I was out getting stuff arranged to sort out the two bulls and heifer that are headed to Montana with me next week and found out that the pigs found out how to use the cattle waterer! Hopefully they get big enough to stand on the ground and use it so they don't get the water dirty.
So, Steven, Josh, and I are headed to Montana to visit their brother, and my buddy, David. I am taking him two bulls, one to use and one to sell to a friend of his out there. I am also taking him a bred heifer to add to the herd where I already have Pearl and her little girl.
The first picture is of the black bull that is headed out for David to use to breed his cattle. When I took this picture I didn't realize who all I actually caught in the picture. The bulls mother is Precious. Precious is also the mother to Pearl in Montana. Precious' sisters happened to be in the background. Just behind the bull is Peanut, 50's heifer from last year. Directly behind Peanut is Princess, 50's daughter also and mother to a cute little heifer this year as her first calf.
There is a lot of reasons I am sending this bull to David other than the fact that he needs one. Most of it all relates to his genetics.
- First of all his grandmother was our first cow here on the farm.
- She has only had two bulls in her lifetime and all the others have been heifers.
- All of her heifers have had heifers for their first calf and continue to have mostly all heifers.
- His grandfather on his moms side is 7AN207 / Bextor. I very nice bull with great genetics.
- His Father is Legacy.
- His grandmother on his dad's side is Summitcrest Erica.
- His grandfather on his dad's side is Complete 4u75, a very very nice bull!
Putting all these blood lines together into one bull should produce some awesome calves. I am excited to see what kind of cattle he produces out west with the longhorns and others he will be bred to!
Next up is the other bull I am sending out for him to sell in the spring. He is also a legacy calf. The first picture is of his sister #7 and his Niece #14. Both are red Angus.
Here is his picture with his sister and niece in the background. He is standing next to his nephew. His nephew is a Thunder calf and is out of #7.
I wanted to update everyone on Baby Girl's progress. She is Frosty's daughter who was born while we were away on vacation. After coming as close to death as possible she has made a full recovery and is doing awesome. Since her mother dried up while we were taking care of her baby she has no milk to give. So we are still feeding her twice a day to keep her growing well. She is on a bucket and is eating hay now as well. The kids and I decided to train her to be able to be led with a halter and come when called so we can take her to the fair next year. She is actually getting so well trained that I can open the gate and call her and she will come out of the shed and up to the back door of the house and wait for her milk! We are most likely going to start training my daughters calf soon as well so we can take them both to the fair next year!
For about two weeks I was very worried that something was wrong with the pigs. Their noses were all turning a strange brownish/red. I didn't notice any other problems but I had never seen this before and with the problems we have had this summer I was concerned I might be missing something. So a couple weeks ago I was out checking the cattle and heard some loud cracking and crunching sounds coming from the pigs behind me. At first I thought they were chewing on rocks and was quite concerned they would hurt themselves. Then, I realized what was actually going on. The Black walnut tree I have in the pasture had a lot of nuts this year, the first time it has had very many at all. The pigs were eating the nuts! This explained instantly the brownish/red stained noses everyone had! They were effectively staining their noses while eating.
On another note on this topic, I invested in 10 apple trees this year. They are currently planted on the edge of the garden to let them get bigger as they are just tiny little shoots right now. Next year I will be building cages to put around them and planting them around the pastures to produce apples for us and the animals to eat. I am planning on getting anther ten or so this year as well because I would love to have them covering a large area of the pasture and producing wonderful fruits for the pigs and cows to eat every year.
Lastly I wanted to share a personal milestone for my wife and I. In August we had our 10th anniversary. To celebrate we decided to go to the Buckeyes vs. Illinois game on November the 1st. Our first actual date was on November 2nd, 2002 and I took her to the Buckeyes vs. Minnesota game. The rest is history after that. It was just as cold this time as it was back then! Even though it was cold we had a great time.
On that day back in 2002 I never thought we would be where we are today. So much to be thankful for and so much potential for the future! The future is yours to create, the best time to start is yesterday!!!
Have a great day everyone!
Kenny
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