Pregnancy test results

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We’re going to have around 650 baby cows in October!!! (sorry, couldn’t resist the title to get you going!)

Well, we haven’t been off on any more tramps or jet boating trips, but I’ve seen a bit more farm action:

Jan 16th - Ragwort pulling
All photographic evidence of this event has been banned from the internet. I tried to explain to Duncan that my friends are city types, who wouldn’t realise that a farm having ragwort was a bad thing, and surely the fact that we’ve “got rid of it” would be a good thing, but in pop-star fashion, no photos were allowed.

Jan 18th - Role realisation
It finally sunk in that standing in the middle of the road when moving cows is actually a very important role.

Jan 23rd - Farm discussion group
Basically, this is a jolly where the team heads to a nearby farm to discuss how it’s going. Apart from dodging doing any work that day, it’s a really good chance to compare what’s happening on your farm to other local farms - i.e. how many days feed there is, milk production, animal health etc. Other benefits of the day are a BBQ lunch (who would have guessed a BBQ would be involved) and the chance to feel that your farm is superior to the farm you’re visiting (I mean, they’re only milking on a 16-row herring bone, and the grass condition left a lot to be desired...)

Jan 24th - Herd tests
Samples are taken from all the cows during milking and are sent away for testing. I got the role of matching pot numbers to storage numbers (yes, it’s an important role!) - reminded me of one of those memory tests. Interesting to see that some of the cows pal up, as there were a few where the consecutive numbers all came in together in both sets of testing.

Jan 26th - I’ve never seen a landy used for that!
Probably due to a night of action with the bull, one of the cows ended up with a dislocated hip. The vet’s method of getting it back in place was to attach a rope from the leg to the Land-Rover and winch the rope in - that’s not something you see on the advert!!

Feb 1st - Pregnancy testing
This isn’t the pristine room, ultrasound on the belly and proud looking father routine - more anal probe and sci-fi camera gear, and the bulls are kept well away. The guy scanning wore a visor which linked to the ultrasound and he could tell how far gone the cow is - turned out there were a few who’d been naughty and got it on with the bull before they were supposed to, so there’ll be 5 early babies this year.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any photos for any of this, but I’m going to arm myself with my camera from now on!

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