A few More Photos

 

Since moving the heifers into the new barn with the headlocks, Garry has been breeding the big heifers artificially. That way they will have calves with better genetic potential. Last weekend he was breeding some that had been given hormones so they would come in heat (be ready to breed). By Tuesday all but three had been bred, and the vet was coming to blood test (for a couple diseases) and vaccinate forty heifers. The plan was to do that group, then move them in with the bull and the dry cows, then move the next group in where the headlocks are to catch them for bloodtesting.

That happened, but the young vet that came out to do the work had trouble getting blood out of the heifers. He tried the neck, but was having trouble finding the vein, so Garry showed him how to take it from their tails. 

Sunday morning I told Garry someone was in heat in the dry cow pen, and he checked and it was one of the three heifers that hadn't been bred, so the bull was happy and Garry wrote her down in his book so we'll know when she might be having a calf (nine months from now).

Thursday morning I had a small group of students for cooking class early because Garry, Victor, Max and I were going to the farm show on Friday. Sasha B had asked to make piroshkie the week before and the two Sashas, Valentina and Leila got to make potato and hamburger filled ones. They are kind of like a fried doughnut, if you don't know what they are.

While not pretty, our efforts were tasty.

The barn builders finished today, except for the doors. Two guys will finish those, while the machine and other guys move on to the next job. I got a photo yesterday morning, before they worked on the door side. Garry plans to get the cement poured for a driveway to the building tomorrow. 

Early in the morning he needs to go the Dnepro to buy more semen. In the month of September he bred 63 cows and heifers at our farm, plus at least forty for other people. Some days he goes to three or more places. Some cows are easier to get to than others, the village he went to last week when I tagged along had a field road where the van was going through a washout for a kilometer or two at quite an angle.