84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 21,1995
On Being a
Farm Wife
(and other
hazards)
Joyce Bupp
Some of us are more suscepti
ble to it than others. But most of us
fall prey to its clutches sooner or
later.
There is no vaccine or known
preventive. No injections, no pre
scriptions, no surgery. Once it
hits, the afflicted must just suffer
through the symptoms and let time
do the healing.
No, no, not the common cold.
Foot-In-Mouth disease.
My most recent bout with Foot-
In-Mouth began in late summer.
An explosion of “blessed events”
visited the farm, with as many as
three calves a day bom in the
maternity pasture. We had bull
babies, we had heifer babies, we
had a couple of sets of twins, dou
bling the delivery rate.
A year prior, in addition to rais
ing all our heifer calves, we had
begun also raising the bull calves
toward a steer fattening enterprise.
But our heaviest calving time is
late summer through fall; and by
October, there were bawling
black-and-white babies in every
comer of the bam area. Calves in
the calf nursery. Calves in tempor
ary individual pens in the old
wagon shed. Calves in the over
flow pens we always need during
the late summer season of plenti
ful births. Even some doubles,
where we raised a set of two of
smaller-at-birth twins together.
With the changing of daylight
savings back to standard time,
tending to our nursery population
became a flashlight-in-hand job,
since our overflow calf facilities
have no handy light switches. And
in the one overflow area, a sloping
roof kept the babies snug and dry
during a rain, but funneled the
runoff right down the back of the
neck of the calf feeder.
So, by mid-November, I found
myself lamenting to a friend one
day who inquired about the calf
crop: ‘Tve almost reached the
point where I don’t care if I don t
see another calf for awhile.”
Whoops! Foot-in-mouth!
Within a week or two, a stretch
of weather arrived which brought
temperatures bouncing between
70-degrees to below 30-degrees,
extremes which are hard on the
systems of animals. And suddenly
we had calves with colds and
pneumonia, a more serious out
break of calf ailments than had hit
through the entire super-cold
stretch of last winter.
Having always prided myself
on being able to nurse calves
through most anything, the sudden
and unexpected loss of a calf that
had just hours before seemed
healthy, hearty and was nursing
eagerly came as a personal affront.
My memory of earlier complaints
made it worse; I felt personally
responsible for wishing for a few
less bawling mouths to feed. Be
careful what you wish for, I
remembered - you might get it.
One visit by our veterinarian, an
afternoon spent with The Farmer
administering routine cold vacci
nations, and some stabilizing of
the winter weather seems to have
again blessed us with hungry,
bright-eyed, bottle-guzzling
babies. -
Just this morning, our girls
delivered two more blessed
events, one heifer and one bull.
Yesterday, another bull. Several
more are anticipated. I’ve vowed
to be thankful for every eager,
bawling muzzle, heifer or bull,
that chews on my elbow, bellows
in my ear and butts me when
I’m not paying attention.
HONESDALE (Wayne Co.)
Snacking is eating small por
tions of food between your regular
meals. Children are natural snack
ers. They eat only when they are
hungry, and then just the amount
they need to feel satisfied. Howev
er, they must be taught not to sat
isfy their hunger with nigh-fat,
high-calorie foods low in nutri
ents. instead, they should be
encouraged to eat food rich in pro
tein, complex Carbohydrates vita
mins and minerals.
After a difficult day in school,
children come home very hungry.
They head straight for the refriger
ator or cupboard. They’ve proba
bly eaten a relatively small break
fast and lunch, used up all of their
energy in school and on the play
ground, and are ready for refueling
when 3:30 or 4 p.m. rolls around.
Offer after school snacks that
are low in calories, low in fat, and
delicious. Be aware of the nutri
tional content of the snacks you
buy and make sure you offer your
children a variety of foods because
no single food supplies all of the
essential nutrients in the amounts
a child’s body needs to grow on.
Eating foods from each of the food
groups on the food pyramid daily
helps to ensure a well balanced
diet. Bread, Cereals, and other
grain products (at the bottom of
the food pyramid) provide B vita
mins, iron, protein, and fiber.
Fruits and vegetables (the next
level up on the food pyramid) are
good sources of vitamin A, vita
min C, folic acid, fiber, and many
minerals. Meats, poultry, fish,
eggs, and dried beans and peas
supply protein, iron and other min-
Could some researcher out
there please consider developing a
vaccine for Foot-In-Mouth?
And, hurry.
U* /r—jl CLOSED SUNDAYS, NEW YEAR,
EASTER MONDAY, ASCENSION DAY,
WHIT MONDAY, OCT. 11, THANKSGIVING,
f • i IHIIIf CHRISTMAS A DECEMBER 26TH
FISHER’S FURNITURE, INC.
NEW AND USED FURNITURE
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COUNTRY FURNITURE A ANTIQUES
BUS. HRS. BOX 57
MON.-THURS. 8-5 1129 GEORGETOWN RD.
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Kids And Snacking
erals. Milk and cheese are major
sources of calcium - very impor
tant in the diets of children. Stor
ing as much calcium as possible in
the bones in younger years may
help prevent osteoporosis later in
life.
Make snacking a healthy habit.
To make healthy snacks more
appealing and tastier, try the fol
lowing:
• For a low-calorie drink, com
bine equal parts of soda water and
a favorite fruit juice and serve on
the-rocks.
• To make a dip for raw vegeta
bles, combine 1 cup cottage
cheese. 2 to 4 tablespoons milk,
and dill weed or chives to taste in
Tracks And Trails
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Kirk. Children, ages 9-11, will
—On February 4 the Shuts Envi- also enjoy a trek to woods and
ronmental Library in Lancaster fields to develop observation and
County Central Park is offering tracking skills with naturalist
Tracks and Tales, a nature pro- Kathy Kinter. Meet at the Shuts
gram that includes fireside Native Library at 1:00 p.m. and dress
American stories told by Claudia warmly. Call 717-295-2055 to
register.
Update For Childcare
Professionals
COLLEGEVILLE (Montgom
ery Co.), A three-session course
for persons employed in the child
care profession is being offered by
Penn State Cooperative Extension.
The course will meet on January
24, 31, and February 7, from 7:00
pm to 9:30 pm in North Wales.
Registration is required and the
cost is $3O per person.
Topics at the first session will
include “Confidentiality” present
ed by Ronald McGuckin, Attorney
at Law and “Inclusion and the
Child Care Center” by Barbara
Merves -with the Montgomery
County Intermediate Unit. The
a blender and mix until smooth.
• Make frozen banana treats by
wrapping peeled bananas in foil or
plastic and freezing until firm.
• Ants on a Log - celery sticks
fined with peanut butter and
topped with raisins.
• Roll-up Salad spread a lettuce
leaf with peanut butter. Place a
celery or carrot stick in the middle
Roll up the leaf with carrot or cel
ery in center.
• Gorpy Gorp - mix together -1
cup raisins, 1 cup peanuts, and 1/2
cup coconut
For more snacking ideas con
tact Evie Vitali at the Wayne
County Cooperative Extension
office at 717-253-5970 ext. 239.
second session will cover “Edu
cating Parents” presented by Meg
Griffin, Ph.D., and a sharing of
activities for involving families m
center activities. The final session
will focus on puppets, music and
drama, presented by Ingrid Cre
peau and Michele Valeri from the
Wolf Trap Foundation for the Per
forming Arts in Washington, D.C.
Educational handouts are included
in the registration fee. Class size is
limited.
For more information, contact
the Cooperative Extension office
in Montgomery County (610-489-
4315) or Bucks County (215-345-
3283) and request a brochure.
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