Flat Aggie Learns About Beans and Cows

Hi, everyone I am reporting back from my first farm adventure to Southeast Kansas on the Small Family's Farm.  The farm I visited grows corn, wheat, soybeans, milo, and cattle.  I found out that at this time of the year, chores begin with cattle every morning.  During the summer, the cattle are out in the pastures and the grass fulfills all their nutritional needs, but when winter starts to set in, they need more to eat.  The sunrise the morning I was there was absolutely amazing!

I had to meet the crew that helps with the cattle.  Their names are Zimi, Zeke and Zane.  Zimi and Zane are Border Collie and Zeke is an Australian Shepherd.  They work hard to get the cattle to go where we want them to.

I have always heard how flat Kansas is and Southeast Kansas is not flat.  There are plenty of hills and river valleys here.

 These calves were recently weaned from their mothers and get a little bit of grain fed to them each morning, but mainly they eat lots of grass.  These calves are raised for beef like hamburgers and steaks that are full of protein, iron, and B-vitamins.

 The feeder they are all gathered around contains their vitamins and minerals they need in addition to what they get in the grass.  Instead of their mom's giving them a Flintstones vitamin in the morning, they go lick what is in this feeder.

 After we were sure all the calves were healthy, it was off to the soybean field.  I was surprised at how much we had to do to the combine before we could start harvesting.  When we pulled up to the combine, the first thing we saw was a deer antler sticking out of the tire.  I soon learned that deer shed their antlers every year and they can ruin a tire very easily.  We were lucky that the antler didn't go all the way into the tire!

  First, we used the pickup truck to haul fuel to the combine.  It takes a lot of diesel fuel to keep that big combine going everyday!  Did you know they can actually make diesel fuel from the very soybeans we harvested?

 We also checked the oil in the motor and fixed a few things that were broken the night before.

 I felt really small up in the cab of the combine.

 

 We were trying to get done with this field before it rained, so there was no time to stop for lunch.

In fact, this farm seldom stops for lunch during harvest.  I sure did enjoy my sandwich and carrot sticks and I am thankful for the wheat, pig, carrot and corn farmers that made my lunch possible.

 It was such a good feeling to get done with the field and they got ready to move to the next one. I said I didn't think I had ever eaten a soybean and my farmer laughed.  She told me that nearly 70% of the items found in the grocery store have soybeans in them!  Vegetable oil is almost always soybean oil and many of our snacks have soy lecithen in them to keep them fresh.  Wow!  I was surprised are you?!  I found out that there are lots of uses for soybeans other than livestock feed.

My farmers did a videos of soybean harvest a few years back and thought you might like to watch it. 

 You might also like to see this post that is up close and inside a combine harvester. 

Try your hand at Soybean and Cow Farmer Math, too!

I can't wait to see where my next Flat Aggie Adventure takes me.

Your Friend,
Flat Aggie

BBR-Little Star…Raising Our First Calf

I have a new series of books to share with you by twins Rhanna and Sheridan.  The twins live on a Hereford ranch in Maryland.   Little Star…Raising Our First Calf is the first in a series of books that follows Star and the girls as they grow up together.

When they are 3 years old, they go to check the newborn calves with dad and find a set of twins just like them.  The cow wouldn’t take care of one of the calves (which is often the case see the Tale of 2 Twins) and said they could take care it. 

They named her Little Star.  The book shows the girls mixing the milk and talks about what is in the milk replacer and how big the bottle is that they use.

It is funny when the family decides they should teach Star to lead by halter, so they can take her to the fair.  They even let their city friends help them and they all find out is not as easy as they think it will be.

When Star gets older, she gets grain and hay to eat, just like the older calves.

The pictures in this book are absolutely stunning and truly catch the work and fun that farm kids enjoy.  I love that there is a glossary of farm terms in the back of the book.  There are even a few ag facts about the different breeds of cattle and the ownership of U.S. farms.

Be sure to follow along as there are more books from the twins or you can order the books here.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

The Teen Age Mothers of our Farm

We consider calving season finished when the last heifer calves.  A heifer is a female bovine that has not had a calf. On our ranch they are usually 2 years old.  I like to call them the teenage mothers of the farm.  And these are the teenage mothers that don't get to read the book What to Expect When You Are Expecting.  ;)  These are the clueless ones that try to deny they are pregnant until they go into labor.

About the end of February, I feel like I have spent more time with them than my own family.  I never know what I am going to find when I go out to check the "girls" and I feel like they need constant babysitting.

Here are a couple of examples.  One Saturday afternoon, I went to town to get a few groceries.  I had watched one of the heifers with her newborn before lunch and decided I should check on her when I got back from town.  When I pulled up to the gate, I did not like what I saw...

That's right!  The calf had fallen face first into the creek and she was just standing there "protecting" it.  I snapped this picture as I was going down the clay covered creek bank (in my good go to town shoes).  The calf was laying with one nostril in the water, but was still breathing.  Thank you Lord for watching over this calf! 

I pushed the heifer out of the way and drug the calf back up the bank.  Baby calves are not light, ours usually weigh 50-65 pounds.  As soon as I got him back to the top, he stood up and took off walking with mom...away from the creek.

Now, I just needed to convince The Farmer that I needed a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that are now stained orange from the clay on the creek bank.

I had been watching another heifer for quite some time in labor one afternoon.  I had to stay several hundred yards away or she got nervous and took off walking.  Of course, I didn't get out the scope or binoculars to see how close she was laying to the creek bank, but I could tell when she was really pushing and when she stopped.   When she stopped pushing, I walked to see if she needed some help and found this...

That's right, she sat herself down so close to the edge of the bank that when the calf finally came out it slid straight down the bank!  If you look closely, you can see the skid marks from the calf's legs.

The calf was laying right at the waters edge.  I called The Farmer and said, "I NEED HELP!"  I was pretty sure it would take me the rest of the day to get the calf back to the top and I needed his strong back.

He picked up the calf and started climbing...

and climbing...

and climbing...

and climbing.

He laid the calf a safe distance from the bank and I went to make the heifer get up.  Yep, she was still laying there resting clueless to the fact that she had just given birth and had new responsibilities. 

After I got her up, and drove her toward the calf she decided it smelled good and that maybe she should take care of it.

Heifers also have their calves in nice places, but as soon as the calf is delivered they take off.  We don't have a leave your baby at the hospital and no one will come looking for you policy.  Nope, we go find these girls and make them take care of the baby they brought into this world.

We have seen two heifers calve side by side in the middle of a pasture and then both heifers only take care of one calf.  Apparently they think it is a team sport and it is fine to leave the other little guy out in the cold.  I have seen them actually get in a fight over who's calf it actually is.  Think two 1000 pound cows having a "cat fight" with a 50 pound baby in the middle.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  We do have some great girls that take care of their calves and get them off to a great start in life.  I also know some teenage moms that are working their tails off to become fabulous mother's to their son or daughter.  One of them is a faithful follower of this blog.  It's just that immaturity is just as prevalent in the animal world as it is in the human world. 

 I now see why older farmers tend to not calve heifers and buy older cows that someone else has helped them through that first calf. 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Cattle Obstetrics

Calving season is starting to wrap up here on our farm.  Other ranches across the country are just starting.  Picking when to calve is a personal decision that is different for every operation.  We choose to calve in February and March, so we will be done before the crop farming gets busy in April.  I like to have a little help occasionally when a cow has trouble and they don't like to have to leave the tractor to help me.

Most of the older cows get along just fine without us, but we spend a lot of time with our heifers.  Heifers are cows who have never had a calf.  When I say a lot of time, I mean they have had us visit their pasture every 4-5 hours for the last 50 days...including at night.  (We are still waiting on 8 of them to calve as I write this.)  If everything goes right with calving, a rancher will never see the calf born.  We see a lot of this...

If you look closely, you can see the tip of one foot starting out of the birth canal.  Heifers are very nervous (just like people who have never had a baby.)  They also like to be by themselves usually.  We count the heifers A LOT.  It's no wonder that my kids are really good at math, they have helped count since they could ride along in the truck (about 3 weeks old).

Calving heifers will hide behind trees, brush and lay down in low spots just to be out of sight.  They don't like to be watched, so we usually leave them alone and come back later to check on them.  If all goes well, we come back in 30 minutes to an hour and see something like this...

It excites us even more if we come back to see the calf standing up or walking around the cow.  Maybe even nursing...can you see what the cow is doing???
Yes, she is cleaning up after child birth by eating the afterbirth.  When I was a kid, I thought this was totally gross.  My kids do too.  LOL  Coyotes (and skunks I found out this year) love to eat afterbirth.  The cows eat it to clean things up and not invite predators to their new calf.  It also returns valuable nutrients back into her body.

Since we are visiting the heifers continually, that includes at night.  We check them just before we go to bed and again sometime between 2 and 3 am.  Nap time is essential during calving season for the adults.  :)  Sometimes when you go out in the middle of the night you find this...

Scientists have found that if you feed cows their main meal at night, approximately 85% of the them will give birth during the daylight hours.  We feed our heifers at about 6 pm and had very few calves at night this year.  The older cows get fed in the morning and typically don't have too many delivery issues. 

The next morning we give most of the calves an eartag...

Tags really help us when a cow or calf is not feeling well.  We like to think of it similar to the matching hospital ID bracelets that mothers and babies get in the hospital.  If a calf needs to go to the barn for extra attention, mom needs to come along, too.

Snow days can make calving a challenge and lots of extra work.  Calves are cold, cows need extra feed and we have extra people in the cab of the truck (no school means it is take your kids to work day)...yeah, they don't like to have their picture taken with mom for her blog. Hehehe

But that does give us some time for some driving lessons...

and the boys are getting pretty good at opening gates for mom, too.

I would love to post of video of a cow giving birth, but my chances of catching it this year are slowly disappearing...which is fine with me.  That means there are lots of calves being born without my assistance.  I guess I will keep it on my bucket list of things to do or maybe the boys will record one for me over Spring Break.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

The Saga of Twin Calves

When everyone saw the Facebook post about the twin calves that were born before the first snow storm, there was a huge amount of enthusiasm.  

There were comments like great, how cute, and a bonus!  Many times ranchers say the same things about twins with a huge amount of sarcasm.  WHY?  You might ask.  Well, you see cows typically only want to take care of 1 baby.  There are exceptions to every rule, but cows are not taught to treat all their children the same and there usually becomes a favorite.  We have seen sets of twins once and never see the second one again because the cow takes it away and hides it.  And sadly someone besides a cow finds it too and has it for lunch.

If we find a set of twins in our cow herd, we pick one of them up and take it to the barn to be cared for in a couple of different ways.  These twins had been taken care of pretty well, but one was visibly colder and wetter than the other one.  We took him.

He got a quick ride home on the back of the pickup in the calf sled.  The dogs watched over him. 

When we got home, we put a calf coat on him.  Left him in the calf sled, out of the wind, and in the sunshine.  It was a nice day it the temperature reached 50 F, so he was warmed up in no time. 

We had a heifer give birth to a still born calf a few days earlier.  She still had milk in her udder, so we decided to try to make a foster mother out of her.  Foster parents are great, but in humans it is their choice, this heifer did not say pick me!  We said you look like the best candidate.  Now we had to convince her that she will make a good mama.

This heifer actually acted like she liked the calf, but did not want to let him nurse.  We put her in a squeeze chute to contain her and helped him get some dinner.  My Farmer even sat by the calf helping him keep his balance in the awkward position of nursing in the chute.
 See he can be sweet! 

That evening the same thing, she wasn’t going to let him nurse.  We put her in the chute and this time she still kicked him.  Poor little guy!  We put a “flank rope” on her.  This rope kept her from kicking the calf and he could get his belly full for the night.

Again the next morning, she talked to the calf like he was hers, but if he went near the udder she kicked and butted him.  Back in the chute again, but she didn’t kick when he nursed.  I didn’t have to put on the flank rope.  (Whew, I hate putting my hands and head close to kicking feet.)

Then there was a miracle!  I walked into the barn and saw...success!!!

And again that afternoon! 

 He was getting pretty active and she thought about kicking him a couple of times, but decided she better not.  

Of course, his brother is doing fabulous out with his mama in the pasture.  I put a purple tag in him (different that the other calves), so I could check on him easier.  They are doing wonderful and she is taking excellent care of him.

We were lucky that both of these calves were bulls.  When a heifer calf is born twin to a bull calf, she has a 95% chance of being sterile due to the increased level of testosterone in the uterus during gestation.

-A Kansas Farm Mom 

Nesting in a Big Way Part III

Part 3 of my nesting that has been going on is a bit different.  There are 10 things that I make sure are taken care of in my own home before the calves start to arrive.  This is very similar to the list I had and many others have before they have a baby of their own.

1.       I make sure the freezer is stockpiled with meals that can be warmed up by anyone in the family.  If we have calves that need special attention, I am typically the NICU nurse (I have a little more mothering instinct than the other members of the household.  This means that Randy or the boys are in charge of meal time and all 3 of them are at least capable of running the microwave.  Here is a list of items currently in my freezer:

•  French Dip
• Cheesy Enchiladas
• Christy’s Not so Famous Pork Loin
• Grandma Jessie’s Zucchini Cake
•  No Boil Lasagna
• Easy, Beefy, Cheesy Burritos
• Pork Chalupas
• Smoked Beef Brisket
• Beefy Nacho Potato Soup  
• Barbecue Meatballs

2.       A snack supply is a must.  If there is a birthing emergency, lunch time might not come until 2:00 if ever.  Often we keep some packaged emergency snacks in the feed trucks with us just in case.

3.       We get up in the middle of the night, usually around 3 am to check on the heifers (first time mothers) to make sure they aren’t having any problems.  This means a nap in the middle of the day is needed or A LOT of caffeine and sugar.  I try to stock up on pop before we get started.  I am well into week #1 of the nightly checks and have only begged to have a nap twice.  Pretty good for me. 

4.       Adult beverages are also a necessity in my household.  Some days things don’t go as they should or we spend a couple of hours with a special patient or two late at night.  When we are wound up on adrenaline, sometimes a beverage can help you sleep a whole lot better.

5.       I always make sure the mudroom is clean and organized before calving season.  This room of our home becomes the calf NICU.  Any calf that is having a hard time immediately after birth may get brought to the house for some special attention (including middle of the night feedings) and extra monitoring.  Just imagine having a 4 legged newborn in your house, except they don’t cry, instead they get up and bump around until you feed them or take them back to their mama.  :)

6.       Speaking of the mudroom, lots of laundry detergent is used in my house over the next 5 weeks.  Not only to our clothes get pretty gross helping new wet, slimy calves, but we also use blankets and towels for the calves and they need washed as well.

7.       It’s always a good idea to keep a supply of bleach or other disinfectant around.  The blankets, OB chains and calf bottles all can use a good wash and disinfection when multiple newborns are involved.

8.       Now, here’s one most wouldn’t have to worry about: Birthday Treats.  Our 7 year old has a birthday right at the beginning of calving season.  I try to make his treats for school ahead of time and freeze them.  I never know when a weather system will move in and  cause calving to move earlier.  Cows are just like people and that due date is usually plus or minus 10 days.

9.       As a mom, we also try to work on school Valentines ahead of time.  Remember, I have 2 boys that hate to write and if the weather is cold and wet it is likely that we will spend more time in the barn than in the house leading up to Valentine’s Day.

10.   I also try to keep all the laundry washed and put away while I have time.  I also take advantage of sunny warm days when the calves start arriving to get caught back up on the laundry.  The boys do like to wash the laundry this year, so maybe they will help out some, but they hate to fold and put their laundry away.

My friends all think I am organized and I think I have them all fooled.  I try to control what I can in my life, because I know when I walk out that door in the morning surprises can be around every corner.

Have a great week everyone and be sure to follow me on Facebook to see new baby calf pictures.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

You might also like:

Nesting in a Big Way Part I

Nesting in a Big Way Part II  

Nesting in a Big Way Part I

Imagine with me if you will, that your home is going to be the headquarters for about 200+ babies to be born in the next 45 days.  What supplies would you need?  What would you want to have on hand in case of a late night emergency?  This is a snapshot of the checklist that I go through and make sure I have in my house before calving season starts.

Most cows have their babies without incident, but just like people somethings happen.  I had HELLP Syndrome and I have told you about Killian who has CDH.  It is always good to have experts available with supplies to keep everyone safe during and after birth.

10 Things I Get Before Calving Season for the Bovine Patients

Farmer Randy was not my willing model in this picture, but I thought you needed to see how long the sleeves really are against a guy who is 6 foot 3.

1.        Latex gloves and loonnnngggg plastic sleeves.

 Just like OB Doctors we like to keep things as sterile as possible.  If we have to go in and check to see if a calf is coming the right way or reposition the way it is coming we use these really long OB sleeves to keep us clean and so we don’t take contaminants into the cow that will cause an infection.

2.       Colostrum Replacer (usually freeze dried colostrum) and calf electrolytes (think Pedialyte or Gatorade for calves)

Colostrum is the first milk that a cow produces and is very important to keep a calf healthy.  It actually has antibodies that keep the calf from getting sick until their immune system is mature enough to produce their own.  Calves need to have a good dose of colostrum in their system in the first 12 hours to keep them healthy. 

Yes this bottle is a little bigger than the ones we used for our kids.  It holds 2 quarts.

3.       Calf bottle with new nipples and an oral feeding tube.

Sometimes cows don’t like the thought of being a mother, calves are weak or cows have twins.  These calves often need some supplemental nutrition, just like human babies.  I remember using a tube type feeding system for a couple of days with my now 10 year old son that was born 5 weeks early.  Of course, the ones for calves are much larger, but are still very similar to what we use on kids.

4.       Antibiotics and Vitamins along with syringes and bawling gun.

Just like human babies that are born in certain areas get a shot of vitamins when they are born we give some of our calves vitamins and minerals when they are born.  We also have a limited selection of antibiotics for those calves that get an infection or pneumonia.  Often these calves get sick when the weather is really bad and the roads are not fit to travel to the vet’s office.

Last summer, the whole family worked together to put straw in the barn for this winter.  Love it when 3 generations work together.

5.       Straw bedding

When the calves have to come in the barn, we like to have some clean bedding for the calves to sleep on.  Most of the calves are born outside and stay there, because in all honesty things are cleaner outside than in a dark drafty barn.  The UV rays from the sun do a great job of killing bacteria outside and that sunlight can’t get in to kill things in our barn.

Here is the link to Part II of Nesting.

-A Kansas Farm Mom