Feeding Time

We are about 1/3 done with calving.  We run just over 300 females, so have about 100 calves running around.  We have had 3 sets of twins.  They add extra work because we need to make sure both calves are getting to eat enough, make sure the cow has enough milk for both calves, and that she loves both calves.

The first set are still together with their mom.   The second set was born to a heifer (first calving).   It is hard on the cow feeding two calves so Brett fed them some milk replacer to supplement the cow's milk.  We then had a cow who's calf died so we moved one of these twins onto that cow.  Lucky for everyone, that foster project was successful.

Just a couple of days ago, Christopher took a cow to the veterinarian as she was having trouble calving.   It turned out that her calf was breech.  The vet got it turned around and delivered - only to find a second calf in there!!   Thus, our third set of twins.  This set is unusual as one is black with white face and the other is red with a white face.  This cow is a black white face (happens to be Black Angus / Hereford cross).  She was bred by an Akaushi bull.  This breed has both the black and the red trait.   So, obviously, this is how one cow had calves of each color.  They are all doing fine.

Just when Brett thought he might be done bottle feeding, he found an orphan calf.  We cannot find who the mom is.  The guys walked around the herd with no luck.  We finally decided it must be a twin and the cow just walked away from it with her other calf.  However, when you have 5-10 calves born in one day it is difficult to figure out the mom.   So, Brett has a new bottle calf.  Here is the little sweetie.

When Brett is going into the barn, this little guy starts moo-ing for his bottle!  It is so excited that it doesn't even want to quit sucking to breath!!  

Here Brett is feeding his little buddy.  The calf drinks so fast that some of the milk runs out.   Fluffy, the cat, has figured this out so is always nearby for a little snack!

Busy Night

3 AM, 22 March 2015 -  Temp:  23*, wind: strong and cold

Well it has been an exciting night here.  On my usual 3 AM check I found a cow in labor.  I go back to the house and wait for about an hour as I know it will take her a while yet.  I went out later and she had made no progress.  I call Brett (son) to come help me get her into the big, red barn.  In the meantime I try to get her to stand up.  She couldn't stand - at least not for long.  Her back end is weak.  So, Brett brings the equipment down to the pole barn so we can pull the calf there.  I call Christopher (other son, owner of cow) to come out to the farm - and warn him that we might need the pickup and stock trailer.  Brett does an internal check of the cow.  Bad news, the calf is backwards (coming tail first, legs down). Call Mark (hubby) to come and help.  (I have a love/hate relationship with my cell phone currently it is love.)  Good news, just as Christopher shows up, Brett got the cow up and she walked!   The 'boys' got her up to the red barn and I carried the puller, etc. back up there.  All four humans gather in the barn.  The cow is in a small pen with a head gate to hold her in one spot.  Brett puts on fresh OB gloves (shoulder length) and goes in for another check and explains to us what he feels.  Oh no, the cow sits down (like a dog).   Christopher releases her from the head gate and she rolls onto her side.  This is not ideal for assisting with delivery.  After both Brett and Mark try to get the calf turned enough to get the legs back, they give up.  (Note, they are attempting to work inside of the cow while she is have contractions.)  Christopher takes his cow to the veterinarian in Minot (about 45 miles away).   We don't know if the vet will be able to pull the calf out or if she will have to do a c-section.  

It is now 5:30 AM.  Brett takes the 4-wheeler up to check cows again.   It has only been a little over an hour since I was up there to check them.   He comes back home to get me and our calf sled.   There is one new calf and another should be born when we get back up there.

Sure enough.  We now have two fresh calves and cows to get back to the red barn.  We leave the newest calf for last so mom has time to clean and get to know it.  Brett gets the calf into the sled (large version of the sleds kids have).  We bring the pair back to the barn.   Brett puts the calf into the calf warmer.   This is a special space with a heater in it.  We want to warm the calf up so it doesn't get sick or freeze it's ears off.

We go back up to get the other pair and bring them back to the barn.

It is now 6:40 AM.  We are chilled and wide awake.   It is common that we have to sit up for a while after being out at night.  So, now we watch a bit of TV, play on the computer or just curl up in a blanket - and wait for Christopher to get home with a report on his cow and calf.

7:40 AM - Christopher just returned home from the vet.  Sadly, the calf did not survive.

The rest of the day will consist of continuing to check cattle and trying to get a few minutes for a nap!

Calving Season 2015 has begun

Calving season has begun at Rockeman Herefords.  As of this morning we have 10 calves - only 310 or so to go!

As I have stated on here before, I have the night shift.  For the 30 years that Mark & I have been married it has been my shift.  I go out around 3 AM to check the herd.  My three guys check the rest of the time (I do help sometimes).  We are not strict with this schedule - sometimes it is worse.   For example, we had a few nights this week when the overnight temperature was 15 below or colder AND windy.  Those nights we checked every hour or two.  Newborn calves could freeze their ears and lose them - or worse, freeze their hooves and never be able to walk - or even worse, freeze to death.  Another reason we need to check on the herd throughout the day and night is to make sure none of the females are having trouble with their delivery.  There are times when the rancher(s) need to assist with the delivery or have a veterinarian help.  As you can see, calving season is a full time job (24/7) for everyone here.

This morning I happened to also take the 7 AM check.  The sun was just coming up.   The moon just going down.  I just had to grab my camera.

Moon setting

It is a beautiful morning.  There is very little wind and the temp is about 24 above.  As I walk out to the barnyard, I have a fluffy cat join me and a couple of dogs checking out everything.  I heard coyotes howling to the south/southwest (not a good thing).  The first 'girls' I checked were just enjoying the sunshine while laying out on the straw covered hill.   (The straw works like a blanket on the ground to help keep the cattle warm.)

Some of the cattle enjoying the sunshine.

The cattle can also go into a barn.  As I was checking the cattle on the hillside, I could hear a soft moo-ing sound coming from the barn.   I was certain I would find a newborn calf in there - or a female calving.  Sure enough, I looked around the corner into the barn and I found this.

1304 had her baby

 The calf was up and walking around.  Mom was keeping a close watch.  (The 'stuff' at the cow's rear end is the afterbirth process taking place.)  

checking the girls in the pole barn too

There were other moms-to-be in the barn too.  No more babies, so back to the house I can go.

We will move the new pair up to another barn to be with other new moms and calves.   We like to get them in where we can watch them closer and they will be warmer.   We feel it is important to watch them closer when it is their first calf (that is who is calving now at our place).  We need to make sure the calf is being mothered (loved by mom) and gets that colostrum (first milk with the extra antibodies).

Later we will give each calf it's name - an ear tag with it's individual number.  I have written about the various jobs we do after a calf is born including record keeping, weighing and tagging.

Excitement in a Night Check? Some might call it that.

Sometimes those night checks are so exciting because we have lots of calves born.   Sometimes, they are exciting because no calves are born (especially on those stormy nights).  And sometimes those night checks are exciting and it has absolutely nothing to do with the livestock!   Such was the case last night.

The checks have been somewhat easy as I only have to walk out beside the barn to check one pen then drive up north.   During that drive I use as spot light to look for the 1/2 mile drive at the cattle in the pasture along the road.   It can be tricky but in the nearly 30 years I've done it I have not yet driven off the road!  I didn't last night either.  (Here is the image:  spotlight and head hanging out window of jeep driving slowly down township road.)

Last night however there were a few cattle up on the hill across the little creek.  I had to make a trek over there.   We had a little rain a couple of days ago so things are nice and sloppy out there.   I was nervous about going over there.  As it turned out I was right to feel that way.

I was carefully watching where I would step.  One foot got stuck.   I got it out.  So I continued on.     Carefully, carefully, ca.r.e.f.u.l.ll  Oh no.   I could hear the suction.  Yep, one foot got stuck.  I could not pull it out - well I could pull my foot out but not my boot. Try again.  Same result.  What to do?  Call someone for help?  Why?   So they could laugh?  (Heck, I'd be laughing if I weren't short of breath!)  After a few unsuccessful attempts, I took my gloves off, laid them on the ground so I had a place to put my foot.  I then tried to pull the boot out with my hands.   There was not way I could get that darn boot out.  Remember there are still those few head of cattle I am attempting to go check on.

Heck with them.  I shove my flashlight into my stuck boot.  (Looking back I'm not sure why.  I think it was to make sure my guys would find the boot later plus it would keep the cow manure out!) 

The flashlight and my buried boot

 I pick up my gloves and take off  back to the yard.  One boot off, one boot on, diddle dumpling ....

Good thing I wasn't wearing socks anyway!!

I still had to make the drive up north to check cattle.  Everything was okay.   When I drove back into the yard, I used my spot light to look at those cattle up on that hill.

Today Mark & Brett were out tagging calves so they got my boot and the flashlight.  Mark said it took some pretty good tugging to get that boot out.  They got the 4 wheeler stuck near that same spot too!

My salvaged Muck boot

the 4 wheeler stuck in about the same spot as my boot

Editor's note:   I was not able to upload this when I wanted to due to troubles with Blogger so I will add an update.   Brett told me of a better way to get to the cattle that are up on that hill.   I did that tonight and by golly it was WAY better! 

Sounds of the Night Shift

Back in the 'old days' - before Facebook & blogging - I used to send out emails to family and friends during my 3 AM cattle checks.  I would report on the previous few days or the weather or whatever was on my mind (& sometimes it didn't make any sense because I was too tired but HAD to stay up!).  Since Facebook, I have not done that very much.  So, I thought it was time to report again!  

The sounds on my shift tonight were so pleasant that I just have to share about them.

First, I wake up to the radio playing "I'll by Missing You".   So, that song is stuck in my head as I walk around checking the cattle.   (Lucky for all, I don't sing it out loud!)

First step out of the door of the house and I hear the jingling dog tags on Odie.  There is no wind which is perhaps one of my favorite sounds.   The sound of NO wind that is.  The temp is about 30 above so there is only a slight bit of ice on any water that had been running during the day.  The mud has just a little crunch to it from freezing on the top layer.  A train is heard off in the distance.  I walk down a little hill to check the heifers (those who have never had a calf before).  Clang, clink, clunk.  The sound of taking the chain off and on to get through the gate.  I hear, and see, a few 'girls' chewing on some hay.  Others chewing their cud.  Ahh, the sweet sound of a new momma resting with her baby as if to say, "Look at my baby, isn't it the best?".  She has the nicest, softest little "Moo" - almost like a whisper so not to wake the baby, but enough to get my attention.

The rustling of straw as I walk around the pen of heifers.  They sure have settled down since I started this shift the end of February!  Then they would get up and run, now I could snuggle right in with them!

A flock of geese must be flying over as I can hear the 'honking'.    I just hope they are headed north.

I crawl over the fence (there may or may not be a couple of human noises here) and climb up the hill to check on one lone cow.  Heavy panting sounds from the overweight human are heard.   Again, the quiet moo of a new momma cow.  Back down the hill, crunching ice as I cross the little stream of water.  Do you hear the babbling?   There is a little waterfall here too.

Up a little hill, over another fence and further up a hill.  Yes, the human is panting again!  Oops, a little calf is running around without the cow nearby.  It says hello, "Moo" in it's little voice then comes over to me.  "I am not your mom.  Go find your mom.", I tell the calf.  It is a cute little Hereford baby.

I climb through the feed manger and walk to the Jeep.  A bit of crunching of the thin ice and slightly frozen mud can be heard.  I can also hear two owls visiting with each other.  "Who-who-Who" followed by "Who".  (I never hear the 't' sound so I think they say 'who' not 'hoot'!)

Crunk, Bang.  The sound of the Jeep door opening (it has a few dings in it so the door hits the fender when you open it.).  Click.  rattle.  Click.  It won't start.  clunk.  (put it Neutral)  Vroom!  (okay, not really, but you know what I mean - the thing started!)  The crunching sounds of the ice bits again.  Roll down the window.   Now the crunching sounds of driving on a gravel road.   Banging around trying to get the spot light out the window - and plugged in to the lighter spot.  I drive along slowly using the spot light to check the cattle as I drive the half mile to the north.  I really don't hear much except the gravel and an occasional cow talking.  (Lucky for me, tonight I didn't even hear the coyotes.   Guess they were happy about no wind too.)

I turn around and come back home.  Tonight I leave the window down on the drive back too as it is so nice out.  I take time to enjoy the lights of Minot Air Force Base, the glow of the lights from the city of Minot and the dark sky so full of stars.  

Back in the yard, two dogs are excited to see me.  They growl and play with each other.  Their dog tags are jingling.  The third dog is waiting at the door.   They all want in the house.   "It is too nice outside.  You guys stay out."  *sounds of scooping dog food*  (I don't know how to describe that!)   clink, clink, clink as the dog food is put into three dishes outside.    Water is running to fill their water dish.  I need to tell them, "no", as I come into the house because Rufus still wants to come in.

There you have it.  The sounds from my cattle check.  It is so nice to have beautiful weather - with NO wind.

Sunny Saturday

I went for a walk on Saturday to enjoy the beautiful spring-like weather we were having.  I snapped a couple of photos to share with you.

All three dogs walked with me.  These two belong to Christopher & Paige.  They are named Odie (white one) and Eli.  This stick was so big it took both dogs to carry it I guess!  Our dog, Rufus, was a bit camera shy. 

 

The cattle are enjoying the nice day.  We are lucky to have this coulee to feed them in as it provides a lot of protection from the wind.

Fall's Work

We have completed our harvest.  The last crop in was the corn. We had all of our corn chopped for silage.  Christopher's corn was combined.  It was wet but will be rolled (cracked) to be fed to the cattle in the feedlot. 

We have weaned all of the calves.  We do this in a multiple step process.  I thought I had written about it before, but I guess not.  I will have to try to do it next year.  Anyway, weaning, as you probably can guess, is when the calves and cows are separated so the calf will no longer nurse the cow.  We now have the calves in the feedlot.

Our cattle have been enjoying fall grazing.  There are some grazing a barley field and others are in the corn, pea & canola fields.  After we harvest these crops there is still some waste.  There are ears of corn & pea pods laying in the fields that fell off the plant for some reason, the barley & canola seeds that did the same and have now started growing again making for lush, green grazing.  This is a great way to add value to the crop (that would have otherwise been wasted) and to extend the amount of time that we do not have to feed them hay.  We did get a couple of inches of snow Saturday/Saturday night but that was not enough to end this "aftermath grazing".    Some of the snow has settled away and I hope for a bit of sunshine to take care of the rest that is out in the open areas. 

The men have been busy working on fence repair. There are some new fences being built and others are mended.  Some of this fence was around a field of Sudan Grass that was planted as a cover crop (to help dry out soil that did not get planted in the spring).  We had to wait until after November 1 (government regulation) to utilize this crop.  We plan to let the cattle graze this field as another way to help preserve our winter hay supply.  Our hay supply is a little short this year due to all of the rain we've had.  Most years we can cut hay in sloughs (marshy ponds) and get quite a bit of hay, but this year they still had water in them. 

The forecast sounds like the ground will freeze up this week.  Once that happens we will get busy hauling the hay and straw home.  

No photos this time, but it was time for a farm update instead of Andy!!

Sunday Scenery

Okay, I know this is being posted on a Thursday.  I am a little slow, but the photos were taken on Sunday.

This past Sunday we moved about 130 cow/calf pairs and 4 bulls home from their summer pasture.  They had been out on the Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge for the summer.  It is a beautiful location which I had never visited before. 

The refuge headquarters are about 35 miles away from our place.  We had four stocktrailers for hauling cattle.  Three of them are shown here.  Each trailer took at least 4 loads.

The cattle were happy in their pasture.  Here a few are resting before we put them in the working corral.  This pasture had our black cows with their calves (most of them whitish, some black).  Our black cows are bred by Charolais bulls.  Charolais bulls are white.  The calves grow up to be great feeder calves and then beef for you!

 

This is the working corral that we rented.  We could move the panels around to make one huge pen or two pens of varying size.  We had two pens plus the built-in alley way.  One pen was smaller so we could load the trailers and the other, larger, pen kept us well stocked (no pun intended) with more cattle to load. 

 

On the drive to their new pasture, I saw these two adult moose.  The photo is not great as it was with my cell phone but I just had to share!  These moose were only about three miles from our place.  Some trips when I went past they were laying down in this soy bean field. 

 

This was the view out my window.  (Before you discipline me for taking photos while driving you need to know I have already gotten a tongue lashing from our 22 year old son.)  In this photo you can see a cow nose peeking out of the trailer (sometimes it was an ear), the oil wells that are now plentiful just west of us and the green grass.  Green grass is rare this time of year. 

Then there was this crazy thing.  A couple of weeks ago C&P were out checking cattle along with her parents and saw this sheep in with our cattle.  It is not ours.  We think he was a stray and was just happy to find company as he has been with our cattle ever since.  Poor guy has not been sheered in a few years.  We'd like to find the rightful owner, but in the meantime we have a woolly cow!

 

Ranching is a nursery rhyme?

Today I felt like I was part of a nursery rhyme - specifically "There was an old lady who swallowed a Fly".  You know how it goes, right?

Well, here was today's version at NoDak Herefords  (minus the rhyme since I don't have that talent) ...

There was a herd of Herefords who were ready to move to the next pasture...

It was easy to move them.  Mark just had to open the gate and they eagerly moved to this pasture with grass up past their bellies and water almost everywhere!

The trouble was - the fence needed to be repaired to hold them in.  (We don't know why they would need out with all of this grass, but history tells us they will!)  We have had so much rain this spring that we are unable to drive around this pasture with our usual fencing pickup.  We also use our 4 wheeler for that job and have rigged it up to haul a roll of barbed wire along with a basket to hold supplies such as fencing staples and clips.  So, today Mark took off with the 4 wheeler to fence.  Brett used the loader tractor to haul fence posts and installed a few of them.  I was "on call" should they need extra help.

I don't know why he thought he could drive through this area ...  (guess he thought he could float)

Notice how the cows are in the background keeping an eye on him.

 

 So, he called Brett to bring the tractor to pull him out.  Brett in turned called me to bring out chain, rope and other "pulling out" supplies.  I met Brett along a prairie trail to get the supplies to him.  He took off across the field.  I noticed him spinning but he kept going, got on the trail and found a sodded area to travel on.  He got down to his Dad's location and got everything ready to pull when, oops...

guess it was a little wet there too!  Could it be because he was just on the edge of the same slough as his father?!

Sunk axle deep and spinning.  They had to call me again to bring a bigger tractor. 

I don't have a photo of the set up with the bigger tractor so I will explain.   The cattle are still watching this operation!  The 4 wheeler is tied to the loader tractor.  The loader tractor is tied to the big tractor.  Mark was stranded on the 4 wheeler (since he was surrounded by water).  I drove the loader tractor and Brett pulled all of us out with the big tractor.  What a sight!

 

SO, we drove the big tractor to pull the loader tractor to pull the 4 wheeler.  I don't know why the 4 wheeler thought it could get through the water.

 

 

Spring finally Sprung! (and Week 18: Andy)

I am happy to report that we finally have spring.  We thought we might have slept through it!  We had about 5 good days in the field and boy were we busy!  Mark got all of our peas planted.  This is our first year of raising field peas.  We have about 200 acres of them. 

Yellow Field Pea Seed

After we finished the peas, we started planting canola.  Mark & Brett have taken turns running the air seeder.  There is plenty else to do.  Brett has a sprayer that needs to be fixed and gotten ready so he has spent quite a bit of time doing that.  I shared a little about seeding last year.

Once we started planting canola, I got more involved in the spring planting season.  It is my job to pull Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) tanks to town to get them filled and return them to the field.  NH3 is used to add nitrogen to the soil. 

Andy waiting for the NH3 tank to be filled.

Christopher just finished breeding about 50 heifers using Artificial Insemination (AI).  He goes through about a three step process to get them all to cycle (come in heat) at the same time.  I helped him get the cattle in to work them but he had to do the inseminating.  I understand he wants to breed some of the cows too.  I don't think I've ever written about this so I should follow him around with a camera next time.  He will not like that! We artificially breed the heifers (female cows who have never had a calf) to better control the birth weight of their calves.  We AI our registered (purebred) Polled Hereford cows to help improve the genetics in our herd.

Our seeding came to a halt on Saturday due to fog and mist.  By Sunday morning we had a full fledged rain.  Since about 10:30 Sunday morning until this afternoon (Monday) we have had nearly three inches of rain.  It has been a beautiful rain for our pasture grasses.  We must now be patient for the soil to dry so we can finish seeding.

Calving 2013 (Part 1?)

We will pretend that I fulling intend on writing more about calving season and call this entry "Part One"!! 

I just don't think I have shared anything about calving this year.  It is basically the same every year, but still, it is our business so I should share something, right?

Today I was helping Brett with some of the chores so I snapped a few photos to share.

This little guy would "graze" inside of the bale feeder for a while then jump out to wander for a while and then go back in the bale feeder!  For a little while he even was chewing on the twine string that is hanging from the feeder.  It is fun to watch these young ones at play!  In a few months he will be quite big and we will have him for sale as a bull.  Maybe I will remember to post a photo when he is bigger and for sale - remember 0735A  (that is his number).

This guy entertained me for a while (it doesn't take much when one is running on little sleep!).  He kept grabbing his tail to chew on!  Calves have sharp teeth so I would have thought it might hurt, but perhaps it was more sucking than biting!  He should go find his mom to eat -  not his tail.

Here are two of the dogs that run around at NoDak Herefords.  Eli is the black one and Lori is the white one.  Eli belongs to Christopher and Paige but he spends most of his time at the ranch (especially during calving season because he gets so dirty & stinky!).  Lori is our White German Shepard.  She loves attention from anyone and everyone.  She has gone deaf in the past few months but still enjoys running around and playing - especially with Eli.

0520A was born just minutes before I snapped this photo.  This was the first time it had stood up so it was maybe 15 minutes old.  In this photo the calf is looking for mom's udder to get some of the very important first milk called colostrum.  Colostrum is vital in the newborn calf if it does not get any it likely will not survive.  Colostrum contains the antibodies the baby needs to grow "big and strong".

Well, that was a little bit about what happens on the ranch at calving time.  I don't take photos of the routine stuff - like putting bales in the bale feeder or feeding silage.  I suppose I should really do that sometime too.  If you ever have any questions about what we do here or something I have written about, feel free to ask and I will do my best to explain things to you.  Thank you for stopping by.  Be sure to leave a note so I know you were here.

Week 13/52: Easter

For Easter, Andy was hangin' with his Peeps!!

Our family enjoyed church this morning and a meal with the Rockeman family.  Oh, and much laughter!  Of course, since it is calving season, there was a slight delay in eating.  We had a new calf who could not figure out how to eat.  So, the guys made sure the calf ate before them.  This evening they are out tagging calves.  Though it is a holiday, the routine must continue.

Week 9/52: Andy & the blizzard

We have been warned about an incoming storm so had been doing things to prepare.  We tucked a young momma and her twin calves into the barn, put extra straw into the barns so there is a nice, comfy spot for the cattle to lay and tried to mentally prepare for trudging through deep, blowing snow.  (Okay, my guys did the first two things and I did the last!)

The storm didn't come quite as soon as expected but the weather folks were correct about the storm a-comin'.  By the time I went out to see if there were any new calves at 3 AM it was snowing and starting to blow.  When I went out again at 6, it was really blowing.  I had sent a text to Christopher and told him to stay home (he lives in our little nearby town).  He usually is out here at 5 or 6 AM to check cattle but today I asked that he stay put at least until daylight.  He & Paige came out later to tend to their horses and help with cattle chores.  The visibility actually kept getting worse.  Sometimes we can see quite a distance, but the ground drifting is terrible making the roads bad.  Plus, it is very hard to see the edges of the roads when everything is white and moving.  Brett had to help Christopher & Paige get "unstuck" a couple of times after they decided they had better get back home.  After Brett was back home, he said, "I watched for the fences to find the road."  He made sure he could see the fence in either ditch but even that was tricky sometimes.  Anyway, everybody got to their respective destinations safely.

Andy went to see the blizzard and didn't even get the screen door open when he found this.

Guess that is what happens then the wind is blowing straight at the door.  Lucky for us the inside door is tight!

I went to the other door and could hardly get the screen door open.  Here are a couple of photos from that door (I wasn't going out into this mess unless I had to). 



















 

The visibility in the yard isn't too bad right now.  Heck, we've had blizzards so bad that we couldn't see the barn. 

Rolling Feed

Our eldest son, Christopher, was able to purchase oats cleanout from a neighbor.  Cleanout (or Screenings as some call it) is the 'stuff' that is removed when we clean our grain to get most of the weed seeds, and other foreign matter, removed before planting.  The grain goes through a machine that shakes the seeds across various sized screens so, hopefully, only the pure seeds remains.  The rest is cleanout.    The oats cleanout that Christopher was able to purchase is great for feed to our cattle and those in the feedlot. 

Before we feed this we like to run it through a roller mill.  The roller mill cracks the grain making it more digestible for the animal.  We have also done this same process with corn and barley for the same reason.



The whole set up for rolling our feed

 We auger the cleanout (aka grain) from the bluish-grey building (grain bin). 

It goes into the roller mill. 

 

 

 There are two roller mills in my photo.  Yesterday the men tried the red one on legs.  Today, they are using the (formerly red) one that is hooked up to the tractor.  Both of the roller mills do the same job but it was decided that the one on the tractor was doing a better job of cracking the oats.  The one on legs runs with electricity.  The one on the tractor is run by the tractor's PTO (Power Take Off). 

 

Oats Cleanout

 Here is a fairly close photo of the Oats cleanout.  The long, narrow, oval shape is the oats seed.  There is also some straw (the dried stem of the grain plant) and other random seed.  This is what it looks like before it goes through the roller mill. 

 

 The top of this photo shows the grain going into the roller mill.  The bottom left hand corner is the rolled product getting augered away to the little white hopper bin (see top photo) for storage.  Just above the auger in the bottom corner is the rolled grain coming out of the roller mill. 

This is a closer look. Toward the upper right corner the rolled oats are coming out of the roller mill. The auger in the bottom left is taking it to the hopper bin.

 This is what the grain looks like after it goes through the roller mill. 

You can see how the grain is cracked open.  

Here is a photo of the tractor that makes the roller mill work.  Brett is sitting in the tractor making sure there are no problems.  Sometimes the top hopper (holding area) of the roller mill gets too full so he has to stop the grain from augering until there is room for more grain.  Yesterday he said he had to stop the auger every two seconds and wait for two minutes before there was room for more.  I guess it was better today!

 

Sharing with Farm Photo Friday

She who is not ready

Okay, so I live in North Dakota, I know it is winter AND I know it gets cold in a North Dakota winter.  But I have become a wimp!! 

The forecast on the morning of Wednesday, January 30, 2013

It is the time of year when we need to start checking our cattle more closely.  You see, it is calving time (or will be within the next week or so).  At this time of year we try to check the calving herd every four hours or so.  It is a little early for this yet, but the weather has taken a turn for the worse and sometimes those calves start dropping!  Christopher checked the heifers (cows who are expecting their first calf) around midnight.  He knew we were still awake so he called to ask if I would check between 2-3 because one of the heifers was acting odd.  "Sure," I told him and set the alarm. 

Well, you need to know that I have been quite spoiled these last couple of years.  Our sons are here full time so I don't need to go out to help with chores and repairs very often.  It has always been my job to check the cows in the middle of the night during calving season, but I just was not ready for it yet.  Because I haven't been going out to help with the outdoor side of our business, I have not gotten my nice warm boots out of their summer hibernation.  I've yet to purchase a nice warm pair of gloves for the season.  AND, I certainly had not prepared myself mentally for all of this!  Oh, and to top it all off, the weatherman reports that tonight is the coldest night we have had in two years.  GREAT and I am going out into this. 

I think most people are like me.  Getting up in the middle of the night, getting dressed and going out in minus 50 degree (F) wind chill is not your idea of a good time.  It is hard to wake up and focus ... until you open the door!!  WOW!  Talk about take your breath away.   (Now remember, I have not gathered my winter work gear.) 

Without my long johns, coveralls, warm boots and gloves, I am in for trouble.  I borrow someone's gloves since they lay by the door (the ribbing around the wrist is still damp from sweat).  I slip on my coat (without a working zipper for years) and snap it closed best it will do.  I put on my old sneakers  (remember, my warm boots are still hibernating and, lucky for me, there is hardly any snow) and stocking cap.  Off I go - first to the pickup to find the flashlight.  The pen of cattle that I need to check are in our yard so the dogs and I go walk around them to see if anything is calving.  (Oh the wind is COLD.)  We wander around each group of girls as they are snuggled in their little groups to keep warm.  (My legs are freezing.)  Wander. Wander (don't trip on frozen cowpies).  Good, everything looks okay.  We head back to the house.  (My legs and face are stinging from the cold.)  Into the house.  (I can't see a thing, dumb glasses fog up.)  Dogs are happy - so am I.  Now, do I go straight back to bed and snuggle my COLD body up to hubby to get warm (and risk waking him)?  Nope.  I need to find the charger to get that flashlight charged again.  Dang, where did I put that thing after last calving season?  Found it.  Need something to drink ... ahhh, a nice glass of chocolate milk.  Better write about this experience.  (Here I am.) 

Life on the ranch.  It is the best even if it is the coldest night in two years and I am not ready to go out into it at 2:30 AM.   Best place/job in the world.

Now, off to bed.

This & That update

WOW!!  It has been awhile and lots has been going on.  I suppose that is why it has been awhile!

Let's see, what have we done?   We have finished the small grain harvest, fixed the break-downs, chopped the corn for silage, patched breakdowns, hauled straw & hay, waited for parts ....  You get the idea.  It seems we have had a lot of machinery down time. 

The motor went out of the payloader.  There was an air leak on the semi causing the trailer wheels to lock up.  AND the hydraulics aren't working right on the John Deere tractor/loader.  There were a few days that all three of our hay hauling pieces of equipment were down at the same time.  Well, we are still waiting for the verdict on the payloader.  The semi is fixed.  We are using the tractor until it can get to the dealer's repair shop (this Monday).  The hay hauling project has slowed down tremendously.

We hire the corn chopping done.  There is a man out of Alberta, Canada we hire.  It is the type of job that would take us nearly two weeks to do by ourselves.  It also takes three to four people to do it as we need someone to run the chopper, someone to pack the corn pile and someone to drive truck.  (and a full time mechanic to try to keep things running)  It got to be more efficient for us to hire this custom crew.  They don't require anything from us (except the check!) and we can work on other projects.

Chopping corn & filling the truck on the go

     

Packing the pile

            

 Christopher is finally getting the last of the buildings from the old fertilizer plant.  He had a hard time finding anyone to haul the hopper bins.  Finally, after many calls from two men, they are getting this done.  There were seven hopper bins at the site.  Four for Christopher and three for a man from another town.  I wonder how long until this whole feed mixing plant is up and running on the feedlot?  It is getting late in the comfortable work season.  (a few snowflakes have fallen already)

 

I came upon this big Moose cow yesterday when I was taking tools out to the field for repairs.  A couple of days earlier I saw a young cow moose about 10 miles from here.

 



The cattle are ready to come home.  They are starting to sneak out of pastures looking for green grass.  Not much outside of the fence either as between the first part of June and now we have made had a total of half an inch of rain and most of that came a couple of days ago.  Things are quite dry here, but I don't think we have it as bad as many parts of our nation.

Joining up with a linky party:  Fresh from Farm: Farm Photo Friday

Our Labor Day

Labor Day for many means going to the lake and relaxing.  For many North Dakota farmer/ranchers that is not the case as we are harvesting.  However, Mark & I got the chance to go to the lake ... well, ummm, a few sloughs, but it was water - no relaxing however!!  Sunday evening a neighbor called to tell us our cows were out.  Mark & I got there and found it was cattle from two of our pastures.  I don't understand why they think they have to get out as they are belly deep in grass.  Anway, we each took one batch of the herd and returned them to their respective pastures.  We got back in the house about 10 PM  (yes, it was dark and there are no working headlights on the 4 wheeler providing a bit of a challenge for hubby).

Monday AM, after getting the combine serviced, the trucks emptied AND the auger moved to the next bin, Mark & I finally were able to go fix fence while Brett combined canola.   It was quite easy on one pasture - just close the gate!!  Hmmmm, wonder who left that open?  Anyway, the other needed fence built around the slough.  Luckily, the posts had already been installed so we just had to roll out the wire and get it stapled to the post.  We are using plastic posts (made from recycled items) so we could just staple the electric wire right to the post instead of using plastic offsets.    Before we got this project done, some of the cows got out again - this time into our corn.  The corn is about 10 foot tall so it is difficult to find them AND chase them, but Mark and Rufus got the cows out of the corn and back into the pasture.  We finished building the fence and hooked up the power for the fence (solar charger with battery).  Hopefully they will stay in now.  Lucky for us, most the crops around our pastures have been harvested, but it is still not good for them to be out.

Mark "at the beach".  Three years ago we were pumping water out of a dugout just to Mark's right.  Last year there was so much water here that we couldn't use our cross fences. 

This year the water is going down.

Mark hanging the electric wire.  You can see how high the water was last year by looking at the posts here.

This girl knew to find some shade to cool off. 

Golden Circles

Christopher & Brett have been busy taking turns in the tractor baling straw.  I don't know if they will ever finish!  Our neighbor offered us the opportunity to bale some of his Winter Wheat straw.  We knew it looked like there would be a lot of straw there, but never would have guessed this much!!  It seems like the "boys" need to stop about every 150 feet to tie another bale.  I think they might be wishing they would not have taken quite so many acres of straw!  Oh well, we will have plenty of bedding for the cattle this winter.

Some more of the Golden Circles (straw bales):

Branding 2012

We have been busy working cattle since the crop got planted.  We have over 200 cows so have about that many calves to work.  We give various vaccinations and brand all of them.  The vaccinations are done for the same reason humans have them.  The branding is for ranch identification.  We have this brand registered with the State of North Dakota and any cattle with this brand in our registered location all belong to us.  Each calf was identified at birth with the ear tag. 

Most of the time when you see photos of branding you see lots of horses & cowboys.  Not at our place.  We use 4-wheeler and motorcycles to chase cows (as well as a pickup or Jeep or whatever else is handy!).  Our method requires fewer workers and no open fire.  We need electricity and the four of us.

I have a few photos to share how we brand & vaccinate.

  

The calves are sorted from the cows.  It is much easier to work with the calves with out the big cattle in the way.

Brett's job was to bring one calf at a time down the alley way.  Pandora (the dog) and Sammie (another dog) like to think they are helping him by running alongside!

Brett then pushed the calf into the "calf table".  This is a very helpful tool for us.  Christopher would catch the head in the headgate and gently snug the calf onto the table.  Then he & Mark would tip the table.

 Once the calf is laying down it is much easier to do the necessary work.  The calf is laying on a solid piece of steel so he/she is well supported.  The bars can be moved so they are out of the way to do any necessary work.

Mark & Christopher gave the shots.  We give shots in the neck area since there is the least damage done to any future cuts of meat.  By doing this our animals are BQA certified.  Some of the shots go just under the skin and others go into the muscle.

  

This is our branding iron.  We have an electric iron.  So the part that you see glowing red is the part that actually does the work.  Our brand is a 7 lazy Y.  Mark sets it in this bucket with a brick to keep from starting fires.  These photos show us branding inside of our big barn.  Some of the calves are branded out in the pasture where we set up a big pen to gather them and still use the calf table.  We then use a generator to provide electricity for this iron.



The above two photos show Mark doing the branding.  First the hair burns off (man does that stink) then the hide is "tanned" with the hot iron. 

From the time the animal gets into the "calf table" to the time it is released is about 2 minutes.

Here is our brand on one of the calves from this day's work.  Our 7 lazy Y on the left rib area of the calf.  This brand will "grow" as the animal grows.  After they get their vaccinations and brand they are released and return to Mom for comforting.

It is a hard day's work even for the dogs!  (This is Lori.)  We humans come in exhausted as well.  It is better now that we do the calves in smaller groups as they go to or are at each of their summer pastures. 

If the cattle are not at the proper pasture we haul them out in our stock trailer.  We make sure every cow in the trailer has her calf in there with her.  If they are not paired up, we could have a cow running all over the countryside looking for her calf.  It is worse then the calf is running around as they are much more difficult to catch!  Our bulls have also been turned out to the pastures so we should start getting new calves around the 20th of March, 2013.

Do you have any questions?  I will do my best to help answer them.