Guernsey Dairy Mama

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Monthly Barn Report: December

December 30, 2016

30 Dec

Monthly Barn Report: DecemberHere we find ourselves at the end of 2016 with Monthly Barn Report: December. I’ll be honest at the beginning of this year there was no way I would have imaged we wouldn’t be robot farmers by the end of this year. Somehow the year just flew by. Big projects have a way of testing your patience, this was a good reminder that we can’t always be in control of everything. The only thing we can completely control is our reaction. Ben and I survived this last year with a lot of laughter and the singing of Elsa’s song “Let it Go”. We are still moving forward and the light really is at the end of the tunnel now. I really was doubting we’d ever get there!

The most excitement in the beginning of December all came on the electricity front. We finally got all our pretty stickers, approvals and inspections and all was a go and ready for the power to be hooked up. In the time we had been waiting for power the lights had all been installed and as well as all the other wiring continuing. There’s a lot of wiring in the barn! That also included getting the generator all hooked up. Generator back up is a must for any dairy farm, but especially robot dairy farms as milking happens essentially 24 hours a day. We got a great deal on a generator that was a huge blessing. And invested in a automatic transfer switch to keep things flowing smoothly in the barn even if we aren’t near by when we loose power.img_6208 img_6209  I was traveling the end of the first week of December and got texts from all 3 of the crew at home that our power was hooked up and turned on December 8th! I may have done a major celebration in my seat in the middle of a conference, nobody noticed though I’m sure! 😉 Can’t tell you how much of a huge relief that was to finally have power in the barn. After a delay in getting home I was so excited to see to see the barn lit up at night. After the initial excitement of items like lights and plug ins the next obvious item to try out was the cow brushes. Besides the robots I am most excited for the Ladies to get to use these! Check out the video —> here <—img_6320img_6324Don’t think I’ve been so excited to see lights in a barn! The interior of the barn is also finishing up with all the gates being installed. December 12th saw the manure tank finished and the crew moving out with the help of a crane. Just in time for December 15th which brought our first snow of the winter. It was neat to see the barn covered in it’s first snow, it looked quite nice! dsc_0074 dsc_0075The raceway overhead to the robots is now full of lines. Steps closer to having the robots installed. They even took the protective plastic off the robots, that must mean we are close right! 😉 The machine room is filled up with equipment and looks like we have all the workings coming together to properly run the barn. It feels great to have most everything in place and almost ready to go.img_1764

img_1767All in all we really are just little steps away from being complete. The only major item on the list is the final robot wiring and set up with the brain and all the computing. The main technical installer comes next week to begin that. We are very hopeful that the rest of installation goes smoothly and we can start to focus on getting the cows into the barn. No promises but I am hoping to keep updates during the start up process. I might not have much time with my keyboard here on the blog, so make sure you are following my Facebook and Instagram.  Which will be much more easier to post to during the craziness that is start up.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about how the barn has come along. I am glad to finally get these put together. It has been quite the adventure! We are excited to be at the end of the building process and onto becoming robot dairy farmers. Send us your good thoughts, vibes and prayers for the new year and a smooth transition. Especially for the Ladies, that’s who this all is for! Thanks for reading! Sending you wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017!

 

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guernseydairymama

Dairy Farmer, Wife, Mama; I am passionate about my lifestyle and Guernsey Ladies.

Classification day for the Guernseys. Looking at e Classification day for the Guernseys. Looking at each cow individually her type (body) is evaluated. There are functional assets to how a cow is put together leading to a more productive animal. It also gives us important genetic information on how daughters of each bull are turning out. It’s an important day for registered herds. And just fun to have another set of eyes on the Ladies pointing out flaws and strengths.
…..We let the cows out to pasture! …..We let the cows out to pasture!
It looks and feel like Spring here. So guess what It looks and feel like Spring here. So guess what that means we did……?
Being at the mercy of Mother Nature is one of the Being at the mercy of Mother Nature is one of the hardest parts of farming. I’ve watched with almost envy as other parts of the nation flood with more rain than they can handle. While drought strikes and the west burns and we wish for any amount of rainfall. If only there was a way to balance it all get and give each region exactly what they need. But that is certainly not how Mother Nature, or life for that matter works. So we rejoice with our first recordable rainfall in months. With hope for what it can do for our parched pastures.
Bedtime rumble in the pasture. There is a definite Bedtime rumble in the pasture. There is a definite herd hierarchy with the Ladies. It’s fun to watch their personalities come out in different situations. The pasture is usually just for fun, but don’t put it past one of the older ladies like Farrah here to put anyone in their place.
Seriously can’t get over the incredible views we Seriously can’t get over the incredible views we had of the Northern Lights last night. We never see them in Oregon so this was a special treat! Even turned off the barn lights after this and headed out into the pasture to get an amazing view.
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Guernsey Dairy Mama

2 months ago

Guernsey Dairy Mama
Thanks for all your great help with naming this group of calves. We went with: Gorgeous - Glamorous Lotus - LiatrisSplendor - SwankyCharlotte - ClaudetteMyrtle - MullberryCiara - CeceEverly - EmberJayda - JayleenBuddy - Bond (007)Rerun - RewardBabble - Bubbles ... See MoreSee Less
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Guernsey Dairy Mama

2 months ago

Guernsey Dairy Mama
Classification day for the Guernseys. Looking at each cow individually her type (body) is evaluated. There are functional assets to how a cow is put together leading to a more productive animal. It also gives us important genetic information on how daughters of each bull are turning out. It’s an important day for registered herds. And just fun to have another set of eyes on the Ladies pointing out flaws and strengths. ... See MoreSee Less
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Guernsey Dairy Mama

2 months ago

Guernsey Dairy Mama
We’ve got another group of calves it’s time to register and give them their official names. Reminder of how this works. The first letter must match from the Mothers name below. For example Myrtle hails from our floral M family with Magnolia, Marigold, Mistletoe and Mallow currently in the herd (so break out your botanical knowledge!) Give me your best suggestions for: Gorgeous LotusSplendorCharlotteMyrtleCiaraJaydaRerunBabble ... See MoreSee Less
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Guernsey Dairy Mama

3 months ago

Guernsey Dairy Mama
I know I’ve been pretty quiet in this space lately. But my favorite consequence of being in this social media space is the amazing people it’s connected me to like Cody from Foggy Bottoms Boys. A whirlwind spring break combo work trip landed us at their farm and then to @Jerseyscoops for some seriously delicious ice cream. These guys are doing amazing things and it’s so exciting to see their success. ... See MoreSee Less
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Guernsey Dairy Mama

3 months ago

Guernsey Dairy Mama
It looks and feel like Spring here. So guess what that means we did……? ... See MoreSee Less
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