As promised, here it is:
This past wednesday we moved our little steers down to the shed by the big steers and kicked Agnes and Tim and Jim out to pasture. We had to put a halter on each boy and walk them to the trailer lift them on the trailer and repeat 5 more times. Then we had to take the trailer down to the shed which we left for dad because apparently we can't even manage to not run him into the headlocks directing traffic much less driving the tractor and unloaded them. Then we had to let them get out some of their energy and rounded them up in their new pen, it's kinda like a rodeo.
We then cleaned out their little hutches so we can replace them with four more bull calves which will join the 4 other babies for show steers next year. The boys seem a little happier being together and having more space to run around. They are quite the rowdy bunch. They have a fresh water barrel and a mixture of 18% protein calf feed and corn. Now we begin changing them over from calf feed to corn. They are 3 months old now!
have a wonderful day! :)
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
They're Here!!!
well, after a very long 9 months 3 healthy beef babies have joined the G & M cattle co. scene. Agnes is the proud mother of twin bull calves and sophie had a healthy baby girl! and because these are half dairy beef cows sophie simply has just too much milk for just one baby so we had to make her adopt another baby which is a six day old free martin.
The twin bulls are appropriately named Jim and Tim after the ever helpful Jim Purfeerst and Tim Hoover. These two have been very involved in the beef project since way before we started with our dairy steers and now that we have two bull calves that of course need rhyming names thus we have Jim and Tim.
The heifers on the other hand are still awaiting names. Grace thinks Shanequa and LaQuis
ha. I on the other hand was thinking a bit more normal like Sheryl and Carol but dad doesn't sound too enthused about either of these options. Either way we are definitiely not naming them Shanequa and LaQuisha (who spells it that way anyway?) I'll keep you posted on this as we name them.
Sorry no picture here i forgot to get one before we released them to pasture. which reminds me...
we gave the cows and their babies a couple days of good old fashion bonding where they were confined to a pen to make sure that their babies were eating, etc. we then released them into the wild. well not exactly the wild but the pasture that's almost like the wild for the calves because they're so little. they seem to enjoy it much more out there where the can escape from us when we invade their space. Jim and Tim have even figured out to be free rangers much like herman and sherman and hank and frank were last year. grace by the way HATES free rangers because they're a 'nuisance'.
Well, that's all I have for today, I'll update you soon on moving the other boys that I said i would update you on as we raised them and haven't done a blog since so hopefully tomorrow or saturday.
Have a lovely day! :)
The twin bulls are appropriately named Jim and Tim after the ever helpful Jim Purfeerst and Tim Hoover. These two have been very involved in the beef project since way before we started with our dairy steers and now that we have two bull calves that of course need rhyming names thus we have Jim and Tim.
The heifers on the other hand are still awaiting names. Grace thinks Shanequa and LaQuis
ha. I on the other hand was thinking a bit more normal like Sheryl and Carol but dad doesn't sound too enthused about either of these options. Either way we are definitiely not naming them Shanequa and LaQuisha (who spells it that way anyway?) I'll keep you posted on this as we name them.
Sorry no picture here i forgot to get one before we released them to pasture. which reminds me...
we gave the cows and their babies a couple days of good old fashion bonding where they were confined to a pen to make sure that their babies were eating, etc. we then released them into the wild. well not exactly the wild but the pasture that's almost like the wild for the calves because they're so little. they seem to enjoy it much more out there where the can escape from us when we invade their space. Jim and Tim have even figured out to be free rangers much like herman and sherman and hank and frank were last year. grace by the way HATES free rangers because they're a 'nuisance'.
Well, that's all I have for today, I'll update you soon on moving the other boys that I said i would update you on as we raised them and haven't done a blog since so hopefully tomorrow or saturday.
Have a lovely day! :)
Sunday, May 8, 2011
i'm kind of a big deal
you will not guess what happened last week to me!
So, monday i didn't go to school and instead got up at 5 am to go to the state FFA convention at the state fairgrounds and u of m. We had practice a little bit sunday night just to get our head in the games because this was gonna be the year that randolph ffa made the leap and won. There I was judging me some oh so fine u of m cows and was just thinking i hope i'm even remotely close to my teammates on this one cause with those cows and calves you can never be too sure. So I finished judging gave a very crappy set of reasons and went to get me some bbq for lunch. I got the officials placings from another chapter and it turns out I had gotten 4 50's out of a possible 8 classes. I got on the bus to go home and was home by 4.
Monday night, I get a call from the ever lovely Bret Otte saying "Hey! we're in the top 5 teams so we're going back up tomorrow morning at 10:30 don't be late."
I go to class in Randolph. Everyone else skips 2nd hour so i'm stuck doing what? well, it ended up that the ever lovely Jason brought me to the office to hang with mary kay. Well, it's not very often that peopel in randolph don't know who is sitting at the desk behind mary kay so i got quite a few weird looks. i then changed into the ever sexy official dress and got on a bus to go to the awards ceremony.
We got 5th place which was really what we thought we had gotten but it was alright cause we made our break into the top 5 and next year we're gonna get 1st. After a long drawn out ceremony we had to wait for the general livestock team to go through and they ended up getting 4th. We got on the bus and went home.
We were almost to randolph and another dairy judger from a different chapter and says 'they majorly screwed up the scores! you got first' of course i was like that has to be a lie because those were crappy reasons and i suck at linear. i proceded to get about 10 other messages saying that i was first. so of course i checked online multiple times and it wasn't on there for awhile. in the end there was a 1 next to my name. so there apparently i had a way on day of judging. hopefully it will last through 4h judging this summer.
i do find it a bit ironic that i was just complaining to Bret and Michael about never winning anything because people like them were out there to make people like me feel like crap. they proceded to tell me that it was because people like me couldn't handle winning because i would be way too full of myself. well, i guess i do because here i am writing a blog about it. but if it's any consolation to you all, it's only because grace told me i had to so blame her.
Have a lovely day! :)
So, monday i didn't go to school and instead got up at 5 am to go to the state FFA convention at the state fairgrounds and u of m. We had practice a little bit sunday night just to get our head in the games because this was gonna be the year that randolph ffa made the leap and won. There I was judging me some oh so fine u of m cows and was just thinking i hope i'm even remotely close to my teammates on this one cause with those cows and calves you can never be too sure. So I finished judging gave a very crappy set of reasons and went to get me some bbq for lunch. I got the officials placings from another chapter and it turns out I had gotten 4 50's out of a possible 8 classes. I got on the bus to go home and was home by 4.
Monday night, I get a call from the ever lovely Bret Otte saying "Hey! we're in the top 5 teams so we're going back up tomorrow morning at 10:30 don't be late."
I go to class in Randolph. Everyone else skips 2nd hour so i'm stuck doing what? well, it ended up that the ever lovely Jason brought me to the office to hang with mary kay. Well, it's not very often that peopel in randolph don't know who is sitting at the desk behind mary kay so i got quite a few weird looks. i then changed into the ever sexy official dress and got on a bus to go to the awards ceremony.
We got 5th place which was really what we thought we had gotten but it was alright cause we made our break into the top 5 and next year we're gonna get 1st. After a long drawn out ceremony we had to wait for the general livestock team to go through and they ended up getting 4th. We got on the bus and went home.
We were almost to randolph and another dairy judger from a different chapter and says 'they majorly screwed up the scores! you got first' of course i was like that has to be a lie because those were crappy reasons and i suck at linear. i proceded to get about 10 other messages saying that i was first. so of course i checked online multiple times and it wasn't on there for awhile. in the end there was a 1 next to my name. so there apparently i had a way on day of judging. hopefully it will last through 4h judging this summer.
i do find it a bit ironic that i was just complaining to Bret and Michael about never winning anything because people like them were out there to make people like me feel like crap. they proceded to tell me that it was because people like me couldn't handle winning because i would be way too full of myself. well, i guess i do because here i am writing a blog about it. but if it's any consolation to you all, it's only because grace told me i had to so blame her.
Have a lovely day! :)
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
One of the best seasons of the year...
SUMMER is right around the corner! Woohoo! I can not wait, the only thing that stands between me and summer is a dairy microbiology final, a statistics final, packing my clothes, and a 200 mile drive. I can NOT wait! I have a full summer planned including working for a 400 cow dairy down the road from my house with their herdsman and calf chores. I also plan to fully utilize the boat, my swimsuit, the tube, and sunblock while enjoying a few weekends on the lake with friends. I am also planning on enjoying my cousin Jessie and Grants wedding in August, the Rice County Fair in July, and numerous parades as a dairy princess. Along with all those oh so fun things are some not so fun things like summer classes yes classES I have to take Legal Law Environment and Intermediate Microeconomics over my wonderful summer break to ensure my graduating in not 4 years but 5. But I also plan to plant a vegetable garden starting this weekend when I get home. I also plan to enjoy numerous bonfires and eventually festivities that go along with a major age change in July. So in summary here is my summer plan in short:
May:
Plant garden Princess Kay training Revisit my artificial insemination skills Start summer job Mow lots of lawn Bonfires Parades
June:
Baby shower for Willard and Jack Daniels Bridal shower for Jessie Work LAKE! more bonfires more lawn mowing help Mary train fair heifers / cows (hopefully I have a better record then last year)
July:
4th of July
Cannon Falls Fair 11th of July more LAKE! Rice County Fair more lawn mowing more work parades
Willard and Jack Daniels due!
August:
Jessie and Grants wedding
Lake
Vacation to Northern Minnesota
LeSueur County Fair
Steele County Fair
Dakota County Fair
More lawn mowing
STATE FAIR!
I am sure there will be a few trips to Becker, MN and that these lists are bound to grow and will be a great summer... and don't worry Mary I am only getting out of school a full month before you I will still save you some summer :)
May:
Plant garden Princess Kay training Revisit my artificial insemination skills Start summer job Mow lots of lawn Bonfires Parades
June:
Baby shower for Willard and Jack Daniels Bridal shower for Jessie Work LAKE! more bonfires more lawn mowing help Mary train fair heifers / cows (hopefully I have a better record then last year)
July:
4th of July
Cannon Falls Fair 11th of July more LAKE! Rice County Fair more lawn mowing more work parades
Willard and Jack Daniels due!
August:
Jessie and Grants wedding
Lake
Vacation to Northern Minnesota
LeSueur County Fair
Steele County Fair
Dakota County Fair
More lawn mowing
STATE FAIR!
I am sure there will be a few trips to Becker, MN and that these lists are bound to grow and will be a great summer... and don't worry Mary I am only getting out of school a full month before you I will still save you some summer :)
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