Cement and

Yesterday while we were gone on our trip, one of the cows calved, the one Garry says looks moldy (she is a weird grayish color and white- maybe she is the purple cow) The ladies say she has the best tasting milk- in fact their former boss, the lady farmer, used to always drink only her milk because it was the best. Who knew when we take all the cows’ milk and put it together we are missing out on the taste of individual cow’s milk? Victor took some of her milk home last fall and said it was delicious. Personally I don’t know- maybe it is the differing fat content of the milk, since we know some cows will have a higher percentage of fat in their milk- and that does taste good (compare whole to 1% and see- or taste.) Anyway, she had a lovely large Holstein-looking heifer calf, and looks ready to start producing that superior milk.












The remaining heifers from the farm where the herd of cows came from in September arrived today- Garry and Max went over to load them, and they arrived on a huge truck while they and Victor were working on the new pit. Garry and Max were banging away earlier in the morning (before 7 am), getting the forms built to pour the cement walls. Maxim had got the final 40 cm dug out yesterday. Garry said the lady insisted on 6000 grivna for the pregnant one, so he didn’t tell her the other was pregnant when he checked so he paid 5000 for her-- the price that they had agreed on two weeks ago for them. The smaller three he paid beef price for- about 2 dollars a kilo- about the same as the big heifers would have been by weight.












This afternoon the guys were busy after lunch along with one of the neighbors making concrete to fill the forms- they got them about 2/3rds full Garry tells me, although he got busy around 5 pm with a new problem. The fresh cow had milk fever - a common problem in high milking cows after calving, when the body has trouble adjusting to the calcium demands of milk production- in fact she had it shortly after the cows arrived in September- which is rare mid-lactation, but the new good feed must have affected her(she was fine in a day then). In Canada or North American we would run an IV of glucose with calcium and phosphorus in to gett her on her feet. The vet here did run an IV with phosphorus in, gave her an injection if calcium in the muscle. She was not up on her feet after this, Garry told him he would rather she was treated as we would at home. The vet said that IV calcium could kill her (perfectly true- if you adminiter it too fast as every farmer knows (at home even I have successfully run a bottle of cal-dex in a down cow and I have trouble getting it in the jugular vein.) Garry said muscle damage from being down too long could kill her too. The vet advised rubbing her down with vodka and covering her with a warm blanket- all you dairy farmers will have to try it out (Garry didn't.)



Tonight during pancakes and McGyver night there was a knock on the door- the ladies brought Mooshka over in a basket with her four kittens- their eyes are open- they are about 10 days old. Today Luba's daughter-in-law moved into the summer kitchen with her and Yana (she is going to help them milk for a while) along with her two children. Apparently the kittens were being played with too much so they brought Garry a present. We'll see how it works out- Mooshka is not an ideal house cat (she's really fat- and is turning her nose up at dry cat food), I'm not sure how they were coping with her in the little house, but with all of them it must be bursting at the seams, so Mooshka and her lastest litter are here now. Needles and Box are having problems with her hissing at them, we'll all have to get used to the new additions.

Update--cow stood up Thursday morning, so it's looking better. She didn't want to walk so ladies are going to milk her a bit in the aisle. Cats are still settling in.