I had some fun this week.
I got to castrate a pig.
Talk to the Game Commission about bear damage.
Got good news about the turkey eggs.
And help pull a calf out of a cow.
First, I've had our local veterinarian show and walk me through piglet castration. I watched it on Youtube (there are a lot of different variations on the same method!) and I had an experienced friend come and walk me through when the day finally came to perform the task. I didn't take any pictures because my hands were obviously full. But the operation went well and our little meat boar - now barrow - is healing well.
The Game Commissioner came to let us know we could make a claim on our bear damage. We won't get a lot of money, but it will be enough to stay in the beekeeping game!
The Ag teacher, to whom I had given some of our turkey eggs, reports that they found evidence of growth inside after candling the eggs!
And finally, our neighbor raises black angus beef cows and as we noticed a cow in labor as we drove past yesterday. She was still lying there when we came back and the farm worker was watching her because she had been trying to get the big calf out for a long time.
At one point, another cow walked up to her and started bellowing and the rest of the herd started coming over (I was very nervous and ready to get on out of there if need be!). The other cow made the laboring cow get up and walk around a bit. We hoped that would help...
...but it didn't, and we ended up putting a rope around the calves feet and pulling out the calf. What a relief when the calf finally slid free! We were worried it might be dead because it was stuck for so long, but it was, happily, still alive. We immediately retreated so that the mother cow could take care of her calf. When we left, momma cow was sitting up, but as of yet I'm not sure of the status of mom and calf. An update will follow later today!
Hope for the best!
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