Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[baymule]

Coffee is ready, on my second cup. Then I’ll feed Sentry, give him his medicine and take him outside for a walk. Pippa, the visiting senior Silky Terrier gets chicken and rice over her kibble too. She will go home more spoiled than she is now. LOL

 

[FarmerJamie]

Her Royal Highness Princess Pixie Poopsalot wishes you a relaxing weekend

 

[The Porch]

Good Sunday morning,
I am up at 3:45am Grrrr the time change so really its 4:45 in my head,

well I just wanted to pop in and say we got the nesting boxes built, I got the garden turned and fed, the grass mowed, wood stoves cleaned out, laundry done, and more-- mostly because it didn't rain, it was very cold but no rain--but it rained hard all night.......

So, when I got up tony dog wanted out, i turned the flood light on and guess what??????



its freaking snowing---we'r PNW at 300 feet NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo not yet

 

[FarmerJamie]

Happy Paisley in the sun
View attachment 21074

HRH Princess Pixie Poopsalot

 

[baymule]

I think I would just be asking for trouble with a bull out here. Please talk me out of this
View attachment 21080

Jesus is Lord and Christ

You do not need a bull. Your herd is real small. If you had 20-30 cows, then yes, but you don’t. If you want calves, call the vet for AI. With a bull in the pasture, there goes the peaceful pasture. No more walking in the pasture, you might make a pet out of him, those are only more dangerous. You never know when he might snap and run you down. You wouldn’t be expecting it or using caution because he’s so sweet and a pet. Then there’s your grandchildren…….

 

[farmerjan]

@CrealCritter ; not sure exactly where you are... here are a couple of places to contact for A.I. breeding service... Select Sires; Central Star coop for Wi, Mi, northern In....800-631-3510
Select Sires Mid America.......Ky, Southern In., Il and more mid western states....847-464-5281
Coba Select Sires...... Oh and parts of WV and some states south.... 614-878-5333
ABS Global; general info on technicians etc.... 608-846-3721
Genex; based in WI.... 888-464-5281

I know you are in Il or In area... many vets don't do A.I. breeding and most are not very good at it; because they do not do it often. An A.I. tech for one of the companies will have many breedings under their belt and be more experienced. There are other companies also. Look up Artificial Insemination in your phone book or area directory... A.I. will get you artificial intelligence... not where you want to be.
If there are any dairies around there, stop and ask who does their A.I. breeding.

You will need a head catch/chute for the tech to be able to breed the animal... and you will have to learn to identify their heat cycles... or give shots to get them to come in heat to be bred at certain times...
Think about WHEN you want them to calve... and then count back 9 months to when they need to be bred... a tech can give you a calendar that will have it marked for breeding date/next heat date if not settled/ calving due date...
Understand that if you get a bull, you can use him for a short period of time and then get him castrated by a vet (due to his size) and then beef him... or even beef him as a young bull... BUT.... there are those inherent risks with bulls.
A.I. will give you better bulls that have better type than just someone raising up some bull calves... and you will know more about any genetics behind them, their probability of producing smaller calves (easy calving bulls) or those producing bigger calves, some are very good at settling cows some are not as good but are desired for their specific genetics...

Contact the Belted Galloway association (beef) for breeders in your area... or the Dutch belted assoc (dairy)... or the other breed your cows are supposed to be out of... can't remember what you got...Dexters? May be someone not too far off that would lease a bull for 2-3 months for breeding.
Understand that most of these organizations do not keep alot of these "odd breeds" in their semen tanks but can order them specifically for you.

Realize too, that you are going to have to keep any young heifers separate from the breeding cattle so that they do not get caught too young and small and then are unable to have the calf. A heifer should not get bred before she is 16-18 months in most all cases, and the amount of growth she has is as big a thing as her age. And I mean not sharing a fenceline or the bull will go visiting if the heifer does not go visiting first. Hormones at that stage when they are in heat will propel them over fences as if they had wings....

 

[baymule]

Coffee is ready! I’ve got to get out here extra early today. Therapy is at 7:30, so I got to leave at 6:45. I have to feed when I get back. I worked on my utility room shelves yesterday. I had lots of help. I sat on the floor to screw brackets on the 2x4 supports, which put me in the crosshairs of Carson, for him tell me to put the drill down and pay attention to him!

For the record, that’s the first time since knee replacement surgery that I got down on the floor. Getting up still has me flailing about like a turtle on its back, but I got up!

 

[tortoise]

I'm pleased as punch after artificial intelligence parented DS7 this morning for me. "DS7, it's time to get dressed! You have 4 minutes!" and then plays his favorite dance song for 4 minutes. Not SS, no guilt. Mornings are much less stressful without a half hour of anxiety and fighting with a child who doesn't want to go to school. I programmed crowd applause and cheering sound effects into his routine, and his favorite songs - and I call it a "game." "Alexa has a new game for you!" I've been trying to get this kid to brush his teeth in the morning for YEARS. Boom, done. Thanks Alexa! I'm getting spoiled

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm pleased as punch after artificial intelligence parented DS7 this morning for me. "DS7, it's time to get dressed! You have 4 minutes!"

Waaaaaaay back in the day we didn't have artificial intelligence to help with waking the kids up. But - I had a secret weapon in the form of a Yellow Nape Parrot! He heard me call out to my son to get up so often that he started doing it for me. "DS - get up - right now!" "DS - it's time!" "Right now!"

Having a parrot telling you to get out of bed was so hilarious that DS couldn't ignore him for long. Sometimes I miss that bird, lol.

 

[The Porch]

Good Sunday Morning!
up at 4:50am made the fire, coffee, opened the coop- scooped up the overnight poop, filled the water, -- added more wood to the stove and poured my a wonderful HOT cup of coffee.

Even though its 28 out the coop water didnt freeze like yesterday, non of the chickens have explored the nesting box yet??? very odd. The Leghorns would have been all over it.
I must say how nice it is to be caught up on all but recalking the tub. Yesterday I cleaned the front bathroom, took my new fig tree out of its planter and planted it in a nice warm spot in the garden. I was pleased to see it had nice new root growth, then I redusted, I even washed the fly specks off the ceiling lights in the kitchen. I found a old can of paint in the shed I think it was used to paint the inside it looked like it was 10yrs old, BUT I mixed it up and touched up some spots in the dinning room, made dinner and went to bed at 7:30pm.

So, today after church I need to go to costco, get a big tub of salad and another 24ct eggs, ( maybe get something premade so I don't need to cook today or tomorrow) pick up 2 things at home depot,
I really would like a day off but in reality there really is no such thing unless you have a butler, cook, housekeeper and live at Downton Abbey