Farmer's Market

Last week was our first time as vendors at the local farmer's market.  I was not sure how much to take so I didn't over do it, but in the end I could have sold lots more.  I sold spinach, radishes, kohlrabi and cherries as well as fresh eggs and the beautiful garden art my husband handcrafts. 

Within an hour or so we were out of eggs and not long after we were sold out of produce.  I was a little surprised the garden art didn't sell better, but that's okay.  I was pleasantly surprised that the produce did sell so well! 

The hardest part was pricing everything.  I didn't want to be too low so that I sold everything quickly but didn't make any profit on it and I didn't want to be so high nothing would sell.  After our first market we have decided that the price on the eggs was too low but the veggies, I think, were just about right.  I was so excited to go and very glad we did, finally!  This is something I have thought about for a couple years now and finally just made the commitment.  Our market is on Thursday afternoons, which works great for me with a funky work schedule.  

We are debating applying for a market license for meat products, which is required in our state, but will wait until we have a few more markets under our belt.  Next week we will return if we have enough produce, which we should.  We have started picking zucchini and the tomatoes may start  by then and possibly the cabbages could be ready.  Oh and green beans and sugar snap peas should be ready.  Next time I will also try to take dried egg noodles (great grandma's recipe) and maybe some bakery goods (everyone loves cupcakes!).  This is such an exciting next step for us and our hobby farm.  It's also a great place to meet more people who also farm on both large and small scale.

I would call it a success and I look forward to more markets.  We do have more to learn and it is a decent amount of work to get everything ready, packaged and hauled there, set up and to be there for 3 hours selling.  It is quite a time commitment, but well worth the rewards if I can keep up enough produce to continue!

More Cattle Bloat Info

Since having a cow that had bloat earlier this week I have done quite a bit more research on the topic and thought I would share the information.  That said, I am NOT a vet and you can decide to use this information or not.  If in doubt, I ALWAYS opt for calling the vet.

Cattle bloat is basically just indigestion that leads to excessive gas being built up.  When this happens, burping is unable to relieve all the gas.  There are certain feeds which are more prone to causing bloat such as: legumes, alfalfa, too much grain or finely chopped hay.

As the cow bloats, the left side (where the rumen is located) of the belly gets larger than the right side making the cow appear lop-sided.  As it worsens, both sides will get larger.  When this happens, there is more and more pressure being put on the lungs and heart.  This makes it very hard for the cow to breath and can quickly cause death if not relieved.

While there are feed supplements to help prevent bloat there are some things that can be done other than that.  Don't put cows on wet legume pasture as this ferments easily and don't rush them when moving them in or out of pasture.  Movement irritates the rumen and can make bloat worse. Also, the time they spend in lush spring pastures may have to be limited.  Also, there are cows who are just more prone to getting bloat than others.  In this case, the question arises whether or not to sell them or not.  The risk with keeping them is that if they bloated and you didn't notice,  they could die.

Treatment for mild to moderate bloat includes a tube passed through the left side of the mouth or nose, through the esophagus and into the rumen.  This can require a tube many feet long depending on the size of the cow.  Through this tube mineral oil can be given to break up the foam.  Also, using a bite block works well to prevent the cow from biting the tube.  

If the cow is having difficulty breathing, this may require more immediate emergency actions involving a needle or trocar inserted through the belly into the rumen to immediately relieve the gas.  If the cow is in dire need and taking it's last gasping breaths, a pocket knife can be used to make a hole which can be stitched by the vet after the emergency is over.  One may need to use their fingers in order to spread the opening larger if the foam is too thick to allow the gas to escape.  I also read that the vet can insert a permanent valve for cows that bloat often. I don't know any details on that, but it is something we will keep in mind for our heifer.

All of the information I found has been helpful to us in dealing with our young lady.  We tried her out on grass this morning and it appeared that her belly was growing again so I put her in the barn again where I believe she will remain until the calf is born.  I am not sure what the problem is, but suspect it may be either the positioning of her calf or the size of it.  Either way, I will be keeping a close eye on her in the barn due to my suspicion of problems with labor and delivery!

I hope this information is helpful, but please also remember that I AM NOT A VET! I am publishing this information as just that- information period.  It is not meant as medical advice or as a replacement for contacting a professional!

Cattle Bloat

With our small herd of cows we have been extremely lucky so far and never experienced any of them bloat.  That being said, I have yet to "see" bloat and am naive in recognizing it --until now, that is.  I have read enough, though, that I thought I would be able to at least suspect it.  

A couple days ago one of our pregnant heifers looked bigger to me.  This happened over a couple days and she is very pregnant -due any time.  I debated that day what was going on and bloat did cross my mind, but she was acting fine so I thought I was just overreacting.  When I checked on her since then she looked the same and still acted normal.  

Tonight, I had my son and husband take a look at her and, yep, sure enough they diagnosed bloat.  She had a slight hump to her mid-back and her left side was much larger than the right.  This happened to her once before when she unknowingly stole another cows alfalfa hay at the county fair.  I wasn't there, so I didn't see it.  The boys said it was much worse last time with her belly hard as a rock.  Tonight the top of her belly was slightly firm and tight, but not rock hard.  

She is such a great tempered tame cow that she allowed my son to put in an orogastric tube while haltered and tied in the barn.  She definitely did not like it, but tolerated it.  Some of the gas did escape through the tube before she expelled the tube.  She also got a dose of mineral oil, which she found less than tasty.  She is now stalled in the barn and feed is on hold until her belly goes down a little more.  She is belching some nasty smelling gas which makes us very happy!  Hopefully she will be feeling better soon and have a beautiful calf for us in the next few days.   

My lesson is learned -if I suspect something isn't right, I should follow my instincts.  Now I also know what to look for to recognize bloat.  We will be keeping her on less lush pasture from now on. I am so thankful we didn't lose her due to my lack of knowledge!  

Witnessed Calf Birth #2

So, as I said in my last post, I was able to witness my second calf birth (our 3rd calf this year) last week.  She was not so hidden in the weeds and, while it did progress fast, it was not quite as fast as the first one I witnessed a few weeks ago!  The photos are from my phone which means they are not the best quality, but they do show exactly what was happening.  I didn't have time to go get the camera or I would have missed the whole thing!

First sight was 2 hooves showing.

With each push more of the calf was showing.

Some pushes I could tell were extremely hard and painful.

At this point the bag was torn and we could see the calf breathing.

The rear end was a little harder to expel than the head was.

All of a sudden --plop onto the ground!!  We were almost certain it was a girl and IT IS!

The first few attempts at standing were very wobbly.

Momma quickly gets the new calf cleaned off.

Finally she stands and after some help from us, starts to drink.

Once again it was an amazing sight that I feel privileged to be a part of.  Red is a great mother and this adorable little girl born on May Day is named May!!

Udderly Enormous!

All the girls were up in the barn lot tonight so my daughter and I decided to go out and check on them.  We have a heifer, Red, that is due in a couple weeks with her first calf, but she has really been bagging up recently. I am so excited to see what her babies will look like since she is built like a brick, well, you know the rest.  When we looked at her tonight all I could do is feel sorry for her as it must be so uncomfortable, but this is what we saw:

This photo taken with my phone doesn't quite do it justice but believe me she is gigantic!  I think if she doesn't calve tomorrow I will start taking bets on when it will be or if it will be before she has an udder explosion!!

On a cute note, I got some decent photos of my little girl (she might become my favorite) in the barn lot. I love to look out in the pasture to see her playing in the field by momma.  She is just the meaning of adorable!

Love this girl!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and I will post as soon as our next little beauty is born!

Our Cow's Labor Stages

Yesterday as I was driving past the pasture I noticed our cow, Mabel, standing with her tail straight out and looking like she was straining with nothing coming out (or so I thought from that far away).  Also, she was in the corner of the pasture away from the herd.  This was about 2:30pm.  I rushed right down with her in time to catch all of this:

 This is what she looked like when I first saw her.

When she turned I could see this discharge from her vaginal area.

After a few pushes like above it seemed she was pushing harder and her tail would curl.  This went on for a few pushes. 

Finally I was able to see just a little of the bag starting to appear.

More and more bag appeared with each push.  She seemed to be progressing just fine.

Finally she laid down to push.  Even more bag was visible.

A few more hard pushes and it is hard to see with the weeds, but the baby is being delivered in this photo. (Unluckily she moved behind these weeds just before this) This was around 3:30pm.  This all was right at or just over an hour after I noticed labor had begun. (Not exact on times due to watching cow not my watch!)

It took momma a minute or so to get up after delivery and I was starting to get a little nervous because I couldn't see the baby moving.  A couple licks from mom and I could see movement!

Baby is all black and is still being cleaned off just minutes after birth.  Already seems very alert.

And baby calf stands!  This was the first full stand after a few failed attempts.  This was roughly 10 minutes after birth.

Later that evening we went to check on the calf and found out he is a boy!  He is 7/8 angus and 1/8 maine anjou.  

Today we were able to check out the black white-faced calf born earlier yesterday and she is a girl!  I am so excited about that because she will be retained for breeding.  Both calves are great looking babies and we are so happy with them.  I feel privileged to have witnessed such an event.  I did stay back a ways so that momma could have her room to do her thing, but she is a wonderful gentle and tolerant cow so she lets us touch and pet the calf anytime.  She is also very protective and rarely leaves his side.

We feel so blessed this year already and have a few more to go!  

Are We Crazy?

The short answer is, yes, we probably are, but that is a different story altogether!  I have, through the years since we moved to our country paradise, thought about the pros and cons of living in the country and raising livestock.  

During the winter months the thought crosses my mind many times about how much easier life would be in town.   At times, we get snowed in and when the roads do get plowed sometimes it's only one lane.  The wind is worse in the country which means that everything drifts worse than in town.  And we definitely have more to plow here than we did in town.

It is, in general, more expensive to live in the country.  Everything from electricity and water to our weekly gas budget costs more.  This is a huge downfall if you're not aware or prepared for it.  We have learned to live with it and do what we can to save by growing our own food in the summer and raising our own livestock.  

Country life is tons more work than living in town.  From daily chores to maintenance on equipment, fences and barns the work can take it's toll.  We all pitch in, with my husband and I bearing the brunt of it.  Before we moved I had no idea just how much more work it would be.  Not that I don't like work, but I just had no idea how much it would entail.

The beauty of living in the country is that I can see about 5-10 miles in all directions of our house.  I can see storms coming from the west long before they get here.  I only have one neighbor who really doesn't care what we might be doing.  We can do just about whatever we want with our land.  We can make a garden as large or small as we want.  We can plant trees or bushes without a building permit, yes a building permit was required in the town we came from.  My kids have plenty of room to run or play as they wish.  I love having animals and treat each as a part of our family.  I get so excited when the babies are born and it drives me crazy with anticipation when they are close. I also believe it is good for children to grow up having chores around the farm and caring for animals of their own. 

In the end, the list of pros is endless and the cons only represents a few of the things I don't like about the country.  I wouldn't give it up for anything.  It is our home and everyone knows there's no place like home!

Unbelievable Rules

I wanted to post an update to my recent post about our new adventure that would include being licensed to sell farm-raised meat from our home.  We recently were "inspected" if you want to call it that.  

First of all, a little background on the process: I spoke with the department of inspections and appeals to find out what was required to be able to sell meat from your home.  There is very little to absolutely no info on this available online unless your are actually producing the product yourself.  I was told you have to have a warehouse license and they emailed me an application, which included absolutely no instructions or requirements.

Secondly, in the past few months while attempting to "get everything ready", I made 2 more calls to the department in an attempt to obtain more info on any requirements and both times I was told that the only requirement is a working freezer separate from our own use products.

That was fine, we purchased a small freezer set up in our garage (this is what one gentleman at the dept. said most people do) on our farm and a couple weeks ago sent our application in with the $67.50 fee required for one year.  When I received our letter stating who our inspector was and his number, I called to set up the inspection.  I again asked if there were any specific requirements I should know to have in place for inspection.  He told me there wasn't much to it other than a working freezer.  Ok, fine.

He showed up last Monday, as expected, and was a less than friendly person right off the bat.  Secondly, he looked at the freezer and said his concern was that we use the garage for other uses such as parking cars! No kidding!  Don't most people?  About that time our dog (yellow lab) looked out the door to see who was here and the man said "you have pets?"  I said "yes, we do live on a farm and it's not like the dog will be in the freezer or the car touching the inside of it".  He probably thought I was being rude, but I was flabbergasted!!  He then stated that the freezer has to be in an area free of other activities and pets!!  I was in shock!  I darn near fell on the floor!  No wonder more people don't attempt to do this. 

Needless to say we flunked inspection for the time being and unless we build a "room" for the freezer by itself, will never pass. Don't get me wrong, because I do believe in food safety.  That being said, I think some of the rules are a little outrageous.  Also, if they would have told me the rules on one of the 4 times I spoke with them before sending the application and my fee, I wouldn't have even bothered.  Sounds to me like a way for them to make money without having to do much but show up once to say you are denied.

I am still a little steamed- ok I am a lot steamed- about the whole thing as I have spent $255 to date to get things ready and apply.  We are still mulling over whether or not it would be worth it at all to spend more money on the "room" and risk being denied again for some stupid reason.  And yes, I do think the reasons stated are just plain stupid.  I hate when people are not honest in the first place, which I feel is exactly what has happened here.

Not sure what regulations are like in other states, but I have heard that some don't have any at all for such ventures.  I will not let this setback get us down, but we have some more thinking to do as to what our next step will be.

Hope everyone has a great week as always!  

Bulls and Sex of Calves

As we await the arrival of our first calves, this is the time of year we begin thinking about breeding this year and coming up with our plan.

Last year we decided to purchase a bull, use him for a few months and resell him at the local cattle sale.  This did work out for us, but being an older bull with worsening feet, I was very worried something would happen to him before we could get him sold.  Everything worked out fine and he was sold in October and it ended up costing us roughly $300 to breed 5 cows.

Thanks to a very nice woman who raises some of the nicest polled hereford cattle I have ever seen, we will be purchasing our own 2 year old bull. He will not come to our farm until we are done calving this year. His name is Apollo and he is a magnificent looking creature that will add some color to our herd, which is important to us(mainly me).  Everyone in Iowa has black cows and we prefer each cow have it's own look, because they all do have their own personality!

Apollo

I have learned a great deal from this nice older woman whose family has been raising polled herefords since before she was born.  One of the most interesting things I have learned is that the bull "picks" the sex of the calf.  She said that in her experience if the bull lunges to mount the cow, it will almost always produce a male.  If the bull gently atops her, it will produce a female.  So, if the bull is young  and has to kind of jump up there it should produce more males. It has something to do with the difference in speed, agility and longevity of the sperm.  I remember reading this sort of information about people when I was in my baby-making days.

I will be keeping track this year of the sex of our calves born to kind of test this hypothesis.  Our bull last year was a massive 4 year old that I would say did not lunge, so by her rule I predict we should have mostly bull calves.  We shall see!

I hope everyone has an amazing day today! 

Happy April Fools Day!!  

Photos of Babies and Big Girls

I took these photos the other day out in the barn.  I love taking pics of them and the big girls. They are such characters! Finally the weather is bearable enough for me to get out and do this.

 One of triplets -whether

 Mistletoe peaking

 Twin buck - I love his color!  We will probably whether him so that one of our kids can show him at the fair.

 Triplets that are being bottle-fed.

 Twin doe -little sister to the buck with all that color!

 Our big billy and the producer of all that color.

 Heifer named "Big Red". She is built like a tank and will be calving in a few weeks!

 "Mabel" was our first baby cow born here and will be one of the first cows to calve in early April. This will be her second calf.

"Snowflake" likes to rub on everything!  She is not bred this year, but will be for next year.

This is "Maria". She is a first timer at calving this year also. She is a polled hereford that is a little standoffish still, but she is getting better.

There you have it, our first photo shoot for 2014! There will be lots more photos to enjoy throughout the year.  Hopefully we will have calves to take photos of soon!

Oh yeah and all photos ARE copywrited! If you chose to use one, anyway please include a link back to this page!  Thanks!

English River Farms -Our New Adventure!!

Ever since purchasing our piece of heaven on earth, we have been brainstorming ways that we could possibly make a living with our farm or at least the farm could sustain itself.  It is very difficult to revamp a farm, acquire animals and feed them all if you are on a limited budget.  We finally have built our animal herd into something potentially profitable.  Time to start thinking seriously!

We do all we can to save money such as:

1.  Raise grass-fed livestock (except the animals the kids show in 4H) -This allows us to only have to buy feed (hay) in the winter.  Since we don't crop-farm it would never be profitable to feed our livestock grain as it is expensive to purchase.

2. We do 99.9% of the work ourselves.  From fencing to chores to cutting trees and maintaining everything  --WE do it!

3.  We have mostly been able to grow our herd by retaining the young --except last year we did buy quite a few Boer does for our goat herd.  We only did this after deciding our budget could afford it since goats don't cost an arm and a leg.

Recently, we have been thinking more intensely on the profit side of things and how could we possibly make a decent profit.  That is the point in keeping livestock in the first place! (Also, I love them all)  We are truly blessed to have our 40 acres and maybe someday will be able to sustain our living from it.

We have started the process of obtaining a meat sales license from our state which will allow us to sell frozen meat from our home after being processed and inspected at a licensed facility.  This may sound a little sad, but that is in fact what livestock is intended for. (I just keep telling myself that when it's time to refill the freezer.)

The meat we will be selling is goat, beef and possibly lamb.  The animals are grass-fed.  This takes longer, but the meat is tender, flavorful and leaner than grain-fed meat.  We don't use antibiotics but we do vaccinate.  

I am very excited to get this adventure started and start to market our farm, English River Farms.  I have started planning our marketing strategies, also.  I will be putting up a website featuring our herd, our farm and life on the farm.  We will also sell produce this summer at a local farmer's market.  This is also very exciting as we always have extra produce from our huge garden and will be planting some extras this year for this purpose. 

It's always exciting to begin a new adventure and while it is not exactly "new", it will be different.  I do have high hopes for our adventure.  It will take hard work, but that is something we would never shy away from. 

This farm really is our little piece of heaven on earth!

Love Baby Goat Kids!

I have always loved the babies of our farm and the calves were the first we ever had.  I am still a little bit partial to calving season and look forward to it all winter long.

These days, however, the baby goat kids are stealing my heart.  They are amazingly cute and have so much personality from day one.  We have had 6 babies so far this year and they are such characters.  I thought some of you may enjoy some of the photos I have of them:

Boer billy kid - one of the twins 

Triplets peaking while waiting for their bottles!

Big goats exploring the barnyard after winter.

I love each of these goats and each has a different personality just as people do.   It makes each day very interesting and unpredictable.  Cannot wait until we have more babies to show off and adore.

Farming is Hard Work

As we prepare ourselves and our farm for the umpteen millionth snow storm and frigid cold weather spell this winter, I have been thinking about how much work running this little farm is.  It is hard work on a “normal” day and sometimes downright horrendous on these terrible winter days.  Trudging through snow while carrying heavy loads, at least for me, is hard labor. 

I do the chores by myself during the week and my husband does them on the weekend due to our work schedules.  This works out very well for all of us. This hard work does take it’s toll on a body, especially a 5’2’’ small framed body.  For most of the winter, hay must be carried to the cows and goats, buckets of feed carried to all and the heaviest part of all -the buckets of water to all the animals housed in the barn in the winter.  This is hard heavy work that must be accomplished each morning and afternoon.  We are just a small farm, but without any automation that many of the larger farms have.

In the summer the animals are out on pasture, so there is no hay to haul and most of them drink from the “big” water tank, so there is little to no water to haul.  Chores usually take me about 20 minutes.  Winter is a totally different chore beast.  Chores usually take an hour and maybe longer if there are baby goats to bottle feed, such as now.  We have triplets that had to be brought in the house for a few days at birth due to the cold.  They are now back with momma, but we still have to bottle feed them.

I do chores as fast as I can on the coldest days so I can warm up.  In nicer weather I enjoy staying out with them for a while and watching them interact.  This is how most of our animals became as tame as they are.  I love all of our animals.  I enjoy this daily interaction and I like to think they do too.  In the wintertime this usually doesn’t happen for long if at all.  I really miss this until it warms up in the spring.

My conclusion is that farming on any scale is very hard work, but worth it if you love having animals as I do and the best thing about winter is that eventually spring will come!!  Hopefully sooner rather than later in this especially horrible cold and snowy season.

Spring is on it's way! Have a wonderful day!

Anxiously Awaiting More Kids

As we barrel through this winter one subzero day after another and one snowstorm after another, one thing that keeps my spirits up is looking forward to more baby goats! 

We have 2 more does, well 1 belongs to my son, that are due soon.  Our older doe, who had twin boys last year, is as big around as a barrel!  She looks like she is going to pop so I am hoping for twins again.

We do have a few more goats that are starting to look pregnant, but won't be due until spring.  That will be a fun time as there are about 10 of them.

One of the babies we had in December passed away on Dec 24th.  We had brought him inside due to he wasn't searching for something to drink.  He just laid there looking content and couldn't walk very well at 6 hrs old.  He never acted quite right so we brought him inside and he did drink a few times, but still did not act right.  

The other twin is doing amazing and she is growing like a weed!  She jumps around all the time and drinks like there is no tomorrow.  She is very playful and momma gets annoyed when we play with her.  Her mom is an old doe that had miscarried just before we bought her.  We weren't sure if she would be able to have kids or not, but I guess we got lucky!  She is, however, the crankiest goat we have.  

I have not been out to take pictures of the kid lately because it is all I can handle to be outside for chores in this cold.  I will take pictures to post soon, though, as soon as it warms up a bit!

Boer Goat Kids in December!

Just in time for Christmas this year we have had our first set of Boer twins!  Actually due on Dec. 27th, but with the big winter storm on our doorstep, it's not a surprise she would have them now.  The twins were found in the kidding stall in the barn having just been born this morning.  The little girl is solid red and the little boy is a bit smaller and traditional colored with a few paint spots.  

We moved her to the kidding stall only a few days ago and so glad we did!  She is doing well with them, cleaning them right away and now at least the solid one is nursing.  The little boy was a little colder, so we set up the heat lamp on him, hoping that would get him goin.  We just came in from checking him and he was still lying in the same spot.  We got him up again and fed him a little colostrum (go-go juice as my husband calls it) which did get him standing at least and wagging his tail!  He hopefully just needed that little "pick-me-up" and will be off and running in no time.  Usually, they don't drink much the first time, but he drank over 1/2 cup.  

We will keep a watchful eye for the next few hours to see if he drinks from her or if he is destined to be bottle fed.  We are hoping to keep him on her as they always do so much better with health and growth that way.  

These little ones are the highlight of the dreaded winter so far and they are just adorable!  Goat kids are truely the meaning of cuteness and just so sweet.  Soon, we will be thinking of names for them so any good ideas would be welcome!!

I cannot resist including a few more photos of them:

Artificial Insemination vs. Bull Breeding

As you may have read, we have a small herd of cows here at our farm.  Most of them are previous 4H projects that we have kept on and bred and kept most of our baby girls.  When we had a couple of them we would send them to another farmer to be bred for a couple months and retrieved them before winter snow hit.  We now, however, had more than a handful to breed.  My son's 4H heifer went to a neighbor for special breeding this year, so that left me with 6 of my own.  

Artificial insemination, as we tried last year, is very time consuming requiring lots of watching and scheduling from me and multiple trips by the vet.  It was very reasonably priced for 3 cows last year, but when we only had 1 calf this year he became one pricey calf!  This year we happened on a bull that was on his way to the salebarn that would cost me a pretty penny, but we could take him to the salebarn and get most of our money back by fall.  That was the whole plan, anyway.  

This black bull was a purebred Angus that had a descent temperament.  I have always been a little nervous to have a bull around!   But, he did well at staying away from us for the most part and we steered clear of him.  

The vet came to preg-check cows after the bull had been here almost 3 months and we no longer saw him breeding any of them for few weeks.  We had 4 confirmed pregnant, 1 probably that jumped the gate before she was checked and 1 possibly that we did not check.  We also had one negative heifer that had been with him for just over 2 months that we took to the sale barn with him.  That was a lot better breeding ratio that the AI last year!  

We sold the bull and only lost $300 on him, which is a small overall cost of breeding possibly 6 cows.  I was hoping for a little more, but one never knows what the salebarn may bring.  

Next year, we are planning to get a bull again as it is overall much easier and much greater breeding ratio.  The only downfall is the huge expense to get one and renting one around here is over twice as much as he actually ended up costing us. 

Artificial Insemination vs. Natural Breeding in Cows

My debate continues between artificial insemination and natural breeding our cows with a bull.  There are many pros and cons to both sides as I will list, but it really is a matter of preference for each farm hobbyist or full time farmer.  I know some farmers who AI all the cows and never have had a bull and some farmers who swear by keeping a bull.

By artificially inseminating cows there is no other mouth to feed, it is relatively low cost and no aggressive bull to worry about while out in the field checking or working with cows.  The downside is that it is very time consuming for the owner scheduling the vet, watching for heat and rescheduling the vet, watching for re -heat and watching for miscarriages down the road and heat again. 

Keeping a bull is a huge investment to begin with.  They are pricey, but if you can find a decent deal, when finished with him you may make your money back at the sale barn.  There is another mouth to feed and another animal to worry about getting hurt or worse.  Which would also mean loss of a huge investment and not having cows bred --HUGE RISK!  The benefits of having a bull are that cows are getting bred -hopefully- without any real work on your part.  Also, if he misses one or one doesn't stick he will get her next time around.  The overall successful breeding rate of bulls vs. AI is much greater.

 

With all of this in mind and our AI trial last year,and only having 1 calf, we decided to purchase a bull.  We bought a 4 yr old from a local farmer who rotates the 4 yr olds out to the sale barn.  Since we only wanted him for a couple months --I do not want to worry about having a bull who is not as tame as our cows in the pasture any longer than I have to!-- this would work great.  He is a full blood angus and looks amazing.  He has a couple curved front toes that don't affect his breeding capability at all and is the reason he will be going to the sale barn in a couple weeks.  Our hope is to make back most of our investment and come out no worse than we were financially and have pregnant cows to boot!

That is the plan and hopefully all works out well for us.  I pray every day that he doesn't get hurt.  We haven't had any issues with aggression or attitude.  He simply would just as soon be away from us and us from him.  He seems pretty gentle, but as I told the kids a thousand times "you just don't know for sure and cannot trust him".  Soon I am going to schedule the vet to come out and preg check the cows so we know where we stand and how soon we can sell him.  I haven't seen him on anyone this cycle so I am hoping they are all bred with some cute little ones that I can enjoy next spring.  It gives me something to look forward to all long gloomy winter!

Make sure to make today a great day!!!

Feeding Meat Goats



We decided to start raising some boer goats last year and have had a great time doing it.  There has been a ton of learning that has gone into it and thank heavens for internet for research.  There is, however, an abundance of information out there and depending on what type of goats you are raising some may or may not apply.

We had decided to keep pasture fed goats as our cows are because we believe this is the healthier way to go for us.  Since getting our first three goats last year and many more this year all have done well on pasture with supplemental corn based feed.  We also keep a mineral block with them that they eat on as needed. 

We did get a bit of a shock when taking our goats to the county fair this year (our first time).  All the goats there were bigger and more muscular than ours.  In talking with everyone there it seems that no one pasture feeds -they all grain their goats from birth to sale and mostly with show feed.  Since returning from fair we have changed our feeding program a little.  They are still out on pasture, but they also get a daily ration of goat feed.  This supplements them in protein and nutrients.  

After doing my own research on the different feeds on the market and available locally, we decided to go with Kent goat feeds.  We have been using the 18% kid developer since the fair and wow!  What a difference it has made in only 6 weeks.  I highly recommend their feeds.  It is costing a little more than pasture with the corn based feed, but well worth it!  The goats look more muscular, have more energy and just act healthier overall.  Next year a couple months before the fair the goats that will be shown will switch to Kent Show Goat feed.  

We don't raise "show" goats and have every intention of someday having enough goats to sell goat meat.  We firmly believe in having happy, healthy goats no matter what their purpose.  We believe the Kent goat feed is assisting us in our endeavor to produce quality goats whether showing or butchering them. 

    Each day is what you make it out to be. . .Have a great one!!

New Baby Boer Goat

We finally did it!  We have had our first baby Boer goat born on our farm!  So exciting!

Last Friday, I went out to do morning chores and found that Dazzle (momma) was acting a little strange.  She was eating like she was starving and didn't mind having me pet her and feel for baby movement.  She has gotten a lot more tame since being in the barn, but not this tame.  Still, though, no signs of impending birth.  In the afternoon I decided to take a look at her and sure enough there was mucous hanging out.  It was so thick that I thought it was membrane.

 Throughout the afternoon we kept close watch and there was more and more mucous. Not being sure how fast things would progress or if we would be waiting until the wee hours of the night- we had to leave to go get some new cows for my son to show at the county fair and left my mother and son in charge of keeping an eye on her.  My hopes were that she would wait for me to get back.  No luck there! 

About an hour after I left I received a phone call that a hoof was hanging out.  Twenty minutes later another call that it was the same.  My son made a good decision knowing I wasn't there to see first hand and made a trip up to the neighbor to come take a look.  After being there a few minutes he decided momma looked like she had had enough.  He pulled the kid and we are lucky he did!  I didn't want our first kid to be a dead kid.  Out came one large kid for the size of the momma!

Our little girl, Mystery, named by my daughter for the question-mark shaped white marking on her head, is our most prized possession on the farm right now!  Our first baby Boer and healthy as can be and it didn't take her long to start drinking.  Momma takes great care of her and she is an energetic bouncing baby girl.  She has brown knees/elbows, head and feet.  She is truely the meaning of adorable!

We have another doe that will be kidding sometime soon that is all sorts of enormous looking and another that had looked pregnant and now she doesn't so I think she lost it.  So much fun here on the farm with the babies and spring/summer weather.  

More to come soon on momma cow and the AI process and garden planting!

As always, the day is as good as you make it so HAVE A GREAT ONE!