While taking care of the calves I must make sure that they all have fresh water. Since I'm sure most of you have been to the Witter Farm in the calf barn, you've probably seen a bunch of pigeons and barn swallows, and other various birds. Most of the time these birds mistake the calf buckets as birds baths, and other times they just like to sit on the edge and use it as a toilet bowl so to speak. We are working on ridding the barn of these pesty birds, but in the meantime it is my job to make sure that these calves are not drinking this filthy water! I also make sure they have grain and hay. The age of the calf and at the stage of their eating habits can determine how much they get. The heifers in the group pen together are those who have simply graduated from their calf stall, and are almost ready to move on to the livestock barn. The calves in the individual stalls are much smaller and are still getting milk replacer. They sometimes only eat a handful of grain. Once they get bigger they will start to consume more. The same goes for their hay. Sometimes you'll see the calves in the stalls don't have nearly as much hay as the ones in the group pen. This is because they have yet to start ruminating (basically meaning they bring their hay back up and chew the "cud" before digesting back through their other stomachs). Last but not least I clean the poop from their stalls before applying fresh sawdust for them to kick up their heels in and take long naps in.
Just like the calf barn I make sure that all of the poo is cleaned up, and I throw it in the aisle so that the skidsteer can come through and clean it up later in the day. While also cleaning the poop, I ensure that the water bowls are clean. This usually consist of me pushing the ball in the water bowl all the way down and quickly letting go so the water can splash up and clean the outside bowl of any poop or dirt, etc. I also go outside the pens and push up feed to the cows so they have access to the food that was not as close to them when they first got their portions.