Day 212 of 2024

I breathed a sigh of relief today when these 15 calves went of to their new home.

It was nice to have some more room in my calf shed.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 211 of 2024

Once a week we've been getting the main mob in and drafting out those that are close to calving so that we can keep a closer eye on them.

Here is the main mob on its way to the shed for drafting.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 210 of 2024

A birthday party for two (now) nine year old grandie girls today.

Sadly I didn't get a decent photo of them with their cake (too many heads) but I did spot these two cousins playing together.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 209 of 2024

Yes, that's another fire to heat some water that you can see!

So, the electrician checked the fuses, etc, when he was here yesterday but the fuse - apparently - must have been hanging on by a thread and was now completely burnt out.

Another morning of carrying hot water from the house and another afternoon of stoking up a fire to get some really hot water!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 208 of 2024

Sometimes you get up first thing to feed your calves and you discover there is no hot water at the shed.

So you walk back and forth from the house to the calf shed with buckets of (not) hot (enough) water to warm up the calves' milk. Barely adequate.

The electrician fixed the burnt out switch, etc, etc, but the water hadn't heated up enough to warm the milk for the afternoon feeding. (We like it approx 86 degrees Celsius.)

So the afternoon job is to get a fire going near the calf shed.

We dug up the hangi stones to help hold the heat, and had plenty of hot water for the calves.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 207 of 2024

This photo shows our ear tagging system, in case you've wondered about the different coloured tags in our calves' ears.
We breed and raise just enough dairy calves to come into the herd when they're two and those girls always get the Yellow tags.
All other calves are by beef (mostly Angus) fathers.

The Red tags are bull calves - raised by us and sold at about 6 months old.
The Green tags are heifer calves. These are bought by a couple who raise them long term.

The White round tags in the other ear are part of the National tagging system, keeping track of each and every animal from birth to death. Every time the animal moves farm, etc, it must be recorded/transferred on the national database system.

Colour coding really helps us to see at a glance who is who!!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 206 of 2024

The numbers are growing in the calf shed.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 205 of 2024

When you've run away from your mum and hidden in the bush, outrun two farmers, snuck in a quick nap, tried another mad sprint but eventually got tackled, and then been trussed up in the back of the buggy, you appreciate a bit of fresh colostrum. All at less than 24 hours old!!!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 204 of 2024

A party for two smalls turning six (I can't quite believe it!).

I caught George in the act of scooping up a bit of icing!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 203 of 2024

Nearly a flood - but not quite!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 202 of 2024

Slowly the herd is growing. Off to munch some grass after milking.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 201 of 2024

I'm not sure if the guys were pleased or not, BUT, just on the cusp of getting really busy with calving, I had a brainwave of how we could alter the calf shed to improve flow.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 200 of 2024

And then there were Two!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 199 of 2024

 You may remember the Giant Pumpkins we grew for the local Giant Pumpkin Growing Competition. Whilst we knew that the variety was no good for eating, both girls tried them - watery and tasteless was the verdict.
However the chooks think they're a tasty morsel. It will take a few days but all that will be left will be the outer shell.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 198 of 2024

Yesterday's new arrival very happy with the world after her first bottle feed.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 197 of 2024

Well, well, well, what do we have here?

First calf of the season - calving has officially started.

Two photos today to mark the occasion. 

Happy to get her to the shed ahead of a Heavy Rain Watch.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 196 of 2024

One of those mornings when I decided not to go for a walk before breakfast.....

Brrr

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 195 of 2024

Another foggy morning.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 194 of 2024

Always plenty to do on the farm in the school holidays!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 193 of 2024

The kids thought it very funny that they were throwing some chicken pellets in the chickens' bath.

(See yesterday's photo.)

Asking them if they would like to eat their dinner in the bath, they just grinned!

The chooks didn't seem to mind, after all food is food.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 192 of 2024

Chicken bath time.

This is how chickens bathe - they ruffle their feathers in dust or, as in this case, calf shed shavings.

You see all sorts of strange contortions as they ruffle all their feathers this way and that.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 191 of 2024

Unfortunately it was a new-fridge day.

Finding a fridge that fitted the space and was the right colour was a bit tricky but we got there!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn 

Day 190 of 2024

Cat vs Pigeon.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 189 of 2024

Saturday sport today was taking Lily to an extra gymnastics session again while her brother (and cousin) played Rippa Rugby.

Great to see her confidence growing.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 188 of 2024

I know I shared a scenic shot the other day but can't resist this one as well.

I climbed the hills above the fog and was greeted with this sight.

It was a morning where we should have got a frost (brrr) but this fog kept it at bay for us.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 187 of 2024

Hey Ganma, I got your gloves.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 186 of 2024

Happy Birthday to Me!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 185 of 2024

A great sky to accompany me on my walk!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 184 of 2024

Oh Tammy - I was trying to iron that!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn