We received an early Christmas present this morning. A very early present – our first calf of the season!
Born half an hour ago.
Her mama was to be one of our cull cows this year. Meaning, she was to be sold as an “open cow” and a replacement purchased for her. As last year was our first on the ranch, we purchased all our cattle then. We either bought bred cows or pairs. She was supposedly bred. We waited and waited and she never calved. Don’t produce? Off to the sale!
We are Spring calvers. Somehow, this means we calve in January. January seems pretty Wintery to me, but what do I know? Cows have a gestation period almost the same as humans. Nine months and something like 13 days. I think the additional 13 days is for the fourth stomach. (They just want to pretend they are superior with their four to our lowly one). So, to calve in January, we turn the bulls out in late March. We have one bull for every 20 cows. Some call that overkill, we call it management. The bulls don’t have to work overtime, even though they would probably like to. Plus, every cow is sure to be bred. It’s on them if they aren’t, not the bull. Well, I guess Miss Number 128 was particularly stoked to see the bulls this year, because she must have been bred almost immediately.
Looks like mama is a keeper, because this little gal is a good lookin’ calf. Only 135 to go!
Please don’t eat me.
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Comments
Harry - Let's see Mrs. M top that!
Absolutely beautiful. Kindly informative text and pictures. Congratulations on the living early gift. And I'm with the little gal. Please don't eat her :)
Rated and appreciated
Bonnie - Thanks. It's not being "flagged" - it's being rated. The thumbs up is a "rating". That's a good thing. i don't think we can see if a post has been flagged (which is a bad thing.) If you like something, give it a rating. It let's the writer know that someone liked it.
Dennis - I'm with her too! This is why Paul won't let me name the cows.
Blondie - Yeah, they're Angus. We've got a couple of Hereford/Angus crosses (black/white face) in there as well - maybe a hand full. No AI. The bulls are kept in a separate pasture after their work is done. Last year, they were actually on a lease down the road. Once the cows are bred though, they can be a fenceline away and they won't do anything.
Congrats!
Frank - We just make 'em fat and happy here!
Decalfination - I like it Jeff!
Congratulations!!!!
How many pairs of shoes do you think she'd make? That's a Christmas present I can get excited about. Oh, and grilling her in a nice marinade. That's gonna take a lot of soy sauce, but I'm up to the challenge.
Blue - Ha! Isn't that the way? "Oh, there's going to be a freak ice storm in Oklahoma? Let's band together and calve now!" Of course, that will be the time there's a breach. (Which I remind him that at least his hands will be warm inside the cow.) Thank goodness they take care of all this themselves. I think Paul only pulled one last year - pretty good.
One day we'll get you back here and in the middle of the night we'll go out and draw on them. We'll draw the cut of meat on the ones we want and outlines of shoes and purses on the ones we don't! When Paul goes out, we'll act really confused and horrified.
Too late-- Mrs. Michaels has given her a terrible new name. ;-)
Seriously, the baby calf is quite cute!
And Happy Whatsmas to you!
:-)
Seriously, this is how rare Mrs. Michaels likes her meat.
Con - It makes her feel better, but my bank account is very uneasy about it.
Aw, don't say that Karin - they don't look like this in the end.
Srsly, you can't eat things with faces and names.
What a beautiful calf, Julie. Congratulations!
Rated.
Thoth - Thanks - Merry Christmas to you!
Thanks Marcelle!
iiwefkl - You sweet talker - $30 True Religion jeans - oh my! I bet they don't come from China or anything.
surly - You should see the pastures in January - makes me leave the warmth of the house just to see all the cuties running around.
Mrs. M - Right? Clearly he's not thinking.
i love cows. have a small gorgeous painting of one in my closet so i can see it every day. she's a beauty, too. thanks, julie.
What a sweet little thing...for now!
Merry Christmas Julie and congratulations to Miss 128 on the little cutie.
Glad to hear you allow natural cattle style sex on the ranch. That's a lot of bull you have down there.
Melissa - I constantly have to stop Paul from saying gross things about what we're eating while we're eating! He doesn't even realize.
Nelly - that would be awesome! We had a leppy calf (the mother had twins and only took to one) and Paul bottle fed it. That things followed him around everywhere - even onto the porch. Too cute.
Susanne - They really should warn us, no?
Kate - that's alright. Hey - at least we don't have Brahmas like everyone else around here.
Susanne - Ga-ross! Paul just preg-checked for one of our neighbors. Um, those gloves don't reach nearly far enough! I will not be doing his laundry.
Your neighbor probably has Angus too. Tons of things could cause them to just die - weather (pneumonia) or something in the ground (black leg). She could have died giving birth (stress). There's tons that can go wrong - remind me why I do this again?
I like the irony of calling her Oprah since the beef industry sued her!
I am guessing you are a "traditional" rancher sending them off to feedlots in the end? I know it is the way things are done. I grew up with a grandfather who had a Colorado ranch so I am familiar with procedure.
Have you considered being a grassfed/organic operation? There is a big demand these days to know where our food comes from. Have you seen the movie "Food Inc"? It will change the way you look at your babies.
Ok, I apologize for preaching and will get down from my soapbox now.
Congratulations on a good looking baby!
You should name him Prince Orloff.
Rated & Cheers!
There are a few issues with the "grass-fed" beef you are talking about. First, all beef is grass-fed. Even if it's marketed as that, it still has protein and minerals given to it. Second, beef that is barely finished on corn or what have you tastes like crap. I swear. It's gross. The fat is yellowish-green and it's just something I can't deal with. Paul used to have to cut up my steaks! I know that's lame, but I would literally gag. Third, money, money, money. It takes a lot of land to raise something for that long. It takes a lot of protein and mineral to raise something that long. It takes a lot of hay to raise something that long.
At some point, we'll be expanding and will consider holding over our calves, but we'd still sell them as yearlings most likely.
I haven't seen Food, Inc., even though Silkstone told me repeatedly to watch it, so I can't comment on it. I did see one about a hog farm that was atrocious. Paul has worked in feedlots before. Mostly in college at Cal-Poly, but when we moved back to Texas as well. And I can promise you, they aren't all bad or horrific.
Oh, I think Prince Orloff wins!
Dustbowl - There's really two calving seasons - Spring and Fall - since cattle is a commodity, the market basically dictates. I'm sure it has a lot to do with where they go next. Calving in the summer, especially in the South, would be really hard because of the weather. I know that sounds weird because winter can be brutal too, but for some reason it's a lot less stress. Plus, we chose our animals specifically for structure, hips, calving ease, etc. (By "we", I mean, Paul.) So, the thought process behind that is that they just do their jobs and have babies and we don't have to do anything to help them. Occasionally, one will be breach and Paul will have to turn it around or pull it, but for the most part we just keep counting the additions every day.
Thanks Bubba! Where've you been? Floyd's name wins - Prince Orloff!
I never made friends with them because friends don't eat friends. Instead I remain rather detached from the animals that could be potential "dinner" guest. For this reason our cat and dog are safe.
Your talk of bulls reminds me of one of my partner K's favorite jokes: An old bull and young bull are standing on a hill looking down at a field full of cows. The young bull excitedly says to the old one: "Let's run down there and f*** one of them!" And the old bull replies, "No, let's walk down there and f*** a lot of them."
Silky - I love it!
Kate - That's hilarious!
Have a wonderful Christmas, and may God bless you and your family, and your cattle!, with many blessings in the coming year.
Monte
Monte - I'm so glad that you and your wife are okay! What a scary thing. And thank you for your blessings. You are a true gift, Monte. Happy Holidays to you!