Freeze ....

A chilly one again today. Got everything fed,then nipped down the road to see the contractor about the correct acreage for the seeding,and to ask him to spread 2 tons/acre of hen pen on the 90 acres of grass that the blackie hoggs have been grazing all winter. It will also get nitrogen fert, as we aim to cut it for silage at the end of June.
Back up the road to see how the drainer is getting on,then brought cows and calves from the hill shed down ready to PD after lunch.
The guy arrived ,and we PD tested some cows I wasn't sure were in calf. The scanner has a probe and instead of a TV screen,Stevie has a head band with a pair of tiny screens just in front of his eyes so he can move around at the same time. All OK bar one.Then went next door to check the  in calf heifers. All 18 were in calf,and they got a BVD vaccine and a number freeze branded on their hip. This is a permanent mark ,which involves holding the frozen irons on their skin for a set time. The irons are kept immersed in a vat of liquid nitrogen to cool them, and the freezing kills the pigment in the hair. It then grows back white so you can read the number. The cattle don't seem to feel it any way.
If you look,you can just make out the dry ice vapour rising from the skin.