Finally had a beautiful sunny day that wasn't cold so I went out and got pics of all the cows and calves. So here we go!
This is John, one of our shorthorn cross steers. All of the shorthorn cross steers came from my dad. These first two were in trade for hay work last year. The others were from this year.
This is Jeff, another shorthorn steer.
This is one of many steers I got in trade from dad for helping with his hay this year. He is a shorthorn hereford cross.
This is a Shorthorn/angus/x cross from dad. He is actually a bluish color, not black. I hope to get a color like this from some of mine some day.
Another downside to the weather this year! When we made first cutting the ground was very wet and I had a lot of muddy spots when baling. Unfortunately when baling in these wet spots some mud managed to get on some of the hay and spoiled parts of some of the bales. When I get one like this I let them eat what they want and then put the rest out for them to pick through and lay on.
Here we see 50 (left) and Sally shorthorn (right) picking through and eating the same hay they wouldn't touch minutes before in the feeder.
This is a good shot of 50. We purchased her in 2007. Her first calf was a heifer but was not able to be bred so we had to sell her. She is an awesome mother. Very easy going and even likes to be scratched from time to time. She is also the matriarch of the herd. The herd follows her every move and she is clearly the boss!
This is Precious. She is 50's second calf. I am anxious to see what her first calf looks like as she looks quite good herself. She is bred to Thunder, our Charolais x Angus cross bull we have now. She was born in april of 2010 and has grown very well. I look forward to her offspring as she shows great potential!
This is 50's third calf. He will be used as a steer. His father is dad's shorthorn bull. He is growing very quickly and looks great!
This is Chilli. We purchased her in January of 2010. She is a purebred Angus but is quite small. She is a great mother and very easy going but looks like she will produce smaller finished weight calves. This is not always a bad thing as a smaller cow eats less for the amount of meat you get in the end. She is currently approx. 1000#'s whereas her counter part, Koyuki, is probably 1200'#s at the same age.
This is Chilli's first calf. Her name is Thing 2. My wife and daughter named her and her counterpart after thing one and thing two off of Cat in the Hat! If you look closely you will see she has little orange tufts of hair in her ears. Her father is a shorthorn bull by the name of Scotty. Very good well proven bull.
This is Candy Apple. She was purchased at auction with Crazy B., Chilli, and Koyuki. She has had one calf. I have to admit I am partial to red cattle. I get that from my dad. As soon as I saw her I knew she was a keeper! When she had her first calf this year I made the decision to name all her calves after Crab Apple trees. I am a landscaper during day so it fits!
This is Prairie Fire, Candy Apples first calf and a heifer. She has to be one of the cutest calves I have ever seen. She is doing very well and I can't wait to see how big she gets in her first year.
This is Koyuki. As stated above we got her at the auction. She is a full blood Angus cow. She just had her first calf this year and is both are doing great. Another easy going good momma cow.
This is Thing 1. Koyuki's first calf. She is a lot fluffier than Thing 2 but also has the little orange tufts in her ears. She also has Scotty as a father as well.
And here we have Thunder. He is our Charolais x Angus bull that I purchased in march of this year. He is pretty easy going and has an interesting color to him. I will use him this year and possibly next year for breeding and then sell him. After a bull reaches 2-3 years of age they begin to get territorial and one day will decide they want to take over the herd. Till that point I am the boss / #1 in the herd. After that day he will take any opportunity he can to challenge me for dominance over the herd. I prefer to not give them that chance and will sell them before this becomes an issue.
This is an angus steer that I purchased with thunder in the spring. He will be ready in February/March
This is another of the shorthorn steers I got from dad this year.
This is Stormy. He was Jane's first calf. He will be ready to eat in February/March. We had to sell Jane last month as she was having frequent foot problems. I really didn't want to but had little choice. I was hoping to at least get a good price for her at the auction to use the money towards barn repairs. However, I didn't even get enough to cover the vet bills I had from treating her foot. That is why I do not like auctions.
This is Jane's second calf. Her mother was a Hereford x Holstein cross. She is going to be heading back to the farm that her mother originally came from. I am giving her to my cousin in exchange for all the bale wrapping he did for me this year. She should do her mother proud. He is in need of some good beef cows and she fits the bill for his herd.
This is the smallest of the steers I got off of dad this year. I have had him penned up for a month or so with the blue steer to make sure he gets enough to eat but it was a beautiful day and a weekend so I decided to let them out and clean and re-bed the barn. I will put them back in tomorrow before the weather turns bad again. The problem is he and the blue one are just a little two small yet to eat well from the feeder. Another month or so and they will be good to go!
This is Fussy Prissy. She is a brindle heifer that I got from dad in the trade this year. I know her father is shorthorn. Other than that I have no idea what her heritage is. I just liked her color. I still have to go look at one more heifer. He still owes me one more calf and I am letting my daughter pick her out. She wants a white one. He currently has one entirely white calf but is unwilling to let her go. He has since had another one that is almost all white. I am going to let my daughter keep the one she picks out for her own. I want her to learn about the cows and such and this will be a good opportunity to start young.
This is Crazy B. We named her that after we got her due to her being a little nutty after she had to be treated by the vet the first week we had her. Now that she has had her first calf she has calmed down a lot but still doesn't want to be touched. Excellent mother, just likes to be left alone!
Here is Crazy B's calf, CB2
This is one of the steers I got from dad in trade for doing his hay for him this year.
Couple more pics of Candy Apple
This is Sally Shorthorn, I bought her off of my father a couple years ago when I was starting up the herd. Very good mother and I like the look of her.
This is Frosty, Sally shorthorns first calf.
This is big red. He is Sally's second calf. His father is a very good Gelbvieh bull. I plan to use him to breed the herd once he is old enough. He is growing very fast and looks awesome!
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