Quail_Antwerp: Words from the Barnyard...

[Farmfresh]

I think we are experiencing, to some degree, a weather pattern that scientists call the snow effect. They think just this type of effect, but to a greater extent, may have been responsible for some of the mini ice ages in the past.

Basically you get a freakish storm with lots of snow. Check. Then the white snow cover tends to reflect the sunshine away from the ground causing basil ground temperatures to become colder. Check. Which causes the air to become colder. Check. Which causes more snow... and so on...

Sound a little familiar? I am not suggesting an ice age at this point, but you CAN begin to see how one would occur. Especially if we experienced left over ash from a major earthquake that further blocked the sun's rays like happened in 1816. Called "eighteen hundred and froze to death" by the common folks it was an interesting time in our world.

OK that is enough of a Hi Jack for your climatology lesson!

Aly are you feeding your bunnies hay? That was the main thing I fed mine unless they were bred or being fattened for the table. Also how are you sterilizing the calf's bottles?

To disinfect feeding equipment use 3 cups bleach in 5 gallons of HOT water (165 degrees or greater) & soak pre-cleaned equipment for a minimum of 5 minutes. Following this method will greatly reduce the incidence of scours in your young livestock.

When my sis was trying to push solids on her orphaned foal the vet suggested that she cook up a gruel with oatmeal to start and then add some alfalfa pellets with that in a warm mush and served with milk replacer. Start off with oatmeal only and very runny.

 

[keljonma]

Sounds like you had a productive day!

Glad to hear E's appt has been cancelled. We got 30" of snow over the week-end and 10" yesterday. The snow is still coming down and latest reports are saying anywhere from 6 to 10 inches per day for the next 5 days!

Stay warm.....

HOLEY SMOLEY!!!

I better hit the feed store again and clean out their chicken feed supplies!!

sheeooot! E said if we get snow like that, i won't even be able to get to my chicken barns!!

where's my rope? i'm gonna have to go put a rope from the house to the barns!!!

TR has been shoveling paths around the yard for Titan to use so he can go potty. The snow is above Titan's back!

Maybe you could shovel paths instead of setting up roping across the farmyard.

Last night we hit temps near 30 and the snow changed to icy rain. This morning everything is covered in ice.... I prefer the snow actually. Weather forecast is for more snow tonight and tomorrow.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Update on Trouble.

He was worse this morning, and only drank half his bottle. So, we called the vet. Vet said we could come pick up some meds that would assist with drying up his diarrhea. We already had the scour meds, so didn't need those.

We arrive this morning to pick up the meds, and he asks a few more questions about what Trouble is doing, how's his poop look, smell, etc. We answer the questions. He thinks for a minute and says, "I want to send you with an antibiotic for him, too.

I don't even want to discuss what we paid for calf medicines. Let's just say, he better pull through this and make it!

We then go to the local Landmark and picked up tube feeding supplies for calves.

Yep, we're tube feeding him.

He just refuses to drink from the bottle, so we're sticking a tube down his throat with his milk in the bag.

And he's getting meds every 6 hours around the clock.

By the time we went out to do the evening feeding, tube fed again, he was starting to act a little better. At this point, the worry is the dehydration more than anything.

After the evening calf feeding, I went on to do poultry chores. It was a sad day here, because we had a few losses. Two of those being a pair of my Welsh Harlequin ducks. They died in their sleep last night, we assume from the cold.

I put another whole bale of straw in their shed for them, but tomorrow we're re-thinking their housing and probably moving them to another outbuilding for the remainder of the winter months.

Lemme tell you, winter sucks. Really sucks.

 

[MorelCabin]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Quail...I don't know what to say, but yes, at times winter sure does suck!

 

[deb4o]

sorry for you lose,

but great news on the Trouble
hope he continues to get better.

 

[2dream]

I sit hear and read about all the horrible cold all of you are having and it makes me feel a whole lot better mine. Around here we don't even have freezing rain yet and everyone is in panic mode.

Of course around here when it snows or freezes, because it hardly ever happens, we have no road crews out clearing the roads, no one has snow tires. So it is total shutdown. Thank goodness we don't get this often. Plus it never last longer than a few days.

I can not imagine having to deal with snow and ice for longer than a week. Burrrrrrrrrrrrr...... My hat is off to you all.

QA - sorry about the ducks. Hope Trouble is much improved tomorrow.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

oh no. i'm so sorry about your little duck friends
:-(

and i'm hearin' ya. winter SUCKS!

are you ready for The Big One that starts tomorrow?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

2dream, I wanna live where you are!

With Trouble, he'll either make it or he won't. Biggest problem with if he won't is, what do we do with the body???? we can't dig a grave right now!

With the ducks, well, I'll admit I did cry a little, but then I just shook it off. E was like, "We'll need to order you some more of those, then..." and well it just wasn't a good timing to talk about ordering more ducks, and I said no.

I think with each death we have, my heart hardens a bit more, and I'm able to say, "It's just a chicken" or "it's just a duck" and it doesn't hurt as much as when I first lost a chicken.

While there are a few that are "pets" I've realized that at some point, the poultry have stopped being pets. I've stopped naming them. NONE of the ducks are named, compared to when I used to have ALL my ducks named.

I quit naming the chickens.

At some point, they became "just chickens" and I stopped giving them "special titles".

The calves, well, that's different. They are the only exception to "don't name what you eat". We name them, because they are smart, learn their names, and will come when called....much like a well trained pup. That comes in handy when it's time to slaughter.

Did I ever tell ya'll about Nosey? She was the first calf we raised and slaughtered. I still shudder when I think about that.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

are you ready for The Big One that starts tomorrow?

let's see...

groceries-check
animal feed-check
shovel-check
boots-check
4WD -Check
Straw-check
hay-check
water-check

in case power goes out:
wood for heat/cooking-check
candles-check
matches-check
flashlight-check
batteries-check

I might be missing something, but yep, i think we're ready.

i'm wondering if I get my hair dryer out if i could melt some of this white mess..................

 

[Beekissed]

Aly, trying to catch up on your journal.....whew! Girl, you are so busy all the time it makes me feel like I'm standin' still!

Sorry to hear about your ducks but was glad to hear about your $1 buck and your snow that sucks. Hey, that kind of rhymes.....

I'm thinking that snow is headed my way, so thank you for the heads up....I keep hearing dark rumors by the locals but no one is sure yet.

Your calves are adorable and I hope Trouble pulls through this. I had a little one with scours when I had Blossom and I think it really helped to add some buttermilk to the Blossom milk I was syringing into her. I also added Lomotil, which is similar to what your vet gave you to decrease bowel motility.

I think I love Trouble's coloring more also....he is darling!

I didn't get to read all the pages I've been missing, so I will just send you hugs and high fives because I know you deserve both all the time!