Friday on the Farm

snowy cow

Snow fell this week. Flakes of snow lightly covered cows as they ate hay on Valentine's Day.

[ agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

happy valentine's day!

Happy Valentine's Day from our snowy red, white, and roans!

 

Snow fell on this Valentine's Day. And, I couldn't resist taking a few photos of our cows in the falling snow.

Farm Chick Favorite

Candles by Swan Creek Candle Co...aDorE!

lavender & lemongrass



On a visit to the Fort Worth Stockyards, I discovered Swan Creek Candle Co. The candles smell absolutely wonderful! And, I love the pottery...so pretty! They will be perfect for my rustic farm home. The pottery bowl is able to be refilled with soybean wax from Swan Creek Candle Co. Love it!  



roasted espresso



I ordered three scents...Lavender & Lemongrass, Roasted Espresso, and Crisp Cotton. And, I am looking forward to enjoying the scents in my farm home!

 

#farmchickfavorite

renovating a calving area

 

Last spring, we started renovating part of a barn for calving. We own two For-Most calving tubs...one for each farm. We use these calving pens in case a cow is in need of assistance in calving. We will have used these calving tubs for three seasons now. And, they have made assisting a cow in calving safer and stress free. My calving tub was moved to a different area of the barn and set on a rock mix for the 2015 calving season.

 

In October 2015, concrete was poured in the area of the barn where we had my For-Most calving tub last spring. The concrete will make this area perfect! We will have two 10 x 12 pens in the back of the barn to use for new cow/calf pairs. New lighting will be added to this section of the barn. I have drawn plans to figure out what is needed. I also have hope to include a barn camera in the near future.

calving vaccinations

The countdown to calving begins! We are about 5 weeks away from the start of calving. And, I have been busy preparing. I've put together our calving kit...Clorox wipes, paper towels, flashlight, calving record book, weight tape measure, iodine, syringes, needles, vaccinations, paper tags, marker, and glue. 

 

 

When our calves are born, they receive a series of shots...Vitamin B12, Bo-Se (Selenium and Vitamin E), Enforce 3 - Bovine Rhinotracheitis Parainfluenza Respiratory, CalfGuard - Bovine Rota Coronavirus, Clostridium with E Coli, and penicillin. Our health program for calving costs about $35 per calf. But, it gives our calves a great start to a healthy life!

Friday on the Farm

frost on a straw bale

In the morning, I stepped outside to start chores for the day. Frost covered a straw bale setting beside a barn as I went inside to feed heifers. The frost was so beautiful and delicate. It glistened in the morning sun.

[ agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

calving records prepared for 2016

Calving is soon arriving!



calving records

We start calving the first week of March. So, I have started organizing. This week, I have taken time to prepare records for calving season. One very important part of our purebred Shorthorn herd is records. And with calving season, it is extremely important to have detailed records. Over the 70+ years of raising purebred cattle, we have developed a thorough record keeping system. Through our records, we are able to track each calf throughout its life.

 

Our record keeping system for calving includes:

. one copy of our herd pregnancy records as a due date reference kept in the calving binder
 

. spiraled notecard calving book that we use to track the birth details of each calf . we include; cow number, date and time of birth, sex of calf, coloring, type of birth, weight of calf, calf identification, and sire . the calving book is kept in the calf vaccination kit and is written in when we weigh and vaccinate a calf at birth
 

. record sheet for each calf that is printed and kept in the calving binder . this sheet is similar to the calving book . it includes: cow number, tattoo, color, due date, sire, farm, date and time calved, paper tag, sex, weight, color, type of birth, numbered tag, vaccinations, date vaccinated, other comments (issues nursing, cow temperament, presentation of birth), and any other treatments given. the record sheet is saved as an Excel document and printed . a different colored paper is used for the calf record sheet each calving season
 

. handwritten list of calves born located on a clipboard and includes a pen . the list includes : cow, date of birth, farm, sex of calf, calf weight, color, sire, paper tag, and numbered tag . this list is extremely useful for tagging calves with their numbered tag, and tracking total number of heifer and bull calves

. spreadsheet list of calves kept in the calving binder . this is the same as the handwritten list but is saved as an Excel document to be viewed on the laptop or tablet  
 

. container that holds paper tags with glue, and a Sharpie are kept in the vaccination kit . the temporary tag for calves will match the numbered tag of the cow

Friday on the Farm

freshly fallen snow

It was a beautiful, sunny winter morning. Overnight, snow had fallen. Fluffy snow covered cornstalk bales in the barnyard. The snow glistened in the sunshine. It was quite peaceful while feeding calves in the morning.

[ agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]