Era: Started from raising livestock in the mountains

"What happened to make you so excited?"

Xiulan asked curiously. She was rubbing the skin of the sika deer in her hands. Now that it had been processed, she only needed to knead it until it was soft before use.

"I found that Lin Shek seems to be giving birth?" Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said excitedly.

"Really?" Xiulan raised her head with surprise on her face.

"It's most likely true, mainly because I've never seen forest musk deer give birth to cubs." Lin Heng said.

Xiulan put down the deerskin, stood up and said, "Then let's go take a look. Maybe we need help."

Lin Heng nodded and went to the front yard to pick up his daughter and watch the forest musk deer give birth to her cubs together. Xiaoxia followed Lin Heng knowing the rules and said nothing.

"How many do you think we can give birth to?" Xiulan asked in a low voice while walking. This was also the first time for him to see forest musk deer giving birth to cubs.

"It is said that they are similar to sheep, with one to three litters per litter, and usually two litters are the most." Lin Heng replied.

"Then I hope there will be two, preferably both females." Xiulan whispered.

Lin Heng thought the same way. Although the female does not produce musk, it can quickly expand the population size.

Observe the animals giving birth quietly, and do not disturb them if you are mainly interested in peeking. Once they stood on the hillside, they could clearly see the situation in the forest musk deer circle.

"One fell down so quickly."

Looking at the situation in the circle, Xiulan couldn't help but show surprise.

"Wild animals give birth very quickly." Lin Heng was not surprised.

Only Xiaoxia opened her eyes wide. This was the first time she saw an animal giving birth.

The little forest musk deer was still twitching on the ground after being born, unable to stand up for a long time. The fetal fluid on his body was too heavy and seemed to hinder breathing.

The female forest musk deer didn't help but was very anxious. There was also a forest musk deer that seemed to be stuck and couldn't get out.

"Is it difficult to give birth?" Xiulan asked doubtfully.

"Because the second female forest musk deer has been delayed in giving birth and is suffocating without licking the fetal fluid. She needs artificial assistance. Please help me."

Lin Heng nodded and put Xiaoxia down and asked her to stay where she was. Then he washed his hands in the bucket next to him and went with Xiulan to help the female forest musk deer give birth.

After gently entering the forest musk deer circle, the female forest musk deer retreated to the corner nervously. Lin Heng quickly petted the female forest musk deer, and when she calmed down, she handed over the comforting work to Xiulan, and he came to help give birth.

He first lifted up the hind legs of the young forest musk deer, removed the fetal fluid from the mouth and nose to prevent it from suffocating, and then checked the condition of the female forest musk deer.

This second forest musk deer's legs came out first. No wonder it was difficult to give birth. Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "You held its neck down."

"Okay." Xiulan nodded and pressed the female forest musk deer on her lap.

Lin Heng took hold of Xiao Lin She's legs and tried to slowly help with the delivery. He had done this job many times and had specialized in veterinary medicine in his previous life.

I was supposed to wear gloves, but I didn’t have any suitable ones at home, so I had to use them.

With his help, the second baby musk deer was successfully delivered soon after. Lin Heng removed the fetal fluid from its mouth and nose and placed it next to the female musk deer.

The female forest musk deer has now taken the initiative to lick the fetal fluid, which means that she will only give birth to two cubs this time. Both Lin Heng and Xiulan showed disappointment on their faces.

"It's so rare to have three babies. We should be lucky that we didn't have one." Lin Heng smiled and shook his head.

Xiulan nodded: "Indeed, and both of them are female, which is already good news."

Lin Heng nodded. The two young forest musk deer will be able to give birth in October next year. Three female forest musk deer can give birth to five or six musk deer a year, and the population will soon multiply and expand.

"I'll go back and cook some wheat bran for Lin She to eat first, and you can take care of the placenta." Xiulan said again and walked back with her daughter.

On the way, Xiaoxia asked all the questions she had accumulated, which made Xiulan regretful that she had not handed her over to Lin Heng.

Lin Heng waited for a while, until Xiulan brought over the cooked wheat bran and polenta, but he didn't see the placenta being discharged.

"What should we do?" Xiulan asked worriedly. If the placenta is not discharged, it will cause great damage to the mother's body.

Lin Heng brought the food over, thought for a while and said, "If it hasn't been passed out in four hours, don't worry."

"Then you watch, I'm going back first." Xiulan blinked, patted Lin Heng and turned around to go back.

After Lin She finished eating and replenished her nutrition, the placenta finally began to be produced. Lin Heng helped take it out and carry it home.

The musk deer fetus, like the deer fetus, is a very precious traditional Chinese medicine. Lin Heng picked it up only to chop it up, cook it and feed it to the female forest musk deer. If she eats it directly, it may cause problems.

After all, the forest musk deer's stomach can only digest grass, so it would definitely be too much for such a large piece of meat to suddenly come in.

If you cook and chop it several times, there will be no problem.

"I'm going to tell my parents to make them happy." Lin Heng said with a smile after returning to the house.

"Go and take Xiaoxia with you." Xiulan nodded and said.

Lin Heng went to take out Hong Zao, who hadn't ridden for a long time, and took Xiaoxia to ride the horse.

"Okay, riding a horse is great!!"

Xiaoxia was as happy as a little fool sitting on the horse.

When she arrived at the breeding base, Xiaoxia couldn't wait to shout: "Grandpa, grandpa, the forest musk deer has given birth to a cub."

"The forest musk deer has fallen?" Lin's father said in surprise.

Mother Lin picked up Xiaoxia and asked, "My dear granddaughter, how many young forest musk deer have you laid? Are they male or female?"

"Two." Xiaoxia stretched out two fingers, tilted her head and continued, "Dad said they are all female forest musk deer."

"Two females, that's great." Mother Lin said happily.

Father Lin also nodded and said: "Our forest deer enclosure is almost completed. We will move them here in a few days when the weather is good."

"That's what I thought, too." Lin Heng said with a smile.

These days, he and his father have preliminarily built a 30-square-meter musk deer pen. His father is making wooden rafters. In a few days, he will build a pig pen and cover the roof together.

Lin Heng went into the house to look at the shrimps with eggs and found that there was a lot of residue in the water. He used a pipe to siphon the residue away and then put some clean water in.

The shrimps with eggs consume more oxygen, so the aerator has been running non-stop these days.

After looking at the shrimps, Lin Heng went to look at the pasture grass. Each one was ridiculously lush, while only one or two mu of land was cut to feed cattle and sheep.

These pasture grasses can be harvested. They are chopped with a lawn mower and dried and stored.

"Dad, there are blackberries over there." Xiaoxia pointed to the bushes above the pasture and said crisply.

"You have sharp eyes." Lin Heng touched her little head and took her to eat blackberries.

Now almost all the berries are red, and if you don't eat them now, they will be out of season.

Xiaoxia has eaten a lot these days. Her grandma and grandpa always bring her a lot of berries when they come back from the mountains, but she still hasn't eaten enough.

The evening after the sun sets in summer is very suitable for walking. It would be even more perfect if there is a breeze like now.

They ate berries, and many green berries were flying in the bushes in the distance. This year, Lin Heng was not interested in hitting them.

After eating berries, Lin Heng brought Xiaoxia down. He looked at his mother and said, "Mom, I want to buy you two more lambs. What do you think?"

"Sure, anyway, they have to be released, two more or two less doesn't make a difference. I suggest you buy another heifer for breeding." Lin's mother said with a smile.

"Then I'll go and see the situation in a few days and buy two good varieties." Lin Heng nodded. There is no shortage of forage now, and the number of breeding can be expanded.

In addition, he has veterinary knowledge to help him, and some minor diseases can be solved.

Then, he said, "Oh, Mom, don't herd the cattle tomorrow. I'll ask Xiaoxia to come and help cut the grass, dry it and store it."

Now ryegrass and alfalfa are about to bloom and bear fruit, which is the most nutritious time, very suitable for cutting for feed.

"Okay, then I won't go to milk the cows tomorrow morning. Bring me the milk you can't finish." Lin's mother nodded.

After playing for a while, Lin Heng took Xiaoxia home and took a walk to see the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river.

In the evening, the female musk deer was fed some porridge made from wheat bran, and part of the placenta was added to it.

The next morning, after exercising and eating breakfast as usual, the two took Xiaoxia and three dogs to Hongfeng Mountain.

"Mom, I brought you the milk. You can drink it directly after it is heated." Xiulan walked into the house and said with a smile.

Mother Lin took the milk and said with a smile: "You're right, this milk is nutritious. Your father and I have only been drinking it for two months and we have a lot more energy to work."

"That's natural. We could only barely survive before, but now we can live." Lin Heng said with a smile.

People who eat steamed bread every day and don't see meat for three days must have no strength. God blesses them if they don't get sick.

"Well, I should beat you more often, maybe you can wake up earlier." Father Lin said with a smile.

Lin Heng: "..."

After his parents finished breakfast, Lin Heng and his father went to build the unfinished pigsty, Xiulan and Mother Lin took sickles to cut grass, and Xiaoxia played with Xiongba and three dogs in the yard of the warehouse.

In one morning, they built the pigsty. Father Lin looked at the remaining bricks and said, "Son, why don't you go buy some more cement. Build another cowshed and sheepfold. There are too many cows and sheep in the back, and the old house can't keep them."

Lin Heng nodded and said, "I thought so too. I also plan to build a small dam on the stream to store water and try to raise plum fish."

He studied it carefully these days. There is an area in the mountain stream that is very suitable for building a small dam. It can be 70 to 80 meters long and about 5 to 6 meters wide.

It doesn't need to be built too high, just about 3 to 4 meters, which is equivalent to a small fish pond.

"Okay, there is less farm work this year, I can help you." Father Lin nodded.

"That's fine, let's go back and build it slowly." Lin Heng agreed with a smile.

The two discussed the location of the cowshed and finally decided to build it more than 30 meters above the grassland near the west, that is, the side away from the mountain stream.

There is a flat land 30 meters long and 5 to 6 meters wide at this location. It is more than enough to build a cowshed and sheepfold.

Then the hillside nearby can be reclaimed to plant forage grass, so there is no need to worry about the problem of fodder.

Lin Heng is no longer planning to transform the 80-acre hillside above the warehouse into a pond according to the previous plan.

The original decision was a bit hasty. It was too difficult to transform this place into a pond without an excavator. It is better to firmly reclaim the land and plant forage grass or medicinal herbs.

When I make a lot of money and prepare to build a villa on the mountain in the future, I will decide what to transform this place into.

After the place was chosen, Lin Heng and his father first took a hatchet to clear a suitable road, and then slowly transformed the rest later.

Among the 80 acres above, 60 acres are relatively easy to transform and can be slowly transformed into land.

People in this era like to have more children because children are labor force. When they grow up to five or six years old, they can help work. When they grow up, they can help open up wasteland in the mountains, and the family industry will increase little by little.

It is a very typical small peasant economy, which has been like this since ancient times.

However, this economic situation will gradually be eliminated with the explosion of modern productivity.

It was already noon when the three-meter-wide road was cleared, and Xiulan and the others had only cut more than half an acre of pasture, because Xiaoxia made trouble along the way and they couldn't cut it quickly.

"Go back and rest."

Lin Heng shouted. It was already eleven o'clock, and the sun was so bright that it made people irritated.

After returning to the house and washing up, everyone drank water and rested for a while. The majestic wind blowing under the eaves made people stretch their necks comfortably.

Lin Heng suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Xiulan: "Xiulan, today seems to be the 18th of the Gregorian calendar, right?"

Xiulan was stunned for a moment, then said: "I would have forgotten if you didn't tell me, it's really already the 18th."

"What happened on the 18th?" Father Lin asked curiously, and Mother Lin also looked confused.

Lin Heng walked up to Xiulan and asked, "I remember your relative is number 16 or 17."

Xiulan's face turned red and she nodded: "I forgot if you didn't tell me. It's true that I didn't come. I'm usually very punctual."

Lin Heng said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean you are pregnant and I have a child again!"

Mother Lin slapped him: "You only think of such an important thing now, and you still let Xiulan work. You deserve a slap."

"That's right, Xiulan has forgotten this kind of thing, how can you still forget it?" Lin's father also said angrily.

"Don't blame him, I didn't notice it myself." Xiulan shook her head, and then said, "Besides, it's not necessarily true. Sometimes it's not impossible to get confused."

"It's his fault." Mother Lin snorted, then pulled Xiulan and said, "From now on, just stay in the house and don't do anything else, and don't cut the grass in the afternoon."

Xiulan said helplessly: "Mom, even if you are pregnant, you can't stay in the house every day. You need to exercise properly."

Lin Heng also said: "That's right, Mom, you don't have to worry about it. I'll take Xiulan to the city hospital for a checkup in two days. It will be easy to confirm."

Mother Lin said unhappily: "You know nothing, you don't need to care about me. How can I care about my grandson?"

Lin Heng said helplessly: "Mom, you'd better go cook. There's nothing to get excited about now. Let's wait until we get pregnant."

After hearing this, Mother Lin calmed down, nodded and said, "Then I'll cook."

"Dad, mom, are you going to give me a brother?"

After Lin's mother left, Xiaoxia took Lin Heng's hand and asked curiously. She could roughly understand what the adults said.

"Maybe he's a younger brother, maybe he's a younger sister." Lin Heng looked at her and said.

"Okay, I want younger siblings." Xiaoxia jumped up excitedly and said.

Xiulan said quickly: "Be careful, don't fall."

Xiaoxia came over and pulled her mother and said, "Mom, when will my younger brother and sister be born?"

"It's still early." Xiulan pinched her little face and smiled.

Xiaoxia tilted her head and thought for a while, then murmured to herself that she wanted to play various games with her younger siblings.

Lin Heng looked at Xiulan and said, "I'm going to buy calves and lambs in a few days. You come with me to check them out."

"It's not necessary. You will know in a few days." Xiulan shook her head.

"It's definitely necessary. Just come with me then." Lin Heng said without refusal. Although there is no B-ultrasound now, it is still necessary to go to the hospital.

Xiulan pursed her lips and said nothing. She wanted to go in and help Lin's mother cook but was kicked out. She could only sit on the chair in a daze.

After a while, Mrs. Lin prepared the meal. At the dinner table, Mrs. Lin kept serving Xiulan with vegetables. The vegetarian ones were fine, but the fat ones were too difficult for Xiulan.

Lin Heng said: "Mom, the book says that she should eat light food during pregnancy, so don't let her eat fat meat."

"Then you can eat more lean meat." Mother Lin said with a smile, and gave Xiulan another chopstick of lean meat.

"Thank you, Mom." Xiulan reluctantly picked up the bowl and started eating. Fortunately, we didn't live together now, otherwise it would be too difficult for her to eat like this every meal.

After dinner, Xiulan went to help with the work, but Mother Lin refused to let her go.

"It's okay, Mom, it's good to exercise." Lin Heng said.

"We'll wait until the sun sets completely." Mother Lin insisted.

Xiulan had no choice but to stay at home with Xiaoxia.

In the afternoon, Lin's father and Lin Heng both went over to help cut the grass, leaving only a third of the land with fresh grass, and the rest was cut.

As for the cow and sheep pens, there is no rush, there is plenty of time to do it slowly.

Without Xiaoxia causing trouble, the three of them cut the grass much faster, cutting more than half of the grass in two hours.

"Oh my god, what a big black-tailed snake!!"

Suddenly, Mother Lin let out an exclamation.

Lin Heng and the other two looked over and saw a big black snake with a thick wrist burrowing into the uncut grass.

"This must weigh three or four kilograms. It's a good medicinal material." Lin Heng wanted to grab it. The black-tip snake meat was quite delicious.

"Forget it, don't catch it." Father Lin waved his hand, not wanting to catch such a thing.

Lin Heng didn't insist and continued to cut the grass. They finished cutting the grass at half past four.

After transporting the forage, Lin Heng went to the warehouse to take out the grass chopper, threw the grass in, chopped it, and dried it to make hay that could be stored for a long time.

Lin Heng started the machine to chop grass, and Lin's father told Xiaoxia a story from a distance. He was telling the story of Huang Long's fight for the title, a mythical story about their place.

It is said that once upon a time, a cowherd met a snake with legs on its head and could talk. He asked the cowherd what he looked like. If he was told that he looked like a snake, he would have failed. If he was told that it looked like a dragon, he would be able to transform into a dragon. , and will repay the cattle herders.

Another story is that there is a mountain with three corners inside Shimen Village, with two caves on it, one is Huanglong Cave and the other is Heilong Cave. A man rewarded Huanglong with golden chopsticks for building a temple, and then the man asked for golden bowls and basins, and finally angered Huanglong and all of them were swept away by the flood.

Lin Heng had heard his grandfather tell this story many times when he was a child, and even went to Shimen Village to find it, but it was a pity that it was just a legend.

Xiaoxia asked many questions just like Lin Heng did when he was a child. But many of them were just legends that Lin's father could not answer.

"I'll help you." Lin's father stood up and said.

"Okay." Lin Heng told his father about the precautions of the lawn mower, and then gave it to him to use, and he took a fork to spread the chopped grass.

He worked until the sun set at seven o'clock, and half of the sky was dyed red by the bloody sun. The sunset glow deep in the mountains also had a unique artistic conception.

"Let's chop the rest tomorrow, and we can pack it up when it's almost dried." Lin Heng pointed to the chopped grass and said.

In addition to dry grass, there is also silage feed, which is simply piled up and fermented for a month. Under the action of lactic acid bacteria, these grasses can be kept for a long time and the nutrients will not be lost.

However, the production of silage needs to be sealed with plastic bags or built with silage towers, which is troublesome after all.

The advantage is that the nutrients are not lost, and cattle and sheep prefer to eat silage than dry grass. Lin Heng plans to see the situation and buy some plastic bags to make it himself.

Although it is very difficult to make without a silage machine, you still have to learn it. Silage is an indispensable thing for raising cattle and sheep. Good silage is as nutritious as concentrated feed.

"I'll chop it up tomorrow morning when I get up." Lin's father nodded.

"Okay." Lin Heng nodded. In fact, hay should also be sealed and stored, otherwise it is easy to grow insects and mold.

Then he went into the house to check the shrimps, fed them, and then carried a large bundle of hay with Xiulan and Xiaoxia and walked back.

Xiulan took Xiaoxia and two dogs to stroll slowly on the road, while Lin Heng quickly returned to the house with hay on his back.

The reason for two dogs is that Lai Fu, the blue wolf dog, was tied up at Hongfeng Mountain to guard the gate. The four-month-old dog was almost five months old and it was time for him to perform tasks. Lin Heng also taught some basic commands these days.

He had given up teaching the two dogs more profound commands. Even the routine training such as shaking hands and squatting took him a long time.

In fact, they were not bad. They were purebred dogs and were easy to train. It was just that compared with Xiongba, the genius dog, it was inevitable that people were a little disappointed.

Lin Heng now only hoped that Xiongba's sons and daughters would inherit some of his intelligence in the future.

"Hiss!!"

"Baa!!"

"Moo!!"

As soon as Lin Heng came to the back mountain with the grass, a group of animals started to bark. Their eyes lit up when they saw the grass on Lin Heng's back.

"All are all." Lin Heng said with a smile. He fed the cow first. The cow's belly was gradually getting bigger. It had been bad for more than a month when it was bought. It is expected to give birth in September and October this year.

Thanks to the careful feeding of the whole family, it lives a good life.

Next to the cow are the female forest musk deer and the female sheep. Lin Heng also feeds them. The little forest musk deer can now stand up and looks a little timid in the pen.

On the ewe side, the three lambs are also very healthy. Although the little ram was very weak at the beginning, it is now as big as the other two sheep after careful care.

Then Lin Heng fed the male forest musk deer, red dates, big yellow cattle and small male dairy cows.

"Hiss!!"

It seemed that it was dissatisfied with Lin Heng for feeding so slowly. It pulled a handful of grass and threw it around, making it everywhere.

"That's all. If you waste it, you will starve." Lin Heng patted its head.

Red dates neighed again, quite dissatisfied. In the past, Lin Heng bathed it every three to five days, but now it is once every ten days, and three times a month is considered good.

The main reason is that he has a tricycle and uses it less.

Lin Heng fed the animals. Xiulan and Xiaoxia had not returned yet. He thought they were walking around the village. He immediately took a bucket to water the fruits and vegetables at home. It hadn't rained for a few days, so the ground was a little dry.

"Brother, look what I caught!"

Suddenly, Lin Yue's voice came from outside.