Winter Wonder thaw!

So it’s been a while since I posted, we have been a little overwhelmed by the weather. I hope that you all made it through snowzilla! Atlanta is about sixty miles to the north-east from us and it was as bad as the news reported it. People laugh at southerners when it snows. But have you ever experienced snow/winter precipitation here? If not, you have no idea. Even though it doesn’t snow here we have blustery cold winters, sometimes even colder than the northern states. Our climate is very humid year round and that makes the cold even more cold. Think about the air around you being an ice-cube and that is what it is like. No most of us are not accustom to driving in the winter precipitation, be it sleet or snow. So when we have both as fast as we did a few weeks ago, it can take us hot-blooded southerners by surprise.

Our animals are also accustom to mild winter conditions. The farm the Herdsman works for produces Brangus cattle. The Brangus breed is a cross between Angus and Brahman cattle. It is a wonderful cross taking the best of both breeds. Angus are known for their intense marbling and mothering ability. The Brahman are known for their heat and disease tolerance, as well as frame size and mothering ability. We are at the end of a calving for the moment, but at the time of snowzilla we were smack dab in the middle of it. The first calf heifers did a fantastic job with placing their calves out of the wind and into the hay that had been rolled out for them. Some calves did get frost bite on their ears, but that could not be helped. With temperatures below freezing for several days in a row and wet babies being born is not a combination that any cattle producer wants. The Herdsman and the farm were glad to have everyone come through and it is a real testament to the perseverance of the cattle and the hard work the men of this farm do.

I myself had a sever dose of cabin fever! Being a stay at home mom is still new to me and although I enjoyed watching the girls have fun in the snow, it was even better to see the school bus! The rewards of being at home vs. working full-time are tremendous. The decision was made so that I could continue my education at the status of full-time.  We also used my whole paycheck as a state equine inspector to pay for child care and gas to get them to and from.  I am currently taking four classes online and it’s just about all I can do to keep up with my work and the kids.

The Herdsman was especially cold and ready for spring. I hope you all will take the survey that I posted in January. It will help me to post about things you want to know about. I have been thinking about doing a video post to show you what the herdsman does everyday, but I will have to play around with that. I’m also glad spring  is coming because I’m planting a garden! It’s been several years since we had a garden and we love tending our crop. I think fresh is best, don’t you?

Untill next time, I hope you will enjoy sunny day’s!!!

 

From the reader…

So I have a question for you the reader. What would you like to know about our farm? It’s hard not to be technical sometimes, so please let me know what you enjoy about what I have written thus far. I have also asked my fellow agriculture associates to be contributing writers. Look for those special guest in the coming months!

Arctic Cold

Most of North America is bracing against the arctic cold that is rushing upon us.  I can not remember when it has been this cold. When talking to my grandmother today, she recalled back in the late 1970’s being the last time she had seen it below 30 degrees for any given time. She remembered not having any power and the huge live oak behind their house dropping limbs covered in ice. Grandma said that it was so cold that the hog’s burrowed themselves in straw.

As I look out at our cows at the house, I see that they are bedding down in the low parts of the pasture’s and have placed their calves in hay piles. We have a group of first time mama’s in the pasture that surrounds three sides of the house. Three calves were born last night and The Herdsman was up and out the door at 5:30 this morning to check on them. Even though these mama’s are new at taking care of their calves, they are doing an excellent job. I watched the cow’s move around the pastures for the better part of the morning trying to keep worm and at the back of the herd was where the three mama’s were. The little calves trotting close to their mama’s.

The Herdsman has spent most of yesterday and today putting hay out to all of the cattle. Most of the hay he put out yesterday had to have more added to it because the cows are eating it so fast. Hay and feed are one of the ways cattle keep their body temperature elevated.  Cattle in the south are definitely not use to wind chills in the negative! The people are not used to it either.

Most of the horses on the farm have shelters provided to them, but The Herdsman’s horse “Leo” and two others only have trees to shelter them. So tonight Leo and his pasture mates get to go in the barn.  It would be nice if they could always go into the barn, but to be honest not many horses like to be confined to the barn.  I can’t tell you how many times I have seen a horse chose to stand out in the elements instead of in a shelter. It’s where they are most comfortable and have their surroundings in view at all time.

I ask that you pray for the men, women, and livestock that are braving this crazy weather.  “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 2:26

Artificial Insemination…

There is never a day of the year that The Herdsman is idol. Twice a year we have calves born and at the same time he is breeding for the following calving season. Our calving season’s happens in the spring and fall. In the southern United States most purebred farms do not calve during the summer months. The humidity and heat index make birthing harder on the cow’s.  A cow’s gestational period is 283 days from implantation. So if a cow is bred on December 13, 2013, it will have its calf on or around September 21, 2014.  On the majority, purebred cattle are bred via Artificial insemination (A.I.). The benefit’s to A.I. are numerous when it comes to cost and health of the cattle. The process of insemination begins with synchronization of a group of cow’s or heifers so that they are on the same cycle of Estrus.  Estrus often refered to as “heat”, is every 18-24 days for a sexual mature cow when they are receptive to being mounted by a bull or other cow’s.  Recognizing this sign is a learned tool for a herdsman to know when the cow’s are ready to bred.

The Herdsman drives through his cow’s every day, twice a day. The farm does not use bull’s in the pasture to bred our cow’s, so The Herdsman looks for cow’s mounting each other among other sign’s. The mounting action is the best indication that a cow is ready to be bred. One tool that many people use are “heat” patches that are placed on the back of the cow just in front of the head of the tail. When they are placed on the cow they are grey with florescent orange writing. These patches are like lottery tickets in the since that when a cow mounts another cow it scratches of the grey film reveling the florescent orange tag.

Exposed “Heat” patch

Each cow has a predetermined bull she will be bred with.  These selections are made based on genetic predisposition (blood lines) and how well the genetics will compliment each other. The person who makes these decisions has to be immersed in the blood lines and have a great understanding of genetics.    Bull’s have their semen collected and placed into storage containers called “straws”. These straws are sometimes cooled for immediate use, but most of the time the specimens are frozen for when they are needed. Storage of the frozen semen is facilitated in an insulated portable tank that contains liquid nitrogen. The straws are placed into the tank and are arranged by donor. Many tanks are used so that a variety of bulls can be utilized in a breeding program.   That is one of the major benefits to A.I.. Many different bulls can be used without having to own them or keep them up. It also gives any breeder the opportunity to use the best genetics for their breed.  Using frozen semen also insures that when a bull dies or becomes unable to produce, his genetics will still be available. It’s also a great practice that keeps herd health optimal.

              

After The Herdsman pull’s the selected semen from the tank, he places it into the cow. I would go into detail, but it’s a lot of complicated terminologies. I can tell you that The Herdsman went to a special school to learn how to properly A.I. cow’s. He is very good at it and it usually only takes him one time to get a cow bred. He is really good at breeding heifers on the first time. This can be tricky because heifers cervix are not open as much as a cow and they are smaller a lot of times. The Herdsman had thirty-five heifers to bred just on Wednesday. The task can be time-consuming, so the girls and I visited with him before church.                                                               

The Herdsman and I have always thought it to be important to involve our girls in everything on the farm. Even when it comes to breeding. Our oldest has known the difference between a bull and a cow since she was able to talk. She has an understanding of the cycle of life. The girls see how life is made during breeding, although we make it age appropriate in the explanations. We feel our girls have a better grasp on reality with their first hand experiences of life and death. They see new life when cow’s give birth to their calves. Death is also a lesson they see and how it can affect not just the old.  They enjoy living on the farm and we couldn’t be happier that they share our love for the land and it’s inhabitants.

Trusted mounts…

It’s been a rainy past few day’s and the fluctuation of warm to cold has not helped. This makes daily work and scheduled work that much more difficult. Yesterday The Herdsman and the farm manager Mr. V had to work cow’s. Yes, this is not a shocker as that is what they do everyday. But, the wind was bone chilling and after a rainy morning it was all that more difficult to saddle up the horses. I am not sure how much you know about horses, but they don’t like cold and the wind whooshing up their butts anymore then you or I do. The winter months are when you want a reliable mount to do your work. Otherwise the feeling of ” Pins and needles” is brought to a heightened level of nails and spikes when you hit the ground half-frozen!

The Herdsman’s horse, Leo, has been a diamond in the rough for sure. We purchased him from a good friend of ours in 2008 to use on the Angus Farm. He had been started as a calf roping horse, but just did not have the speed out of the box. Our friend had used him on the farm he managed and no longer needed him. When The Herdsman started working on him, Leo had no knowledge of how to do much more than go in a straight line. Leo also didn’t like cattle turning back on him. Since those first days he has had many hours put on him and at times can be a little opinionated as to what the cattle should be doing.

Leo at work

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horses are valuable tools to anyone who works cattle. A lot of places have gone to working cattle with four wheelers or ATV mules. That’s all fine and good, but a horse is the ultimate all terrian vehicle. A horse can go places that a motorized mount can not. You can always guarante the fact that if a cow went through it, a horse can also. The horse and it’s rider have to have confidence in one another. Therefore the bond between the two is very strong. Have you ever seen a western movie where a cowboy kill’s a man over his horse? Enough said, horses are a part of our family.

The Herdsman and I are an unlikely pair when it comes to our horse background. As you can imagine, The Herdsman is a stock horse kind of guy. I on the other hand rode and showed Arabian and Half-Arabian’s in Huntseat and Dressage. Now don’t go making fun of my Arabian’s, did you know that some of the big ranches in Texas use Arabian’s to work on the ranches? Well it’s true and they are very versatile in their little package. I still have my first horse ” Sing The Melody” who is a Half-Arabian. I have had her for sixteen of her twenty-six years.

Me with my horse “Sing The Melody”

I hope that horses will always be apart of our girl’s lives. The bond that The Herdsman and I share with our horses has been a blessing. We are very thankful for being able to own some great horses, that are worth more than anyone could give us. Always remember…never touch a cowboy’s horse!

Embryo Day

In one of my prior post I wrote about The Herdsman getting some of the cow’s ready for Embryo transfers. Last friday the Vet came to the farm to put the Embryo’s in to the recipt cow’s. It’s a tedious process that is time-consuming and specialized.

Waiting for Embryo’s

The use of a chute when working cattle is imperative, as the cattle in most cases do not need to move around very much. This device doesn’t hurt the cattle and is only temporary confinment. The back of the chute has a door that allows a person to enter the chute.  When placing embryo’s into the recipient cow the veterinarian will deposit the collected specimen into the cow’s uterus. The placement of the specimen can take several minutes.

The process of embryo transfer is beneficial to the purebred industry for the simple fact that it gives the ability to the producer to gain superior offspring into their herd. The purebred producer is in the business of producing cattle that enhance the consumers wants. This is done by selective breeding of the cattle. The cattle are evaluated by ultrasounding the ribeye area for size and the inter muscular fat ( IMF). The ribeye is measured between the 12th and 13th rib and is part of the longissimus muscle. The measurement is taken in square inches and gives a good indication of the total muscle mass of the cattle. This is important in determining what the carcass will grade out to be before slaughter. Before beef carcass imaging, a producer would have to wait until after their cattle were sent to slaughter to find out the quality of the cattle they produced. By the time cattle go to slaughter most producers already have one if not two years worth into them. By gaining the knowledge before slaughter, the producers are able to make better bull and cow breding selections.  If you are interested in how this information is valuable to the producer, I suggest reading http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_id=7742#Measurements.

The cattle owner is making his/her breeding selections based what the outcome of the cross will deliver.  The producer is working toward a superior herd that will produce high yield products. Not all cows can produce this outcome in a calf, so they are selected to carry an embryo that has that potential. This benefits both the cow and the breeder, as the cow gets to be a mother and the breeder gets their desired calf.

Freeze Branding

Riding for the brand is more than a saying associated with cowboy’s.  A brand is a mark of ownership identification and has been used as far back as 2000 B.C. in Egypt. The American rancher adopted the practice from Mexican ranchers. Before barbed wire, cattle roamed free and often mingled with other ranchers cattle herds. In those days the cattle were branded with the family crest that nearly covered the entire body of the cow.  The size of the brand shrank as the price for the hid it’s self went up.

Brands are documented by state and county

The traditional form of branding was preformed with an Iron that was formed into the mark of the ranch. Then it is heated in the coals of  a fire and applied to one of three areas on the body. These areas are the shoulder, rib, or the rump. In modern-day branding has choices in the application of the brand. The Herdsman‘s farm and most cattle farms in the Southeast United States, use the freeze brand technique. The brand is formed out of copper or copper-alloy and a coolant like liquid nitrogen or dry ice.  Unlike fire branding; freeze branding is relatively stress free and causes little to no damage to the hide.

The cattle on this farm are branded with the farm brand as well as their registration number. Our cattle are tagged with an ear tag at birth. The ear tag has their identification number, but it can be lost.  Identification is needed in all stages of bovine life. From birth to death the identification number of a purebred animal has to be maintained for ownership and records.

Calf with ear tag

Cow’s with hip brands

Once the cattle are in the chute, they are clipped with clippers on the area that the brand will be placed. Then that area is brushed off and alcohol is poured onto the area. The brands with have been bathing in the liquid nitrogen are pulled out and placed on the area. After thirty seconds the brand iron is removed.

It’s a fun and tiring day of repetition and a family time.  Everyone has a job to do on a farm. No matter what your age or size; something always can be done. Even if its is watching your little sister!

Emma and Adah

Adah talking to the cows

The Herdsman

Emma

No time for warming up!

Like most of the United States, this morning The Herdsman and I awoke to cold and wet weather.  It was thirty-four degrees, wind gust up to fifteen miles per hour, and a mix of snow and sleet covered the ground. What better day to stay in the house and snuggle under a nice blanket! No such luck for The Herdsman and the rest of the farm crew! Cows had to be worked this morning due to the breeding schedule they are on. Many of the cows that are bred here are recip or surrogate mothers. Because they are on a schedule for the insertion of viable embryos from a donor cow that has been pre selected.

Embryo transfer is the transfer of viable embryos from the chosen donor cow to the recipient or surrogate cow. A simple explanation of the process can be found at http://www.cruachan.com.au/embryo_transfer.htm. The process of embryo transfer has paved the way for human couples to become pregnant or to have a surrogate carry a child for them.

This process has to keep to its tight schedule. Therefore working the cow’s is imperative, regardless of the weather.

It was work convincing the ladies that they needed to cooperate. The wind at times cut through every layer of clothes I had on. You have to understand that as far south as we live, cold can be COLD for us. In my travels I have found that the weather in the southern United States is unlike any other. Summer time is HOT with heat indexes of 110 degrees farenheit with 100% humidity. Some days you feel as if you are suffocating the air is so thick. From summer we have a few cool day’s and then its on to cold. So we have little acclimation from summer to winter. The leaves barely have time to decide if they need to change colors or fall from the trees.

Once the guys convinced the ladies to get moving, it was quick work for both parties! While all of this is going on the feed truck delivered feed to the gravity bin. So a lot was going on this morning and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sale Barn Date Night

I’m not sure about other wives, but a good date night is much-needed every now and then. My date nights usually consist of something to do with cattle. A date night that includes a movie and dinner are rare for me. The good thing about the sale barn is we get to see people we haven’t seen in a while. When we arrived at the sale barn the crowd was just starting to get there.

 

 

 

 

 

A sale barn is a market place for cattle owners to sale to a diverse group of buyers.  On the majority most producers sale this way. It is the most cost efficient market for the producer. For the cattle it can be a hectic night, because a sale barn is loud and fast-moving. Cattle come from different parts of the region and from farms all around.  As the cattle are brought in, they are examined by the attending Veterinarian for sickness, disease, lice, and injury. In the state of Georgia an Inspector from the Georgia Department of Agriculture is also present to inspect the cattle. Each cow, calf, bull, and steer are given an identification tag. Before the sale starts, the barn is open for viewing. This time is for the potential buyers to look at what is being sold.  It’s also a time for the seller to promote his cattle.  (See the Herdsman below)

The Herdsman talking business

So why did I title this “Sale Barn Date Night”?  Going to the sale barn is a time for The Herdsman and I to get away from the farm and spend time with our girls. Last night was extra special because we meet our good friends (The W’s) and their two children at the sale. Mrs. W and I took the kids to Dairy Queen for dinner and to catch up on what has been going on in the others life. The kids enjoyed the evening as much as the adults. Like most farm children, our kids don’t get to play with other children at home. The men also get to socialize and catch up on what other people are dealing with.  When the sale starts up, its a melting pot of conversations and serious bidding for hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After several hours and a hot sale ring; we headed home. Saying goodbye to our friends until next time was drawn-out.  But, that just gives us more to talk about the next time.

 

Herd Work

The farm periodically works groups of cattle for weaning, vaccinations, worming, breeding, and occasionally testing for disease. A few weeks ago the farm had a few groups of young cows tested for Bovine Tuberculosis. This is a common test that is just like the Tuberculosis test humans get. The State of Georgia is an Accredited Tuberculosis free state by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Farms with in the state can have certification as a Bovine Tuberculosis free herd. The Herdsman’s farm carries this certification and test each year to maintain certification.

The day starts earlier than usual to make sure all morning chores are done. Then it’s time to saddle up the horses and gather the designated groups.  Once the cattle are gathered, the cattle crew pushes (directs) the cattle to the working facility.  

Once the Veterinarian has administered the test to all the cattle, its time to push them back to where they came from. The work is not done, three days later the cattle will be gathered once more to verify the injection site for reaction.

The cattle move through the process of the pens with patience most of the time. occasionally a stubborn one will hold up the line, but who likes to see the doctor anyway?