10:51 – For some reason, we’ve been having a rush on biology kits. Ordinarily, chemistry kits outsell biology kits about 3:2, but recently the ratio has become more like 1:3. I just shipped four biology kits this morning, which takes us down to just one left in stock. Fortunately, when Lori picked up the six kits we had waiting this morning, she handed me a box from Amazon that had 2,000 500 mg vitamin C tablets, which was the only thing we lacked to put together more biology kits. So we’ll be spending a lot of time over the next few days getting a new batch of biology kits built, as well as doing other kit stuff.
It remains chilly up here. Last night, it got down to 14F (-10C), with winds gusting to 35 MPH (~56 KPH). We saw a large number of Black Angus cattle near the back fence, all clustered into a tight little group. They have calves, which presumably they keep on the inside of the cluster. Lori, our USPS delivery person, also has cattle on her farm, and they’re also having babies. As she said, it must be a real shock to the poor little guys to come out of a nice warm womb into the kind of temperatures we’re having lately.
Back to work for us.
Robert; As you have read a number of prepper / survivalist / apocalyptic novels in your research, can you give us a list of some that don’t suck from a story point of view? Not looking for accurate prepping details just a decent, engaging story / characters.
Well I can’t say for today’s genetic lines of Black Angus, but my Grandfather’s (and his brothers) bred very sturdy Registered Aberdeen Angus stock that could take being born in below-zero temps (usually). Every morning he and his son would go out and check for new calves, if they was the slightest distress mom and calf were trucked up to the barn for a few days of extra care. Since my maternal family raised Registered Angus Breeding Stock each calf was extra valuable. My Grandfather had Aberdeen Angus Registration Books that went back to the early 1800s and he was a Founder of the American Angus Association.
There is still some debate and misinformation about how Angus got to the U.S. and who did what when. I just know the facts my Grandfathered showed me, in those breed registration books, and his “royal” treatment at the Cattlemans’ Club at Stockyards Inn next to Chicago’s Union Stock Yards, saddy long gone in the name of progress.
I have a ton of stories from my experiences with my Grandfather at the Annual Chicago International Livestock Exposition. Oh how I miss the good old days of spending every Thanksgiving help my Grandfather prepare and show his entries at that show. He always showed in what was known as the Carcass Class where the cattle are judged on the hoof and then on beef quality after slaughter. How a breeder ranked had a lot to do with the price of their breeding stock. My Grandfather usually had the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion.
Thanks for putting up with Dad’s ramblings this morning. Just trying to brighten everyones’ day with something other than the sad state of State Affairs (pun intended).
Cool story DadCooks. I grew up in the suburbs and always felt that I’ve missed something not growing up in a farm environment. Although it’s hard work it must be really interesting and give you a greater appreciation of what’s involved putting food on our tables.
@Harold
Off the top of my head:
Lights Out by David Crawford
Steve Konkoly’s Djakarta Pandemic and Perseid Collapse series
A. American’s Home series
Theresa Shaver’s Stranded Series
Fortschen’s One Second After/One Year After
Rawles Collapse series
@Al – I was a city boy, grew up in the Southern (Park Forest) then moved to the Northern Chicago (Morton Grove) suburbs. Was the first generation on both sides not to be born on the farm but I spent as much time as I could at my Mom’s home farm (homesteaded and an Illinois Century Farm) in Western Illinois and my Dad’s farm that he bought for his Mother in Missouri (selling newspapers and odd jobs during the Great Depression). I was more of a “farm boy” than my cousins who were born on the farm. I could milk a cow and they couldn’t, I could castrate livestock and they got weak kneed, I could buck hay as well as my Uncle (and I am paying for it today), and I could ride a horse bareback without a halter; plus a lot more. I was going to be a Farm Veterinarian, but there is a long story there involving my Uncle and his thumbing his nose at the University of Illinois Vet School after he graduated top of the class and then going the University of Ohio Vet School.
Where is it all today? Let’s just say I do not trust lawyers or politicians.
he was a Founder of the American Angus Association
When I lived with my aunt and uncle during my high school years it was on a ranch that had about 200 head of registered Angus cattle such registration being with the American Angus Association. He was always in competition with Hoots Angus Ranch (https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1338&dat=19670224&id=9Ac0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=-_cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5890,2436193&hl=en) for who had the best animals in the show in the state.
I attended many a cattle show as an exhibitor with animals for sale. Show one day, sale the next, with your placement in the show determining your order in the sale. Top placements went first in the show and got the most money. Almost all our animals that were born were sold for breeding stock to other ranchers. All were registered when sold but for some breeding outfits the registration was a moot point.
We exhibited, and sold, all over Oregon and Northern California with the occasional adventure into Washington state. I generally transported the animals in our truck on Thursday to the show location. I was responsible for cleaning the animals up, getting the tack area set up and looking nice. My uncle would arrive late Friday for the Saturday show, Sunday sale. I was also the one that had to prepare (bath, and fluff the hair in specific patterns) and exhibit (walk around the show ring getting the animals to stand properly) the animals. Whether my training in 4H helped or not I don’t know. I refused to wear a cowboy hat or any hat while in the show ring.
All those certificates from the American Angus Association with the lineage of the animal back about five generations. I seem to remember that many of our animals were descendants of the Bardoliermere line of animals. There was some other blood lines involved that I don’t remember but the bulls were all Bardoliermere blood line.
A few of the newborn males were scheduled to become steers for sale to local 4H club members. My uncle supported 4H very well (I was a member) and would sell the animals at below cost to the 4H kids. My animal was from that stock. We never kept any of our young bulls to avoid propagating any flaws.
When I exhibited at the local 4H fair my animal would generally place somewhere in the grand champion ranks competing with the local Hereford breed. Some judges had preferences for a specific breed and it showed in their placement.
I always sold within the first five or six animals in the fair. Everyone that sold an animal was paid more than the animal was worth to help support the 4H. Back in 1967 I got $0.50 a pound on the hoof when beef in the local Safeway (who purchased and slaughtered the animal) was selling steak for $0.40 a pound. The store lost money but supported 4H in the process.
Occasionally we would have a calf that was red. The cow that produced the calf would be sold when the calf was weaned. The calf was sold to a rancher that specialized in Red Angus. This was apparently considered a genetic defect and thus the need to get rid of the cow that produced the calf.
Off the top of my head:
Lights Out by David Crawford
Steve Konkoly’s Djakarta Pandemic and Perseid Collapse series
A. American’s Home series
Theresa Shaver’s Stranded Series
Fortschen’s One Second After/One Year After
Rawles Collapse series
All excellent stories written in the last ten years. Can I add “Lucifer’s Hammer” by Niven and Pournelle?
http://www.amazon.com/Lucifers-Hammer-Larry-Niven/dp/0449208133/
There are a couple of more 1970s – 1980s books in the back of my brain that I cannot seem to remember the names of this morning.
We have an FFA program in our school district, and we are getting the kids (4 and 6) interested. We go to their public events, look at the animals, and talk to the kids raising them. It is a nice way to get the kids a taste of the farm, without being farmers ourselves.
We also go to the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show, and visit working and historical farms when available.
It’s GOOD for kids to understand where food comes from.
nick
Robert,
as part of your preparedness, can you get friendly with the local stockowners? Come slaughtering time, buying half a beef carcass will put a lot of meat in your long-term storage freezer, and if you’re really serious, you can make jerky, biltong, pemmican and can the meat too.
WRT PA books,
John Ringo’s Black Tide Rising series of 4 is very entertaining. I’m on my 3rd or 4th re-read. A zombie plague, and rebuilding from boats at sea. A little bit of bog down when there is a lot of “the care and feeding of the young officer” sections, but fun, especially if you like the idea of hot young girls kicking zombie @ss.
Matthew Bracken periodically offers his Enemies trilogy for free or 99c. The first is a bit of a slog at times, but you need it to fully enjoy the 2nd and 3rd. While not a true PA novel, it is set in a near future US with a very POLITICAL apocalypse.
George Hill and company’s series of Uprising books are fun too. The first one started life as an online group effort, and is intentionally over the top. Sometimes all the way to parody, sometimes pastiche… well written and entertaining.
Seanan Mcquire, writing as Mira Grant- her zombie series starting with NewsFlesh There is a point where I was actually moved to shed a tear or two. There are also a bunch of novellas and shorts in the same world. Funny and very well done, with some novel ideas, and some real pathos. [she’s a bit of a SJW. Those parts I read as satire. It works well for me and lets me enjoy the story.]
Jonathan Maberry’s Rot and Ruin series. Zombies.
John Ringo (and others) Legacy of the Aldenata series. The A part is the arrival of devastating swarms of hungry aliens. Lots of fun. Interesting challenges. Read some suggestions for what order to read the books in. After the first couple, the timeline and viewpoints get mixed, and you can read in publication order, or in world chronological order. I’d suggest chrono order (loosely.)
That should keep you busy for a while!
nick
What I found most striking about Lucifer’s Hammer was the ending. All those things they worked so hard for, and most of them were for naught. It made me think about all the things I would want to do, knowing that probably 90% would fail. But it’s the 10% success rate that you need that’s most important.
@Ray Thompson – my Grandfather had a great disdain for the “beauty” cattle shows, that was why he only showed carcass class. The real proof of good breeding, to him, was the quantity AND quality of the beef. His cattle could have won the “on the hoof” portion of the shows but he did not believe in painting the hoofs, oiling the coat, or extreme hair trimming. Some judges (of course his favorites) made a point of explaining to the “audience” how his cattle were groomed to natural standards and really represented the best of breed. The other judges who couldn’t feel a prime beef under the coat brought out his Norman temper.
My 3 cousins who lived on the farm (my Grandfather’s youngest son’s kids’, lived on a separate 160 acre farm down the road) decided they wanted to raise Holsteins for their FFA and 4H Projects (really pissed off my Grandfather, to him only Jerseys and Guernseys were worthy of their feed). Like I mentioned before, they could not hand milk and had to rely on a portable milking machine. They did well in showing and in milk production (my Uncle paid a lot for their very well bred heifers and then a lot more for their breeding).
Yeah. Not long after Lucifer’s Hammer was published, I tried to talk Jerry into doing at least one sequel to rebuild the world they’d so gratuitously destroyed. I think Jerry might have been willing, but I think Niven wanted to do other things.
For those of you who cannot figure out (or stand) Trump, Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame) has a good post today: http://blog.dilbert.com/post/137089875456/the-oddest-thing-about-trump
Scott has been posting a “Trump Master Persuader Series” for some time now that I am finding to be enlightening. I consider it worthy of your time to check out his blog. http://blog.dilbert.com/
@Denis
We typically have anything from 15 pounds to maybe 75 pounds (~ 7 to 34 kilos) of beef in our large freezer, but that’s a long way from half a cow. We do keep a few hundred pounds of commercially-canned meats in our LTS, because I prefer to depend on commercially canned stuff rather than doing it myself.
This area is heavily agricultural. In addition to the herd of Black Angus beef cattle that graze along our back fence, there’s another herd of Holstein dairy cows in another field a couple hundred yards from us. Not to mention pigs, chickens, etc. in the immediate area (but not enough to cause any odor problems) as well as grain, vegetables, fruits, etc. If things really go pear-shaped, this area can feed itself easily, even assuming worst-case grid-down, unavailability of seed and fertilizer, etc. I truly hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does we’re about as well placed as we could be.
I still worry about our proximity to the Triad (Winston-Salem/Greensboro/High Point) metro area of 1,000,000+ population, but getting here from there would be non-trivial during a serious emergency. If nothing else, climbing that mountain (4.5 miles/7+ kilometers) of tightly curving 8% grade is about the equivalent of 10 or 20 times that far on flat roads. And there’d be a lot of Good Olde Southern Boys out there parking junkers and dropping trees and dynamiting rocks to make it just about impassable.
The VA loan for our condo in Vegas is “tentatively” approved. I only have to submit EIGHT more documents to move forward. I’m sure updates to previously submitted documents are next on the horizon.
Don’t forget, fuck the Vet!
Trump 2016! “He’ll fix the VA, for sure”
he did not believe in painting the hoofs, oiling the coat, or extreme hair trimming
We did not do any of that sort embellishments. We cleaned the animal obviously, we then blew dry the animal going against the grain of the hair to fluff the hair and make the animal look bigger, curry combs to put squiggles in certain areas to give them more depth in certain locations, shined the hoofs, and fluffed the tail. We did do some minor hair trimming especially on the top of the head.
Many of the animal we showed were not real tame and had never had a halter or nose ring in their life. About two weeks before a show it was time to train them to be led by a halter. We used to use manual force, as in a human tugging on a rope or trying to restrain the animal by tugging on the halter rope. We found a much better and quicker method. We tied the rope to a tractor and at a slow speed just pulled them along. The animal quickly learned that resistance was futile. A few sessions with the tractor and the slightest tug on the rope would have them following their handler.
For 4H I was slightly more devious. We had competition in 4H to see who could show the animals best. During the contest one would have to take command of someone else’s animal while someone else would take command of yours. I would train my animal to respond very negatively to anyone else handling the animal. It was not uncommon when I would swap animals with another 4H contestant to see my animal start jumping around, tugging, and all manner of being uncooperative. When I got the rope back the animal would immediately calm down as I took control. The judges liked that. I became known for this and other 4H members really hated to get my animals.
There were also competitions to see who would keep their display area the cleanest and neatest. My particular club was not known for neatness and never won. Other clubs would completely change the straw everyday. Nice straight edges, everything neat, spent hours. We just got rid of the shit, put in a little more straw and called it a day. Rabbit hutches were on the other side of the wall so we would occasionally toss a pellet or two of food over the wall to get their attention.
@Ray – I see you know all the trade secrets 😉
” I would train my animal to respond very negatively to anyone else handling the animal.”
Wow. What a DICK!!! lol. No one ever caught on to your chit?
“I only have to submit EIGHT more documents to move forward. I’m sure updates to previously submitted documents are next on the horizon.”
Sounds all too familiar; just try to stay on top of it as it rolls in and as time goes by you’ll gradually see signs of progress. Once it’s done, and you’ve closed on the place, you likely won’t hear from the VA people ever again. Our main contacts were the financing peeps throughout; the first couple were useless but we finally got somebody who did a good job for us and kept everything on track. Still, a long-ass process, with tons of email, snail mail, phone calls, faxes, and bullshit. We got in during a brief window when they were allegedly still making it EASY for us, plus we got a good deal on the house as the owners were anxious to move to the place they were buying, just a couple of miles down the road. They didn’t give a fig for the historicity of the place or the local history, but were decent people nonetheless.
People are dumb.
Current meme circulating social media:
“The Powerball is $1.3 Billion. There’s 300 Million Americans. We could give every American $4.33 Million and End Poverty.”
Perhaps we should take that $1.3 Billion and spend it on remedial math courses…
My father-in-law is a 90% disabled vet living in the Dallas area. We had to move him into a nursing home around two years ago since his legs do not work anymore and he is very weak. He broke his back twice while in the Army and took a medical retirement back in the 1970s. My wife is trying to get him into the VA to see his doctor and they are not even returning her phone calls now.
His last two surgeries were in private medical system and I suspect that we are headed that way for the rest of it. The problem is that he takes $2,000 of drugs a month and the VA has been covering that. He is already covering the nursing home cost ($7,000/month) out of his own pocket.
This is horribly frustrating for my father-in-law and my wife. He had an appointment to see his VA doctor the other day, the nurses got him out of bed into his wheelchair, showered and dressed. The VA called right before the ambulance was going to take him to the VA and canceled his appointment. Something about some bureaucrat had not approved the doctor visit. But he has to see the VA doctor each year to continue his drugs…
Based on this one experience, it looks to me like the VA is becoming totally bureaucracy bound. My wife has no idea how to work in the system and her father cannot do this for himself anymore.
I have a cousin who is married to a Veteran who recently decided to try the “Pretend the USDA Dietary Guidlines are bovine excrement diet*” and lost so much weight he no longer has high blood pressure or diabetes. The VA is still sending him blood pressure medicines every month like clockwork.
*A Low Carb Diet (30 grams per day or less)
“Many of the animal we showed were not real tame and had never had a halter or nose ring in their life.”
Always wondered what the process is to put a nose ring in a bull. I would imagine that they object to it just a little bit.
Mon Dieux! (@RBT, please pardon my French) That’s so stupid it’s not funny. A $1.3 quadrillion jackpot would be enough to give every American $4+ million, but even that wouldn’t end poverty. The average recipient of such a windfall would manage to spend every cent before the check could clear the bank.
And it would only be worth $4.33 due to inflation.
I disagree. In a country where EVERYONE was suddenly a millionaire, how would anyone spend anything? Why would a store sales clerk, who is also now a millionaire, show up to work to sell you anything? The entire country would simply not be at work the next day.
Haters.
Making fun of dumb people.
From what I’ve seen and heard, dealing with the VA in different parts of the country at different times of the year or decade is a total crap shoot. I’ve been treated like a prince up here in Vermont ever since my first contact with them. But forty years ago down in Boston they screwed me with late G.I. Bill payments I needed for college tuition and living expenses to the point I had to bail out. And my fellow vets from that era have told me of severe PTSD symptoms that were simply blown off and laughed at by the staff when they were desperate enough to beg for help.
“My wife has no idea how to work in the system and her father cannot do this for himself anymore.”
Get a lawyer working on your FIL’s behalf ASAP; other vets have told me that obstacles, hoops to jump through, paperwork hassles, etc., have magically disappeared upon legal communication/action. They’ll stiff us until the Angus cows come home, but gee, when some legal beagle starts calling on them, they fold like late summer corn. (how many agricultural similes and analogies and metaphors can OFD gin up here?) Anyway, keep ploughing away at it and don’t stand for any of the usual fertilizer they try to dump on ya.
@Al – we put the nose ring in bulls while they were still relatively young. We used a squeeze chute that was extremely heavy duty. My Grandfather also believed in regularly handling the bulls so that they were manageable. Even as a 7-year old I could lead a mature bull. Don’t remember the exact weight of the senior bull but it was close to a ton, my Grandfather bred BIG Angus.
@Lynn – the story of my Dad and the VA is a long and tortuous one, so I’ll be very brief. The VA almost killed my Dad. So my Sister and I took responsibility for his medical care and never let the VA touch him again. I figure we gave him 3 additional years of good quality of life. Unfortunately not everyone can do that for their parent. What is really criminal though is that anyone has to or suffer.
Get a lawyer working on your FIL’s behalf ASAP; other vets have told me that obstacles, hoops to jump through, paperwork hassles, etc., have magically disappeared upon legal communication/action.
No sir, Lynn is just griping here. Lynn is not looking for a solution at all. Lynn offered a solution two years ago and was told by all parties involved to butt out of the situation. Time proved Lynn to be correct within two weeks (things were more dire than I thought). I’m fairly sure that the same response would be forthcoming again.
FIL and his girlfriend have persuaded my wife to take over paying his bills (the wife is already on two of his checking accounts). I am severely hoping to keep my mouth shut of my opinions even when the wife starts griping about getting it done. And, I am fairly sure that FIL will gripe also.
I figure we gave him 3 additional years of good quality of life.
I am afraid that ship has sailed. My FIL is living in a nursing home and starting to lose his mental faculties. He watches tv all day and is so weak that he cannot even turn over in bed (just lays on his back). He has been that way since we took him there in an ambulance straight from the non-VA hospital after a gangrenous gall bladder surgery, heart ablation surgery, and heart pacemaker surgery. Five or six weeks total. However, I am convinced had he been in a VA hospital, they would have killed him in a week.
The nurses pull him out of bed three days per week and give him a shower in a wheelchair and make him try to walk with a walker, a nurse on the right side and a nurse following with the wheelchair when he sits down real sudden. That is “rehab” but he is getting nowhere. He has no feeling below his waist due to his back injuries and it is slowly moving up into his chest.
I am not sure if this is very good quality of life. But, his girlfriend comes by twice a day and they sit there and hold hands for a while. His other daughter in the Dallas area visits once or twice a week. My wife tries to call him every other day and they talk about what he is watching on tv for a while. I would go start raving mad living his life.
“No sir, Lynn is just griping here. Lynn is not looking for a solution at all. Lynn offered a solution two years ago and was told by all parties involved to butt out of the situation.”
Ah, OK, I get it. You tried. ‘S’all ya can do, podner.
“I would go start raving mad living his life.”
Ditto. Esp. if all I had was the damn tee-vee. They take my books/reading away and that’s the end for me. And I’d beg them to swap the tee-vee for an FM or shortwave radio.
Blessings upon thee and thine and pax vobiscum.
That’s pretty much what happened to Spain. Once the mountains of silver and some gold started coming back from the New World, an awful lot of working class Spaniards no longer had to work because they were rich. It took them centuries to overcome that and arguably they still haven’t.
People think I’m joking when I say I not only expect but intend to die violently.
That’s one of the reasons I’m not bashful about sticking my nose in when hoodlumism is going on near me. I’ll know I’m old and decrepit when a group of punks is able to beat me.
Matthew Bracken periodically offers his Enemies trilogy for free or 99c. The first is a bit of a slog at times, but you need it to fully enjoy the 2nd and 3rd. While not a true PA novel, it is set in a near future US with a very POLITICAL apocalypse.
Yes, this is not so much an apocalypse series as it is a intentional downfall of the USA. If one has any questions about what a “false flag event” is, this series goes into detail about creating and living through the same. Recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/Enemies-Foreign-Domestic-Matthew-Bracken/dp/0972831010/
One thing that is not talked about very often is a financial collapse of the USA. I actually see this as just about the most likely event to hit the USA other than an EMP. For that reason, I like the “Holding Their Own” series. The USA has survived several financial collapses, the last one being in the 1910s. I am very concerned about the number of people living off the federal government nowadays. 100 years ago, people lived off their farms, now they wait for their government credit card to ching.
http://www.amazon.com/Holding-Their-Own-Story-Survival/dp/061556965X/
@Lynn – peace be with you sir.
When the beginning of the end came for my Dad his last 3-months saw a rapid deterioration of his mind and body. His last week he could not move or recognize any of us. He kept calling for my Mom. On his last day his final words were “what took you so long”.
“People think I’m joking when I say I not only expect but intend to die violently.”
Ditto, bro, ditto. You must be my youngest brother’s twin or something. Ten years, amirite? Not much hooliganism going on around here so far, but by the time it does, I’ll have to step pretty lively and lay about me with weapons of mass destruction.
“I actually see this as just about the most likely event to hit the USA other than an EMP.”
Agreed. It ain’t too big to fail. Tens of trillions in debt backed by nothing except 7×24 printing presses and so far the default Dollar for the world. With financial speculators and bankster scum calling the shots accompanied by government enabling and connivance. A gang of thieves writ large…
Wow. What a DICK!!! lol. No one ever caught on to your chit?
Indeed, I was out to win. The other members in the other clubs caught on after a couple of years. Unfortunately for them there was nothing in the rules that prevented what I was doing. I don’t know if they knew it was intentional or just thought my animals were not well trained.
Always wondered what the process is to put a nose ring in a bull.
Ours were not true nose rings. They were devices that opened like pliers and had round ball on the end of each arm. The device was clamped into the nostrils and never penetrated. The animals did not like having their nose pulled. We did bulls and cows for really stubborn animals.
Even as a 7-year old I could lead a mature bull.
We had such a bull. He had been around and handled by humans since he was born. Very tame and gentle. I could just grab his ear and a slight tug and he would follow. Also very large coming close to 2K pounds at his summer weight. On more than one occasion I would ride on his back when we moved the cattle from one field to the next which involved a short journey down the road. This was open range area and cattle had the right of way.
I had one steer that I raised from birth as his mother rejected him. I bottle fed him for several months and was with him every day. I taught him to heel when I would take him for a walk. I think he thought I was his mother.
Castration was done with a Burdizzo, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdizzo) a device that would clamp shut on the cords in the scrotum. We never cut. Too much chance for infection. The testicles would atrophy over time. There was no market for mountain oysters in my area. It was interesting to see some young bull bouncing violently around in the chute. When we closed the clamp on the Burdizzo all movement stopped, generally with a giant expulsion of air from the lungs and the anus. It was necessary to drag them out of the chute and the young steers (formally bulls) would just stand there with vacant stare for several minutes.
Talking about castration, the liberal elite in Sweden, as well as some of their “guests”, sure deserve it.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/775235c8-b834-11e5-bf7e-8a339b6f2164.html#axzz3wznioY00
Thanks Everyone for the book recommendations. I will fill my kindle before vacation and enjoy.
BTW: when we lived on 80 acres in Oklahoma, I leased most of the land to a local rancher. The terms were he maintained the land and fences and deliver us a beef to the slaughter house each year. Kept the big freezer filled and the teenagers well fed.
Not a subscriber to FT and won’t be ever, thanks to their nasty interrupting pay wall scam. But I bet the squareheads aren’t even close to what the British cops and local politicians let happen to all those young girls there over YEARS. And still no one apparently has any accountability, remorse or regret for it. A governmental atrocity.
I am so sorry I followed the burdizzo link. My eyes are watering just contemplating how much that must hurt.
Robert, your new location sounds idyllic. I would love to live somewhere where I could keep a few animals, but the requirement for proximity to my city-based work precludes that. I am thinking about getting a couple of beehives, however. I suppose I would then have a lot of very small livestock…
burdizzo link. My eyes are watering just contemplating how much that must hurt
Easy to do when your eyes have popped out of your head and your knees no longer function.
I grew up in the suburbs but my sister’s inlaws had a 180 acre dairy farm 80 km out of Adelaide. I loved it there, and always wanted to have a non-working farm with plenty of space. Too old for that now.
Ray wrote:
“We cleaned the animal obviously, we then blew dry the animal going against the grain of the hair to fluff the hair and make the animal look bigger, curry combs to put squiggles in certain areas to give them more depth in certain locations, shined the hoofs, and fluffed the tail. We did do some minor hair trimming especially on the top of the head.”
Ever think of opening a wimminz beauty salon?
“Many of the animal we showed were not real tame and had never had a halter or nose ring in their life. About two weeks before a show it was time to train them to be led by a halter. We used to use manual force, as in a human tugging on a rope or trying to restrain the animal by tugging on the halter rope. We found a much better and quicker method. We tied the rope to a tractor and at a slow speed just pulled them along. The animal quickly learned that resistance was futile. A few sessions with the tractor and the slightest tug on the rope would have them following their handler.”
You paying attendtion OFD? This is how to make Princess cooperate… 🙂
“governmental atrocity.”
You aren’t usually redundant.
“Talking about castration, the liberal elite in Sweden, as well as some of their “guests”, sure deserve it.”
Why not? I didn’t follow the burdizzo link, but isn’t that pretty much what the moslem scum routinely do to their young women?
Ever think of opening a wimminz beauty salon?
I think fluffing the tail would probably get me arrested.
Reference (you can find anything on the Internet 😉 ): http://www.wikihow.com/Castrate-Bulls-and-Bull-Calves
My Grandfather and his Vet were cutters. Used a surgical grade knife that looked like a drywall knife, honed to a razor edge. Spray and wipe scrotum with Betadine, one small incision (be sure to find 2 testicles), two quick cuts (knife went back into a “holster” that contained Betadine), throw the “oysters” over the fence to the waiting pigs, toss a sulfa and styptic powder in the nut sack and out the chute.
A neighbor to my Grandfather’s farm used to use the Burdizzo clamp with too many failures, then switched to the Tri-Band tool (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2DybbHGNbw), still with some failures so he finally learned how to be a cutter.
All my Grandfather’s stock was pastured which helps to keep infection chances down. I do not ever recall a castration infection, maybe we were just good 😉
More on nose rings: Yes we put in a solid ring early in the bulls life, but used the spring-type clamp for leading (just in case the bull spooked, didn’t want to rip a hole in his nose). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose_ring_%28animal%29
I hope you all have enjoyed this diversion from the world’s troubles.
At one point we did cut, not us specifically, but by a veterinarian. We had a couple of minor infections but they weren’t serious. We found the Burdizzo method to be cleaner, quicker, cheaper, and very effective. The pain to the animal was intense I am sure but cutting was probably almost as bad.
After the squeeze, yanking and pulling from the chute, the animal was generally quickly back to normal in a couple of minutes. It was just amazing to see the “calming” effect that the squeeze had on the animal. No more kicking, jumping around, thrashing, just stunned motionless silence.
Don’t get me started on relieving bloat from eating too much fresh alfalfa. That was gruesome.
“You aren’t usually redundant.”
My bad. The list is endless.
All this veterinary stuff reminds me of when I used to watch the PBS series “All Things Bright and Beautiful” years ago. You can buy the entire boxed set from PBS for a couple of hundred, IIRC and see pretty good demonstrations of some of these procedures. Mainly things I’d never heard of, being a small-town kid in eastern MA.
Overcast and windy again, temps in the high 20s mostly, with some snow flurries. Busy with errands and chores and prepping to do some prep stuff.
Don’t get me started on relieving bloat from eating too much fresh alfalfa. That was gruesome.
I always heard you farted a lot. 🙂
Was someone just suggesting Ray start a new career as a fluffer?
Brother Ray don’t need no new career; he retired. He all set now. Him and that guy out in Lost Wages fixin’ to skim off my beaucoups piastres VA disability earnings. They got game, nowhuhimsane?
Brother Ray don’t need no new career; he retired
Not yet, June 30, 2016, 3:45 PM (approximately).