Skip to main content

The cow, the udder and the mop




"Sorry can't mop the floor, it's being used for cleaning a cows udder at the moment"

With 16 damp paws coming in and out on a very regular bases the head of a mop doesn't last very long here with daily floor washing. So the other week after the mop handle broke after constant use farmer J and I had a little discussion while waiting at the supermarket checkout where I had placed the usual mop type in the trolley, resulting in a "I'm not buying it there rubbish" from farmer J and a "we need a new mop" from me. We ended up leaving without a mop and me sulking as I was not going to get on my hands and knees scrubbing! After 30 minutes of sulking farmer J gave in, we ended up at Mr Bricolage, a DIY shop just before lunchtime closing to seek out a new mop, however  only one was on the sale with a 38 Euro price tag, yes 38 probably the most expensive mop around? But it does have a leaver that squeezes out the water.

So it had been used for a lick around the floor working quiet efficiently until the other day.

 One of the heifers had a inflamed teat, easy to see as she hasn't had a calf yet her udder is still very small apart from the one enlarged.  By the time she had come in for hay the said teat had burst. (won't go into details here). A photo taken and sent to the vet confirmed she had an abscess which needed to be cleaned up with an iodine solution and sprayed with a disinfectant. Luckily she comes in and places herself on the end of the feeding station so it could be easily seen - not so easily cleaned.

Unlike milk cows that are handled every day our beef cows don't like contact, especially when you try to touch their udders. They are also very nimble given their size, being able to scratch their ears with their back hoofs so don't think anything of given a swift kick. We were not going to get anywhere near this abscess with out getting hurt so thinking caps were put on. First try a webbing band was put around her,  pulled tight in the hope to restrict her she couldn't kick - it didn't work as she moved a leg it made enough space for her to wiggle it down steping over it. A duster on a pole didn't really work it wasn't stiff enough so this is where the mop came in. Long enough to not get hurt and stable enough to be covered in a cloth dowsed with iodine and firm enough to clean a teat, perfect. With a swift clean and quick spray after for a couple of days it seems to of cleared up and mopping duties are back to normal.

Labels:

Comments

  1. anita17 December 2014 at 03:00

    38 Euros well spent!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown22 December 2014 at 04:18

    Wow! That really takes more than a slight amount of work to get through. I can only admire your fortitude in finishing off the mopping of that particularly messy floor. You should only have the ample equipment at your disposal to be able to do that well. Anyway, kudos to you for doing a great job! All the best!

    Bo Tolbert @ HJS Supply

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2ENJ093 - FRANKLIN

Eight years ago today Franklin came into our family, a rescue dog from the SPA in Rodez we drove to see if they had a dog to re home. He had been there a month after being left tied to a bin in the town centre, chosen because he didn't bark, he came to us to say hello and was completely different from the dog we had lost days before Christmas. 120 Euros he cost, a young boy still a pup, very thin but with a look of take me home please. A collar put round his neck, forms completed, cheque handed over and a kiss from the manager and he was ours. Five minutes down the road in the car he threw up. Five minutes in the house and he had weed up the settee and collected an assortment of treasures including socks, toilet roll inner tubes, tissues and soft toys all placed in a pile under the table and garded. He ate at an amazing speed, fearing he would loose it to our other dogs. Then he started to bark, he has a fine bark on him. He barks for his tea, when a visitor arrives, the ...
2 comments
Read more

Parisot lake

As it is a holiday today here in France (Bastille Day) we took the afternoon off an popped over to Parisot lake for a walk with Sorrel. It has all changed, since the lake was emptied and cleaned up this year you can now swim in it, as well as inflatable toys to play on, a life guard, bikes to hire, a new fenced in play area for small people and a total spruce up. But there is a price we were charged! 3 euros an adult, which I guess is OK if you are using the facilities but Sorrel didn't fancy a dip. The cafe is still open but that would of been too much for Sorrel to cope with being so close to people and music so we opted for a bench to sit on in the shade before walking around the lake. Sorrel opted for being Billy no mates and laying by herself, if be it for a short period of time before bikes and people went by. We are now waiting for the free firework celebrations over the chateau tonight - if we can stay up that late.😃
4 comments
Read more

Lavender

One plant that does grow well around the gites and garden and that I don't seem to be able to kill is lavender. In the summer the bushes are swarming with bees, hummingbird moths, butterflies and other flying insects, lot of holiday photos have been taken by keen photographers, some setting up chairs and waiting for ages with big cameras and lenses waiting for the right moment and right insect to land. It does give a lovely show and smell as well, its picked and placed in vases in the gites by guests. Its very tactile and difficult to pass without a rub of a flower that's if you like the smell. I think its very much like marmite you either love it or hate it, a smell of memories of grans and old aunts who use to get given Yardley's old lavender smellies for presents. I like the smell but it can be quiet overpowering, especially when this year I have finally been able to save the dried flowers. Previous years other things have got in the way and its bee...
1 comment
Read more