Spring may be here

[Blessings Farms]

Sorry to hear your weather issue . We had 4 1/2 in. of rain last
night and tornado activity . That makes 6 in in last week . But
all the spring flowers are blooming and the trees are budding .
Mid 70 s rest of week too . You need to move out of that northern
air wave . You seem to be caught in it .

[lakeportfarms]

Here is Sheril with our long leg group Sunday afternoon. This is still after a couple of days of sunny dry weather. Sunday night the skies opened up again, and today it was raining and snowing so hard that we had water running down the entirety of the pastures that have a slight grade to them.

We had just spent the last 20 minutes trying to get a shot of GnRH into a 11 year old cow that hasn't settled, but had three bulls chasing her around. Hopefully we got her early enough, and she gets bred. She has one more chance. We both had to change, we were so muddy afterward.

goo.gl/photos/BHeEKZX69NXFvqiW8

[genebo]

Wow!

[wvdexters]

Geesh That's alot of mud.

[lakeportfarms]

This is the good area where the tractor isn't sinking past the axles in mud and water. I probably have a total of 10-15 total acres of this, or maybe slightly less, of mud right now. The problem is if I move them to another spot that isn't mud, with as saturated as the ground is within a few days it will look like this again and it damages my ability to graze this summer . The ground never really got a good deep freeze this winter, every time it got cold we had a lot of snow cover that insulated it. It's been like this consistently since the persistent snow cover melted at the beginning of the month. Since that time, we had a foot of snow, followed by rain and melting, then another foot of snow, followed by rain and melting, followed by 6" of snow, followed by rain and melting, and then in the last week over 5" of rain. Today and tomorrow and supposed to be rare sunny days around here, and then the forecast is for another inch of rain, followed by chances for rain for a week after that.

Spring here in Michigan, especially near the lakeshore, is usually cold/cool and cloudy with drizzle because of the lake influence. The last couple of years when the lakes were really frozen, there were a lot of days I had to drive down a little North of Detroit for work. In late April, it was sunny and 65-70 when I was there...oh boy, it will be nice to get back to the farm and do some work!!!... but after an hour and a half of driving to get back here, when I got near the lake I watched the temperature in the car start to drop, drop, drop...until is was 34 degrees and cloudy/foggy from Lake Huron's influence.

[Deleted]

Hans, maybe its just cause I am use to seeing the mud here now. But I am looking at that thinking that is not so deep. A lot of water yes but the mud itself does not look that deep. I have a few places that the cows will go clear to the belly if they go through. Of course the one I am milking always insist on taking a shortcut though there. I think just to make me have to clean it off her udder. Currently we go from barely tacky to belly deep. for some reason the cows always hang out in the 4 -6" deep areas instead of the dry areas.  

[lonecowhand]

Poor Sheril! you're supposed to throw down your cloak!
But seriously, that is awful.
You guys are probably getting real strong legs though!

[lakeportfarms]

This isn't the deep mud...I've moved the feeders so many times to the areas that are not chewed up by hoof traffic or the tractor. I'm running out of areas to put it. We have 20 round bales of straw that we've brought in to put in areas so they at least have an oasis of firm ground to stand on and lay in. I'd rather put it on somewhat firm ground, but if we keep getting these bouts of rain (or snow) every few days we'll be into our calving season. It's now 10 days from when our first calves are hitting the ground. I'm not sure which ones are going to be first...so we're getting a bit concerned. Our snow is usually melted off by mid March, and the frost is out of the ground and it has dried up a bit by beginning of April. But those winters I haven't been constantly driving over their sacrifice areas all winter with heavy loads on the front of the tractor on soft ground. It's usually rock hard a few feet down except when the frost comes out. So my tractor has done a lot of damage in the sacrifice areas this winter, which are the lanes leading out to the various pastures.

[Deleted]

Hans, I dont know that this would work but what about putting some road cloth down and then a thick layer of straw over that. Might give them a dry place to calve.

[lakeportfarms]

Yesterday and today I took the box blade and bucket and just piled up the mud at the sides. I'm down to fresh gravel on the drive now, except for some persistent wet spots where the tractor has broken through the base and it just sinks into the clay. It's supposed to rain quite a bit tonight and tomorrow (2" or so) and I'll see how it looks after that and put the straw down on the high spots where it stands the best chance of holding up. Saturday through Monday it's supposed to get much colder, so hopefully there isn't standing water around turning to ice for them to slip on. Oh, and they're calling for 6" or so of snow Sunday through monday...lol Oh well...

[genebo]

It just occurred to me what the loggers used to do to defeat the mud on our dirt roads: They made "corduroy" roads. They laid 3"-4" saplings across the road to keep themselves from sinking down and getting stuck. I did it 10 years ago to be able to cross the dry stream bed that had turned to mud in a rainy season. It worked!

[lakeportfarms]

They still use that around here, when they are constructing the big power lines that run down to the city from the big wind farms nearby. They have really long railroad ties that are set up in sections of about 16 feet long by 10' wide that are held together in those sections by heavy steel threaded rod. Last summer they ran a 72" water pipeline down the road from Lake Huron, and also nearby some power lines to serve the big pumps for it. There must have been 100's of those things stacked up next to the road that they were using to get into the low swampy areas.

It's funny how if I change the direction a ditch goes I'd have the EPA all over me unless I spent thousands of dollars and waited a couple of years for a permit, but they can mud bog with their heavy equipment, cut down thousands of trees, and get their permit to do so in a matter of days...

[genebo]

It has been so Spring-like for long enough that it has fooled all the plants. The pears, plums and peaches have bloomed and the petals have fallen. The dogwood trees are coming into full bloom. The fig trees are bursting into leaf. It was nearly 80 degrees today.

Now the weather forecast is calling for a hard freeze, 26 or 27 degrees on Wednesday morning.

There goes all the fruit for this year. I hope the Dexters and goats haven't shed all their winter coat, yet.

Brrr!

[Blessings Farms]

Low tonight 22 and highs in 30 - 40 s this week . If the goat fairy is any
sign we have had 9 yougsters in the last 24 hours .

[genebo]

That is so cool! I'll bet it's a fun place around you with all those kids.

[Blessings Farms]

Yes it is all twins and triplets . 4 more does to go and two Dexters .
Hope they all wait Nancy and I need some sleep .

[lakeportfarms]

The early calvers have started...yesterday 6" of snow, today and tonight 6-8" of snow or possibly more. The ground isn't frozen, and there was still a lot of standing water. Not what we hoped for when we held off the bulls last year for April calving. This winter I would have been better off having them in January.

[Deleted]

that sucks Hans hopefully not to many coming this early so you can manage them. I try for very end of march and April but it does not always work out that way. So far I have been lucky on the days they calve. Yesterday was cold and strong winds for calving but at least no precip.

[genebo]

There isn't a single time of year for calving that doesn't have some downside to it. Cold, hot, wet, muddy, drought, flies, you name it.

The upside is that we get calves! Yippee!

I have 4 calves here at the same time for the first time ever. It is a barrel of fun.

[genebo]

Make that 5 calves here at once. I went and got Hannahbelle yesterday.

[lonecowhand]

Camera time!!!

[wvdexters]

What fun you are having Gene! We may need a short movie when you get her all settled in. LOL

We have three here now, all running around. It's fun to sit out and laugh in the evenings, watching them play.

[wvdexters]

We woke up to 25F this morning after another windy night. Spring was here (for a while at least). But looking at the forecast, I think winter is back for awhile. The fruit trees and everything were all out and beautiful too, so we'll have to wait and see what makes it through this next week. They look pretty rough.
Hopefully you all aren't getting caught with this.

[lakeportfarms]

If you have blossoms it doesn't bode well for the fruit trees if it dips to at or below about 27 degrees for more than a couple of hours.

We are still a month or more away from blossoms so we should be OK this year. We got a lot of snow yet again on Sunday/Monday, and yesterday the temperature warmed up to the mid 30's with bright sunshine and melted off a good deal of it, so we're back to mud again. Today snow, then freezing rain, then straight rain, and then when this system passes we are back to colder weather and lake snow squalls. From what I can see, it looks like next week things warm up a bit again. I have a hard time believing that we'll be able to get them out on the pasture in mid May like we usually do.

We have 6 due to calve at any time now, and another dozen that should be calving in the next couple of weeks. The latest 4 calves have all sold as soon as Sheril notified some of our waiting list customers. We had a little white short legged Highland bull calf born a few days ago. We're going to keep him as a future sire of our Highland dwarf project that we have going on. He has 4% Dexter, but you could hardly tell. He'll look like a little polar bear running around the pastures in no time. I already have had three people write to ask if we'd be willing to sell him after I posted his photo on the Miniature Highland FB page. We have two other dwarf Highland bulls born this past winter, and two heifers that are dwarfs too.

Fortunately Sheril is on spring break from school this week to help out during the day and keep an eye on things. We lost the old cow Dinsmore Farm Lady a couple of days ago...we think she probably had a heart attack from trying to get through the mud. Lady is the dam of many of our carries red girls. The red came from the sire "Duncan". Their prior owner, Ernie Prusakeiwicz, came yesterday and picked up 6 yearling steers from us. That will help ease the workload a bit.

[Blessings Farms]

OK Hans you win . 2 in. SNOW this morning 35 mph. winds and 24 deg.
and ground not froze . BUT 58 tomorrow and it can stay there too.

[wvdexters]

Oh Hans I am so sorry about Lady, and about all the trouble you and Sheril are facing up there. I know she was one of your special ones. I can't even imagine what the conditions must be like for your Dexters and for you both trying to work in it.

That little highland bull must be adorable. You'll have to post a picture if you get a chance.

We're back to winter here. Snow and temps down to 19 or 20 tonight. I can't complain; the animals are dry, and we're warm inside(the furnace is fixed and working again, thankfully). But the early spring we had is gone. And the new tender leaves and blossoms are about done in and turning black. It looks like it is going to be a tough yr for the local orchards. Everything was out and so beautiful.

[lakeportfarms]

Apr 9, 2016 11:32:14 GMT Blessings Farms said:

OK Hans you win . 2 in. SNOW this morning 35 mph. winds and 24 deg.
and ground not froze . BUT 58 tomorrow and it can stay there too.

Looks like I win again...6" of snow yesterday, 40 mph NE winds off of Lake Huron all night and most of today, high of 28 today (I have no idea what the wind chills were and it doesn't really matter), 3-5" of snow tomorrow, turning to freezing rain and sleet, and then rain on Monday.  Five calves born in the last 24 hours, including two that were born simultaneously this afternoon.  Both are getting their obligatory naps in front of the wood stove before they go back out to the stalls in the barn with their mommas.  The good news is starting Tuesday we are supposed to get sunny skies and warmer temperatures until the end of the week.

We have a young lady who is going to start helping us out around the farm for a while.  She has goats and pigs but would really like to have a cow or two, so we're working with her, teaching her all about managing the cows, and in exchange for some work around here she'll get to pick out one or two heifers to take home this summer.  It will be nice for all of us.

Sorry to hear about the fruit trees and blossoms Karrie.  It sounds as though they were completely damaged by this cold snap and will be a total loss this year.  That's one of the reasons why Michigan has such a large cherry, grape, and apple industry near the lakeshore, the lakes moderate the temperature during the fall and spring months.
We knew Lady wasn't going to last a lot longer.  We never were able to get her bred, even though we had her lose a lot of weight and tried using GnRH and such to get her to properly ovulate.  She'd cycle, but a pregnancy just wouldn't take.

[lakeportfarms]

Some sunshine (and warmer temps) on the horizon!

Today Scattered rain and snow showers after 2pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 37. West wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tonight Scattered rain and snow showers before 8pm, then scattered snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. West wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Tuesday A 30 percent chance of snow showers before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37. Northwest wind around 10 mph.
Tuesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Wednesday Partly sunny, with a high near 44. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 27.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 53.
Thursday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 31.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 59.
Friday Night Clear, with a low around 35.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 63.
Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 39.
Sunday Sunny, with a high near 64.


But this is a summary of our (and the cows') weekend:

photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOu5Dqyi645IbZ7kceBp6qluD4qRvbekwul4GUn

Eight calves over the last 3 days including one shorty heifer who is quite small and out biggest concern...not to worry as she popped out a 24 lb. shorty heifer.  Best of all, little shorty cow Josie produced a nice small red long leg heifer which is going to a little girl on our waiting list who was praying for a long leg heifer out of her favorite cow     It sure worked for her and we can't be more excited for her!

Right now I have temporary stalls made with corral panels under the hay storage lean to on the building to provide at least a bit of shelter. I'm not sure how many I'll see when I show up this morning but we have 5 on immediate calf watch right now. At least these are all experienced cows.

Our Highlands don't seem to mind the current weather though:


photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMB9yqyehIvXOtZgKJsRFOCnLJeAKdzJ9k8lnHu

[Deleted]

I sure hope Hans was not right when he predicted dry summer. It has been very dry here for April. Winter and March wet but not much here in April. Many nights still hitting the hard freeze. Maybe once we get some heat it will spark off storms. Those muddy padlocks now dry and dusty in a short period of time. The calf born this morning looked like breaded chicken after stumbling around trying to get up.  

[genebo]

How can you stand to live where you can't hold a yard sale but 3 months out of the year?