More babies! We even had our first set of twins in a few years! I haven’t seen them yet, but… yay! Trying to make our life “easier”… we set up a pen in the field between the pastures. Mommas and babies sometimes have troubles keeping track of one another until a day or two have…
Tag: calving season
Busy Morning
It was a busy night, so it turned into a busy morning for me when I showed up to help. Six pens in the main shed were full. (Two inside) Three in the outside pen. Then four in the new pen… And maybe another one, I can’t remember! I helped Brandon as he tagged and…
Misadventure
Well, I had good intentions. Quinlan and I went down to help out at the calving shed. The plan was to do whatever… but cleaning pens of used wet straw was going to be our priority. But first, those calves that had been weighed and tagged would have to be moved out of their comfy…
Spy Cam
The heifers are finally in calving mode, so I went down to help out a bit. Cleaning pens and helping Brandon and hauling food and water are my basic chores. We thought they’d keep on with busy activities so Vernon and I stayed home from the little girls’ basketball game tonight and let the parents…
Cycle Again
Finally, we’re starting to get some babies! I know, soon enough we’ll be on the other end of the spectrum… but we are all happy to see the calves hit the ground. As with anything, there’s more details behind the scenes. The heifers get fresh bedding every few days. Those who have calved get fed…
Into Life Backwards II
Yesterday’s post began the story of 520’s calf. … 520 slides down to the ground. The guys get to jacking on the calf puller. Trying to keep everything in proper position, while still pulling on the calf’s legs… Whew! It’s out! Honestly, I didn’t think it looked good. But Vernon grabbed some weed stems and…
Into Life Backwards
As we move our cows to the Badlands Pasture, we pair them, meaning each momma cow has to find her baby in the herd; they must recognize each other, and the baby must follow the cow out of the main bunch. Learning to follow momma is an important life skill, but this is the first…
Sunshine and Roses
Ha. Did you really think I’d be writing about sunshine and roses during calving season? Nope. Thank goodness, the weather is improving and at least the snow is leaving from the south facing slopes. Of course, that leaves mud and pools of meltwater… but let’s whine about one thing at a time, shall we? At…
Learning Fast
I’m taking the fast way out, by posting a video onto my Red Dirt Facebook page. No, you don’t have to have a Facebook account to watch it. This little calf looks half deer… but she was feeling good.
Checkup
Once calves are on the ground, you can’t just ignore the babies. Unfortunately, calves can easily pick up a bug, and some are nastynasty. Brandon does a walk through as the calves are taking their late morning nap. He looks for calves that are dropping their ears down, feeling bleh. They may or may not…
Little Shed on the Prairie
Vernon and I built this shed long ago, thinking maybe we could sell them, much like you see storage sheds sold everywhere these days. Well, we found out how long it took to weld the frame and tap the pipe… and we never built another one! For years though, calves have enjoyed their “calf only”…