Day 244 of 2024

One of the advantages of moving the big calves further out onto the farm is that it's a bit too far from the sheds to multi-task and feed another mob while they are drinking.

So, what do you do but sit back and relax with a freshly picked orange until they are done :-)

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 243 of 2024

The sheep from next door have come over to tidy up the orchard.....so the MOML doesn't have to mow it!!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 242 of 2024

I'm missing my hill walks and their sunrises....I did catch this one though.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 241 of 2024

Snoozing day for the dairy calves.

Dehorning time; all got a general then a local anaesthetic.

(The vet does this job these days.)

All well and happy and eager for their afternoon feed by 4pm.

(The beef calves are polled, ie hornless, so they just stood around and watched.)

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 240 of 2024

Cow time.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 239 of 2024

"Remind me", I said, "when I complain about sore muscles tomorrow, that I did a great job cleaning soggy shavings out of the calf shed!"

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 238 of 2024

Whenever one of us comes back from checking the cows and announces there is a new calf, the question they get asked is 

"Plain or Fancy?"

Our beef buyers asked if we would breed a few FleckVeigh calves for them....these calves have mottly, spotty faces, panda eyes etc etc.

Sadly we aren't getting many of the pretty creamy coloured ones - mostly black and sploshy as in the calf on the right, but they're pretty cute either way!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 237 of 2024

While we've been waiting for the slow wheels of legal-ness in offices above our pay grade to turn, it feels like there has been little progress on YD's house on the farm. 

Today, some physical evidence of progress, with the arrival of their water tanks!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 236 of 2024

Another one hits the ground!

Another wee girl just a few minutes old.

Well done Mum.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 235 of 2024

I have formed my first big mob.

30 paddock calves.

Ages 3-5 weeks old.

Soon they'll start moving around the farm nipping the best grass off the cow paddocks!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 234 of 2024

'Licking' the bowl.

We had some creamy, lumpy old milk in this bucket. 

The chickens reckon this milk is the best!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 233 of 2024

I took the opportunity for a quick photo while up the hill moving these cows.
We realised they were going up into the bush (behind me) around the temporary fences and back into the next day's grass ration...you can see the strips from each day's grazing.
Fencing this bit of bush line has gone onto the job list for the summer!!!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 232 of 2024

After careful selection, we took Moonlight and Diamond (TBC!!!) to their new home for their future as school Ag day pets.

Hehe, two less for Ganma to rear, I'll let Kaliah and Saydee do all the work from here on in.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 231 of 2024

Wet-wet-wet.

These guys insisted on staying out in the rain all day but were none the worse for wear.

They enjoyed their warm milk at the end of the day though!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 230 of 2024

A near collapse after the afternoon milking meant a trip to our Dr (we're lucky he does after-hours visits!).

Understanding how the MOML's body reacts to a (relatively minor) virus. He'd been battling one for a week. All his obs were fine, rest-rest-rest is required.

(Yes, difficult at this time of the year but thank goodness for our son-in-law!)

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 229 of 2024

Every time I give the calves more room they run...whether I increase their pen size, let them into the little paddock, or out into the big paddock.

It must be such a wonderful feeling to stretch your legs like this.

These guys went crazy with the running for half an hour and then spent the rest of the day resting!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 228 of 2024

Full tummies and the midday sun!

Yes, these photos are getting a little repetitive but such is life at the moment!

This mob is approx 2-3 weeks old and have progressed to the little paddock outside their pen. I give them access during the day and shut them inside at night.

The timing of everything depends on my numbers and the weather mostly, but once they get to a certain maturity I am keen for them to become part of the larger mob and progress out onto the farm.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 227 of 2024

Full tummies and the afternoon sun - what more could you ask for?!

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 226 of 2024

As the number of calves rise there is a lot of juggling - moving them from shed-to-shed-to-paddock and consequently I need to get the milk to them all as well. I tend to do one big mix-weigh-measure session and while one mob is feeding, get the next mob feeding and back and forth like that.

Here's the line-up waiting to go through the gates for Mobs 1, 2 and 3.

All the rest of the calves are still in the main calf shed and they've already been fed.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 225 of 2024

George makes a new friend.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 224 of 2024

Odie, in a 'safe' spot, laughing at a calf weeing! Sigh. Four year olds and their fascination with bodily functions!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 223 of 2024

I've been waiting for a sunny day to photograph the beautiful Magnolia tree.

I look forward to this flowering every year, and enjoy the scent as well as the sight.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 222 of 2024

Woohoo after 5 very cold days without our fire, the chimney has been swept and unblocked!!

It's burning better than it has in a long time so we suspect the guys who swept it in the summer didn't do a great job.

We realised we possibly need a back-up heating system but thank goodness for quilts and crocheted blankets :-)

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 221 of 2024

Whew that was close!
When you tip out some shavings and hear a clunk, it pays to check....

Yes, someone had laid an egg in the bag.

And that egg is precariously close to a calf's feet!!

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 220 of 2024

A pleasant morning.

A mob of first-time to-be-calvers having their morning rations.

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 219 of 2024

The girls came over to choose their pet for this year's Calf Club.

They made themselves right at home amongst the potential pets.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 218 of 2024

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly calves learn to drink in the calfshed. These four all came in last night, wet but with full tummies after a day with their mums.

A few sucks from the bottle gets them started and then I transfer them to the feeder. 

Easy.

When I was a kid, there were no fancy teats and bottles. Each and every calf we had to get to suck our fingers, then we had to put its head into a bucket of milk and try to get it to learn how to drink by sucking the milk up through our fingers. 

(Then they spent the rest of their baby calf days drinking from buckets.)

If a calf didn't get it and really needed a feed we used a beer bottle with a rubber milking 'inflation' (one of the parts that milks the cow) on the end.

We LOVE these peach teats, they have little valves in them that mimic how the milk comes out of the cow.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 217 of 2024

More rain -all that water has to go somewhere but luckily it came up only about another foot or so.

No major dramas.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 216 of 2024

Grey skies and rain-rain-rain.

Raincoats and mud.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 215 of 2024

In spite of our best efforts, there's always one or two cows who surprise us by calving early, up on the hills.

Not ideal as running up and down these hills chasing cows and calves is not fun (ask me how I know!!) but luckily these two were near the gate and walked down to the shed without incidence.

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn

Day 214 of 2024

The chickens have got their beaks out of joint as there are now calves in their feather-ruffling-bathing spot.

(The main calf shed is filling up so it's time to start juggling sheds!)

See you tomorrow,
Raewyn

Day 213 of 2024

I'll let you in on a secret; up until now, the MOML has been milking just Once-a-Day , in the afternoons. We haven't been able to send the milk to the factory and all the milk has gone into storage for the calves.

But we now have enough cows in-milk to send it off.

This day was his first day of morning milkings (yes it's dark out there!) and he put a good dollop of milk into the vat for an upcoming tanker collection.
(Cows produce colostrum milk for the first few days and we cannot send it away until Day 5 after calving.)

See you tomorrow,

Raewyn