helpful hints from my Farmer

I had a harrowing experience the other day, (well, I thought it was at the moment) and it made me recall a few important lessons my Farmer has taught me over the years.  I thought maybe i would share them.  These are lessons I learned when driving our farm equipment, but have used them many times out side of the farm life.

Do not panic.  Panicking only causes more problems. This is hard for me, I am a really good panickier (person the panics).  Especially when i am going up a hill, try to stop, the brakes don't work, and i start rolling backwards down the hill.  Or my tractor jumps out of gear as I am going down a hill.  I just have to remember our hills are little and I will stop at the bottom....so my Farmer says.

Don't push in the clutch when driving down a steep hill.  If you do, you can get in a lot of trouble real fast.   Your tractor starts going faster in a hurry, and when you let the clutch out......well let's just say that it is not good, especially if there is snow on the ground.  My Farmer taught me this on bare ground, but I learned from experience on snowing ground.......not good......totally causes a panic moment.

Do not hold onto the steering wheel when you look behind you.  It seems that when you turn your head to look behind, you also turn the steering wheel, which in turn makes a crooked row.  So I learned to loosen my grip on the wheel, when I look behind.  I do not let go completely, just in case I might need to grab it quick. (Could be my controlled issue kicking in too)

Use your mirrors when backing up.  This lesson is one of the best he has taught me and has came in handy many times. When backing up, use both side mirrors and the rearview mirror (if they are not broken off).  This way you can still keep an eye on the front end of the vehicle.  I had to learn this when I started driving the field trucks and the Semi Truck, as you can not look out the back window (mostly because there isn't one).  This did take a lot of practice, but I can do it, very well in my opinion, even with a trailer......most of the time. (there is a small dent in my pickup caused by me backing up while hook to a trailer, but we wont discuss that).

So those are my important lessons learned from my Farmer that I am passing on to you.  I'm sure I will learn more to share someday, cuz I am always learning while I am Livin' life, the farm life that is.

Ranch Life has its ups and downs.......

The continuation of Saving a calf.......
This morning started out really good.  At the six o'clock session, Calfy (thought I would name him), was alive and looking good.  His gut area was still very swollen, but he was alert.  So we gave him his IV, (my Farmer is getting the hang of it) and then we rode through the cows to make sure nothing else was in trouble, sick, or thinking about being sick.  (Or as my Farmer says, trying to die).  We got back to the house to feed ourselves, and realized the someone hadn't had time to go shopping.  So my Farmer and I made a quick trip to the grocery store.  Then it was time for another IV sessions.  As with the other times, I once again was holding my breath, we open the door and and yep, still alive.  Holy moly this is tough.  This time we gave him some electrolytes along with his IV fluid.  He was not real keen on sucking the bottle, but I helped him along so he got it down.  After riding out through the cows again, we stopped by to check on Calfy and he was actually trying to get up.  A very good sign.  So on to the next session, a little over 3 hours later.  When we got to the calf house, Calfy had gotten up and wandered a good 10 feet away from the house.  A totally good sign I thought.  So we started the IV and I was just about to give him some more electrolytes and all of a sudden, boom, just like that, he dies.  Holy Shit was all that I could say.  Well, crap and a few other words but we'll just keep it at that.  We were devastated.  We could not believe it.  We kept expecting it to happen, but when it actually did.....Crap.  What a total let down.  No matter where or what, death is hard.  My Farmer always takes the death of one of his critters very hard.  Its just enough to make a person very moody and grouchy the rest of the day.......him not me. So all that work and it didn't work out.  But we did learn new things and are more educated when it happens again.  And I have a new job, riding through the cattle twice a day and making sure every calf gets up and eats, which is a little time consuming, beings how there are 70 of them to date.  (I learned that most times the calf dies from dehydration not from the sickness, thus my new job). And we did get in some fine quality bonding time, my Farmer and me.  And that is always very important when you are living' life, even the farm life.

A First for Me at Saving a Calf...........

Today we had a first.  We IV'ed a calf.  I have never seen this done before.  It is kind of cool.  We have lost 2 calves in the last week, and found another sick one tonight at feeding time so we took him to the veterinarian to see if he could tell us what was wrong.  The vet really couldn't diagnose anything at this point except that he was dehydrated, severely, to the point where he would have been dead in a couple of hours.  So he administrated an IV, and gave him fluids. Now when we arrived at the vet, this calf couldn't even hold up his head and had given up on life.  After giving him two bag of fluids, he was holding his head up and acting like he might actually want to live.  Amazing!  So we brought him home, put him in the warm calf house, gave him one more bag of fluids then left him until the next scheduled feeding, which was three hours.  I was really afraid to go back after that three hours.  I just knew he would be dead.  After all, the other two calves I had tried to save died, so why not this one.  My Farmer and I woke up at 2:00am and went back to the calf house.  I was totally holding my breath as he opened the door, I did not want to find this little guy dead.  OMG!  He was laying there, his head up and he had even moved around!  I was so excited I almost wanted to cry!  So we gave him another bag of fluids and even gave him a little milk.  Now we are back home, will try and get a couple hours sleep, then go back and if he is still alive, give him more fluids.  However, I am still holding my breath and praying, cuz I know we are not out of the woods yet.  Until tomorrow...... Or I guess it is already tomorrow.........wow I better get some sleep!

It's not always best to be pushy....

Well, we have officially started the calving season.  Had one calf born without problems, got right up and ate.  Always good.  Then we had one cow decide to prolapse.  She probably didn't really just lay there and say I think I will mess with my Farmer today and push my insides out but sometimes you wonder.  I mean really, when she felt that urge to push, all she had to do was get up and run around the feed lot a couple of times and things would have wiggled back to where they were suppose to be.  Simple.  But noooo, she had to keep pushing.  So into the corral she must go.  Thus, we had our first cow chase of the season.  At least most of the frozen cow turds on the lot are thawed out so it wasn't too rough.  I did get high centered once when I tried to follow the tractor track through the snow.  Evidently the tractor has more clearance than my ATV.  Go figure. Hehe By the time I got unstuck my Farmer had the cow almost to the corral.  I was able to catch up just in time to turn her in to the gate.  Good timing on my part, I believe.  We got her in the chute, My Farmer got all her innerds pushed back in while I cheered him on.  (That's about all I can do and I am darn good at it.) (Smile).  She will stay locked up in the corral until she calves so we can keep an eye on her.  I know she would rather be out with the other cows, but darn, that's what she gets for pushing that crap out!  Next time just get up and walk around!  Exercise is good!  Don't be lazy!  OK now I am talking to myself, so I better get off of here and go do something.

Always be prepared..........

The other day I was reminded why I never leave the house with out my extra gear.  It was warm, (well that is relative to where you are I guess), but here it was 36 degrees and the sun was shinning and to me it was warm.  When it was time to go feed cows, it felt so nice outside that I headed out without my coat, my warm hat, or my snow boots.  My reasoning was.....it only takes about 45 minutes to feed the cows.......I drive the tractor....which has a cab........so I will be warm.  Well, at the last minute, a voice inside my head said "grab your coat" so I did.  However, I should have listened to it a little more, because I'm sure it was saying, "and your hat and boots".   It was well over 4 hours and after dark before we made it back to the house.  My feet and ears were so cold when we got home.  I totally know better!  Normally I do not leave with out extra everything, gloves, hats, etc.   I always have 2 or 3 pairs of gloves, my light ones I use for liners, my nice leather mittens, and my lined leather gloves (you never know when you might need fingers).  Sometimes I also have my unlined leather gloves, (just cuz I like how they fit me).  Then for hats, I have a stocking cap and my baseball cap so I am prepared for cold or sunshine ( if it's really cold I also carry my rabbit fur hat).  And my coats, I have a quilted flannel jacket that I wear inside my big  outside coat, so I can shed a layer when its warm or bundle up if it's cold.  The pockets in my coats are big enough to hold all of these things, along with my phone, my camera, my glasses, and my little Leathermen tool.  Yes, it is a little bulky, but as I have been reminded by My Farmer, this isn't a fashion show.  And as I was reminded the other day, it's best to be prepared!  The only thing I haven't figured out how to easily carry with me is an extra pair of foot wear.  I like to wear just my sneakers or work boots most of the time if I can, and only wear my winter boots if it is cold or the snow is deep.  I don't like to always wear my boots because they are sooo heavy, and it is really difficult to run in them plus I look really funny running in them.  But I have yet figured out how to carry my extra footwear, cuz my pockets are already full with other stuff and besides shoes or boots would totally add weight that I really do not need, not to mention being a little awkward.  I was thinking that I could tie them on a string around my neck like my mom did with my gloves when I was little but I'm not thinking that would work real well.  So for now, I'll carry everything extra, but the footwear.  Oh, and by the way, if you are wondering what happened and why we were so much longer feeding that night then expected?  It's because the bulls, evidently, visited the cows a month before they were suppose to and we have unexpected baby calves.  But that's livin' the life....the Farm live that it...............

Off To Market We Go..............

One thing I believe a lot of people do not realize is that when you raise beef cattle for a living, you get paid once a year, for the most part.  You might sale an old cow or an old bull at different times,  through out the year, but your biggest pay check comes once a year, when you sell your calves.  The calves have been raised and it's time to sell.  The crazy thing is, is that we take them to an auction and just hope we get a good price.  I wish we could state how much we want for them, but it does not work that way.  I would like to be able to say "well, it cost us this much to raise them, we need to make a little profit, so this is how much we are charging".  You know, like a grocery store would do.  However, that is not how it works in the Ag world.  You put a lot of effort into raising your crops and then when it is time to sell, you pretty much ask "what will you pay me for it?"   So if the market is up and people are paying good money for our commodity,  life on the farm is good.  But, when the market is down and people are not paying a lot of money for our commodity, life on the farm can get very tough.
This quote from John F. Kennedy, pretty much sums it up. 
  "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."

 My Farmer has been watching the market for the last few weeks and he has decided this is the week to sale. So we loaded up the calves and they are off.  That made it sound easy, which of course it was not.  When it is below zero outside and there is a foot or more of snow, it is a lot of work just getting things ready to ship.  You have to get the truck ready, which doesn't like to run in the cold, shovel out all the gates to and in the coral, and then load the animals.   And sometimes, just the actual loading of the animals can be an adventure.  I was really looking forward to this, because I needed something new to blog about.  However, it went very smoothly and was very uneventful.  I believe My Farmer is purposely making sure things go smoothly, so I can't blog about him.  (I just don't get it)(hehe).  

So the yearlings (that's what we call the calves that are around 1 year old) are at the sale yard and our job of raising them is done. We take a lot of pride in raising our cattle, and hopefully someone sees that and is willing to pay a good price.   In the meantime, I will be waiting for that check in the mail, hoping that it will pay all my bills.  I'm sure it will.  It has too.  Cuz I sure do like Livin' the farm life, and I don't want to have to get a real job.......(smiles). 

Lessons Learned from working with Cattle.....

When someone yells at you, don't take it personally........A lot of yelling takes place when working cattle, sometimes at the animal, sometimes at the people.  It's important to remember that the person raising their voice is probably just frustrated at the cattle and not me you.  Remember the old saying, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  (But I highly recommend not saying this to the person in the corral, it does not go over well......(teehee))

It's OK to get mad, but then get over it.........Working cattle can be very trying.  You will not always see eye to eye with the other people on where they  you should be standing or pushing the cattle.  I've learned it's OK to get mad, but once the moment is over and the job is done, get over it and move on.  Life is to short, plus it takes way more muscles to frown than it does to smile.

Stay Focused on your goal; when going from point A to point B, have your planned route, be prepared for unexpected bumps and turns, stay focused, but do not give up .........When herding cattle, most of the time they are not going to go the direction you want them to go.  They have a mind of their own and do not follow directions at all.  Some will try their darnedest to go in the opposite direction of the way you want them to go (and some will succeed), but stick with them no matter what, let them know who really is in charge, and do not give up until they are where you want them to be.  Accomplishment is a good feeling.

Never lose faith............We have had many calves that would not suckle their moms for one reason or another.  Some times it takes only once helping them, and other times it takes way more. When it takes longer, you start to lose faith.  But when you get to that point and think they are never going to get it, something will seem to just click in their little heads and boom just like that they start suckling on their own.  When this happens, there is usually a lot of  hip hip hooraying, hand fist pumping the air, smiling, and really fast tail wagging (from the calf of course). And once again, life is good.

They're not as stupid as you think.......Or is it that we are not as smart as we think we are?  Nope that's not it.  Don't think I will expand on that.

The more fun you can put into work, the less work it is.......I find this true when we have family and friends help us with working the cattle.  My Farmer and I are always a little stressed and uptight trying to get everything done.  When someone from the "outside" shows up to help, they always seem happy to be there, thrilled to be helping out, and this cheerful attitude just seems to radiate around to us, and it is no longer a work we dread, but a work we look forward to.  Enjoy life, you will live longer (I'm sure someone did a study on that).

And no matter how hard you try, sometimes you just end up getting the shitty end of the deal.  And that's OK because it does wash off......and believe me, that IS Livin' the life, the Farm life that is........