Dealing with depression - suicidal thoughts - Join the conversation (including helpline details)

[holwellcourtfarm]

That's the sort of feedback I was thinking of when I suggested that posting some of the problems on other threads may bring in ideas from other farmers who have been through similar tight spots and found a way through.

Out of interest; at what point in time must an animal be registered and is there any flexibility in the timing? Also, is there any good way of insuring that one avoids getting into similar situations; perhaps double recording of an unregistered animal death? I don't know if my questions make any sense but you know me ......... the townie, always playing catch-up, from the outside looking in!

A dairy calf has to be tagged and registered within 7 days. A beef breed calf has 21 days to be tagged and a further 7 to register (beef cattle are more likely to calve outdoors and it can take a while to catch them for tagging).

Whilst any cattle that die on farm have to be disposed of by a licensed knacker I'm not aware of any legal requirement for that disposal to be registered unless the animal was already in the national herd register. It would be useful to know if such a requirement did exist and how one is legally supposed to do it.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

A dairy calf has to be tagged and registered within 7 days. A beef breed calf has 21 days to be tagged and a further 7 to register (beef cattle are more likely to calve outdoors and it can take a while to catch them for tagging).

Whilst any cattle that die on farm have to be disposed of by a licensed knacker I'm not aware of any legal requirement for that disposal to be registered unless the animal was already in the national herd register. It would be useful to know if such a requirement did exist and how one is legally supposed to do it.

Just looked it up (in the official "Cattle keepers handbook").

If an unregistered calf dies then you are NOT legally obliged to report it so long as you record it in your own records.

 

[Christoph1945]

Does your regular vet keep a record of your animal deaths and the details of the circumstances; even stillborn calves? I'm thinking of possible crossreferencing when queried at a later date.

 

[Christoph1945]

JWL

thinking on some of your opinions, thoughts, and comments, I thought that you may like to view this video and would be interested in reading what you think about the ideas within it. I stumbled upon the video quite accidentally and was initially somewhat sceptical but was surprised that I did, in fact, agree with quite a lot of the contents.

Oh, and no, there is no mention of God, Jesus, religion, or church in it.

Chris

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Does your regular vet keep a record of your animal deaths and the details of the circumstances; even stillborn calves? I'm thinking of possible crossreferencing when queried at a later date.

They wouldn't necessarily know. We aim to have the vet on here as seldom as possible (but as often as necessary) because they are a significant expense. In a good year we don't see them at all.

 

[Christoph1945]

They wouldn't necessarily know. We aim to have the vet on here as seldom as possible (but as often as necessary) because they are a significant expense. In a good year we don't see them at all.

As I was formulating the question ££££££££ did flash into my mind but thanks for the swift reply and the enlightenment.

 

[JWL]

JWL

thinking on some of your opinions, thoughts, and comments, I thought that you may like to view this video and would be interested in reading what you think about the ideas within it. I stumbled upon the video quite accidentally and was initially somewhat sceptical but was surprised that I did, in fact, agree with quite a lot of the contents.

Oh, and no, there is no mention of God, Jesus, religion, or church in it.

Chris

I'll give it a go when I get some time to myself. My eldest(autistic) lad is feeling quite hard done by as his respite family is on holiday for a fortnight, we're only a quarter of the way through and he's getting fed up seeing my visage all the time plus he's not feeling too well. Did a lateral flow test tonight, which was negative as expected, but the performance to test him can end up being a little messy. He's 6'4", 16 stone and bloody determined, could do with a crush along the lines of a decent cattle crush but that might raise a few eyebrows.

 

[Christoph1945]

I'll give it a go when I get some time to myself. My eldest(autistic) lad is feeling quite hard done by as his respite family is on holiday for a fortnight, we're only a quarter of the way through and he's getting fed up seeing my visage all the time plus he's not feeling too well. Did a lateral flow test tonight, which was negative as expected, but the performance to test him can end up being a little messy. He's 6'4", 16 stone and bloody determined, could do with a crush along the lines of a decent cattle crush but that might raise a few eyebrows.

If you, or any of us, can overlook what we may considder new age hype in there; there are some good tips to help us overcome a few of life's challenges. Have you and the lad both had the two covid jabs and if you have, is it really esential that you do his lateral flow test; a chat with your medical health adviser may suggest an alternative way of getting the samples, or even advise you not to bother doing the test on him.

 

[GrannyAching]

If you, or any of us, can overlook what we may considder new age hype in there; there are some good tips to help us overcome a few of life's challenges. Have you and the lad both had the two covid jabs and if you have, is it really esential that you do his lateral flow test; a chat with your medical health adviser may suggest an alternative way of getting the samples, or even advise you not to bother doing the test on him.

Hi Chris, sorry to hear you've been ill and glad to see you are on the mend. I'm guessing that, as @JWL s son is 16 he won't be eligible for the vaccine yet.

I feel for you @JWL and your son, it's a horrible test to have to do even on yourself.

Not being funny, but has anyone shown you how to do it or are you relying on the written instructions? Only I think most of us try to go a bit far back when doing the tonsils and trigger a gag response. If he's struggling, you're probably catching the uvula which makes it worse. In the states they just swab both nostrils, I understand. I'm guessing your son has a support/social worker and Health Care Plan (or similar name, sorry not in England) and the testing is part of moving between home and respite. In which case, you might want to consider having a chat with the facilitator, it might be possible to get agreement for the double nostril approach if a risk assessment is done, assuming tha would make life a little easier.

 

[teslacoils]

The annual pre-harvest terror has arrived, despite my only having 1/20th of the area to cut as two years ago. It's never going to go away is it? I'll never be fixed or better. This is it, forever.

 

[GrannyAching]

The annual pre-harvest terror has arrived, despite my only having 1/20th of the area to cut as two years ago. It's never going to go away is it? I'll never be fixed or better. This is it, forever.

What a horrible feeling. I'm sure it's all consuming and general. Can you break it down into specific bits that cause the worry? Like what's the first scary thing?

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

What a horrible feeling. I'm sure it's all consuming and general. Can you break it down into specific bits that cause the worry? Like what's the first scary thing?

All the things that can go wrong.....

 

[teslacoils]

Mrs teslacoils has made me write a list. I'm up to 44 things so far. Most are stupid. But that doesn't stop them. The main issue is I'm thoroughly sick of farming, but for various reasons there is no way out of it. I hate absolutely everything about farming, fields, tractors, and everything about my farm.

This is not new. But I can't see why after getting rid of previous, mountainous worries, the molehil sized ones seem to have grown to fill the space.

 

[GrannyAching]

All the things that can go wrong.....

I know. I used to manage 500acres of cereals and, even with (or because of) staff it was the worst yes/no flowchart in the world. If you can break it down though it can make a difference. It's also quite a good strategy to only worry about the things you can do something about! So circle of worry is way bigger the the circle of worries we can have some input to. We can't control the weather but we can try and get the best forecast and be ready to go. We can't control a contractor's timeline but we can make sure we're a good place to come with drinks and snacks available.

 

[GrannyAching]

Mrs teslacoils has made me write a list. I'm up to 44 things so far. Most are stupid. But that doesn't stop them. The main issue is I'm thoroughly sick of farming, but for various reasons there is no way out of it. I hate absolutely everything about farming, fields, tractors, and everything about my farm.

This is not new. But I can't see why after getting rid of previous, mountainous worries, the molehil sized ones seem to have grown to fill the space.

I do understand.

You might call them stupid but like psychosomatic illnesses, the pain and worry are real.

Is there one concrete thing on the list you can deal with? Try to treat it like anything else you don't want to do but which has to be done - like cleaning the shower trap in my case!

 

[JWL]

Hi Chris, sorry to hear you've been ill and glad to see you are on the mend. I'm guessing that, as @JWL s son is 16 he won't be eligible for the vaccine yet.

I feel for you @JWL and your son, it's a horrible test to have to do even on yourself.

Not being funny, but has anyone shown you how to do it or are you relying on the written instructions? Only I think most of us try to go a bit far back when doing the tonsils and trigger a gag response. If he's struggling, you're probably catching the uvula which makes it worse. In the states they just swab both nostrils, I understand. I'm guessing your son has a support/social worker and Health Care Plan (or similar name, sorry not in England) and the testing is part of moving between home and respite. In which case, you might want to consider having a chat with the facilitator, it might be possible to get agreement for the double nostril approach if a risk assessment is done, assuming tha would make life a little easier.

I take your comment on "Not being funny" as meant but you have no idea on the character of my son. As pointed out he is not to put it bluntly a "normal" individual, whilst yes he's easy going and laid back but with little language and he is way up the scale on the autistic spectrum no amount of reasoning will get him to not clamp his mouth. Dentist trips are a nightmare, he's been sedated before now just for a check up. So called specialists in behavioural problems just say sedate but that means appointments and waiting times which when any respite providers are demanding Covid tests there and then to access their services is pretty prohibitive.
Just think about dealing with a petulant toddler that is tired and not feeling well but in a sizeable adult mans body.

 

[GrannyAching]

I take your comment on "Not being funny" as meant but you have no idea on the character of my son. As pointed out he is not to put it bluntly a "normal" individual, whilst yes he's easy going and laid back but with little language and he is way up the scale on the autistic spectrum no amount of reasoning will get him to not clamp his mouth. Dentist trips are a nightmare, he's been sedated before now just for a check up. So called specialists in behavioural problems just say sedate but that means appointments and waiting times which when any respite providers are demanding Covid tests there and then to access their services is pretty prohibitive.
Just think about dealing with a petulant toddler that is tired and not feeling well but in a sizeable adult mans body.

Actually, I meant I wasn't being funny about your level of training to do the test. I'd never dream of making an uninformed comment about you son. Really sorry if you read it that way. I have quite a bit of experience working with young people with learning difficulties and fully appreciate that, just like all of us they are individuals and we shouldn't make assumptions.

 

[JWL]

I didn't take it as a criticism, no problem on that score, I have had plenty of advice from those who have their 9 to 5 positions and then go home to their lives away from what family carers live on a 24hr basis. Yes I have had some excellent help but when you are having to do a "procedure" on someone who doesn't want to comply then you have to get on with it. As mentioned before, even though he is 24 he still reverts back to acting like a toddler with the screaming heeby jeebies and last night was one of those times even though he kept on asking for the test.

 

[Christoph1945]

I didn't take it as a criticism, no problem on that score, I have had plenty of advice from those who have their 9 to 5 positions and then go home to their lives away from what family carers live on a 24hr basis. Yes I have had some excellent help but when you are having to do a "procedure" on someone who doesn't want to comply then you have to get on with it. As mentioned before, even though he is 24 he still reverts back to acting like a toddler with the screaming heeby jeebies and last night was one of those times even though he kept on asking for the test.

Do you suppose that your son could actually be asking to be allowed to do the test himself and if he was, do you suppose that, with loving supervision and support, he may just be able to carry out a test without hurting himself?

If, being totally out of my depth, I am asking a stupidly formulated question please forgive me and don't instantly react to my ignorance and lack of knowledge for your situation.

What is your lad's name?

 

[JWL]

Do you suppose that your son could actually be asking to be allowed to do the test himself and if he was, do you suppose that, with loving supervision and support, he may just be able to carry out a test without hurting himself?

If, being totally out of my depth, I am asking a stupidly formulated question please forgive me and don't instantly react to my ignorance and lack of knowledge for your situation.

What is your lad's name?

His name is Joshua, Josh for short. He has his own quirks and foibles, his fine motor skills are not 100% and even though, I speak pretty bluntly as there's no need to try and big up what he can and can't do, he looks capable the lack of all the switches being turned on make him unable to do a lot of things. He just can't get the hang of dressing himself properly, he struggles putting on socks, he can't do up trouser buttons, pretty much all buttons. He has to be constantly prompted to go to the toilet, can't allways wipe himself. He needs supervision in the shower or he'll stand by the stream of water and pour a whole bottle of shower gel down the plughole.
He has improved over the years but he will never be able to live unassisted or fend for himself. He's not a vegetable by any means but just cannot grasp the things you and I take for granted.
As for doing the test himself? I don't think anyone, even those looking through rose tinted specs would think Josh could do it himself. He is who he is and we all get on and help him lead a life as near as normal as possible