Springtime on the farm

It’s springtime on the farm.

Yes, that means baby animals for some species, the calving season is well underway here..so it’s time to vaccinate the winter and spring calves to protect them from preventable diseases.

The girls favorite TV show is “The Incredible Dr. Pol” (www.thedrpol.com that’s not an affiliate link, we just like the show) which is a reality show about a veterinarian and his clinic staff. They talk about it many many times a day. Since they’ve both expressed interest and don’t seem to be bothered at least by basic animal procedures on TV at least I decided to brave it with both girls. I’ve not taken both of them in years past.

Lynn and the others corralled the cows and calves then ran the cows through a chute so they could be carefully looked at and medicated if needed. Then they ran the calves through. They separate them while they do this so the small calves will not be injured by big heavy cows pushing and shoving. For the most part, everything looked really healthy.

That white cow with horns is mean. We girls stayed away from her.

First things first- right after we arrived, the STARVING children needed a snack. You know, because breakfast was almost a WHOLE HOUR AGO.

Lucky charms makes a breakfast bar. Claire ate 4 in a row when I was distracted. Wow.

Then Claire played on the parked 4-wheeler and I took the opportunity to reclaim my “pre-baby job” of drawing up syringes. Only now I have a quick-learning protegee.

Caroline is good with numbers and being precise, so she was a quick study. This bright blue stuff is a vitamin/mineral shot that Lynn is using to try to help those who might be feeling a little puny. Not given to all of them, just the few it was needed for. Take a look at Claire and Papaw in the background.

Caroline loved being helpful. In only short time I bet she will totally be “farmgirl-in-charge-of-vaccines”

She got good at her job by the time we got to the end of the calves and was drawing up medicine independently. Obviously I was closely supervising.

Claire was enthusiastic in her assignment, which was to shoo the cows away from the area we were working. She stayed on the 4-wheeler and waved a switch to startle the cows to make them move to one of the other haybales (or the plentiful nice green grass)

Hollaring things like “Hey cow. Get away” this is a job Claire FULLY embraced.

After a couple more things, it was past time for a late lunch and then feeding at a different farm.

Food tastes better when you’ve been working outside

Both girls tried to help shovel gluten feed to the edge so the cows and bull could reach it. You’ve got to learn how to work at some point. They are still at the point where they fight over who gets to use the shovel, and to them it’s just a big fun game. Hopefully their enthusiasm will not ebb.