Pregnancy Checking and Vaccinations: Fall 2013

preparing to vaccinate and pregnancy check heifers and cows

 

It was a gorgeous, sunny day! Today we pregnancy checked a herd of 57 cows and heifers that will be calving next spring. As Dr Baird pregnancy checked each cow or heifer, I recorded the information for our records. Our cow herds are due to calve in March and April. With Dr Baird, we also vaccinated our cattle herd with our pre-calving health program. We will be pregnancy checking and vaccinating the second herd of cows another day.

2013 Replacement Heifers

one of my 2013 replacement heifers



 

This afternoon, we vaccinated our calves. We have created a health program for our cows and calves with guidance from our veterinarian, Dr Baird. For this year, we selected twelve heifers to add to our cow herd. Our replacement heifers were calfhood vaccinated and tagged with a new, red numbered ear tag for identification. The heifers will be turned out to pasture in April. And at the end of May, a bull will be turned in with the heifers for the breeding season. 

Friday on the Farm

the sun rises over cornstalk bales

Early one morning, the sun rose over a harvested field of corn. The sun slowly peaked over our round bales of cornstalks. I watched in amazement on the brisk, fall morning. The sunrise was in brilliant colors of orange and purple. It was so gorgeous! I absolutely love mornings like this on the farm!

Friday on the Farm

weathered emblem of the farmall m

 

The Farmall M has history on the Stevens farm. My grandpa Stevens owned Farmall tractors. My parents now own the Farmall M and Farmall 450 that are still used on the farm. In my family, the love of red tractors is as much of a tradtion as farming.

Friday on the Farm

a cow herd grazes a harvest corn field 

Our cows graze cornstalks after harvest. During the fall, our cow herds forage on cornstalks in the fields. I snapped this photo on a sunny, fall morning as I walked through the herd.

Grazing Cornstalks

after harvest, cattle graze cornstalks

 

 

A herd of cows and heifers are grazing cornstalks this evening. We have happy cattle! After harvesting corn, our cattle graze the fields through the fall. Tomorrow, we will be preparing another field for a herd of cows.
 



 

cows and barbed wire...it's fall

Friday on the Farm



unloading corn



 

It was another day of harvest on my parents' farm. I unloaded corn from wagons and augered it into the grain bin for storage. At the end of the day, I snapped this shot. With my camera, I crawled underneath the wagon as corn was augered into the grain bin. I never know when I will be inspired to capture a photo. And, I will do whatever to take a great shot!

Chili... heartwarming for fall

Fall is perfect for making chili in the crockpot. I love how the aroma fills my house. There are many crisp days that are great to enjoy chili after a day of work on the farm. Warm up with my chili recipe!
 

 

1 pound    ground beef

2  (46 ounce) cans    tomato juice

1 (15 ounce) can    kidney beans

1 (14 ounce) can    fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup    corn

12 ounces    salsa

2 teaspoons    chili powder

1 teaspoon    garlic powder

 
Brown the ground beef in a pan and drain off the fat. Combine the beef with the tomato juice, kidney beans, tomatoes, corn, and salsa in the crockpot. Stir in the chili powder, and garlic powder. Let the chili simmer for 6 hours.