If you’re rotationally grazing, maybe moving the cows every week or perhaps even the extreme of twice a day, you might get discouraged when you see all your hard work is turning into weeds. Of course we are not going to consider things that kill the soil: herbicides, fertilizer, and tilling. These are things that… Continue reading What to do about weeds in your pasture
Author: Jonathan
Last Calf of 2024?
Blackie gave us #47, a baldy bull. This is supposed to be the last calf of the year. I plan on putting the bulls on the cows in July to get April calves next year.
I sold 2 bulls
I took 2 of my 3 bulls to market at Emory on April 6th, 2024. I couldn’t take the 3rd because I couldn’t get them all in the trailer. The older bull, Blue’s calf, originally #16 (but the tag came out of his ear) was born on June 30th, 2022 and was 21 months old.… Continue reading I sold 2 bulls
Water Bill
I’m doing my taxes and so I am double-checking all of my accounts. I thought it would be interesting to share my water bill for my land, which is used to water the cows, sheep, dogs, chickens, etc… For the most part, I spend a lot less buying water for my field than my home.… Continue reading Water Bill
Penning up the sheep
At long last, as of Wednesday April 3rd, 2024, I have the sheep penned up along with the bulls. I had been planning this for well over a month now. It is going to be a pattern from now on, that once a rotation finishes, or I move the animals to the north of the… Continue reading Penning up the sheep
2024 March Month in Review
I finally get all the sheep together for the first time. This is a great achievement. I build a sheep chute so I can handle the sheep every move. It is a complete disaster though. The dogs keep coming home and chasing lambs. I need to solve this problem. I lost another calf, but another… Continue reading 2024 March Month in Review
Yellow Dung Fly
I was intrigued by some yellow flies crawling on a fresh cow patty. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before. Thanks to a blog post, I think I found out what they are: Yellow Dung Flies or scathophaga stercoraria. The flies reproduce on fresh cow patties and lay their eggs. They don’t bother the… Continue reading Yellow Dung Fly
#46 is born to Yellow
Yellow finally gave birth. I noticed the night before that the teats had gone taut, which is the last indicator that the calf is on the way. About a month ago, I saw the early signs: a swollen rear-end and bags that were growing. #46 is a brown heifer calf with white on the belly… Continue reading #46 is born to Yellow
#45 died two days after being born
#45 was born early Sunday morning, March 17th. He was born to #19, who was only 18 months old. I did not want her to breed yet and did not expect a calf. However, she was showing signs of pregnancy about 3 days ago. I fully expected either the calf or the cow to die,… Continue reading #45 died two days after being born
#34 is born to Metal Tag
#34 is a all-black heifer born to Metal Tag. We got some rain to boot!