calving update

This last week has been an absolute blur!  And for that reason, I must apologize for the absence of blogging.  Since my last blog, lots of babies have been born and Chasen has been doing a fantabulous job of sending me pictures of most of them. 

This little girl was born in the field.  It was a nice sunny day, so I guess she decided it was time. Chasen found her while feeding the cows in the afternoon and then brought her up to the barn so she could get out of the wind for the night.  The next morning he went to check on her and she was no longer in the pen with her mom.  She had escaped (somehow) underneath the calving pen gate and was chilling in the cooler/wash room--Chasen thinks she is a natural show heifer in the making haha.  I think she is just a curious adorable little thing!

Now I am not trying to be biased, but this is probably my favorite calf born yet!  I absolutely love love love blazed face cattle and am so pumped that this little girl is 1/2 Simmental!! I can't wait to see her when I go back to farm this weekend! 

The final calf picture is a picture of a special calf I named Leroy.  During his gestation, Leroy did not have enough space to develop his front leg properly.  So when he was born Leroy had trouble standing on his front leg and Chasen needed to "prop" him up on a bale so he could get to his moms udder.  Which by the way, calving pens are the coolest thing since sliced bread.  They are so helpful during the calving process, whether that be pulling a calf, or making sure they get their first drink full of colostrum.  Anyway, now that I got my sales pitch in for calving pens, Leroy now has a splint, with HOT PINK tape, on his front leg to help stabilize his pastern.  He is able to get around pretty good by himself, but we are going to keep him up at the house until he gets a bit stronger.  I wish you could see his face in this picture because he is about as cute as the blazed face calf....but not quite :)

Aside from calving and business on the farm, I myself have been quite a busy girl.  Last week I traveled to DC for the Farm Animal Integrated Research (FAIR) conference.  I had such a blast and hope to share my trip and conference experience with you sometime later this week. This is a picture of all of the grad students I got to work with at the conference.  They were all great and I learned so much from all of them!!  The picture was taken at the Agriculture Research Station in Beltsville, MD.  It was quite windy when we took the picture so you can find me by looking for the hot mess with wind tossed hair, haha.  Or at least that is how I like to refer to myself in this pic :)

growing impatient

Here we are on the 27th of February, and we only have 5 calves on the ground!!    Needless to say I am growing quite impatient.  I love calving season!  It is such an exciting time on the farm.  New presents are "unwrapped" everyday, and Chasen does a pretty good job of sending me picture messages of these presents.  But as you may have guessed, I have only got 5 picture messages this month; extremely disappointing!!!

By now I thought we would have four times the amount of calves on the ground. The 30 heifers Stevenson Farms bought earlier this year were "due" at the end of February.  Only three of those mamma's have calved, and that was at the beginning of last month.  So either someone wrote down the wrong expected calving date, or these ladies want their calves to have the same birthday, or worse yet, they are waiting for three feet of snow/mud to be on the ground.  For Chasen's sake, and for the health of the baby calves, I hope it is option A.  

This weekend I stayed out in Lincoln, so it has been awhile since I have seen the cows.  But in my head, they all look like these mammas below: ready to pop at any minute!

I took that picture last year, and it cracks me up every time I look at it!  Another picture that cracks me up is the one below.  I mean, how often do you see a bovine sticking its tongue out at you??  But I guess I should get used to it.  I feel like all the calves are going to come out this way, taunting me with how long I had to wait until they arrived!!

the importance of anatomy

I got off the phone with Chasen about 5 minutes ago and my ears are still ringing.  Let's just say he was excited and screaming like a 4 year old on Christmas morning.  Although my ears are in pain, I too have a beaming smile on my face.  What can I say, I guess his enthusiasm for raising cattle is contagious!  

So here is my story about the importance of anatomy.  JF Ebonys Joy 9154X is a purebred Simmental heifer Chasen bought this fall at Janssen Farms female sale.  I was at the auction with Chasen and didn't even realize he was bidding on her until he made the final bid.  I was quite shocked when the auctioneer shouted sold to buyer number something-something-something and pointed his gavel at Chasen.  My brain started swimming as I began to wonder how we would get a 1100 pound heifer home with my impala!  After the hot flash and light headedness dismissed, I was able to gain excitement on Chasen's big purchase!  JF Ebonys Joy 9154X (pictured above) is a first calf heifer safe-in bred to JF American Pride (a purebred Simmental bull) thus resulting in a purebred calf.  Because of this reason, Chasen and I have been hoping for a heifer out of JF Ebonys Joy.

Well, yesterday morning, JF Ebonys Joy calved.  After making sure the calf was breathing and cleaned off, Chasen walked out to check the sex of the calf.  By just "looking" at the calf Chasen determined it was a bull calf.  He called me on my way to campus and was quite depressed.  I tried to cheer him up, telling him we could keep him around for a herd bull, or take him to a sale next spring to gain some exposure for Stevenson Farms.  Regardless of these two outstanding ideas, I was not able to improve his mood.  So I left it at that.

Approximately 30 minutes ago, Chasen was tagging the "bull" calf and administering a Vitamin B shot.  While holding the calf Chasen began to brush off its sides and more importantly the area underneath the tail.  In this process he discovered the calf he determined as a bull was actually a HEIFER!!! Thus the reason he called me screaming like a 4 year old :)

After this little anatomy scandal, I know now Chasen will never just look to assume the sex of a calf.  In light of this whole ordeal, I think I remember Chasen saying if JF Ebonys Joy 9154X had a heifer calf he was going to buy a keg and have a party.....guess I will have to remind him of this recollection.  But then again, I don't want to ruin his good mood!!

calving season has officially started!

Well it's official, calving season has started at Stevenson Farms.  Yesterday afternoon one of Chasen's heifers calved.  Here is a picture of the little guy :)  Chasen said they were not supposed to start calving until the end of February but this little guy must like surprises!



Or maybe he likes the weather...it was 60 degrees out!!  I sure hope calving weather stays this way through the end of March.  It would be a first for me to move/feed cattle without tromping through 2 feet of mud--imagine what Roxie, my corgi, looks like after a day of being on the farm in this mess, ugh!!!!  Not to mention the mud's effect on feed efficiency and calf health.


Anyway, it is a good sign the calf was born in the afternoon.  It means that the Konefal feeding method Chasen has initiated is working!  The Konefal method was developed, or more so recognized, by Gus Konefal.  Gus, a Hereford breeder from Manitoba, began feeding his cows twice daily, once at 11 am and again at 9 pm.  The cows through the early hours of the morning focus on feeding and gaining energy instead of going into labor.  I mean these ladies y got some things figured out!  The Konefal method should be started 1 month prior to calving to allow the mamas to adjust to the new feeding schedule.  Research at Iowa State University indicated that 80% of females calved between the hours of 7am and 7pm; which for a producer means a few more minutes of shut eye through the night.  Don't get me wrong, cows need to be checked every 2 - 3 hours, but this method allows producers to get back to bed sooner.    


Although Chasen may get consistently crabbier over the next few months due to lack of sleep, I know that he truly enjoys this time of year.  And I do too!  I am simply ecstatic to head back in two weeks to see all of the little boogers running through the pasture.  If there is one thing that makes producers smile, it is witnessing a newborn calf stand for the first time, take it's first drink or first step outside, or seeing a pasture full of newborn calves playing together, or ......  Ok I realize I listed more than ONE reason, but all of these things truly bring joy to a producers life.  I guess what I am trying to say is calving season, although the long nights, and hard pulls, and cold weather can make it quite miserable at times, it is the true way farmers are able to interact and thus appreciate new life on the farm.  It makes our job feel worthwhile!


We sure do have our work cut out for us this spring, with over 100 head of mamas to calve, 30 being heifers there may be a lot of late nights.  But that next morning I can guarantee there will be lots of smiles!!!