Video of container

Here's a video I put together of unloading the container, click video If you think it looks easy, remember it took three and half hours, you just have to watch three and half minutes... and your toes won't get cold!

Maria and some of the students head to class

We were teaching this past week and are going to teach again this week before I leave for Canada, so is continues to be crazy busy, and I need to pack my bags. The good news is the Ford is back home, they rebuilt the "turbino" since they couldn't get one for at least a week.

Yesterday they were able to use the TMR feed mixer to make the first batch of feed since it arrived on Tuesday morning, it was in the container from Canada. Thursday morning when I arrived home from teaching my first class, I discovered at least six guys (most who work for us) looking it over, they had a problem with the PTO, but they got what the needed at the auto/tractor parts market in Zaporosia later that day.



The rain we've been getting did soften the ground up enough to plow with three bottoms (it had been so hard because of the dry weather that they had taken one off) and get both tractors (we have two plows) out in the field. They were able to start again on Friday, it was actually too wet to plow until then. Garry said it was difficult for the guys yesterday because it was slippery yet. They went today until seven pm, a couple hours after dark. Seems like more wet weather in the forecast for next week and somewhat warm, too.

Right now we are making more milk than ever before here, we were making 800 liters a day, Garry tells me it is closer to 900 now, with many fresh cows and heifers in the last few weeks. We are milking 65 cows in 37 stalls, the milkers switch the groups, so the first group of cows milked are turned out to the barn yard, and the ones who were there get milked and stay in the stalls and get milked first the next milking.

Garry is excited that several of the two year olds who calved recently are actually big enough for the stalls in the tie stall barn. In the five years of milking cows in there, the stalls he made have been too long for the small Ukrainian cows, so they make piles of manure on the platform they lie on. The stalls need to be cleaned off constantly to keep the cows clean, but the Holstein crosses are bigger. Of course, we hope to move them into the free stall barn in the new year, so it won't matter then. Garry is hoping they will give more milk than the average cow, too.

She's already go an eartag, so every one know who she is!

Last week we had a cute little red heifer (female) calf born, seems like Garry was using a red factor bull's frozen semen nine months ago to breed cows, because black cows are having red and white calves in the last month.

 Garry was worried about having a six day old bull calf in the barn last week Saturday, since they were supposed to sell it already, so he had me make a sign.

Apparently my Russian was a little off (the ending on first word) but it worked, they sold that bull calf, and the one born that day.