Ugh, what a day!

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Been one of those days you wish never happened!
I had a Genex membership meeting tonight, which was good. But was not able to check on the cows, so at 9PM I am out there in the dark... found a down line (hotwire) that needed to be fixed. Get the darn thing fixed, and find a sick 2 week old calf (embryo, of course!). Bring the calf and dam into the barn to treat and bed down (did I mention we have record breaking cold temps right now???). I noticed pieces of PVC pipe on the ground, only to find the plumbing for the pigs we are raising is shattered and all over the place (over 20 feet of pipe). UGH....
Go to the house to get meds for the sick calf (103.8 temp), get kids out to help me. Go back to the barn, get meds drawn up, and the entire place goes DARK! WHAT???? Electricity is GONE. Did I mention we are in single digit, record breaking temps??? So, I call the electric company to figure out what is going on, since I have no clue why we lost electricity. They have me go to the pole and box... NOTHING!!! So no electricity coming into the farm. Ugh.. no water, no heat, nothing!
We treated the sick calf in the dark, but no way to get water to the pigs. The house is quickly dropping in temp without fans to push the heat from the wood stove. An hour later, electric company shows up to check things out. AN hour is ETERNITY when you have no heat in single digit temps! Oh, and the generator will not start!!!! Power company says we blew a fuse on the pole and replaces it (THANK YOU JESUS!). Pigs are given water in a pan, calf is treated and bed down for the night.... I think I need a DRINK!!!!! Gosh, I have to get up in 5 hours to go to work, It is too freaking cold for this crap!

Thanks for letting me vent.... I am so ready for spring.

 

[wbvs58]

Mmmmm. Doesn't sound real good, very frustrating when things going wrong pile on top of the next. One thing about me being off the grid when the power goes out it is me that has to deal with it but I do have that stitched up I can always get things going again one way or the other. Hope things take a turn for the better.

Ken

 

[Nesikep]

Some people around here were LIVID that the power company had "scheduled repairs" that lasted nearly all day when the temps were well below 0F
We don't rely on power too much, have several generators available if needed.

Hope you get your calf all fixed up!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Hang in there. When it rains, it pours! How's the calf doing today?
Do you think the pig's PVC pipe shattered because of the cold/getting hit?

 

[NEFarmwife]

Hang in there. When it rains, it pours! How's the calf doing today?
Do you think the pig's PVC pipe shattered because of the cold/getting hit?

My thoughts too. Not sure on set up but I'd look into heat wrapping it.

 

[NEFarmwife]

It was so cold here yesterday and the day before, our pump for water in pasture didn't want to turn on. Had to haul water to them. Cold doesn't make anything ideal.

I was looking on my timeline (facebook) and this time 3 years ago, we were building a massive retaining wall in our back yard (10plus feet high and 70 feet long) in t-shirts. Last two days have been negative 20+ degrees for feel-like temps.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Hang in there. When it rains, it pours! How's the calf doing today?
Do you think the pig's PVC pipe shattered because of the cold/getting hit?

The calf is very audible when breathing tonight. She is nursing, and lively, but coughs and breaths heavy. I think I will call the vet out if she does not get better tomorrow.
The pipe is a temporary water system we use when we get pigs for the fair. We buy our pigs in early March, and they go to the processor the first week of June. We have used this system for years, and never had a problem. We are currently having record cold temps, and hindsight I should have shut the water off and drained the line anticipating the extreme cold. We are currently watering the pigs in tubs, and hope to install a hydrant (instead of PVC) that we can just run a hose from for the pigs when we have them. We should have done that years ago, but just never got around to it. Now is a great reason since we need to repair the pipe anyway.
The other PVC line in the barn that we use for the wash rack is wrapped in heat tape. That one did not bust, however it is only about 5 feet above the ground.