments away from buying a bread maker.

I've got my bids on:
heirloom potatoe seeds, oriental spinach, green cauliflower.

Thinking about buying:
Med squares hay

Trying to sell:
An old necklace.

My piggie bank isn't hurting yet, but at least most things I've brought or am buying I can at least get something back from it.

Richie

2005-04-12T14:15:00.000+12:00

I went and brought a new calf yesterday which I'll rear on milk powder. Reason I brought it was because Betty has 3 beefies on her, and if I rear one then I can sell the 4 of them together and make a 'pen of 4' which means I can get my calves at the front of the sale before people bugger off before the 'singles' (less than 4) come through.

He was named Richie. His breeding is Friesian X Simmy.

Foliage

2005-04-10T21:30:00.000+12:00

I've got it! Wohoo

2005-04-09T08:13:00.001+12:00

I got my new car on Tuesday.

When I first looked at it it didn't really strike me as the most beautiful car around (that award goes to the new Holden Commodore) but I must sat that it is growing on me somewhat. This is a 2001 Ford Ka.

It has a sunroof, ABS breaking, air con, 2 air bags, had done 40,200km when I brought it, and it only cost me $9,990.

The Lounge?

2005-03-30T18:45:00.000+12:00

What happened to the Lounge? Anyone know?

I'm so clever

2005-03-28T16:38:00.000+12:00

Being me, I don't get along with technology all that well, infact I've been known to frequently disagree with it. But I was shocked silly with myself that I actually made a forum! Its as easy as pie.

I was concerned about the lack of New Zealand gardening forums out there, so decided this afternoon to make one.

If anyone is interested in joining, feel free to do so. It'd be great to have new members (its lonely being the only one).

So please ---> click here <--- and join in on the fun that it will be.

Betties babies photos

2005-03-27T09:28:00.000+12:00

I went out to take these pictures this morning. Tried giving Betty some apple but she wasn't too impressed with it, so the other cows ate it happily, fighting each other for the crumbs.

Byron, Harry and Sylvia

Harry

Byron

Sylvia

Dreamers vegie garden

2005-03-26T19:41:00.000+12:00

After watching Ground Rules last night, I was left drooling and gagging at the bit to get a roll on my new project that'll happen some time down in the pipe line of things.

Anyway, since I can't be bothered to scan the paper I drew this on, you'll have to make do with my very unfortunate way of describing how things actually are:

There is a fence around my vegie garden to keep things (cows mostly, since the plot will go in a paddock) out of the vegie garden. Should I find a cow in this "soon to be one day new garden" then I'll shoot her dead before she can tell the story. And yes, I'm very protective of my vegie garden.

This fence is 13m X 16m 'square'.

Inside this fence will be 5 vegie plots.
2 plots: 6m X 3m
1 plot: 4m X 3m
1 plot: 3m X 5m
1 plot: 9m X 3m
The plot that measures 4m X 3m I'm undecided as to whether I'll 'cage' it to keep birds out so I can grow tomatoes over summer and other delicates that birds seem to really enjoy, OR put a glass house in there.

Also inside the fence there are 4 fruit plots.
2 plots: 2m X 3m
2 plots: 1m X 4m

All beds will be raised up by 30cm.

The rest of the area that isn't plots will be bark chipped or similar to stop pugging in the ground.

Byron, Harry and Sylvia

2005-03-25T10:39:00.000+12:00

I went and checked on Betties calves this morning.

Byron is growing like a little mushroom. Hes just thriving on mothers milk. He thinks he a real hot shot out there in the paddock with mother.

Harry is doing well too. Hes a lot quieter than what he was when he first arrived - thank god! Hes got a touch of the scours, but I'm not the slightest concerned about that. Hes old enough to hold his own without it knocking him back.

Sylvia is going well too. She is so fine boned... really jersey-fied but she will fill out into a nice calf. She had a full tummy when I went and checked on them this morning which was good to see. Not that I had any doubts they where all getting a feed from Betty. Sylvia also has a touch of the scours, so it just goes to show how much excess milk Betty has on her.

I'm going to buy a bale of baleage and shove Betty up the back of the farm with her calves over winter. She will be alone up there, but the reasoning for that is to make sure no other weaned calves decide to suckle off her. The grass is of poor quality but there is heaps of it, hence the baleage. There is still no water supply to that paddock, so I'll have to cart water up there for her. I just hope we don't have a wet winter or I won't be able to get the motorbike up there to give her clean water.

This bale of baleage I will get is from our big dairy farmer neighbour. His heifers broke through the boundry fence and into our back paddock where the weaned calves and the bull are. He said he would give us a couple of bales since they where grazing on our property for a few days. I don't see that he should do this since its no skin off our nose, plus he has done heaps for us already, such as paying for a digger to come and clean out the boundry drain that got blocked and flooded his paddock, then he came in yesterday with his tractor and took away all the dirt from where the digger and cleaned out.

The heavens have opened up

2005-03-25T10:34:00.000+12:00

Over the past couple of days we've been getting some drizzle, but nothing major to write home about.

Yesterday it died off, but still had the look/feeling of rain again.

Last night it started drizzling again.

Got up some time this morning and heard it was bucketing it down. I don't know what time this was - probably around 6am.

Got up at 7:30am to go feed my hens and my gumboots where full of water :(

We've had 13mls of rain so far, now all we need is a little sunshine.

The heifers have started to pug up their paddock, so they where shifted onto more grass. They're on one of the 'wet' paddocks to clean it out, then they'll be shifted into the other 'wet' paddock to clean that out too.

Music Review

2005-03-24T20:03:00.000+12:00

Brooke Fraser - what to do with daylight

I purchased the CD this morning and slapped it on my CD player. So far it hasn't stopped playing.

I am enjoying the top quality of music that New Zealand is finally producing, well sort of. She is now in Australia, her adopted home. If I hadn't known any better, I would have said she was an American with the quality of the sounds.

Brooke Fraser is New Zealands queen of 'pop' music.

I find the music would be perfect for a long drive somewhere, easy to sing along with. Which is understandable since she has sold over 100,000 copies and has gone seven times platinum!

Its slight rock, and slight jazz - a good conbo with her voice. “It was important to hear people singing about stuff that mattered, real stuff. I wasn’t interested in hearing about shakin’ it all night long or getting it on all night on the dancefloor.” You go girl!

The industry is convinced Brooke Fraser is an incredible talent who writes beyond her years and will surely have a long and stellar career – and her incredible success in New Zealand supports this view. But perhaps the clearest vision of her future career comes from the down-to-earth artist herself.

“When the record deal process was happening, I was aware that I had this amazing opportunity that not everyone gets. But rather than feeling overwhelmed by it, it just felt like the most natural thing in the world. It felt really right, like I was walking in the plan for my life, and it was all meant to be. If there’s any confidence it just comes from that… I know I’m in the right place, and I know that every decision I try to make with integrity and with wisdom.”

Go to her offical website here

Garden

2005-03-23T20:14:00.000+12:00

Rebekahs Garden

Tomatoes:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/vatmarken_ayrshires/Digital%20camera%20photos/Vegetables/Img_0364.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/vatmarken_ayrshires/Digital%20camera%20photos/Vegetables/Img_0365.jpg[/IMG]

Potatoes:
Guess what I found in my garden this afternoon? And guess what we had for tea tonight??
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/vatmarken_ayrshires/Digital%20camera%20photos/Vegetables/Img_0368.jpg[/IMG]

Pumpkins:
There is still about another 6 pumpkins out there that aren't ready to be picked yet.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/vatmarken_ayrshires/Digital%20camera%20photos/Vegetables/Img_0347.jpg[/IMG]

Wild west coast mint:
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v376/vatmarken_ayrshires/Digital%20camera%20photos/Vegetables/Img_0366.jpg[/IMG]

Crafty Chickens

2005-03-22T11:43:00.000+12:00

My chooks are playing tricks on me!

I went and brought another 3 POL (point of lay) hens from my supplier in Seadown last Friday the 18th.

They're lovely wee hens, but a bit 'spooky'. They are at the bottom of the pecking order, which is to be expected. I just hate to see them getting picked on though. It'll all be fine in another couple of weeks I hope.

Anyway, when I went to pick up the hens from The Dude, I seen his 4 or 5 hen houses. They where like HUGE deer 'stables'. Along one wall was the nesting boxes and at the back was like a swing shelf with wire netting for the hens to purch up on at night.

Anyway, in the nesting boxes where HEAPS of eggs. There must have been at least 12-16 boxes in each 'stable' and in each box there would have been between 7-15 eggs!!

He said he collected the eggs twice a week, and gives some of them away. The Dude told us to take some with us, so being modest we took just 1 doz eggs from the god only knows how many dozen he had there.

I got home and thought about it, called The Dude up and gave him the contact number to the shop where I sell my eggs. I learnt today that The Dude has contacted the shop and supplied 10 doz eggs there this morning.
So thankfully I have the 'sister' shop where I can sell my FR (free range) eggs to.

Getting back to the story now...

I went and collected the eggs yesterday. Being it a cold and wet day I expected egg production to be down. Yes, cold grotty weather can put hens off the lay for a couple of days.

I had previously collected 8 eggs from 10 hens since the 18th, and yesterday I collected 5 eggs from 10 hens. Thats fine, I can handle that since its grotty weather.

Anyway, I went out this morning at around 9:30am to collect 3 eggs. I picked up the 3 eggs from one of the nesting box and 2 from Reddies nest. But I'm dead sure I picked up Reddies egg from yesterday (she doesn't lay in the chook house - she lays in the garden) and she is the only one who lays in there, plus her eggs are totally different coloured and shaped from the other hens (isn't that right, Ashley?!). But there where 2 eggs there from this morning? Old Mother Hen was sitting on the other nesting box so I didn't dare try steal the eggs from under her or all hell would break loose.

I went out again just before at around 11:30am to collect the remaining 4 expected eggs.
Here comes the strange part ...

*insert spooky music here*

I walked inside with 6 eggs. Thats 11 eggs from 10 hens!!!!!!

Weaned

2005-03-22T11:15:00.000+12:00

Well, my 4 herefords boys are now weaned off milk as of a few days ago, and had their last feed of meal this morning.

Once they have finished off all their meal, they will be moved up the back of home to be forgotten about for a month or two and then I'll sell them off to the highest bidder.

Their weights would range between 75/80kg at the smallest (the smallest is Jim who had the scours when I got him)to 100kg at the largest.

They where drenched with 'Arrest' on the 16th March, so are well prepared for their new adventure up the back to bellow their guts out for the next few days. Althought they've been off milk for a few days now, Ted is the only one who moooes when he thinks he needs milk.

Betties new babies

2005-03-18T21:06:00.000+13:00

I got Betty 2 new calves today.

1 Jersey X Gelvbeih heifer calf
1 Angus X Friesian/Jersey bull calf

The Angus arrived in one piece, but I'm not sure how. Apparently he had been in the milking herd for a week and had been sucking off the cows. This calf has a lot of life in him - he was picking on the other 2 calves! Betty put him in his place a couple of times, but she has accepted him as her own.
Hes a mad little bugger. I had him cornered in the cow shed yards and taged him while I had the chance to.

The Heifer I got from a lady just up the road from here. She brought it at the saleyards in Canterbury last Tuesday and it was pretty 'lively' back then, and still is today. The heifer hadn't been in the paddock no longer than 10 minutes before she was sucking off Betty.

I'll grab some pictures tomorrow to post up here, if I don't get flattened by the Angus.

Angus X Bull:

Gelvbeih X Heifer:

Hedgehog

2005-03-16T19:12:00.000+13:00

I had a wee guest in my garden tonight.

Gave him some pear and bread which he gladly chewed away on. He let me get pretty close to him which I thought unusual. Didn't even roll himself up into a ball and I had fed him. They have long tongues, and cute wee legs :D

My photographs

2005-03-13T20:59:00.000+13:00

View my photographs that I've taken with my digital camera. Click here

If you want a larger copy of any of the photographs, send me an E-mail and I'll electronically ship it off to you.

4 Herefords

2005-03-13T11:16:00.000+13:00

Here is the most recent pictures of my 4 boys. These where taken this morning.

Head shot of Ted

Ted watching the dog

"What you lookin' at?"

Reddie

Rex

Jim

They are nearly weaned now, and then will go through 2 25KG bags of meal and that'll be it.

Jim I suspect has worms, so the lot will be done Tuesday morning after I buy some drench.

@#%!& (ouch)

2005-03-12T14:15:00.000+13:00

I put Betty through the milking shed this morning and she was a good girl, like I thoughts she would be.

Just as mother was putting the 2nd row through I went and got Betty to bring into the yards to be in the last row with Kristen. Well, I was hoping to get Kristen in the last row with her, but it ended up being Sandy who was last. I instantly though 'oh no there will be some fireworks now!' but thankfully there was no squabbling.
Sandy didn't let her milk down but Betty. Aaahhh shes a good girl. She let her milk go for me and I collected 10L. She was still chockaloaded when I let her go this morning, but there was no way I could have milked her all out. The calf had to have something to drink.

Anyway, she was standing there with the machines milking her when Sandy reversed back and pushed Betty towards me, and on me! She stood on my foot. I didn't say anything but shove her back then jump up and down holding my foot.

I will bring her into the yards again tonight and milk her out completely. Her front quarters had hardly milked out this morning so I'll get that tonight.

The milk from this morning I put in the freezer. All other milk I get from her will go into the hereford bull calves I'm feeding. It'll give them the shits but they'll get over it.

Betties progress

2005-03-11T21:43:00.000+13:00

She let me pat her tonight.

I gave her some meal this morning to see if she would eat it, and she did which is great. Over winter I will feed her some pellets as an extra boost. I've decided to keep the calf since its sired by a beef breed, so she will rear 3 calves for me over winter. Anything extra over winter will help her with the milk production.

I gave her more meal tonight and tried to pat her while she was standing there eating the meal. She was a little nervy which I expected but she tolerated me standing there barely touching her. Once she got more and more used to me being that close I was more firm with the pats and she relaxed a bit. Cows usually love to be scratched under their tail but she didn't seem to enjoy it. Maybe because she was still tense. But I was thrilled enough to be able to pat her, even if she was bribed! :D

Her udder is chockaloaded with milk so I'll milk her in the morning and freeze the milk. I'll put her in the shed with Kristen so she will have some bovine company there with her, and hopefully she'll let her milk down for me. I have faith that she will since she is an ex-dairy cow.

Baby Byron

2005-03-10T15:35:00.000+13:00

At 17 hours of age

Betty was calved last night

2005-03-10T08:59:00.000+13:00

My new Jersey cow, which I've only owned for 11 days now, had her baby last night with the assistance of us.

She is quite a nervy cow - not one you can go up to and give a scratch. But she is a fantastic mother and is going to make a terrific nurse cow.

Yesterday morning we caught a bull (weaned - brought last Monday with intentions of breeding from him. Hes about 230KG) sucking off her. You won't believe how mad I was that he was sucking out all that milk. Prior to that, 3 of mothers new heifer calves she brought in where suckling off her a week ago.

In the milking shed ready to be calved

Out come the feet

Then the head

Its a boy!

Mother and baby this morning.

I was told she was either incalf to a hereford or friesian bull - but as you can clearly see, its neither.
He is completely brown with a black swish - hes a jersey.
As soon as my new 2 angus bulls arrive in a couple of week - I might sell this jersey bull. We will see. She has a good enough udder to feed 3 - but you need the grass to keep up the milk production to feed 3.

Project Calves

2005-03-06T21:33:00.000+13:00

Reddie

Jim

Ted

Rex

All calves are now, much to their disapproval, are on once day feeding.

Wind

2005-03-06T21:21:00.000+13:00

Its been windy here

Today we've had some real strong winds. Up in Mt Cook, they had winds of up to 130+kmph.

I got up this morning at 7am and it was blowing like anything and never died down until around 6pm.

Here is how my corn looked this morning as the wind first went through:

I had my corn planted very close together in the hopes that it would help support each other, but this wind just knocked the guts out of my little cobs!

You also shouldn't be able to see the beans behind the corn... but you now can. If it wasn't for my bean tyre/stand (far left of the picture you see a white lines - thats the bean tyre and stand) I'm sure the whole lot would be completely on the ground.

Jersey cow

2005-03-01T14:54:00.000+13:00

Giant Jersey

I'd like to introduce to you all, the newest addition to my herd of nurse cows.

'Jersey' is a 475KG Jersey cow I brought last Monday, the 21st down at the local saleyards.

As most of you know I'm not a fan of Jerseys. But as nurse cows they're ok.

She is either incalf to a Friesian or Hereford bull. No matter what bull served her, her own calf won't be kept. Friesian Jersey calves don't sell well, and a Hereford Jersey will have spotty faces. Either way, the Jersey in the calf will show through and the calf will be worth next to nothing, so she may as well have a good breed on her for her to rear.

I took these pictures this morning.

Dove

2005-02-27T17:36:00.000+13:00

Wild White Dove

I was walking out to feed my calves tonight when I seen this pigeon sitting on the calves meal feeder.
I promptly put buckets of milk down, raced inside and back out again with new camera in hand and took this picture of the pigeon before it flew away.
I noticed Peggy (half pet pigeon I've had since she was a baby) and her boyfriend (wild dark grey pigeon) where sitting over at the water trough.
But I'm not sure if this white pigeon is with those two since I've never seen it here before.
I've trimmed the picture down and blown up the size of the pigeon since I couldn't get a really nice close-up of it.

BUSTED!

2005-02-26T14:27:00.000+13:00

Its no wonder I haven't been getting any strawberries... I caught Reddie red handed.

New Toy

2005-02-25T20:56:00.000+13:00

Canon PowerShot A400

It can take movies, digital zoom, continuous shooting, special scene mode, postcard print mode, can upload pictures to even a TV (yeah I'm probably sounding very 'corny' right about now but this is all new to me ya know!) flash, macro/infinity (whatever that is), Panoramic images and soooo much more that I am yet to find out! It has 3.2 Mega Pixies.

I've taken 2 pictures with it that have so far been successful. And whats even more exciting is I actually got them uploaded to my computer!!!! TRUELY AMAZING!

More rain - please?

2005-02-23T15:00:00.000+13:00

Last winter we where left with a muddy area that usually grows grass once we get some nice sunny weather. But this year, that didn't quiet happen.
Yes, we had the rain (last year) and then it turned out really hot in Jan.
Just to show up dry things have got, I took this picture of that area:

And the DAY after our recent 37mm of rain this is what it looked like:

Bonnie

2005-02-23T14:54:00.000+13:00

Bonnie - warrior princess

Bonnie to the rescue

A big tough nosey Bonnie, thinking shes real cool with her warrior paint on

"My toy! Not yours!"

New house boarder

2005-02-22T16:19:00.000+13:00

Recently, a new boarder has made this house her home. Or at least shes trying to.
Now, it not like we haven't got the room because we have - but we just don't want her here!
How on earth should we tell her that we don't want her here in this house?
Seems that whenever the front door is open, shes just runs on inside.
I would think that 2 people, 3 parrots, 1 cat and 1 dog is enough without another 2 legged thing living under this roof.
Suppose I should mention its a chook!

Wedding Photos

2005-02-22T09:30:00.000+13:00

Chris and Carolines Wedding Day

Caroline and Tyla

The wedding group

Chris and myself

A dogs perfume

2005-02-10T19:14:00.000+13:00

Why is it, that when there is any offensive smell to us humans, that a dog must roll in it?

And why is it, that after they have rolled in this fresh (and sometimes, not so fresh!) offensive smell, that they must run to 'mum' or 'dad' and show them their new sent and rub it all over 'mum' or 'dad'?

We where given some rotten pumpkins and potatoes from the shop. They where nicely stewing in their own juices, giving out the most awful smell that they where simply just dumped on the ground in a far far away piece of neglected garden to fade away.
Well, my beloved (today she wasn't though) dog Bonnie, well she found this nasty patch and thought it be a good idea to roll in it, getting it alllll through her coat! Need I say she is a long haired Golden Retriever?! Now, if you haven't before smelt what rotten pumpkin and potatoes smell like when they're stewing in their own juices, then consider yourself lucky!

Its stinking HOT!

2005-02-10T10:29:00.000+13:00

A piece of today's Timaru Herald:

"South Canterbury sweltered yesterday with a high of 33C recorded in the city.
The last time it was anywhere near that warm in recent years in Timaru was January 13, 2002, when a high of 31C was recorded.
It may be a surprise to learn that as we basked in 33 degrees, we where slightly hotter than Colombo and Panama where it was 32C, while Jakarta, Dili, and Brisbane could only manage 31C.
Those fortunate enough to make beach yesterday, or managed a dip in the sea were probably blissfully unaware that it was warmer at Caroline Bay than in Rarotonga (29C) and Fiji (31C)."

My trusty barometer reads it is only 29C and its only 10:40am.

11:40am and its 31C outside on my barometer.

1pm and it is 32½C outside on the barometer.

2:30pm and the temp outside is 35C.

Its now 3:05pm and the sun is out for the first time today. Temp is now in the shade outside 37C.

Garden Produce

2005-02-02T17:39:00.000+13:00

First Produce Picked For sale

Today I took my first picking of top grade Zucchini. Even though its late in the season (February already!) I was still excited to take that first cut.

The 'seconds' (small, odd shaped, blemished) zucchinis are the ones I keep for eating, or the pigs will get.

My corn is doing ok I think. Its just over 6 foot high and a couple are starting to flower but no sign of any cobs anywhere. Maybe the season hasn't been as kind to me as I'd hoped. Or can I just blame mother for not watering my garden when I was in hospital?? :D Dreams are free!

I'd planted out a heap of beans this year also. The old rear end tractor tyre was filled of beans which are 2 weeks behind the beans climing up the netting at the back of the vegie garden. We've had a small picking from the netting beans, but nothing substantial for selling. The 2 week younger beans are considerably smaller than the others.

Calf Rearing

2005-01-31T17:17:00.000+13:00

Associated Costs of calf Rearing

Calves: 4 hereford bull calves - 'bobbies' .::. $120ea .::. $480

CMR: 7 bags Denkavit Plus 20kg .::. $70ea .::. $490

Meal: 1 bag moozlee Plus 25kg .::. $25.70ea .::. $25.70

This is so far how much I've spent on my 4 bobbies I got Saturday morning.

I've noticed 1 calf 'Jim' has the scours which I've treated with a product called 'Trolyte', which is by far the best anti-scour product I've come across. The only down side to this product is it doesn't have added glucose in it.

Ted

Reddie

Reddie and Jim

I will keep an up-to-date posting on this so those of you interested in knowing the associated costs of calf rearing can see just how much it takes to rear calves. I will also post up sale price to see just how much money was made/lost.
'Trolyte' Electrolyte Replacer. Aids in the treatment of calf scours. Active ingredients: A balanced combination of Chloride, Sodium, Potassium, Bicarbonate and Phosphate ions. TROLYTE is formulated to provide a balanced mixture of electrolytes similar in proportion to the electrolyte content of milk. Electrolytes contained in TROLYTE correct dehydration and loss of salts that occur in severe scouring in calves. Cost: Anywhere between $16 - $20 per 1kg container. Purchase from your local vets. You may have to order it in which will add to your cost.
3rd February: All 4 calves where this morning given a 2ml injection of "5 in 1". They are due for their booster injection in another 2 weeks time.
5th February: The calves have successfully been bumped up from 10L per feed between the 4 calves to 14L per feed between the 4 calves without any sign of scouring. All calves are growing frantically before my eyes, and the calf 'Jim' who had the scours when I purchased him is looking much better and gaining weight rapidly. Unfortunately for Jim he has had a gadget put in his nose to stop him from sucking other calves navels.

Operation

2005-01-30T13:46:00.000+13:00

Release contracture Left axilla with 'Z' plasty combined with SSG from Left thigh

Thats the technical term for the operation I had on the 18th of January this year ('05).

Before I went into the operating room I had worked myself up into a real state. I was really scared of the needle but I did ask to get the gas so I'd be really high so I didn't know what was happening. I can't say I like the gas - you've got no control over yourself while breathing the stuff in. It is a most unusual feeling having that gas, and not a sensation I can really explain without sounding like I've had 3 too many beers.

After the operation was over, I wasn't in any 'real' pain. I lay there on my bed with a sore throat, and explained this to the nurse there. She went and fetched me an ice block. I held it, then moments later said "sorry I can't have this - I'm going to throw up!" so she took it away and yes, I was sick, not once, not twice, but about 8 times all up. The nurse thought it was some pain killer she was injecting into my drip but I knew better than that. Each time I've had an operation I've always been sick shortly after waking up.

I got back to my room feeling great other than wanting to be sick every few minutes. I was in no pain but the nurse gave me 2 panadol anyway.

I tried to munch on a little lunch but I wasn't really hungry. Managed to eat 1/4 sandwich, 1/2 my jelly and 1/2 my ice cream and some water.

About 2 hours later, I was again sick. I had pushed the button for the nurse to come give me something to stop me from being sick about 5 minutes before it actually happened. My 'roomie' (she was operated on just after I was) had her daughter there and she took the bowl away from me. I didn't have good aim - got it all over my blanket. I felt sorry for that girl having to take my bowl from me - she shouldn't have had to. The nurse should have came when I pressed the button. It was only couple minutes after that that the nurse showed up.

I was let out the next morning (19th) and allowed to go home.

I had my arm bandages removed on the 24th and my surgeon (Dr G. Blake - fantastic surgeon!) was very pleased with my results. He put a thick dressing over the graft on my arm and didn't check my leg where the graft came from. My splint was put on properly that day. Before that it was just held there but the long bandages.

Friday 28th I had my leg bandage removed. A few days before this was removed I swear I could have scratched my leg off it I hadn't held myself back! When the bandage was removed there was new skin under, looking rather red from the special graft dressing called 'Scarlet Red'. But I couldn't believe it - it was almost healed with the exception for a small scab which the nurse not so kindly ripped off and made bleed.

He also had another look at my arm and changed the dressing there. Some moisture got in (sweating in the Canterbury heat) and made things a little icky. He put a smaller dressing over my arm since it wasn't leaking.

I wasn't allowed to have a shower until the day after the bandages where removed from my leg (28th).

My arm is allowed to be out of the splint now provided I keep up my exercises, which I've been doing. I can't believe how much more I can move my arm. Its a bit stiff to move because the operation was over my muscle.

Against Drs orders I've taken the dressing off completely to let my arm air out and dry up. I felt that with it all dressed up the air couldn't get in and dry up the infected area of skin. It seems to be drying up nicely, and my arm moves about more easily with the dressing off. Last night I had put a small dressing over my arm to protect it from my clothes/blankets at night. During the day I've been wearing a sleeveless top so nothing is rubbing against my grafted skin.

I have noticed there are still a few stitches in there which I'll ask my GP about early next week. I believe the surgeon had removed all external stitches and the internal ones where dissolving stitches. While at the GP I'll ask about the infected skin and see if she can give me something to take which will help kill the infection and make it heal a little faster.

Still, after getting out from surgery I haven't had any pain killers of any sort, with the exception of the 2 panadols the nurse gave me when I got back to my room.