Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope Santa brought you the gifts on your wish list. I just wanted to take some time today to share what farmers and ranchers still have to do even though its a holiday.
Last night while feeding our cattle my Dad noticed one of our bred heifers (a young female that is pregnant and will be having a calf in 2011) wasn't feeling well. One of my Grandfathers live across the road and care for some of our livestock. Mostly he takes care of bred heifers and our open replacement heifers (females that were born in December 2009 and January through April 2010, that we'll breed to have a calf in 2012). One of my family members goes over to his farm sometime everyday for other tasks and briefly looks over the cattle. Last night my Dad noticed that this bred female was coughing and my Grandfather said that when he fed them she would continue laying down and then eventually get up and wait to eat instead of pushing away some of the other heifers to get a few bites to eat. My Grandfather said that she was being 'lazy' but in reality this is a sign to us that she isn't feeling well. My Dad realized that she had lost some weight like she hadn't been eating well in the past few days.
So this morning after opening gifts my Dad, brother and I went outside to feed our cattle and give the bred heifer a shot of medication to help make her feel better. Although we'd like to stay in our warm, cozy house we still have to put our livestock first, even on the holidays.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season!
~Emily
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