Wasp Sting Makes for a Long Sunday

Sunday chores are no fun. Sunday is a day that we just want to rest and spend time with family. However, in this line of work, those chores are sometimes inevitable. On Saturday evening I fed the turkeys heavily and made sure their water was topped off. I did this thinking that if I didn't get by there on Sunday, that would be plenty of food and water for them. They would have been ok, but on Sunday afternoon I decided to ride out and check them just for good measure. I took some feed with me to top off the feeders. There are 4 full turkey houses in a pasture that is also grazed by a herd of beef cows. Our cows are grass-fed and grass-finished, but they aren't dumb. They know what feed is, and they will aggressively try to get to it. Therefore, I drive to each house quickly and put the buckets of feed inside the turkey houses before the cows come to see what's going on. Then I can walk from house to house filling feeders and checking the turkeys without having to fight the cows off of the feed. Sunday, as I was loading the buckets of feed into the last turkey house, a wasp stung me right on top of the head. And he got me good. About a minute later I was turning on the water and I could barely walk because of the sharp pain in both hips, my lower back, and both shoulders. Honestly, I was a little worried, so I called Julie to come get me. She took me home and after a few minutes, the pain subsided. I cooled off a little and asked her to take me back to the turkey field so I could finish the job. When I got there I found that 2 cows had literally demolished the wall of one turkey house to get to the feed buckets that I had left just inside the door. Thankfully, they had just busted through as I got there, so Atticus and I put the feed in the turkey feeders and topped off the water. But, this house still had a gaping hole in the side. I couldn't leave it that way or the cows would get in and destroy the whole thing. So in true farmer fashion, we found a ratchet strap and some string. We stitched the wall up tight enough to keep predators (and hopefully cows) out and turkeys in. Tomorrow's list will include a more robust repair. Lessons learned today: 1. When you plan on Saturday to not need to do chores on Sunday... don't do chores on Sunday. 2. Preemptively hunt and destroy wasp nests this time of year.