The Life of a Dairy Cow

I know in a few of my previous blogs, I have mentioned the different stages of a cows life, and I promised I would write a blog over the life time of a cow. The way my momma raised me, you never break a promise. I was also raised to love cows, say 'yes sir', and go to church on Sunday. Don't forget that eating meat and praying should be supplemented at least once every day.

Anyway, time for some "Farm Fact Friday"! There are four main stages of a cows life: calf, first calf heifer, dry cow, and milk cow.

Let's start with birth. On our dairy, like most, we raise all of our own milk cows. The calves that are born every day grow up to become the cows that produce milk, so farmers make it a priority to get them off to a healthy start. They get to live in spacious hutches that protect them from wind, rain, and cold. The hutches provide a way to give individual nutrition to each calf, and allows for personal health care for each baby!

The babies will receive fresh milk from the cows, it's just in bottles that are portioned out to give the calf a healthy amount of nutrition. I've said before: a healthy baby is the best baby.

After the calves are strong enough and have built up a strong immune system, they will go into an open pasture to be co-mingled with other heifers and later become bred when they are old enough. In this phase, they are called "first-calf heifers". This heifer is one that has just been turned out in the pasture, she will just spend the next few months just growing, she is about 4 months old.

Note: a heifer is a female that has not had a calf, a cow is a female that has had one or more calves. Heifers will have their first baby at about 2 years of age, and will have one baby every year after that.

The first calf heifers are given extra attention, and additional nutrition since this will be their first time to have a baby. Here is a first calf heifer that is coming up on her second birthday. She should calves in about 2-3 weeks.

After they have their calf, the calf will go into phase one (as mentioned above) and the momma cow will then go into the milk pen.  For the next nine months she will be in an open pasture with about 600 other cows of various ages - that's on our farm, other farms may be different.

Professional nutritionists help dairy farmers develop a balanced and nutritious diet for their cows. Fun fact: cows have four components to their stomach and eat about 100 pounds a day.

Once the cow has been in the milk cow pen for 9 months, she should be about 6 months pregnant, at which time she will be moved out of the milk cow pen and into the "dry cow" pen. This means she gets a 90 day vacation! All she does is eat and sleep. It's a pretty dandy life.

Being a "dry cow" means that they do not give any milk and their udder's will "dry" up until right before calving. A dairy cow's main purpose is to give milk, and the cows like it, they like their routine - they get pretty fussy if we get out of the dairy routine! So, at first, they don't like the dry cow pen. But, then they figure it out and enjoy eating as much as they can. Then, they have their baby,  and the whole process repeats itself.

So, there is your Dairy Cow 101. Have a great weekend!

Baby it's Cold Outside

Thanks to Mother Nature, most all of America is buckling down and enduring some wicked cold weather. Texas is no exception to the cold. Now, we're not as miserable as most but 10 degrees still isn't pleasant.

Well folks out on the farm, work doesn't stop! So, we bundled up and headed out to make sure the cows were ready and prepared for the cold.

This is me with about five layers of clothes on! I was the last one dressed, unfortunately, so here is where I got stuck: 

I got stuck riding the four-wheeler! Brrr!

Our first item of business was to round up a momma cow that was about to have her baby and bring her to the barn. If her baby is born overnight, with temperatures in the single digits, lets just say his life wouldn't start out strong. 

It looks nice and warm: but the picture is quite deceiving. This is us getting the cows up so that we can sort off the one that is about to have her baby!

Next, we headed over to load up some straw and hay to bed down the soon to be momma.

My mom is cooler than your mom.

So, we loaded Athena (her grandmother, Darla, was my very first show heifer!) into the trailer and headed home to put her in a nice bedded down pen.

Mission accomplished!

But, of course we couldn't forget about our precious piglet, Tilly!

Yeah, I think she'll be warm.

Tilly is part of the family. Mom was scooping some feed for Athena and Tilly figured she'd give mom some help.

Or....maybe she just wanted some more food :)

Next, we went to check our first calf heifers.

Avie says "Whoa, it's cold outside!"

This is one a show heifer that I exhibited last summer. Sephora is so funny!

And finally some beautiful pictures I snapped as the sun went down.

Stay warm out there folks. And don't forget about all the furry friends you love so much. Cows and puppies and piglets all need some form of warmth with weather like this!

Have a great week!

Christmas is for Saving Lives

If you have ever watched the TV show Grey's Anatomy, you know every show begins with Dr. Derek Shepherd's quote: "It's a beautiful day to save lives". 

On Christmas, very few American's are having to report to work (which - by the way I commend; I don't believe stores should be open on Christmas). But, there are some folks who are on duty, or on at least 'on call'. Including doctors, firemen, police officers, and especially our military men and women who are either based at home or over seas fighting for our freedom. To those: I say thank you.

Now, when most people think of "saving lives", the doctor, the paramedic, the fireman may come to mind. But alas - there remains one more. The American farmer. 

You see folks, as I eluded to in previous blog posts, farming never ends. Yes, even on Christmas there are babies being born, cows needing fed, and lives that sometimes need saving. This Christmas morning was no exception. After our family opened presents from Santa (never stop believing folks) my Dad headed out on this beautiful 60 degree Texas day to check cows. 

His report was quite shocking: EIGHT babies born. Which actually became nine before the day was up. Now, on our farm, we have three separate pens: dairy cows, dry cows, and first-calf heifers. I'll explain this in more detail in a later blog, but for right now, the moral of the story is: calves are born in pastures. Then, after a few hours, our family will go out, and walk the momma and baby up to the milk barn where we can give the momma and baby special shots to make sure neither of them get sick. Just like a human baby would get shots after they are born!

So, after lunch, my Dad and I headed out to round up all 18 head (mommas and babies both) and walk them up to the barn. Don't get us wrong - we were very glad to do it! If babies are born on a warm day - we're rejoicing, even if it is Christmas.

Here is where our day began. This momma didn't have twins, she was just guarding over both the babies. The other momma is just outside of the picture.

Bare with me folks - I'm trying to snap pictures and navigate a gator at the same time. This is of my Dad (who has been dairying since 1984) starting to walk everyone to the barn.

The milk barn is about half a mile from the pasture. It's not a long walk, but when you're only 12 hours old, hey, a ride is helpful! Most of the babies ended up in my lap for the walk to the barn.

Here is my Dad unloading a heifer (female) calf at the barn.

This little guy said "Oh no - I'm too tired to do anything" this was #9, so he was born about 2 hours prior to this picture. He still gets to stay with his momma, we just transported them to a barn where they could be in a pen by themselves.

So, you may ask: "why would you ever want to do this?" I'll agree, there are times when I too would love to stay at home, eat chocolate, and watch the John Wayne Christmas special on TV. But then, I remember I wouldn't get to see sights like these: I wouldn't get to be a part of these nine lives today, moving them from pasture to barn, and giving them vaccinations that will saves their precious lives.

This little girl was quite the snuggler! She laid her head on my lap during the short drive and was very sweet.

I'm 99.8% certain that calves are born with unique personalities. It's so funny to watch them when they are first born. This bull calf was just discovering his legs - he was attempting to buck and kick around in the sunshine.

And then my favorite sight of the day - the sun setting behind the barn and a newborn baby. God just loves to make days perfect. Merry Christmas to us!

Yes, folks, we had a wonderful Christmas day in Texas. We opened Christmas presents, played with baby calves, and enjoyed a great meal as family.

But, there's one more thing. You see, it wasn't just us that saved little newborn lives today. Two thousand years ago, a Savior was sent to saves lives too. But, it was a whole lot more than just pastures, barns, and milk. Out of a barn, out of a manger came the One sent to save the world from sin.

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

-Ephesians 2:8-10

Two thousand years ago God blessed us with the greatest Christmas gift ever, his son Jesus Christ. He was a baby sent to save lives, and for that, we celebrate on this beautiful Christmas day.

A Prayer For South Dakota

Well, I guess I will join the bandwagon and blog about the South Dakota blizzard. But, here's the fact: it's not a bandwagon, "cool thing to blog about", "everyone else did it, I will too" type of blog post. Actually, it's more of a heart-wrenching, how could this happen, farmer-to-farmer prayer.

In case you didn't know, here's the lay down: a blizzard, Atlas, hit South Dakota, Thursday, October 3 - Saturday, October 5. With 58 inches of snow, and 80 mph winds recorded in places, Atlas hit western South Dakota like a thief, stealing the lives of approximately 75,000 cattle. (That's a rough guess, courtesy South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.) Here's the even worser (yep, worser) part, thanks to the government shutdown, cattlemen could've lost 20-50% of their yearly income to the second worst recorded snow storm in the history of South Dakota, with no insurance guarantees.

Before I precede on, let me share a couple photos to try and show just how bad it really was:

            In the aftermath of the storm, ranchers had to dig through the snow to find their cattle, to record who had passed, who was still alive, 

and who was still out there.....

                                                    This photo is from: agchat.org

             

Current reports and photos show deceased cattle lining the highways

 

   This photo is from: Rapids City Journal

Alright, now that we've established the heart break story, let's establish the next fact: no matter who you are, this hurts. Anti-meat activists love to stress how farmers and ranchers don't care about their animals. Yet, it is times like these that allow us all to realize just how precious those lives are. Whether it be cattle, swine, sheep, whatever....farmers and ranchers' livelihoods depend on these animals.

This is more than just a pocketbook investment, it's a total, all-in, heart and soul commitment. You think it's bad looking at sad pictures from a nice, comfy couch inside? Try living it. Try being the farmer, out in the cold, digging through snow and finding a frozen baby calf ear, cutting the tag out to record the death, then moving on to the next grave. Is it a heart break? You bet.
                      
But, here's the next fact: we wouldn't trade our lifestyle for the world. Tragedies happen, just as in any other profession. But, farming and ranching is so much more than just an ordinary profession. Being a farmer means getting to see the sunrise more than any one else and knowing that it brings promise - like melting five feet of snow away. Being a farmer means seeing lives being born every day. Being a farmer means surviving the tough times, and prevailing forward with hope in your heart, and passion in your soul.

Farming and ranching is not for the faint-of-heart, but for the bold, for the ones that love their lifestyle more than anyone else. So, let's take a moment to say a little prayer for our fellow cattlemen, our fellow American's. Just because farming and ranching holds more tragedies than most, it still hurts every time, even if it's not your own cattle.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the opportunity to live in a country born on freedom. Thank You for the opportunity to pursue our passion. Thank you for the time we get to praise You, and Lord, strengthen us in our time of weakness. May Your peace and everlasting comfort clothe those whose pain we cannot imagine. Father, help us to find hope in a time of hurt, and to grow closer to You in every circumstance. Amen.

Today, may your blessings seem greater, your courage a little bolder, and your cows closer to your heart than ever before.