Filling Our Freezer...

Every once in a while, we have a cow that won't settle (get pregnant), so we breed her artificially to an Angus bull instead of a Holstein.  If we're lucky, we get a bouncing baby bull calf from her about ten months later.

If we're lucky, after the vet pays him a visit to make him into a steer, he continues to stay healthy and grow until he's about eighteen months old. The healthy part can get a little tricky in the winter when the heifer pens (where he lives) are crowded and the temperatures fluctuate up and down. Just like in elementary school, germs get passed around from animal to animal. Several times over the years we've intended to raise a steer, only to send him to market early because of over crowding and respiratory viruses.

Luckily, this year we successfully filled our freezer with half a steer.  The rest went to some family and friends...

Over 150 lbs of ground beef, another 50+ lbs of roasts, chipped beef, dried beef and jerky...

It's actually bittersweet.  We are not hard and calloused and uncaring about having one of our animals butchered!  But...we need to eat, and knowing that the meat we are eating is from an animal that was healthy and well cared for helps.  After a while you learn that you have to distance yourself. The first time we did this, three of us were in tears, and the other wasn't hungry at lunch time!

It's Bittersweet...

I've thought a long time about posting this...

There might be some of you who don't like the idea...and I don't want to offend anyone...but it's reality here, and it's reality on a lot of farms...

Occasionally, when we have a cow that doesn't settle (become pregnant) easily, our last ditch effort is to have her bred to a cross breed; often an Angus or Hereford.  This often results in a confirmed pregnancy, for whatever reason! 

Being a crossbreed, the resulting calf will never be an asset to the dairy herd.  So...if the calf is a bull, we will make him a steer, and raise him for beef.

The first time we raised a steer, we made some mistakes.  Big mistakes.  We turned him into a pet.  Well...almost.  He got a little too big to cuddle with, but...  When the time came to have him fill our freezer, there were tears all around. 

This time, we tried to steel ourselves for the inevitable...

"Archie" was part Holstein, part Hereford.  He was an adorable little calf, but thank goodness some of that wore off as he got older.  He had basically a nice temperament, but was beginning to push the heifers around in the outside pen.  We also didn't feel very comfortable having Jenna in the pen with him.  He was just BIG!  It was time. So...he is now keeping three families very happy for a L O N G time. 

 It's been bittersweet, but then again, life on the farm can be that way.

Bullies...

The past few years, we've been hearing alot about bully prevention in the school system.  I was reminded tonight about how we have bullies right here in our barn!

When the weather turns cold, we watch the temperatures closely.  When it gets very cold and windy, like last night and this morning, we shut off some of the water lines in the west side of the barn.  This means that we then have to fill water tubs with a hose, in order for the heifers to drink...

Tonight, as I was filling the heifers' water tub (wishing I was inside watching the Eagles game!), I got really angry!  We have six animals in what we call the "outside pen" right now...a springing cow, a steer and four heifers...

I expected that the cow would be the first one to drink...she drank the water as fast as it would run out of the hose!  I expected the steer to be next...and then the two biggest heifers, followed by the two slightly smaller ones. 

But what made me so angry, was that the cow, when she was finished drinking, stood there and pushed all the others away.  She didn't need any more water; she just wanted to be bossy!  I chased her away, and then had to do the same with the steer.  The two larger heifers wouldn't even let the two smaller ones inside!   

We are so much like animals!  Or...are they so much like us?!  God must get so frustrated with us when He sees us acting so mean to each other...throwing our weight around "just because we can!"
It all turned out fine for those heifers...Jim and I were able to pen the larger animals outside temporarily so that the smaller ones could eat and drink in peace!  I just wonder why they have to act like that?! 

(and we got to go watch the end of the Eagles game...but I should've just stayed in the barn!)