New tractor for my dad, new cows for me, and BABY PIGLETS!!!!

A local farmer about 20 minutes from here decided he wanted to sell off his cattle and equipment and retire from farming and try relaxing for a while.  My dad and I went and looked at the cattle and the equipment before the auction.  We agreed that the tractor was in great shape and that it would be perfect for what they need which is a tractor for all seasons that can run there haybine and move bales but not too big that they cannot use every day.  

Well dad was able to get the winning bid and I hauled it home for him Sunday morning.  It is a nice little tractor and should do him well!  It is a case/international 885.  Previous owner took excellent care of it!

Dad's new to him Case 885

 I also told him while we were there that I like the Charolais x Hereford cow that he had going to auction and that if she went for the price I was willing to pay I would take her.  Well I got lucky and we got her.  Her name is Caramel and she has a two month old bull calf that came with her!  She joined right in with the herd immediately and she fits right in with everyone else!

Our new Charolais x Hereford cow

Her calf is shown here below with another new cow we added to our herd this week.  Caramel's calf is the tan one to the left.  The new cow is black Hereford.  My daughter named her Black Eye.  She is a little bossy but just like Caramel felt right at home as soon as I let her out of the trailer and she is surprisingly calm.  She reminds me a lot of fifty when we first brought her home.  I look forward to her being a part of our herd and I can't wait to see her calves! 

Caramel's calf to the left and our new Black Hereford, Black Eye, in the center.

 I came home today and headed straight out to check on everyone in the pasture first.  I came up to the barn to find Lady with 11 little babies in the barn with her.  She had two more after I got there.  Of the 13 she had 12 are doing great.  The smallest didn't look like it would make it as it wouldn't eat so Steven's mom, Tammy, took it home with her to try bottle feeding it like they did the little one during the winter.  I hope that she makes it makes it.  I was hoping she would have a big litter but wasn't expecting 13.  Now we have to keep an eye on them as she only has 11 teats to feed 12 babies.  If one starts getting weaned out I will send it over to Tammy's for some bottle feeding!  We prefer to have multiple litters at the same time for cases like this.  Had two or more sows gave birth within a day or two of each other we could simply put the extra pig on the other sow for it to eat.  Unfortunately they were not all together this time.  I will make sure this doesn't happen again!

Lady's big litter!

Well, off to bed.  Long day coming up tomorrow.  Two more days till vacation starts!  I will give all the details when we get back.  Short story is we are visiting my wife parents and we are meeting half way between Japan and the USA.  If you think about it you will know where!  I can't wait!

Kenny

Our final calf of the year???? Maybe!

Well, I had to mow some hay immediately after work yesterday so I didn't get time to check the cows.  I thought I should but just didn't have time.  So as soon as I got home today I got the feeling I should go out there so Daisy and I jumped on the four wheeler and headed out to the pasture.   Shortly after getting to the cows I noticed that Anjou looked thinner than she had the other day and her udder was full.  At first I just figured the calf was close to being born and had shifted toward the birth canal.  However, as soon as I got off the four wheeler to check everyone else she made a B-line to the fence and started bawling.  So I started searching and sure enough I found a new little boy laying in the weeds by the creek.

Dam: Maine Anjou  Sire: Charolais x Angus

 I walked up to him hoping he was just born so I could tag him and spray him for flies.....he was not.  He apparently was born yesterday and as soon as I started spraying for flies he bolted!  It took me about ten minutes till his mother got him calmed down enough for me to get close and take the above pic.   After this pic they both headed back to the herd.

Some of the 2013 Calf Crop!

 I got a quick pic of some of the calves in a group.  The one looking at the camera is Peanut, Fifties daughter.

 My last pic is of Maine's( she is the cow in the pic) calf that was born last week and the white one is Precious' calf. 

Precious calf which is steer number 9 (white one above) was the other one to come down with Mange Mites.  I do not know where they got them from but he is coming out of it pretty well.  His hair is already coming back in and he is getting his energy back quickly. I am watching them all closely for any more outbreaks and I as soon as I can catch everyone in the barn I will be doing a blanket treatment to be sure they are gone from the herd.  I do not ever want to see that again.  I still feel bad for the little guy we lost but I know what to look for now and how to beat it so it will not happen again!

We still have one cow and one heifer that have not had a calf yet this year.  The cow is Frosty and she is looking like she may be pregnant.  She was not pregnant at New Years herd check but hopefully got that way shortly after.  The other is Kwanzan.  If she is pregnant she is very short bred as she is not even uddering up yet.  So we will continue to watch them.  Frosty should be ok and have a calf this fall but if Kwanzan doesn't get bred by New Years herd check we may have to let her go.  So if she hasn't spent time with Legacy she better get to it immediately!

Kenny

My pot of gold at the end of my rainbow!

Well, I got of work today just in time for two nasty storms to blow through.  We got about two inches of rain in approximately 20 minutes.  It came down hard and fast.  Daisy and I headed out to check the pigs and cows and found everyone to be doing just fine.  So we parked the tractor and got the four wheeler out after the rain stopped and went for a ride to check the fences.

Down pour from the cab of the Kubota

 The stream that usually dries up in the summer between the pastures across the creek was flooded and more than the 12" culvert could handle!

12" culvert pipe overloaded after 2" rain

 I took a side shot and another to show the volume of water that was going through there.

Here is a shot looking down the stream.  It dumps into Conser Run shortly after this shot.  I barely made it back across Conser Run with the four wheeler as the water was coming up quickly.  Good thing my four wheeler is big and heavy!  Daisy was riding shot gun on the back helping weigh it down!

This is the backside of the storm that hit our place.  This was the second one that went through.  The first was just slightly north.  Both had funnel clouds in them.  The one north of here I watched go by and it didn't touch down.  The one that went through here I do not believe had a tornado touch down but was pretty nasty non the less!

 As daisy and I were about to leave the pasture and head back to the house we looked up and saw a double rainbow.  I wasn't able to get all of it in the pasture but you can still see part of the second one in the top left corner of the photo.  The rainbow literally ended right on top of the cows.  I know it is superstition but I do believe that there is a little truth in every superstition!  To me this is my pot at the end of the rainbow and I look forward to the future and what it brings me and my family!

My pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

Daisy and I decided to start a fire to celebrate the rain and the rain and after lighting it I looked up across the lawn and saw this beautiful scene of all the flowers in bloom.  This is my favorite time of year.  I love seeing everything in bloom and the warm summer nights.  This is mother natures way of celebrating life.  Lots of color and brilliance.  I hope everyone gets to enjoy their own little piece of heaven this summer!

Have a great night everyone.  Daisy and I are headed out to sit by the cherry wood fire in the fire pit and wait for the kids and wife to get home from swimming lessons.

Kenny

Some pics of the cows and Lady!

Went out to spend time in the pasture today.  Sadly I found the little bull of Candy Apples late yesterday very sick and hardly able to move.  He and one of the other bull calves got Mange Mites during all the rain we had last month.  I thought I caught them both in time with treatment but apparently I didn't treat the little red one soon enough or he had another issue.  We tried tube feeding and medicines but he was too far gone and we had to put him down today.  

I know that is life and it happens but I hate to see anyone or anything suffer.  He was in a lot of pain and I know he is better off.  I hope to see that sparkle in the eyes of her next calf and I will know his spirit came back to us.  

Due to this odd infection I am on full alert and checking the cows everyday.  Usually by this time of year I can let them go for days at a time without seeing them but I do not want this to happen again.  So we are trying to catch the little ones as soon as they are born and administering treatment for flies, worms, lice, mites, and any other parasites, as well as tagging them.

Here we have Maine's little boy.  He is growing really fast and is looking great.  I followed him across the entire pasture for 15 minutes before he stopped long enough for me to get a pic.

Dam: Maine Anjou  Sire: Charolais x Angus

 While he was running he caught the attention of his momma who came running and bawling and in turn the rest of the herd headed down to see what was going on as well.  If you look closely at the pic you will Notice Mario is leading the charge on the left!  He is like a playground monitor!

Cows heading to the creek for a drink.

 I thought this was a good pic of the herd showing last years calves mixed in with the cows and a couple of the new babies in there as well.  Gives you a good idea how fast they are growing.

Cows and calves headed to the creek.

 Lastly we have Lady.  She is due to have her piglets any day now and the longer it goes the more Bossy she is getting!  She was demanding feed again and went as far as to try to climb on the walk way to get me to go get it.  I hope she has them soon as I am anxious to see how many she has.  Berkette will be the last one if she is indeed bred.  I am not very hopeful though as she only had three for her first litter and doesn't look like she is carrying any, let alone filling up with milk.  I will give her three more months and if she doesn't have any she will have to go. 

I hope everyone has a good week.  The last one here on the farm has been a rough one and I am ready to put the last three weeks of work and everything else behind me and move onward.  However, I am thrilled that I already have more calves and hay to date than I did all year last year and I want to finish the summer strong!

Kenny

Wedding photo of my grandparents and some updates.

I wanted to post my grandparents wedding picture.  Hard to believe he is gone knowing he has always been there my entire life.  Grandma is doing ok and she is getting out more than before.  They were together for over 60 years so it will take some time for her to adjust to living alone. 

Delmar and Sara Smith

 I had started mowing hay the day before grandpa passed away.  Most of it was second cutting and the two fields here at home were third cutting.  Since I was off and wanted time alone I tried to get it all done this past week.  It is just me in the tractor with my dog daisy and a cooler and it gives me time to think and I still have company while doing so!  Plus with the heat she didn't want to leave the tractor because I had the AC on!

I had one round bale that got the net wrap torn so I just fed it straight to the cows. 

Orchard grass Fescue mix hay second cutting

 Here is a close up of it.  This was off one of my rental fields.  The field is a mix of different grasses with the majority being tall fescue.  The tall fescue is a thinner leaved grass than orchard grass and not as green.  It is still good hay though and once the cows get done eating off the new pasture grass they will devour this pretty quick.

Here on the farm I am not big enough yet to pay my help money.  So I use alternative pay methods.  The most common is food and drink!  A couple of cases of Cold Coors Original got all my third cutting baled and stacked in the barn yesterday.  Now granted it was only a little over two wagon loads, but it was very hot so it took a lot of beer!!!

The beer of choice here at the farm!  Coors Banquet Beer

 I didn't get a picture of the rows from the bottom of the pasture looking up yet but  I thought this was a good picture.  The sun was setting and the rain had moved south and everything had a pinkish hue.  I already have about 20 more round bales than I had last year total and I still have a couple more cuttings to make!  Lets hope hay prices stay up so I can pay for all the fertilizer I bought this year.  With the extension on the area I wrap in I am now able to get 40 bales per row instead of 25.  Two years ago I had 160 bales of hay and had to put some on the neighbors place because I was out of room. 

Another note about the hay.  I wrap all my dry hay as well as my silage hay.  By wrapping the hay it is just like storing it in a building.  It looks the same the day I unwrap it as it did the day I wrapped it.  Also, if the dry hay is borderline for storage, meaning the moisture content is 18%-22%, by wrapping it up and taking away any fresh air all the hay will keep without spoiling.  If I left the same hay sitting out it would either mold or heat enough to caramelize the hay meaning it turns all the sugars to caramelized sugar.  If that happens the animals will eat it like crazy but it has little to no nutritional value.  When wrapped and sealed in plastic the natural cell processes in the still live cells of the plants will only continue with oxygen.  Once you take away the oxygen the cells stop living and creating heat which cures them quicker and stops any mold or bacteria from growing as well!

Looking south east across the tubes of hay at sunset.

 Due to a malfunction in the baler we have a large number of these tiny little bales.  They are actually very nice for someone needing rabbit or guinea pig hay because they are small and easy to store.  We are going to market them as such and see what happens.  If nothing else they are much easier to handle vs. the 100# bales we have been making this year!  Due to the weather I am having a hard time getting really dry hay.  I can only seem to get four days of no rain and even though it has been in the 90's for two weeks the hay is not drying.  We had approx 6-8 inches of rain here in the end of June into the beginning of July so the ground is moist.  The humidity has been hovering in the 90% or higher range for three weeks as well so the hay drys but not completely.  So when I bale, even though the hay is dry and in full sun and baled at 4pm with a breeze it still baled tough.  So the bales packed like crazy and are very heavy.  The 400-500 bales I have in the barn right now should actually be about 700-800 if they were the normal 50# bales I usually make. 

Our midget bales of orchard grass hay

 Next I have an update on my heifer Pearl who is living in Montana.  Here is her new boyfriend.  I do not know his name but he is a long horn bull.  I am really excited to see what the calves look like from this cross. 

Longhorn bull in Montana

 

Here is Pearl.  She has been in Montana since Thanksgiving and is looking awesome!  I am really excited for her and can't wait to see her first calf!

Well, I am off to bed.  Have a great Sunday everyone!

Kenny

Passing of a dear loved one.

My grandpa, Delmar Smith

Things have been overly busy the last couple of months around here.  About a three weeks ago my grandfather on my mothers side was taken into the hospital for a hernia repair.  He has been battling COPD, mainly emphysema, for almost a decade now.  So when he went into the hospital we were concerned but he pulled through the surgery good and was able to move to a step down unit right down the road from his house last week.  Due to the hectic schedule at work and trying to keep up with everything at home I was only able to get to see him once at the hospital.  I was off on Friday sick and had one of my kids at home as well.  Because we were not feeling well we wanted to wait till Saturday to take the kids to see him at the nursing home and spend a few hours with him.  Mom and Grandma spent the day with him and said he was doing very well and we were excited to go spend time with him.  

Fate however has a way of changes even the grandest of plans.  Grandpa came down with severe pneumonia Friday night and was gone by Saturday afternoon.  My grand parents have been together for 60+ years and this is really gonna be a rough one to get through.  Most of us are hanging in there and we are all gonna need to help grandma get adjusted and keep her going.  

I have been running non stop at home to get all the misc. items buttoned up before the funeral today.  I wanted everything done so I can spend the day with my entire family without having to think about what all needs done.  I buttoned up the last of them yesterday morning.

Since most of the things I had started last week and had to finish before today involved a lot of tractor work I have had some time to think about where I have been, where I am at now, and where I am headed.  I have always been raised to work.   I do not know any other way.  Both my grandfathers were born on a farm.  My dad's father stayed on the farm and taught me a lot till he passed in '94.  My mom's father moved off the farm as a teenager and got married and worked at the wax paper factory for quite a while and then took a job as a repairman for sears.  He worked there till he retired when I was in high school.  

My family has instilled a very strong work ethic in all of us children.  After spending time thinking back to my childhood however, I believe I missed another very important thing they tried to teach me.  This was you need to spend time with family.  Once that time is past it can never be gotten back so get it when you can.  Some of this time comes from working with family, but a lot of it comes from taking a break from work to spend down time with family.  In the years following my graduation from college I have been working almost non stop to get ahead and provide for my family.  Now I am assessing how to balance this work with family time.  I think the reason I am drawn to the farm life is because even when I am working here I am still with family.  When I am at work I am with strangers longing to be home.  I missed several opportunities to spend time with the last three family members I lost.

Smith Family Christmas, approx 1986/87 ish.

I spent Sunday night at grandma's house going through old photos, telling stories, and learning all the things they did and places they went before I was old enough to remember.  These photos also brought back a lot of memories of my childhood and all the great times we had together.  Above is a picture of the last Christmas we had as a smith family.  On the couch from left (youngest) to right (oldest) is my Uncle Harold, My grandfather Delmar, and my Uncle Duane.

We are headed to the funeral home to say goodbye one last time here in a little bit.  We had a toast with grandma last night to grandpa with his favorite wine.  I plan on having another today after I get home by my self with his favorite whiskey.  


Even in the hardest of times there are little things that remind you life goes on and there is always a chance to make a change and start over again.  While you may not be able to change the past you are in full control of your future.  Nothing is ever permanent!  The good times and the bad are only temporary. 

On Sunday afternoon before we headed to grandma's house I went out to check the animals.  I found our heifer Prairie Fire had her first calf.  A beautiful little girl.  This brightened our day a lot and was perfect timing. 

Prairie Fire with her first calf

 Here is my daughter checking her out just after I tagged her and treated her for flies.

Prairie Fires daughter

 Yesterday my kids were home with me till calling hours.  Around lunch we headed out to check the cows because I had a gut feeling I should.  We found one of our new cattle that we purchased in the fall with a little baby boy chilling in the trees.

One of our Momma Cows, Maine

 Here is little man.  He was covered in flies so I treated him for flies and tagged him.  As I start getting more cattle I have a hard time keeping straight who is who since they all look almost the same as calves.  So this year I am trying to tag as soon as possible to avoid that!

(Maine Anjou) x (Charolais x Angus) cross bull calf.

 We were up pretty late last night and when we got home from grandma's we all went straight to bed.  When I awoke this morning I made the coffee and headed out to check the pigs because we have been waiting on Berky to have her piglets.  Daisy pig had hers on Saturday and only had one piglet.  So I have been worried we were going to have another horrible round and I would be short pigs for all the orders I have. 

As I stepped in the barn I immediately noticed Berky was missing.  I thought maybe she was out looking for a snack and stepped out the barn door into the pasture and saw her laying in the weeds under the nut tree.  She made a nest outside in a perfectly shaded place and gave birth to Eleven awesome piglets!!!!  All are healthy and happily eating like crazy!

Berky with her Tamworth x Berkshire cross piglets

 Here is a pic showing the tree.  This is looking toward the west.  By lunch she will be perfectly shaded for the rest of the day.  I can't wait for the tree to get bigger so they can all lay under it.  I was very happy to find that all the bad things I have heard in the past as reasons to pen pigs up for birthing were dispelled today.  The other sows did not bother her at all during labor.  She did not lose any being outside due to not having a pen.  They actually look like they are doing better outside than they did when born in the barn.

Berky feeding her piglets outside where they were born!

My third cutting was another thing that brightened my day.  Last year I had horrible year for hay due to the drought.  This year I should have an awesome year and should hopefully make up for the bad year last year!

Mowing third cutting

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, time to get ready for our final farewell to Grandpa Smith.  I leave you all with this.  Spend all the time you can with your loved ones.  Someday they will not be there and you cannot go back in time and get that time back!  I am fortunate that the time I missed was minimal and I can change my future to not miss it the next time it presents itself!

Kenny

Labor has begun!

Bring on the baby piggies!

Baby calf pics!!!

Here is a picture of Precious' little boy.  Her calf last year was Pearl and she is currently residing at my buddies ranch in Montana. 

Precious' bull calf 2013,  Angus x Charolais

 Next we have our newest addition.  He is the son of Candy Apple.  Her calf last year was a bull and her first was a heifer.  Her heifer's name is Prairie Fire and she is due at the end of this month/first of next month with her first calf. 

Red Angus x Charolais Angus bull cross.

 Here is Daisy checking out Precious' little dude.  Notice Precious watching what is going on ready to kick butt if anything happens that she doesn't like!

I had a feeling that we might have a new calf today so I asked everyone to get in the tractor and go for a ride with me to take a junk bale out to the cows to root through and eat the good stuff out of it.  We cut the bale open and called the cows and as soon as they come over I noticed a little red one that hadn't been there before!

I love new calves.  It is a sign of growth and of what is to come.  I can't wait to get to the next level!

Have a great 4th of July!

Kenny