Changes

For the last week, we have been milking twice a day here in Ukraine, tomorrow Yana goes on vacation for a month, and Max B and Andrey will help Jenia milk. When Yana returns, the guys will milk with her, since Jenia will be retiring, she is 55 and can start collecting her pension.

They have milked 3 times and day since they started here, but Garry thinks it will save money, on soap, paper towels, and electricity to run the vacuum pump, and we really don't need to make more milk. This week they sold three cows there are more cows milking than stalls. We have a few slackers who are not able to have another calf, so they are the first to go.

Max B getting dusty- he sat down in the house and left a cloud behind

Max R moving bags

 

Friday the guys were busy moving three tons of barley in bags over the mill in the village where it was ground, but back in bags and put in the upstairs of the barn to feed the cows. Garry took some photos. Afterwards we had pizza for late lunch.








Garry bred 4 cows today, Max R bred one this afternoon when Garry had a meeting after church, if there are any in heat for the next couple days it will be Max since we are going camping for a few days. Next week I am heading back home to see the kids and meet our new grandchild, who is due to arrive in the middle of the month.

Nice udder on the first 50% Holstein to calve

Garry is very happy with his first heifers that have calved from the first cows he bred to Canadian bull semen, they look nicer and milk more. 30 liters a day instead of 12 from the ones with barnyard Ukrainian bulls for daddies.

He enjoys driving around seeing the calves tied out that are from cows he bred, Recently a man showed him two calves he had that were a couple months old. one who from a cow Garry bred, the other the same age was from the neighbor's bull. He was getting Garry to breed his cow because the 50% Holstein calf was much bigger, growing faster than the other one, he wants more like it.