You know it's time to scrape around the hay ring when....

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

you get stuck and fall face first in the crap!

I had a young calf that was around the hay ring this morning, and then tonight when I checked them again. I decided to get her out of there and back to the barn. I figured out why she seemed stuck there; the mud is THICK and nothing can get through it easily! She got stuck (it is the thick, sucking kind of mud - half frozen!), and when I tried to help her I got stuck, then fell backwards, bounced off a cow, then fell forward and could not stop myself. My feet were in concrete!
Guess we will be scraping some half frozen mud tomorrow to make things safer!

The little heifer ended up being dehydrated and had scours, so I put her in the barn with her recip dam and gave her Sustain and tubed her with electrolytes. This weather is not easy! It was 60 on Thursday, then schools got canceled yesterday because of freezing rain and ice! Has not gotten above the teens today....

 

[TCRanch]

Did you find calf Sustain? Last time I checked it was still on indefinite back order. Breaking those big cattle boluses are a PITA!

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Did you find calf Sustain? Last time I checked it was still on indefinite back order. Breaking those big cattle boluses are a PITA!

No, I bought a box of the big cattle ones. The first one I tried got stuck in the esophagus of the calf I treated, had to call the vet to get it cleared! He told me to smash it up, so it goes down easier. That is what we do... smaller particle size. PITA, but works