Yesterday I talked about the vast number of dirty dishes we cleaned, well today we cleaned out the individual pens, provided the calves with fresh bedding, and gave our transitioning calves fresh bedding while they wait on the construction of their group pen. When we clean the dishes we want to remove as much dirt and microorganisms as possible which is why we add the chemicals and dish soap. To properly disinfect the pens we apply a layer of evenly spread lime to the concrete floor. Lime has several benefits such as acting like a powerful antibacterial by killing some pathogenic bacteria, and by helping control the growth of mold by reducing and controlling moisture levels. If you are interested in reading more about the use of lime in agriculture and as a disinfectant follow this link.
Have you ever heard of the deep pack method? This is a method to caring for cattle (and others, for example this has been applied to the care of chickens) where essentially we start with a large, solid layer of clean bedding and this is turned every few months. Fresh bedding can be added on the top but an interesting fact about this bedding method is that the eventual collection of microorganism within the lower layers of the bedding will start to create heat through metabolic reactions thus creating a "heat pad" like bedding layer to keep the animals extra warm during the cold months. We will slowly graduate our calves after a brief period of time to the deep bedding method, but we start them out in individualized pens that provide them with the most bio secure area to develop their immune system.
Today we had two bull calves born in the afternoon.
Today we shipped 4,597 gallons of milk.
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