Cattle, Chickens and Bees

I've not written to my Blog since March 24th. It's been a very stressful month and I've just not felt like sharing. 

The twins were born on a Friday morning.  We put my Dad in the hospital on Saturday.  A snow storm hit on Sunday night about the same time one of the cows went into labor behind the chicken house.  I managed to get her into the barn in a nice clean dry stall and she calved about two hours later -  a nice bull calf.

The next morning I went looking for my cows with calves. One of the twins was missing - vanished.  I tracked two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon in between hospital visits to see my Dad. No calf. It was like she vanished from the earth.  A couple of friends came by Tuesday afternoon and found the calf at the far side of the property, curled up against a tree and amazingly, still alive.  They brought her home and I bedded her down in a warm dry spot in the equipment barn, got her to take a bottle, cuddled with her to get her warm and she is doing fine consuming three quarts of powdered milk replacer twice a day.  Her name is Abigail. Her twin, Madison, is doing fine with their mother. 

My Dad died April 9 of complications from Parkinson disease.  We buried him on his 90th birthday.  I always used to think to myself that people who die at an advanced age have had a long life and we really shouldn't be too sad, but that's just not the case when its your father or mother.  We had him many years longer than we thought we would, but still I miss him terribly.

The day after my Dad's funeral I finally cleaned out the chicken house in preparation for the new chickens to start bunking with Big Chicky. I finally moved the first six baby chicks, now 10 weeks old, to the chicken house and Bib Chicky is thrilled.  They are too little for him to be interested in them as hens, but he's loving the company.  The next six will be moving to the chicken house this weekend. 

Last Thursday the bees arrived - a week early.  The weather was cold and stormy and my bee keeping friend Patty said to hold them in the house a few days until the weather warmed.  So, after watching several videos on YouTube about how to install bees in a hive, I felt ready to tackle the job.  I have a pith hat, a bee veil, gloves, etc.  The bees were very agitated Sunday morning and things didn't get any better that afternoon.  The upshot of the adventure included three bee stings and my opinion that I'm no longer really enthusiastic about bees especially after Patty told me I'll have to feed them cans of sugar water all summer!!  That means putting on layers of bee gear which is very awkward and braving the angry bees to provide them a can of home made simple syrup so they can make honey to survive the winter.  Then, if they live through the winter, I might get some locust blossom honey next year! 

At this writing we are waiting for my neice to deliver her first child, a little girl which she and her husband have named Natalie Jane.  She was due last Saturday.