Weanlings and Weather

What a crazy week!  I welcomed 19 new calves to the farm and weaned a few more, but the weather was horrible!   So horrible in fact that a lot of my little guys got sick!  I think most have recovered thankfully.

It did clear up long enough to get some calves moved on Sunday though.  The weaning pen you see below here was full!  Which brings us to the discussion of the week.  What happens after weaning?

As you can see when they have to leave there solo home they move to our weaning pen which is complete with a feed bunk, water, an old grain bin for shelter, and a sand pile to play on.  The grain bin hasn't been used in years and we recycled it to create our lovely little pen.  If anyone ever tries to tell you farmers are wasteful they should come to our farm we are big time recyclers!  A little straw and a homemade door and we were good to go.  Oh and the calves love it especially because when they moo inside the bin it echoes!   The sand pile or what was is purely for fun because happy calves are healthy calves!  They chase and play king of the mountain and run all over it.  it is terrific entertainment for them and me.

Our pen holds 20 calves maximum mostly because any more and I wouldn't be able to keep up with them!

They stay in the weaning pen about a week.  They definitely have to be done mooing about their lack of milk (Ms. Boss is not a big fan of loud calves)!  When the day of quiet arrives, we bring the cattle to the home farm.

Upon arrival they get checked out and made into steers...yes we castrate them.  We also dehorn them and do an overall medical check.  Before they get weaned, calves get vaccinations so that by weaning time its not such a difficult transition or as painful.  The steers then get their own lot in the barn and start to grow all big and strong!

I tend to keep a close eye on all of my little guys as they grow up, but 12 to 18 months after their arrival at the farm they are gone and the cycle continues anew.  

With that I leave you to survive until next week.  I am sure it won't be a problem. My parting shot for the week  is 580 atop what remains of the sand pile it was 3 feet high now its just a mound.

Calf Count: 79 (We are over capacity!)  

Beware of Buckethead!

Greetings from the farm!

The weanies say hello!  

As you can clearly see, I had more weaned friends this week!  Don't they look nice!  They are well on their way to greatness that much is for sure.

Besides the weanies and their new digs it was not a very crazy week, normal, but not crazy.  I did have some new arrivals as well.  Two of them are right here for you to check out.  Everyone is happy in their new homes.  The weather has been so terrific again no complaints from this girl.

Freckles and Kenny

The calves were so happy there were a few escapes and even an appearance from a special visitor.  Some people encounter Bigfoot or Aliens or who knows what else.  Around here we encounter Buckethead!  He appears quickly and often takes over!  However he is certainly not graceful and often makes quite the mess.  Mess or no I still love to see him.  He often brightens my day with his craziness.  I hope you do too!  

Beware of Buckethead!  

Next week I hope to focus on life after weaning at least shortly after.  You saw a glimpse of the weaning pen but I hope to go into more detail next week complete with pictures of course.  Until then have a great week!  

Calf Count: 74

The Groundhog Was Right

Hello again my friends!

Let's begin by answering the questions from last week:

Cattle are all bovine creatures calves, bulls, steers, heifers, cows.  Cows are female cattle that have had babies.  We raise little bull calves that become steers aka we have no girls around.  Thus the name of the blog, life among boys.  If you ask us about our cows, we will respond with "What cows?  We don't have any cows here!"

We raise dairy steers. They are often dairy cattle and not beef cattle because we have many dairies in this area and in most cases they do not keep their bull calves because they have little use for them.  You can't milk boys you know! We then raise them as beef cattle for the most part meaning that they all turn into tasty hamburgers and steaks that us Americans enjoy so much.

As for this week here we go!  I got 14 new little guys and weaned 2 big guys.  The newbies include Winston, Franklin, Teddy, and Jimmy.  Pictures to come I hope!  

Let's talk about weaning since I brought it up.  What is it?  Weaning is taking a calf off of milk.  As I said last week the new arrivals only stay in their separate "huts" for about 2 months.  When their 2 months are up they get weaned.  Weaning is a week long process around here, but everyone does it different.  I try to do it by how much they eat and how healthy they are and how they look.  It is a critical time in a calf's life that must be done right so I take it very seriously as do most farmers.  My goal is to wean calves every week to keep a constant flow to the farm.

Winston and friends got settled and then oh yes Winter returned!  Mr. Groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter only a few short days ago and after Saturday morning I fear he meant real winter not this pretend winter  we have been having so far.  This weekend was quite chilly to say the least (temperatures in single digits, wind chills below 0).  The cold weather is a challenge for all living things including little calves but I think we are doing a ok!

I did venture out of my farm bubble a little bit this week too, and while there I ran into an old high school friend.  Running into the friend was not the big deal of the story but rather when asked what it was that I do these days I responded with "I'm a farmer."  As the words came out I realized how happy and proud I was to be stating such a thing.  Not only that but potentially I could be a fourth generation farmer and the fact that I could continue the family legacy makes me even more proud to be a farmer.

With that upbeat statement I leave you for the week off to farm the days away.

Oh and in honor of one of my favorite shows I am beginning a count of my cattle just for you.  Expect growing numbers!


Calf Count: 70

Winston and Friends!  

Franklin

Winston

Teddy 

Jimmy

Hope the week treats you well!

The Beginning

Not so long ago, only a few months really, you could have found me along the shore of of more than 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, but that is another story for another day.  These days I can be found in Northwest Indiana in the land of more than 10 million corn stalks.  I have returned home to the family farm where I work with my favorite kind of four legged friends, cattle.

The goal of this blog is to give all of my lovely friends who are not so close by a glimpse of my life these days.  And if I should happen to impart a little informational material to someone I do not know about life in the agricultural industry, I hope it is great material that they can use or at least appreciate!

So let's get down to business.  What is it that I do these days?  Well I like to consider myself a herdsman, as in keeper of the herd.  Haha.  I am one of many keepers in actuality but that is my main focus.

The next question you might ask is how big is this "herd" that I speak of.  Well it varies regularly but it tends to stay in the hundreds, less than 1000 for sure haha.  And what kind of herd?  We raise mostly dairy cattle now, and no cows.  Cattle not cows.  Cows for those of you who don't know are the girls in the cattle herd.  We have none of those around here.  We have cattle and calves and steers, but no cows.

My primary task around these parts is the starting of the herd.   A.k.a.  raising the youngest ones to be big and strong.  How young?  Sometimes only a day or two old when I go pick them up.   The little guys arrive at their new home where they get their own house and milk and food galore!  They stay here for the first 2 months of life and then they get to make more friends and move to a new home.

For now I leave you with a glimpse of my office.   Not too bad at all if you ask me.   If you have a question you would like me to answer just leave it here and maybe the next post will address it!