The Squirt Update

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a picture of Squirt and his story of being a premie in the cattle world.  Well, Squirt - as Bugs and Squirrel emphatically call him - is still alive and doing great. This little Aberdeen Angus bull calf five weeks old and weighs about 35 lbs. - or about as much as Katie - our 5 year old Red Heeler dog.

Temporarily Out of Service

I have been gone....for a while. I call it "temporarily out of service". 

I wasn't broke down, sick, or stressed.....just busy.  But that's what happens when you go through the holidays and calving season starts.  There are things in my life that are more important than blogging and that's just how it goes.

In addition to the hustle and bustle of the holidays and calving season, I also got an Iphone and an Ipad, so I have been a little busy playing with my new toys.  Or should I say, battling for time on my new toys.....seems I have three men in this household that seem to think they get first dibbs on mom's new toys!!

I love this time of year.  We have roughly 50 baby calves on the ground. And I must say.....odds aren't looking real good right now.  There's three times as many bull calves as their are heifer calves.  For an operation like ours that sells purebred heifer calves in the fall.......the odds are not in our favor. 

Meet Squirt. 

Mother Nature and Her Six Legs

Mother Nature aka God can be a little unpredictable.

Hurricanes.....for example, Katrina. Who knew that a single hurricane would have destroyed New Orleans?

Tornadoes.....Greensburg, Kansas is a good example of a tornado's strength.

Well, Mother Nature delivered a shock to the Harker farm this morning.

A few weeks ago, So attended an Angus dispersal sale to buy some cows for recips. Recip cows are what we use to put our frozen embryos in.  They are our surrogate mothers. Some day I'll provide a better explanation of embryo transfer.

Anyhow, So purchased about six fall calving cows. All were carrying embryo calves.  The cows started calving the beginning of this week and all were successful births. Everything was going great, until this morning.

Then I get the phone call from So.

"Come see my newborn calf."

"Oh, is it a good one?"

"Well, if you call a calf with six legs a good one, then I guess."

"Huh? What? Six Legs?  The boys and I will be right over."

Wordless Wednesday: Docility EPDs

Docility EPD - a tool for temperament.

As a cattle producer, we often worry about the temperament of our animals.  Researchers have been studying cattle temperament as it is related to beef cattle production. Poor temperament can be associated with reduced performance, carcass qulaity and health. Termperment is often how cattle react to human handling.
So you ask - why do you need an EPD for docility? Let's think about human genetics for a moment. I've often been described as an A type person - methodical, orderly, logical, planned, controlled, organized, efficient,  and systematic or in other words @#$%. Did that gene pass on to my children? You bet! Why wouldn't the same be true for animals?

If an animal A gets nervous being handled in the best enviroment possible, then what is the probablity that his or her offspring could be the same way. Thus, what led to the development of the docility EPD.

Do we use the docility EPD? Not extensively.

Uh Oh, somebody left a gate open.....

There it was. On the road.

Perfect. Brown and circular in shape.

Not more than a few hours old.

It shouldn't be on the road.....and look that nice.

This could mean really big trouble with lots of headaches involved.

Not a good sign!

Just a cowpie in the road. Why should I be panicing?

Of course, it's from the neighbors Holstein's....not our GOOD beef cows. Our girls wouldn't go through an open gate and walk around aimlessley.

WRONG!

Like father in the Twas Night Before Christmas poem, I sped up the drive, came to a screeching hault, thru open the doors and looked anxiously around.

There.

In the middle of the barn.

Three momma cows and their babies.

And lots and lots of hay and straw strewn all over the barn.

And one open gate.

Bad Girls. Bad, bad, bad girls!

You have no business being on the road. There's enough food right here!

Bad, bad, bad feed man for not double checking and making sure the gate was latched.

But no one was hurt! WHEW!

Lesson of the day: Note to self and everyone who was in the barn.....don't just make sure you close the gate, make sure it latches too!!!


Thanks,
The Management

Thankful Thursdays

Foster Parents


This week at Harker Simmentals, we are thankful for foster parents. It has been a rough week. We don't like to have baby calves that don't have mommas. The best milk they can get is their mother's milk. But when their mother's aren't able to do the job, we step in....as foster mothers.

One momma cow dried up.


No more milk.


Gone.


Nada, nothing.


So, her heifer calf became orphan #1.


Met Violet.


And met Violet's foster parents - Squirrel and Bugs.

The other momma, well, she's batting 0 for 2. A year ago, I had a post about Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea's story


Her momma didn't want her.


Her momma tried to kill her.


So, Squirrel and Bugs took her under their wing and memories were made. But, Harker Simmentals likes to give animals mother "one more try".

Well, yesterday, Sweet Pea's mother calved again. Only a few words can describe what happened yesterday.


Disaster.


Repeat.


Near death experience.


Repeat.


Yet again, she didn't want her calf. To avoid any injury to the calf, my hubby pulled him from his mother and gave Violet a play mate.


Ladies and gentlemen, meet Bubba.


Met Bubba's foster parents - Squirrel and Bugs.

Violet.


Bubba.


Now Squirrel and Bugs don't have to argue over who gets to feed the calf because they each have one to feed.


I have never seen two little boys in heaven.


Pure bliss.


Excitement.


More memories.


They are already talking about giving them bathes and chasing them around the barn and loving them and haltering breaking them.....just like a couple of mothers talking about their children.


This is what life is all about.


Violet and Bubba.


The small, simple things in life.....being a foster parent.

Jill

I Love Calving Season

Most families live through the winter for the basketball season or the beginning of the NASCAR racing season, but at Harker Simmentals, we live for calving season. Living on a cattle farm doesn't get much better during January, February and March. Why? Babies! Lots and lots of bouncing baby bull and heifer calves.

Imagine being a nurse working in a maternity ward with a bunch of mothers who can't talk. Twelve to thirteen hundred pound mothers who have more estrogen running through their bodies than an average woman! That's why So deals with every day. Momma cows who don't want you touching their baby!

What mother can resist a face like this? Serioulsy, don't you just want to hold her and squeeze and love her!

They are no different than humans. The older they get, the more intrigued they are by this creature on two legs. Are you bringing me feed? Are you going to pet me? Who are you and what do you want?

There is no better love than the love shared between man and animal.

Jill