Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

Last week when we ran out of room in the calf nursery area,

the new babies were brought to temporary pens in the 

feed barn.  It wasn't ideal but it provided a protected, 

individualized space for each calf. 

                                  I'm thankful that we were able to wean older calves to pasture

this week and for the hard work of all the family and employees

that moved all the calves to their individual hutches in the nursery.

My world is back to normal with all the babies

in one place!

On the flip side, I enjoyed being in the feed barn when the cows 

were  eating and enjoying their feed.  

Wouldn't you love to have someone plan and prepare every meal for you?

                           

                               

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

We've had new babies in the pasture every day this week, in fact,

some days it has been 3 or 4.  Calving heifers, those first time mamas,

are often a little more challenging but I'm happy to report all have 

calved without any problems that required  assistance.

This heifer calved yesterday. She happens to be one of the "horned heifers"

in the group that are calving this month.  Somehow these heifers did not

get dehorned  when they were small calves. 

 Dehorning is done to decrease the risk of injury to other cows, 

 farmers or other humans. "Disbudding " of non-developed horn 

buds is a fairly simpleprocedure that is typically conducted

 the first few weeks after a calf is born.

Any dehorning at this point will be done by the veterinarian using

best industry practices to ensure the comfort and safety

 of the animal through sedation or anesthesia.

                               
                                 I'm thankful that we have had no injuries to calves or farmers
                                  and for  the interesting conversations about horned heifers!

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

Early this summer we had a little extra help from

our cousin Ethan.  Ethan is the great grandson of our Uncle Deric who

 worked on our farm after his retirement from the Bentonville 

Casting Company and had taught Cody and Casey

 a lot of useful mechanical skills as they grew up. 

Ethan had a lot of  new experiences 

down on the dairy farm including feeding a new calf.

Unfortunately for us, school started just about the time

we began having new calves every day!

I'm thankful for the fact that Ethan wanted to come to 

the farm and experience the day to day life  down on 

the dairy farm and for the kindness and patience of my son,Cody,

who mentored Ethan and provided a great summer experience. 

I'm pretty sure Uncle Deric and Aunt Fritz would be

extremely proud of Ethan and Cody!

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

You know the farmers of the family are desperate for help

when the oldest son asks me to come to the field to drive

the truck and trailer while  haygrazer bales are loaded.

It's not that I can't drive, it's my following directions that

can create problems.I knew it would be interesting

 when my instruction  from oldest son Cody was

"Stop when I honk".

The honking stopped after a few stops and I figured 

that I was doing my job so well, that honking

was no longer needed.

When we arrived at the bale wrapper with our load of bales,

my next job was to watch the wrapper and push the button

to stop the machine if I had the hand signal from Cody.

Wow, hand signals and no honking!

I was feeling so proud that I was performing my jobs so well.

When all the bales were wrapped, this was how it

looked as I looked behind me.

                                                         
                                                      I'm thankful for each bale that will be
                                              enjoyed by our dairy and beef cows this winter
                                                 and for the opportunity to work beside my family.

                                             Unfortunately I did find out that my job performance
                                              may not have been as good as I thought because
                                         every time Cody honked, the red wasp would come out
                                                         of the horn in the old loader tractor.
                                                  That's how it goes down on the dairy farm!