Top ten of 2011

It's the end of the year, and that means it's time for a list!

This is our fourth year of farming, but that doesn't mean that everything is same old, same old. Like what, you ask? Here are the top ten NEW farming events of 2011.

10.  We used a Kubota for the first time.  It doesn't have the following of John Deere, but we'd never turn down a year's use of a tractor!  It worked great.

9. We used big square bales instead of small ones.  Kris likes them - you use machinery to handle them instead of lifting them, plus they stack nicely.

8. We got our first red and white Holstein bull.  Can't wait to see the colorful calves next year!

7. We rented a chopper because ours broke during a critical harvest point.  Until then, I never even knew you could rent one.  (Or honestly, thought about it at all.)

6. I didn't see a calf being born. I live in a house surrounded by pastures where 300 cows gave birth. Despite my best efforts, I didn't see EVEN ONE of them take place. I did, however, see tons of calves seconds after they were born.  Just think - the first sounds they heard were my dramatic sighs of frustration!  Ah well, there's always next year ...

5. We used a snaplage bagger. That's one of my most-read posts. It may be the price of corn or it might be the new fashion for 2012.

4. We modified a golf cart and turned it into a calf cart, which Kris uses to feed fresh milk to the calves. It's useful ... and fun to ride!

3.  Instead of feeding milk replacer to the calves, which is like baby formula, we exclusively fed them our cows' fresh milk.  This meant changes in schedules, changing milking procedure, modifying the building, and using a calf cart - but it seems worth it.

2. I drove a tractor for the first time.  It was a short ride, I performed no useful task, and Kris was sitting beside me giving much-needed instructions ... but my kids still talk about it.

1. We built a barn. Our first barn, but probably not our last.

Happy 2012!  Here's to another exciting year of farming!

Holidays

It's been a whirlwind of parties and family! Kris and the guys get the necessary work done, then Kris returns to whatever holiday activity we're doing next. You know how it goes - party at his parents' house, my parents' house, visitors staying with you, lunches, dinners, basketball games, and eating. Lots of eating.

All five of us also got the flu - Kris was sick on Christmas Eve. He was too sick to go to church with us, but he had to go feed the cows. (There they go again, wanting to eat EVEN on holidays and when he has the flu!) Luckily, no one had it for very long and we were quickly able to resume our excessive eating schedule.

We were with some friends yesterday and my friend Molly said, "I gave up wine for Lent and didn't miss it. But I could never give up milk. I have dreams that I'm in line at the store and people keep cutting in front of me and I can't get to the milk."

We laughed, but I loved that. That's dedication to a product! I support dairy promotion, and when you have fans like that, it's an easy sell.

Also, today is our 10 year wedding anniversary. Ten years ago, we got married in the church we now go to, never imagining that we'd one day own a dairy farm. Here's a toast to many more years ... wine or milk in your glass - it works either way!

Christmas Eve eve

- Starting yesterday, it seems like Christmas around here! Just getting done what needs doing - mainly feeding and milking. Everyone's taking vacation, figuring out their own schedules, and going to parties and family events. Hooray!

- Kris is treating the calves. He said they're better, but he doesn't want to take any chances. He said nothing makes you feel better about a sick calf than trying to catch it and treat it. They're big, they're fast, and even though they might look ill, they're super hard to catch!

- I've been writing this blog for a year now. It's a blog anniversary! My son said today, "Mom, come look! The silos are lit up like Christmas trees!" Due to the clouds, the early morning sun was shining only on them and everything else was dark. After a little while, all the tops of the trees started glowing, too. It was rare and beautiful.

- Before the blog, during, and someday after, I'm sure I'll still be running outside in the morning to take pictures. But it's not always that my son will be yelling from the doorway, "Put that on your blog!"

Repairs

Up on the barntop, roofers pause ...

It's nice enough weather to sing roof repair carols!

Even though we're not using the barn to raise calves anymore, we do want to use it for storage. The shingles were coming off and there was a hole. So, we're having the roofers put steel sheets on it.

They were here early in the morning working on it - even before it got light. With the cooperative weather and the quick work, I'm sure they'll be done before Christmas. A nice present for us!

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I posted an article about a neighborhood breakfast and cookie exchange on the Farm Fresh Food blog.

Walking in a warm wonderland

It's so non-wintery here. Today I was running without gloves on - crazy! It's currently 44 and ... not bad outside.

The heifers were very excited to see me passing by, as usual. They all came over to greet me and ran alongside me until the fence ended.

The pasture is muddy, but the fall weather is welcome for all of us. Whether you're running, eating grass, or for Kris and the guys ... working outside.

There's always a downside. It's muddy. It's hard for the calves and cows to switch between weather patterns. Sometimes it makes them cough. But really? Hard to complain when it's December 19!

On the other hand, my sister-in-law in Texas said it just doesn't feel like Christmas when it's 74 degrees. I'm sure that won't happen here.
The snow will come again soon enough. As for now, this is the winter farm scene we're enjoying. Muddy ground and warm cattle. The fact that I could take this picture without gloves on? Even better.

Training cattle

Last night, the heifers walked to the woods and spent the night there.

This morning, half of the heifers walked back to the barn to eat from the feeder.  The other, not-as-good-at-directions-group didn't come back.  They were standing at the fence.  They could see the other ones, but they couldn't figure out where the fence ended so that they could get to where they wanted to go.  So they stood there and mooed their displeasure. 

Kris walked into the pasture to lead them to the barn.  It doesn't take a lot - he just walks out there, they see him, and they follow him.  He'll continue doing this until they all learn their way around the field.

This is similar to how I've seen him train the calves.  When the calves move into the barn, they lie down in freestalls.  When Kris would feed them, some of the calves wouldn't come out of the freestalls to eat.  Why?  Because they didn't know how to walk backward out of them.  So every day, Kris would go and chase out the ones that were, essentially, stuck in there.  They understood it eventually - but for some it took weeks.

It's no circus performance.  But for cattle, these are pretty good tricks. 

Calf health

Today our vet (Russ) and a manufacturing rep for Safe-Guard (Julie) came over to talk with Kris and take samples of the cow and calf manure.

We do everything you're supposed to do for calves, but they still get coccidiosis. Coccidiosis is an intestinal disease that results from infection by a single-celled protozoa called coccidia. Kris treats them, and they grow out of it, but in the meantime they have liquid manure, and it's not fun for anyone.

They also get giardia, which can come from drinking out of puddles. (People can get this too.) It's an infection of the small intestine.

Kris has had many, many people working on this problem and they're mostly perplexed why the preventive measures and treatments don't stop it from reoccurring.

Russ used a weigh tape on the calves today - to see if the intestinal difficulty was affecting growth.

Just like kids, there's an average to measure them against. And happily, our calves were in the 90th percentile for weight and 98th percentile for height!

Russ and Julie took samples and now we're waiting for lab results and hopefully some more ideas. But until then, we're certainly happy we have giant calves!