I slept fitfully last night because I was worried about Orchid and her calf. I read up on 'retained placentas' and it is not really as bad as it could be, as long as the situation is addressed early on. The challenge is, if the placenta is dragging on the ground (which it was) and the cow steps on it or drags it through manure, it will allow infections to get into the cows bloodstream, and then it gets serious. It becomes toxic. SO, I went out this morning and walked back to the pasture. I did not want to take the Mule, because I wanted to 'sneak up' on the cattle. Luckily, Orchid and the calf were in the barn, so I quickly got them segregated and closed the gate to the barn. I was really surprised that Orchid did not offer any resistance, and I calmly walked behind her, grabbed the placenta and pulled. A little pull on my part, a little walking on Orchids' part, and the placenta was in the dirt. No tearing, everything went well. Stinky, but all okay. I put the placenta in one of the adjacent pastures, and the vultures had a nice time later in the morning. This photo was taken just a few minutes after the 'extraction'.Then I decided to hook the shredder up to the tractor, and shred some of the tall grasses in the far back pasture, so when the sun comes out again, it will be able to get to the ground and let the grass grow. I struggled, strained, heaved, cussed, practically herniated myself, cussed some more and was almost reduced to tears of frustration. That is when I wondered if real farmers do (or don't) cry. I did not have a full breakdown, but I was close. I could not get the shaft onto the rotor of the tractor securely, and I knew that if it was not secure, it could fly off and really damage the shredder and possibly even cause the whole rig to jack-knife, and that would not be good. Come to find out (hours later when I took everything over to Hubert and Paulines' house) the part I was trying to attach needs to be pulled back, not pushed forward. It is a long story, but for the sake of this entry, believe me when I say I have hooked that part together dozens of times and why I was doing it the wrong way this time, I will never know. Maybe I have no business trying to operate heavy machinery.
After messing with that for a while, I decided to sit out on the porch in the cloudy cold weather. I was happy about the cow and calf, frustrated about the tractor and shredder, so I thought I would just sit out on the porch and pout for a while. Three or four of the chickens decided to come and visit me, and Vera decided that my lap looked really inviting, so she jumped up and stayed for a series of photographs. I never would have ever dreamed that chickens were as friendly as they are. AND they are really curious, too! We got five eggs today, and all is well on the chicken front. I have just fed them, and they will be put to bed as soon as it gets dark.Jody and I went into Georgetown this afternoon and had spoilers at the Dairy Queen. We also had a nice chat with the manager of the store, who gave us coupons from free sundaes the next time we go in. I asked him how the store in Salado got away with being such a crappy store and that their soft-serve even tasted different. Did you know there are three different categories of soft-serve that Dairy Queen allows their franchises to serve? Neither did I, but now I do. After being in the Hotel and Restaurant business for such a long time, all this stuff still interests me. ANYWAY, as we were leaving, two friends of our (Elaine and Reagan) were coming in, so we turned around and talked with hem while they had lunch. We have not seen them in a pretty good while, so that was a lot of fun to sit there and catch up.
When we got home, Jody and I both went down for naps, me in front of the television and Jody in the bedroom with a pillow on his face because the sun was so bright. Once I got up, I went back to check on the cattle, and I am happy to report that everyone is doing as well as can be expected! The calf is nursing nicely, Orchid is eating, and everything looks to be just fine. I will just keep an eye on them. I think the new calf is a bull calf, and if that is the case, he will be named 'Cool Breeze'. I also think that Minnie and Daphne will be the next ones to drop, and that should not be to far in the future.Deeds, Changes, Actions, GOOD DAYS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!
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