As another farmer-blogger put it recently, if you haven’t seen me here much, it’s because I’m busy beyond belief, spending most of my free hours running as fast as I can to stay ahead of Spring. Indiana Jones racing madly down the cave tunnel just a hair’s breadth ahead of the rolling stone ball – that’s kind of what it feels like.
No sooner had I pulled taps and stacked sap buckets, then the calves started coming. Yes, I got the cow herd moved to a dormant grass paddock first, as I had outlined in my transition plan. Thank goodness! And so far, there are three healthy bull calves scampering around their moms and aunts, lending a definite air of Spring freshness to the farm.
Arrivals began the day before St. Patrick’s Day. Counting back on a gestation calendar, that means these three cows were bred in early June. That was long before I arrived on the scene, and who knows what condition they were in – obviously good enough to cycle and conceive. The great mystery is how Bruce the (nearly) infertile bull and his unknown-aged son out of god knows which cow, were able to breed more than three cows in this motley herd.
I say more than three, because there at least two others “bagging up” and showing other signs of impending parturition.
I should have gotten the vet out to preg check them in the fall. Next year I definitely will, but I didn’t really count on too much fertility going on with this bunch this year, between the poor condition of both the cows and bulls when I found them, and the extreme heat. I’d separated them into two herds as soon as I turned them out on my pastures, to allow the girls to recondition, but June and July breeding activity was not in my control. (I will aim to breed later, for calving on green, growing grass.) But it must have happened, because I got calves.
No complaints here, though. All three births were unassisted, wee-hour events in fairly good weather on good clean pasture. All three moms are taking good care of their kids. There’s some udder conformation issues with one, and a late-gestation prolapse occurred with another, so I am not sure if all of the new momma’s are keepers. We’ll let them raise their calves and see how they do. But these three boy calves represent a marketable inventory of grass-fed beef in 2015, if I’m able to raise them to adulthood in good health and with steady growth.
After many years of planning, learning, and waiting, we’re in the cattle business, raising a calf crop, at last.
Thistledog's Farm 
By the looks of that one little bull that has his momma chasing him around to keep him out of trouble… you are off to a running start, congratulations.
Gordon, you should see them now! Like a little football team, scrimmaging just out of reach of their moms, past the electric wire. A hoot to watch. Better than TV!
It will be so interesting to see what the whole caboodle ends up looking like. I have to admit I am starting to wonder if male spermies are more likely to be produced in times of famine? Just one of the weird thoughts that drop out of my brain, lol!
That’s an interesting hypothesis, I’ll bet someone’s done some research on it too. Thankfully, not all the girl spermies succumbed to the famine conditions; first girlie hit the ground yesterday. Woohoo!
Well “Ms Cattle Rancher”, you certainly left them “Aluminum Birds” behind in a big way! Can’t say I blame you. Now that I have that fancy printed expulsion notice from University (they don’t want me back at all) I need to find a something or other that might give me money. When does the building construction get underway?
Dave, I don’t miss the squadron life at all, I tell ya!
If you mean building the “Big Barn,” that’ll be well down the road, I’m afraid. One step ahead of the other these days, just trying to keep my footing as the seasons progress and the animals and pastures change with them.
Kay,
Good on the time span for the “Big Barn” as it needs refinement and more structurale strength fact checking than I could squeeze into one semester at school. Plus we’ll need a good team of Suffolk Punch Draft Horses to draw the materials together. I am with ya on this project all the way!
Dave
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidaitcheson/
It’s the before/after pictures of those cows that stand out. How did they breed? Amazing. Good for you. Let’s hear it for projected farm income!
When do you plan to breed? What’s your ideal calving window? Planning to use your bulls or AI?
Yes, amazing is the word. Like I said, I really didn’t expect much, and so am all the more surprised. Calf #4 just hit the ground this afternoon, and one more yet to go…
That is a good question: what’s my ideal calving/breeding windows. Around here, there is no such thing. Most cattlemen just run their bulls with their cows and take what they get. Mostly calves in February and March. We don’t get grass tall enough to begin rotational grazing until May here. But these guys, they don’t do rotational grazing, they just turn them all out in one 30-acre pasture. So I’m against the grain when I say I intend to breed so that my calves arrive in mid-May to early June. According to the gestation calendar I use, that means breeding in August. Problematic because of the heat, I know. I would go a little later as well. And the two bulls are sold, neither being cost effective to feed through this last winter, although this fertility percentage belies the test results! Still, I think it was a good decision.
I will attempt AI. I would like to stick with purebred Devon genetics, which are not unreasonably expensive as semen. There is a guy here that does AI. But I need to build a good setup to accomodate that evolution, and then there is the issue of timing the insemination. The one yearling steer I have will, I hope, serve as a good tease. Still, the percentages are not always as good with AI. So, my ace-in-sleeve is my neighbor’s Angus herd; he will have several bulls that could be engaged as a clean-up crew.
It promises to be an interesting first breeding year for me. I wager I’ll learn a lot, and will be thankful for however many settled cows I end up with. One thing for sure: I’ll either learn to preg-check them myself, or hire the vet to come out and do that, so I know which ones remain open. Then I can make good cull decisions.
Well. I can tell you our AI setup. Dad held the rope wrapped around a post. I pushed the cow against the corral. Steve, wearing a long glove covered in dish soap, did the work. Good times.
When are fawns born where you live? That should tell you when to calve…even if the neighbors think you’re weird.
Congrats! They’re fine looking calves too.
Thanks, Bill. I think they’re as fine-looking as any live healthy calf can be. I can get all morbid and tell about my neighbor who’s had 4 calves die already, presumably from infections resulting from contamination around his ring feeders. Makes the months I spent pitching loose hay for my girls worth every bit of work; that and moving them to clean pasture to calve. Sometimes the rookie gets it right. 🙂
Soooooo you are the grandma to 3 boys!!!!!! Congradulations on your new
calves Kay – I feel tired after reading how much work you are doing. Spring
has arrived!!
Nice looking babies! I’m still 6 weeks from the first calf. Just waiting for the grass to grow here 😦
Thanks, moh. I wish I were 6 weeks from the first calf; next year, with any luck using AI, I will be. Grass just starting to grow here. Too early to be calving, from what I’ve learned. Want to time calves and lactation with the grass growth curve, so mid-to-late May would be much, much better. But I’m not looking a gift calf in the mouth! 🙂
Exactly, I like at least 30 days of green grass through the cows before the first calf. Sure makes a difference from my childhood memories of calves born early when it was wet, cold and muddy. 😦 Never would I go back to those “good ol’ days!”
Just found your site–as a recommendation on Throwback at Trapper Creek. Like you, I put in a career elsewhere first (college teaching in my case) but always dreamed of having a small farm. We finally realized our dream about 5 years ago–a small farm we call Fern Creek. While we have chickens and bees, fruits and vegetables (we operate a small CSA) I’d love to add a few cows. So I find your journey into new adventures that fulfill a life-long dream inspiring. Thanks for sharing it.