Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Cows, chickens fly-paper and phones

Cows

Cutting the Black Locust suckers that have come through the electric fence. This is to prepare the paddock over at Sprite's. Sprite wants them to knock down the grass.

I lost a calf once to bloat. It got out and ate both soybeans and Black Locust leaves and twigs.

Bloat is when a cow cannot burp and its rumen expands to the point where the cow cannot inhale. Bloat is a fine example of a non-virtuous cycle. The pressure makes it impossible for the cow to expel gas and the it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle. It usually starts when a cow over-consumes plants that form foam in the rumen...which slows the burping process.

I do not know if the Black Locust contributed to the bloat or not. But I am not taking chances.

Chickens

Today is the day I will start moving the chickens over to Sprite's. I will use a fish net to scoop them out of our pen. I will move them to a dog-crate and move them five-or-six at a time.

Fly paper and yellow jackets

It looks like a bust. The bucket was pillaged by a possum or 'coon last night. The restart ended up catching lots of flies and only one yellow-jacket (so far).

Phone

I put it down somewhere. Now I cannot find it.

It does not help that Quicksilver is in love with phones. There is an outside chance that she picked it up and left it somewhere that is not obvious to me.

12 comments:

  1. On the phone, best you can do before the battery runs down, is to keep calling it and listen for the ring. That's how I usually find mine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emergency bloat treatment.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPlw5UAYrDw

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you catch them in time and know where to stab, you can let the wind out. I heard my grandpa talking about a cow that got in the alfalfa. IDK if that means the cow had to be killed and turned into whatever dairy cows get turned into.

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  4. ERJ

    A quality catfish dip net is the ticket for catching yard birds. We’ve used on for the job exclusively. Very helpful for scooping up the occasional adventurous bird that gets into the brush.

    I also use a bait sein to catch the fast birds that have learned to avoid the dip net. Tossing the sein over the bird ends the chase quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  5. For your yellowjackets, try this "bath and meat" trap. Seems to work well ...

    https://mousetrapmonday.com/videos/how-to-quickly-trap-1000-yellowjackets-in-just-hours/

    Phil B

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I should have added, put the trap inside the dog crate. It'll keep the possums and raccoons out but be no barrier to the yellowjackets.

      Phil B

      Delete
  6. We have lots of locust trees in our pastures, the cows eat a few leaves now and then, never seemed to do them any harm. Not sure if they're black locust or not. They're covered with huge thorns , and if I had the time, I'd be cutting them and burning brush piles every day. Did I mention that I hate thorny locust trees?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sure😉blame the baby!

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    Replies
    1. Southern Belle purchased QS a bunch of Montessori educational toys. Now Quicksilver is picking up all kinds of things and throwing them into the trash.

      Yes, I sorted through the trash looking for my phone because QS has been throwing money, dog-toys, magazines....into the trash.

      No, it was not there.

      Delete
    2. My baby is the same. Obsessive with trash cans. We went to the zoo and he was most excited to point out the (excessive amount of) trash cans. Glad he got in for free! It’s a struggle till they realize not everything belongs in the mystical trash cans.

      Delete
  8. if you get to them quick enough, beer will help with bloat. it helps like it, too.

    ReplyDelete

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