Yesterday we awoke to a world of white.
And no, I’m not ready. I still have to:
Paint my hen house.
Winterize the hen house.
Get baby Bam Bam a bit more grown up.
Plant pansies for the winter.
Give fall shots to our calves.
Gather and ship for several neighbors.
And in our world of white and barely above freezing temps, we got to go preg check cows for the neighbor. In fact, right this very minute, Zach is out preg checking for another neighbor. Glad it’s him and not me- as the idea of having only one arm covered in actual clothing, when the air temperature outside is just shy of 30 degrees isn’t fun. Ah well, at least the uncovered arm will be warm by virtue of where it is…
Today there’s more snow in the forecast and I think we are supposed to help a neighbor gather his cow herd today, as he’s wanting to ship his calves out tomorrow. Though if we get too much precipitation and then it warms up, it will probably be too muddy to get the cattle truck in and out, so we’ll just have to play it by ear.
In the meantime I’m keeping my fingers crossed that old man winter will BACK OFF like the weather man says he’s supposed to, and that we’re back in the 60s this weekend. What happened to fall, you grizzly-bearded kill-joy winter? I’m fine with you sharing the joys of snow and cold with us, but can we have fall first?
Wow, snow already. And I'm complaining about finally turning the heat on last night!
What the heck is "preg check?"
Do you actually stick your arm in the cow to check if they're pregnant?
Maureen-
You stick your arm into the cow's rectum to determine if she is bred, and if so, roughly how many days bred she is. I'll see if I can get some video next time Zach preg checks! Wouldn't that be fun?
Wow snow! And I am dreading the 30 degree nights they are forcasting for this weekend…guess that is why I live in Kentucky and not South Dakota
we skipped past fall here too. Last weekend it didn't get out of the 30's! Average highs should have been in the 70's!
Wow, I hope you stay warm, sweetie, hopefully in better smelling ways than a cow's business area..
It is MUCH too early to be hearing about snow!!
Heidi
Okay, so I assume an arm has to be stuck up a cow, but HOW do they tell if it's pregnant? And why do they have to check? I mean, they must have to have something different depending on whether or not they are pregnant, right?
And geez, snow???? Yikes.
Well, I just read your answer to Maureen, but still, what feels different if they ARE pregnant, and why the rectum???? YUK!
Bina-
You can't go through the vaginal opening, because mother nature puts a waxy type plug there, to protect the baby. So you have to go through the rectum to feel the uterus, I believe. You can tell by feel. I will have to have Zach explain it to me again.
You preg check, because the cows that aren't bred, are usually sold to someone that will feed them up and make them hamburger or to someone that will try to breed them again. The ones that don't breed are typically really old and they've stopped cycling, or they are young and infertile.