Well it's been a crazy start to spring. One of the Highlanders must of got a horn stuck in the backside of one of the milk cows and my daughter and I spent two hours stitching her up. I finally got the four piglets over from the other side of the creek were they have been stranded since birth, yeah! It took a long time for them to trust me enough that I could get them into a dog create and drag it across the phone pole bridge, but I got them home before the flooding started. Papa Karl left the end of April to visit family, and I had two WWOOFers back out on me for this and last month, so it's been hectic. Yesterday I had an older cow go down with milk fever but I managed to get just enough calcium in her, (IV-before I lost the vein) to get her back from the brink of death. She also has a major case of mastitis upon calving (not sure what that's all about) so she won't be able to be on the milk line and her calf will need a bottle; I'll see if I can get Josie (the only other cow to have calved so far) to let her nurse.
On the brighter side, the grass is green, and the cows will get to go out on it very soon. We have had two beautiful healthy calves so far. The baby chicks are growing fast, as are the lambs. I had two bee hives survive the winter. Fed them once in February, but have not put any chemicals in the hives so hopefully I now have some that I can take splits from that will be naturally resistant to hive issues. I sized them down onto smaller cells so that seems to have helped with the Varroa mites. The plums and apples are blooming and the dandelions are prolific this year so they should be building up stores fast. I still don't expect to have honey for sale this yea,r but who knows. Just see how they do.
Well enough rambling this morning. Hope all are well and enjoying the "summer" weather.
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