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!  

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!

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!



Escape Artist Cows

Thought I would share this funny little story about what happened to us the other night.  It would be funnier, but since we have a definate hay shortage it is less humorous!

We were moving a round bale in with the cows off the trailer in the middle of our most recent snow storm when my husband and I were talking about how fat our 2 hopefully pregnant cows looked.  I was thinking "boy they are huge for this early in pregnancy".  Our biggest one was as big as a barrel.  I had just looked closely at them a couple days before and they hadn't looked that big.  I offered a handful of hay to her and she just sniffed it, which is totally unlike her.

My daughter and I went into the barn to get a look at the other one when I looked up and the big girl was heading up the aisle to the inside of the barn where the hay is stored!  She looked over at me as if she was saying "oh s--- she saw me".  I told my daughter to go get dad, quick!  I jumped the fence and got in front of her not paying any attention to the hay bales we do have left.  My husband came in and opened the door so they could back out.  We got them out and looked at the stack of hay . . . partially demolished! 

We don't think they ate as much as it looked like at first but it's hard to tell.  No wonder they were fat and didn't want the round bale!  Someone had either left the small door leading in there not latched all the way or we have cows that can unlatch a door.  We now have a pile of hay to use out of for the miniature horses and goats instead of small bales.

I made my husband go out later just to make sure they hadn't gotten in there again! 

Winter Animal Update

As winter seems to go on and on I have a few updates of things that are happening or will be happening around the farm. 

First of all, the goat kids are now weaned!!!  All went very well with this and they are all eating their hay and grain.  Also, it seems that their water consumption is lots more now.  I am also ready for spring to get here so we can put them in the outside goat pen! They will love to run and jump around.  We do, however, need to buy some cattle panels to redo the goat pen first.   

Secondly, for the first time ever we are running low on hay!  Bad to need hay in the winter as everyone thinks their hay is worth a fortune this time of year!  A little to my disgust is looking for hay for sale only to see prices double what they are in the summer.  Seems a little like taking advantage of the ones in need!  I would feel guilty for doing this to people and hungry animals.  We did try and estimate the number of bales we would need for the winter, but it is not an exact science due to no one knowing exactly what winter will hold for us until it's here.  This year happened to be cold and snowy and with the drought last summer not much to keep eating in the pasture.  We have resorted to buying some big round bales, which we have no way to move around except for good old muscle strength.  They are a little overpriced in my opinion, but the cheapest we could find.  That definately ups our feeding cost this year!

On the bright side, I definately think we have pregnant goats.  One obviously more than the other.  By my calculations the earliest we could kid would be March 4th.  With March right around the corner I am getting very excited!  I love all the spring babies and these will be our first baby goats born here!!The only problem is the enormous white goose that chases me and only me is with the goats.  Today the goose went on craigslist!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

Snowflake -A New Calf Story

I love having cows and calves!

I always watch craigslist for any good deals to increase our herd.  Last week I found my deal, but it was over two hours away.  The big question was whether it would be worth paying for her and all that gas?  I have always wanted a charolais cow to contrast all of our black cows.  I love their color and build and wanted one badly and have looked for one for quite a while.  It didn't take long for me to make up my mind that yes she was worth it.  It couldn't have been a worse week for it to happen as we had had a death in the family.  I did, however, have my mind made up that I would have her.  My wonderful husband and son took off one evening with trailer in tow to go pick her up. 

After a round about trip due to his GPS following instead of my directions, they dealt with a very nice gentleman who purchases calves to resell.  He had not had her long and she was doing well.  She wouldn't drink off his nurse cow and did eat some grain he told us.  She was also just over 6 weeks old.

They arrived home at 1:30am that night with her.  We unloaded her into the barn and she was so frightened.  She ran when we got close at all.  I gave her some hay, grain and water.  We quarantine new calves for 10-14 days when we get them just in case something is wrong with them.  Through the last week we have put a halter on her -which she hated tremendously.  She has nibbled on hay and grain, but not eaten a bunch by any means.  We did find out about day 2 that she would eat grass pretty well so we give her some each day.  She had loose stools, but not watery, when she came to us, which I watched closely so I would know if that worsened or if it was just due to stress and change in feed.  I made calls to the feed store and the vet to get their opinions on her and if they thought she still needed to be bottle fed.  Their concensus was not if she is eating enough otherwise.  Usually we get bottle calves a little younger that do need bottle fed and they don't usually eat grain very well at first.  They also don't usually eat grass at first either.

 

One week later, she is starting to tame down.  We left the halter on her and she is getting more used to that.  Her bm's have thickened up a bit and look like normal now.  In the afternoons we walk her and let her eat grass outside which she does very well.  She has been eating more hay and a little more grain.  She even let my husband and I pet her in the pen last night for quite a while before she decided she didn't want that anymore.  We also, well my husband, thought of a good name for her too --Snowflake.  I love it!  This morning I was very excited when I walked in to give her her daily ration of grain -expecting to dump the old uneaten grain and put in the new-  and for the first time her grain tub was empty!  She also let me pet her some while she ate some grass.  I finally feel like now she will be just fine.

I am always such a nervous ninny when it comes to the calves.  I am a worrier until I know they are ok and doing well.  It's almost like I was with our children when they were born!  I love having calves and raising them up to be great mommas.  The kids love them, too, and love to show them at the county fair.  Each cow we have is special to me.  I am looking forward to the calves next year, already!

Goat Research

With the rain off and on today and the slightly colder than I love weather I fed the animals and filled water tanks this morning as usual.  Much of the rest of my day has been about research.  I have been researching our new herd of goats in depth.  I believe that research is hugely important to any successful venture.  I have read everything from general care to vaccines to breeding to what body types do well in shows to everything else I could find. 

When we decided to start raising boer goats, I of course researched a few topics but the brunt of my learning has come after their purchase.  I do think it is important to learn everything you can about any animal species you want to raise in order for all to hopefully go well.  There is such a vast array of info on the internet that I am all too happy to take advantage of.  Thank you to all that post this info on their websites!  It also doesn't hurt to talk to your local vet for advice.  They can be a tremendous resource.

I have also been trying to find more goats to purchase, but am having some trouble with that.  I want more does, but everyone has bucks or wethers for sale.  I usually search craigslist for these inquiries.  There I get local results and can usually see a picture of any potential purchase. 

Well, back to a little research then some quality family time!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Nanny Goats

Nanny Boer Goats

As I said in my post about our Billy goat, I was not in love with the idea of having goats again.  However, I gave in and we purchased our billy.  About a month later we found some reasonably priced nannies that are not registered but are supposed to be 100% boer.  As we were picking them out I knew I wanted some that were the red head, white body for a good mix of color with our red billy.  They were all wild in the pen and crying like crazy.  First, I picked the one little goat that had a heart-shaped white patch on her forehead.  My daughter wanted the dairy goat, which if we weren't after meat goats only she probably would have had!  We were, though, wanting meat goats, so the other we picked was the medium sized little girl.  The smaller one was skinny and looked somewhat unhealthy and the biggest one had a mangy looking coat.  When we stopped for a snack on the way home they both bauled like someone was hurting them.  I felt like a "kidnapper".  I bet people there thought we were crazy. 

We have kept them in the smaller pen separate from the billy.  They are about 5 months old now and both look much healthier than when we picked them up.  We feed them pasture and some goat feed each day.  They were wild and crazy when they arrived, but have tamed down enough to come near us now.  They still don't like being touched but hopefully that will come.  We like our animals to be tame mainly so the kids can play with them and take them to the fair if they want to.  

At least our little girls don't get their heads stuck in the fence as Billy does.  They do however get out with the Billy from time to time.  Or Billy gets in with them.  It wouldn't matter if they were old enough to breed, but as of now they are only 5 months old.  We need them to wait until about October or 7 months old to get bred.  We are looking forward to the babies in March! 

Overall, our goat endeavors are going well so far, I have learned a lot in the short time we have had them and they have not been a huge investment.  So far I would suggest goats to anyone wanting small animals to eat down weeds in the pasture, for your kids to work with and possibly make a little money in the process.   I am looking forward to our goat herd growing this spring, if he doesn't talk me in to more yet this fall. 

Have a great day!