Another calf has joined the herd and a little straw hauling!

One of my Maine Anjou's had her calf over the weekend.  It is another little girl.  That makes seven surviving females and two surviving males this year so far.  Actual count including the three we lost and the one in Montanan that I bred here would be eight females and five males.  I am still believing that maybe I should be in the heifer business instead of the beef business!!  

This little girl is a beautiful calf as well.  Very wide frame and strong as can be.  I have always been excited about thunders calves but I have had a lot more legacy calves this year and he is taking it to another level.  I can't wait to see what the calve look like that come from Legacy crossed with Thunders progeny!  

The neighbor and I took a trip to western Ohio yesterday to pick up some straw for a new customer of mine.  Made for an enjoyable day that was filled with good sites, good company, a trip to Rural King Ohio, and lots of beautiful warm sunshine!

I was hoping to get 300 bales on the trailer.  However, these were longer bales than what I am used to hauling so we topped out at 8 layers high and 262 bales.   It took every strap I had to tie it all down.  Next time I will get my 300 on there, just need to be a little more creative!

Lastly, I am trying out some new software for the farm.  It is called CATTLEMAX and is an online service for tracking cattle information.  Looking forward to making all my cattle records 'mobile' so I can access and update on the go where ever I am!  I will try to remember to post some info on it as I get into the program.  I just started yesterday so I have some inputting to do before I can really test it out.

 Still six more calves due here and one more in Montana.  I need a few more bulls to round out the year for the freezer beef sales!!   Hoping Precious will have hers tomorrow, she is looking pretty close today.  The rest will be spread out over the summer and finish in the fall.  

Have a great night everyone! 

Kenny

Well, spring was here!

Hello everyone, Been very nice and warm, although raining a lot, over the last 3 weeks.  However, today and for the next three days we are having near freezing temps again.  We have been getting spotty snow showers off and on all day today as well.  

No mushrooms or new calves yet since my last post either.  I was able to get all the hay fields I am renovating seeded down in Oats this past weekend.  It was a lot of fun to get to seed again.  I missed doing that more than I thought.  It will be refreshing to help the neighbor do some row crops this year as well!  The new tractor handled the bigger no till drill like it wasn't even there.  

Another task that I was able to complete two weeks ago was to finish all my new fences.  I split my big pasture across the creek into two equal sized fields giving me three pastures to rotate the cows through over the summer.  I am renovating one of the three this year and will complete all three over the next year or two.  I seeded all the fields down into hay back in 2006 including what is now pasture across the creek and everything was getting spotty and run down.  So we coated everything heavy with manure and killed off what was still there and all the weeds.  I am running a round of oats for silage feed and then we will seed them back into hay for the fields and pasture mix for where the pastures are now.

I also have started getting buttermilk from the local dairy to feed the pigs.  It is just what is left over after they churn the butter out of the milk.  It is very nutritional and greatly reduced the amount of feed the pigs need to supplement them for what they don't get off the pasture.  I even have a few of the calves who like to drink some as well.  The milk is all produced locally and it is nice to keep all the resources local!

I am hoping the weather straightens out after this cold snap and gives us a much needed break from the cold and wet so we can try to get caught up before hay season arrives.  I have never been more ready for it than I am this year.  It is going to be an exciting year!!!  Lots of opportunity and growth are in the near future for my family and those around me. 

As soon as I get some nice weather to let the cows back out on the pasture I promise to post some good pics!

Goodnight everyone,

Kenny

Spring is trying to break out and lots of new calves!

Well, things have continued to be hectic around here!  I recently changed positions at work and have been spending much more time there learning the new things I need to know for my new role in the company.  In the mean time I have been trying to help the neighbor get things wrapped up from his farm auction and finish moving his stuff out. 

I have also been battling the nasty winter all winter long.  We started having calves the first week of January and there were only a couple more between 1-5-15 and 3-1-15.   Then they started popping out fast.  Unfortunately,  all three that were born the first week of march were lost to the extreme cold and wet conditions.  The rest however, have been hanging in there.  The snow finally quit the second week of March and we have been getting rain and temps that range from 18-65 degrees in a continuous roller coaster of temperature changes.  It did finally dry out last weekend enough that we were able to clean all the manure at the neighbor's farm as well as here at mine.   It was nice and dry up till today....and then it poured!  Back to the mud!

To give all the calves the best shot at surviving I locked all the cows in the corral area so I am sure they are not having any more calves out in the mud or snow.   

We are now up to 11 births total so far.  So far we had 4 bulls, 2 survived, and 7 heifers, 6 survived. 

Below are a few of the newest calves.  I believe all the ones pictured are out of legacy.  They all certainly look like him!  

Butterscotch had another heifer. This is her second since I got her.  

This is Tigerwoods, I just got her as a heifer last march.  She had a heifer just a few hours ago.

This is #7, Prairie Fire.   She had a little Bull again this year.  Last year her calf was brilliant orange, this year, all black accept for his belly.

Fifty is continuing to grow her legacy with a Legacy upgrade!  She had a beautiful black heifer this year.  This is her first black heifer since we got thunder so I am positive this is Legacy's little girl!!!!   At the end of 2015 we were averaging 48% female calves overall for the farm.   Fifty and her daughters were averaging 68% females.  I do believe I am on to something here, just not sure what!  I do know that currently, the streak of her daughters and granddaughters all having heifers for their first calf is still unbroken for 5 years running now!

This last picture is Sally's little boy.   He is a bulky one!  Her bulls grow fast and big.  I love having her on the farm!  

On a side note. Beefcake's daughter, Fuzzy Wuzzy, who lost a large portion of her ears to frostbite, is growing unbelievably fast!!!   She is almost the same size as Baby Girl already and is 6 months younger, and she is as tame as a kitten!  

Lastly, I finally got the Farmall out of the garage a few weeks ago and took some new pics with it and the new M110GX.  It was fun and gave me a chance to picture them together like I did when I first bought the Farmall.

I want to wish everyone a goodnight and a great upcoming weekend.  I will try to keep up with posting moving into the spring and summer to keep everyone more up to date!

Thank you,

Kenny