About this time of year a cow’s winter coat starts to lift and itch. So while my back was turned Daisy has been rubbing her neck on the big tree in her yard and if you look carefully you will see that in some instances she has rubbed the coat right off and little bare patches are appearing.
So she is getting extra flax seed oil in her feed (along with the unpasteurised real apple cider vinegar, garlic, molasses and eggs that they get every day anyway). And I will make up a mix of lanolin and tea tree oil to rub into the areas that have become dry and might break out if we are not careful. Plus she will get a daily brush until her spring coat is through.
The itchiness is making her bad tempered. This time of year it is hard on both animals and humans. Here, I shall show you our view. TonTon needed a good walk after yesterday’s star appearance so on the way, we went right out into the middle of the field, stood in one spot and took shots to the South, West, North and East.
South
West
North
East
The big open prairies. Stripped to sepia by industrial farming. The saddest sight. What is the opposite of cabin fever? Well, a bit of that is creeping in too. So I took Daisy into the center of the barn and let her play with the others for a wee bit. Until she started smacking heads together, then I divided everyone back up again.
I mucked the pens out and swapped everyone around. Now Daisy is in the new central pen with The Baby Bobby (he is a steer and all steers are called The Bobby), with a door open to Pat’s Paddock out to the North. HairyMacLairy the Ram and Queenie the Hereford calf have gone into Daisy’s pen with access to the yards. Mama and Moaning Mia are still in the home paddock so now Hairy can chat to them through the yard fence.
The new Central pen is also where I work from, most of the day, so Daisy is more under my eye! I believe that to farm organically the farmer needs to be ahead of things and watch and listen and smell for changes. If Daisy’s skin did start to break out we would be in big trouble from flies and infection. So I need to get ahead of it. Hopefully the brushing and a change of environment will get us through to her spring coat.
We are having the most gorgeous sunrise. Red in the morning, shepherds warning! And yes there is snow forecast for this afternoon. But it will be a wee bit warmer which will be nice.
Good morning!
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
84 responses to “Daisy’s coat needs attention”
My spring coat must be coming in, too. I’m also itchy and bad-tempered.
same, I hope my new soap does not take too long to make, my skin needs it too!!
Poor Daisy 😉
Hmm.. morning Mad! c
I loved lovely Daisy in your photographs… She is a luck one because she has an angel in her life: 🙂 Thank you dear Cecilia, have a nice day, with my love, nia
Morning Nia, I hope you had a great day.. c
Those prairie images could have been taken in southwestern Minnesota, standing in the farmyard where I grew up. Thanks for taking me home today.
it is bleak this time of year, I always find feb and march the hardest as we wait for the ground to warm .. c
Interesting photos today; you really have to squint and study each to see any difference between them. I hope you can help Daisy with her itch. My shins itch so much lately that I’m scratching them until they’re scabbing up while I sleep. I’ve tried all sorts of lotion, and nothing works.
Oh dear, You need to wear some cotton gloves to bed, to mitigate that scratching. I am sure you have tried it but I find pure lanolin is really good. You must be looking forward to summer so you can get those legs out into the sun. The very best thing for skin though is the sea. My children’s excema would disappear in the summer when they were in the sea each day! c
My legs itch too, and I use a cream called A-Derma, made from oat plantlets, which does work, at least through the night.
Poor Daisy – though I don’t like the idea of her banging heads together!
She can be quite mean to the little ones, she aimed a good kick at Queenie and you should have seen that little cow duck and run! c
All pregnant mommies need extra attention. Cocoa or shea butter doesn’t work for moo’s does it?
i shall be making something like that, I think the brushing will do the trick. everyone likes to have their hair brushed.. c
My duaghter does NOT like to have her hair brushed. She would rather be in dreadlocks I guess.
Daisy may not be the easiest to get along with, but I suppose we all have a Daisy in us, too. lol. Hope she gets to feeling better. I’ve stocked up on lotion this dry winter.
We will call daisy an honest cow, and you are right it has been a dry winter in more ways than one.. c
Poor girl…pregnant, itchy, and bald patches? I think any of us would be cranky…
Have a great day, C!
Good morning my friend, any snow out there today? c
Not a bit; just a biting, cold wind.
Back up to 50 by midweek, though…starting basil seedlings this afternoon!
basil!! Oh that is getting warm. the one scent of summer i just long for all winter is basil.. c
Good Morning Celi … thanks for the smile.
Morning frank, thank goodness you are not being shoved into spam list anymore, we did miss you.. c
Good morning, Celi. I popped in earlier today! Were you acquainted with farming prior to your lovely home now? You are so knowledgeable, and I would think organic farming would require such expertise. I love the stories and pictures. Hard work, but I think it must be very rewarding! Debra
Morning Debra, great to see you again. I am from NZ but grew up on the beach, however i spent all my holidays on farms. Most of it is common sense i think, the rest we are learning as i go along -that is why I love the blog, anyone who knows anything will always help me out! c
That is a good point! I’m sure many have contributed to your knowledge base! But the requirements are surely specific, so at least you must have very skilled instincts! 🙂 D
They are specific and i am determined not to let the farmy get too big, I think overcrowding has caused a lot of troubles in modern farms, we will stay small and sustainable.. and just potter along.. c
Poor Daisy, but it sounds like you are doing everything possible. Would it help to have a lanolin soaked blanket against the post she rubs on?
What an extremely brilliant idea, it would no last long as she is probably about 15000 pounds plus now, however it would get rubbed in! good thinking chris! c
G’mornin, Celi! If not for the farms in the distance, you could have used the same photo 4 times. Worse yet, you could have said your were taking the pics while in Illinois, Iowa, Saskatchewan, any number of locales. On the plus side, be thankful there are no windmill fields. They are starting to take over our little corner of Michigan. Poor Daisy. Sounds like she needs a vacation or at least a spa day.
Oh a Daisy Spa day, that is a tremendous idea! Good morning John, do you have the snowed aimed at you for tonight? c
Oh, yeah, but, you know what? So long as whatever snows that are to come can be measured in inches and not feet, I won’t complain. We’ve been very lucky this year and I don’t wish to appear ungrateful to The Fates. (They can be so mean!)
Ah yes .. The Fates! (duck) I love snow though, I have not lived here long enough to be tired of it!! c
Brushing Daisy sounds like a lovely meditation: perhaps it will make her less cranky.
She will stand still for ages to be brushed, but we have looked everywhere for the brush and have concluded that TonTon took off with it (sigh).. so until shopping day will have to use then scrubbing brush! c
Girl, you are out in no wheres land!! Glad you have your farmy animals to keep you company. You are a good mommy to them all!!
yes linda i am.. it is rather devastating when you line each view up like that!
Ah, signs of spring; Miss Daisy is really “itching” to get on with the season change…best of luck.
I had always heard..Red sky in the morning “sailors” take warning..(perhaps this is the New England version? Enjoy your beautiful day.
Exactly.. itching for spring, that should have been my header!! ! maybe This is the NZ version, shepherds warning..I have heard seamans warning too though.. c