It Was an Inside Job

We have this steer that has become quite the escape artist. He and a heifer were in the catch pen together being fed for slaughter. The heifer had her date with the freezer, but this guy still has a bit more time. Now that he is alone, he gets bored. He has learned how to open all the gates in the catch pen.

Husband would turn handles certain ways to prevent cows from opening gates. That doesn’t work with this steer. He opens gates and undoes chains! Husband has had to tie gates shut and still we have issues. Now the steer is letting other cattle out and not just himself!

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On The Good Days & On The Bad Days Too

Recently, life dealt us a bit of a blow. We have waited with great expectation for our “Jersey Girl” to calve. It didn’t turn out anything like we would have planned. We are struggling with this one. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of a few things, on the good days and on the bad days too.

***Some photos may contain sensitive/graphic content***

Our Jersey was due to calve around Christmas. We watched and waited and checked on her several times a day. She was even moved to a special place in the barn for the Christmas cold, just in case. Christmas came and went with no calf. Due dates are just dates and calves can come early or late, so we waited.

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Breaking It Up

This time of year, we are preparing for winter. Hay is in the barn and calves are hitting the ground. But, of utmost importance is the planting of winter pastures. Our cattle do their best growing on winter rye grass during the cooler temps of winter in the south. So it’s time to start breaking it up!

Some of the pastures can be “over seeded,” which means they are planted by the seed drill and no other work is needed. But for some of the fields, the prep work is more intense and takes longer than the actual planting.

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