What do you weigh?

Good record keeping with livestock includes the weight of the new born - just like in humans. We put them on the scale and check out their weight.  Weighing at various times in their life will tell us how well they are growing and if their mama is feeding them well.

Mom

Nice Tattoo!

Yup - all our calve are tattooed.  In one ear it is our farm id - 4 letters - which is registered with the National Red Angus Association and the other tattoo is the animals number.  We also put a tag in - for general use.  The tattoos are the official identification. We use green tattoo ink - because it will show up well in the ear.

Isaac

New calves are here!

The newest calf needed a little help warming up in this really cold weather.  My brother Andrew put the calf in this blue box that has a false floor - underneath the grate there is a heater that blows warm air to warm and dry the calf.  Her mama is on the other side of the fence and was watching the whole time.  It is important to get colostrum (mothers first milk) in them right away and then dry.  The mom did lick her to clean her and start the drying, but with it this cold the mama need a bit of help.  We want to save the ears and nose from frostbite.  The barn is also a lot warmer than outside.  We keep them in for a few days to get a good start.

Hannah

Getting Outside!

It has warmed up and were able to let the pigs outside.  Some got to go to the outside pen.  They had fun exploring the pen. Maggie, our dog, watched from the outside - not sure what to think of them.  Soon they will be finding a mud hole to play in. (When it warms up for real.)

Hannah

Ducklings are here!

Yup the duckies are here.  Because of the cold we had to keep them in the house for a week. Now it warmed up but are still in the pen with the heat lamp.  Because ducks are seasonal for setting eggs, the farmer we got them from didn't have a lot to sell, so we only could get 10 ducklings this year. It was fun to watch them and they have already grown a lot.

Hannah

Done Pig Shopping

Good news - we are done Pig shopping for 2013.  We don't have pigs on the farm all year on our farm but we have a lot of fun with them for the fair.  To be able to show them at the county fair and state fair we have to have all our pigs purchased by May 15 and have all the paper work in.  So the last couple of weeks we have been using our weekends to pig shop.  Andrew has been looking online at a lot of pigs and learning about the different sires.  He talks to several "real" pig farmers to learn.  This was our last sale, as we have enough pigs now, and here we are in the background watching the auctioneer (in black hat) take bids.  This is the one pig we bought at this sale.

Isaac

More pigs...

I wonder what he is thinking?  Could it be that he is looking for supper?  Or is he listening for his brother's squeal?  Or is he wondering what in the world is that thing she keeps putting up to her face?  How about  - so glad I got cleaned up before I hopped on the trailer -this could have been embarrassing.

We went to a Pig sale - And we saw ....

A Little pile of Piggies!

A Medium Pile of Piggies !

A BIG pile of piggies!  Boy do they like to sleep close - I suppose to stay warm.

Set up on the lane

Cousins were here and we walked all the heifers at once.  Haley and Brandon will be coming to the show too. It can be interesting at the first show.  My mom wasn't too happy that I was wearing shorts.  I did wear a had and heavy coat though. It was cold.

Isaac

First cattle show this week.

Yup we have our first cattle show this week. And it is snowing. They have been acting really good - so glad we worked with them last summer and fall.  Andrew even got the blower out and blowed the snow off of them.  Hoping the sun will come out by show day.

Hannah.

Sleds have many uses

Yikes it April and we still have snow!  We have not had school for two days. But we still have some chores to do.  We got some pigs a week ago and they are pretty little so we need to give them plenty of straw to cuddle up in with their buddies to stay warm.  So much easier to use the sleds to move the bales to the other barn.  We also use the sleds to move buckets of water for the cows that calve.  Plus we will have the chance to slide down the hills Dad just made.

Hannah

Look how furry they are!  They have thick hair to help keep them warm, but they have a rumen that is fermenting the hay and corn stalks - and this helps them stay warm too, from the inside.  Its like having a furnace inside.  The rumen is why they can eat hay and we can't - the ruman is just one part of their stomach.  Humans only have one true stomach.

First Calf!

Yup its here, the first calf of 2013.  A little early but a spunky calf - just like her mother.  We will try to get a photo up soon.

Mom

Cold - but doing good.

OK - it looks cold.  Well it is but the cows still find lots to eat on the stubble field - well not right not here but further out they are finding corn to eat.  They don't seem hungry at all.  We have brought some - the ones closest to calving -  to a pen close to the barn they go in every night.  How do we know they are still finding corn?  Guess! ;)

Hannah

Is she sick?

A few weeks ago my heifer wasn't feeling so good. How did we know that? She didn't rush up to the feed when we carried it in and she hung around the edge of the pen. So we took her temperature just like mom does. Her temperature is supposed to be 102 degrees but hers was 104.9 degrees. So it was high and Dad gave her some medicine. The thermometer that we used is digital just like the one my Mom uses on us. It seems kinda icky to take her temp but it had to be done.  My heifer is well now - I am so glad

Hannah

Ladies in Butter

At the State Fair they have a cooler with these 90 pound bricks of butter and someone carves the dairy princesses heads out of the butter. A must see at the Minnesota State Fair.  The one with the crown is Princess Kay of the Milky Way, thats what they call the state winner.

Maybe they should carve the beef cattle princesses out of bricks of sausage?

Talking to people at the fair

 

 

The State Fair. Each year for two weekends my family goes to the state fair with animals.  One of my favorite things is to talk to other kids and their parents about our animals. Letting them pet or brush our animals is fun. Often we see kids petting animals with out asking which can be ok because most animals at the fair are used to it. But there are some animals that are not as friendly - just like some dogs are not as friendly.  So if you are going to pet an animal always ask. My sister and I want the kids to enjoy their limited time with the animal and for the kids to be safe.

 

 

We answered lots of questions at the fair.  Most couldn't believe that the little calves were just 6 months old.

 

 

It is fun to talk to the people and my dad says its really important to teach those from the city about livestock.

 

 

Hannah

Judging

Livestock judging. It was misting out when some other 4-H kids came to judge at our house. Nobody complained because we haven't had rain in a while. Livestock judging is when we look at a four animals - either pigs, sheep, goats or beef cows - and put them in order of how we like them. Neil is our coach and some of the parents help too. After we place them, or put then the order of how we like them, we then have to tell them why we placed them that way.  The why part can be hard.

We learn that it is important to make sure they walk right, and that the biggest animal isn't always the best one. Each year we practise and get better at the why part. We have to take notes to study for the questions they ask. This practise was at our farm and we judged pigs, sheep and beef right before we went to the state contest. Isaac wasn't old enough to go to the state contest.  This was my first year.

Judging can be hard but we have fun together learning. (And maybe some goofing too)

Hannah

Thats a Hay mover

See this cool bale mover our neighbor has?  Dad bought some hay and Bradley brought his tractor that can unload and move two big round bales at one time. It took no time at all for him to unload. I think Dad was really happy that he brought this tractor.  It saved a lot of time.  Glad we have some hay for this winter.

Isaac

The photo shoot

 

Things parents do to get a good photo at the fair of the kids and a their pig. Takes more people than my sister's senior pictures.