tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32136080990698476072024-03-06T12:02:49.789-08:00Life in the Ag IndustryRuthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-19412858595472567662012-01-31T20:19:00.000-08:002012-01-31T20:19:06.375-08:00So It Begins!Well, I made it back from an amazing trip to Switzerland and now the calving season has begun! It is my favourite time of the year, and even though we are not supposed to officially start until the 5th of February, yesterday we had our first calf, a bull calf, LBH 1Z. Even though we are not supposed to start for another few days, I guess it has technically begun! Today, we got all the straw stacked to put in the calving stalls ready for use. It is going to be a busy few months, with all the synchronising we did, we could technically get upwards of like fifty in a day, but that is not likely going to happen, they do spread out pretty good. Non the less, we should average probably about twenty a day for a good couple of weeks! Dad also built six more calving stalls in preparation of those very possibly busy days!!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaPBs18iDAcpgVOYSlCst40Y8mAH4maIr2nQhe3VzuewZ6qavJwdKhJrcVZDsTkVmXAGJViNDgMyUJCz8Arr-0VSK94HjYXxOeL8v6Y0reTvsvZZzClYgSzwnX3dwyl5pXMYQF6zjtZ7N/s1600/IMG_0278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaPBs18iDAcpgVOYSlCst40Y8mAH4maIr2nQhe3VzuewZ6qavJwdKhJrcVZDsTkVmXAGJViNDgMyUJCz8Arr-0VSK94HjYXxOeL8v6Y0reTvsvZZzClYgSzwnX3dwyl5pXMYQF6zjtZ7N/s320/IMG_0278.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR59PPf42nlxTqaRW8A9DYvu8qr_j3K_xVJIhGXLxlBgQlyxGN_QOta2gLDRGNjtPW4tN0uKx4Vb3_nI0sz58A00FZ-U-eC45BPB51CLpx-kHEvC6AZ4tkqeke4PC8GZS8gEGYeQz3v9Py/s1600/IMG_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR59PPf42nlxTqaRW8A9DYvu8qr_j3K_xVJIhGXLxlBgQlyxGN_QOta2gLDRGNjtPW4tN0uKx4Vb3_nI0sz58A00FZ-U-eC45BPB51CLpx-kHEvC6AZ4tkqeke4PC8GZS8gEGYeQz3v9Py/s320/IMG_0236.JPG" width="240" /></a>I hope to get some pictures up of the little ones in this large world, as well as to talk about this wonderful time a bit more! As for now though, we did gain an addition to the family last Saturday in the form of a border collie puppy, he is quite the handful but non the less very adorable making it very hard to ever be mad at him!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwkyBh37DMyrYdfnOgJaRGpaH1M6REtjDtwiy_vER4Vh7PakKmgkfiobTbg52hVq7HBvAanJn4FkGwnSDCEbfRMwbYtZpzNjzRseE4YpnQctqPAqPN1ArYfd6XJ7D3mht_LRewDUhnB0c/s1600/IMG_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwkyBh37DMyrYdfnOgJaRGpaH1M6REtjDtwiy_vER4Vh7PakKmgkfiobTbg52hVq7HBvAanJn4FkGwnSDCEbfRMwbYtZpzNjzRseE4YpnQctqPAqPN1ArYfd6XJ7D3mht_LRewDUhnB0c/s400/IMG_0250.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Campbell :D</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-61269521964530327672011-12-24T08:36:00.000-08:002011-12-24T08:36:35.936-08:00Merry Christmas!!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yeRvElIvwtZUuCqcKvm5NVQpfYy5nA2xPcHcgOGXiICth1YwMbNbOs9pk747KOh1nf-H_KsoMUmPB1r3mlNosT2TXG21ZBKACB2sN53xj3B_SpHzGyLA2Jej6aJnya_pJVffi_MvTHN9/s1600/photo-5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-yeRvElIvwtZUuCqcKvm5NVQpfYy5nA2xPcHcgOGXiICth1YwMbNbOs9pk747KOh1nf-H_KsoMUmPB1r3mlNosT2TXG21ZBKACB2sN53xj3B_SpHzGyLA2Jej6aJnya_pJVffi_MvTHN9/s400/photo-5.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is our Christmas tree that my brother,<br />
cousins and Uncle decorated!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'm not very good at this anymore, it's been a while since I blogged! Time as flown by the fall 2011 semester is already over and Christmas is already here! This year is a very exciting Christmas for myself, on Monday, December 19th, I arrived in Zürich Switzerland with my mom and brother! And yesterday my dad and sister came, it's the first time in five years that my whole family has been here together for Christmas! Today is Christmas Eve, and tonight our whole family of fifteen will come together and celebrate this wonderful holiday! I am pretty excited, I love Christmas and I love this country, I have had a wonderful time so far with everyone!<br />
<br />
I will try to blog a bit when I'm here, but no guarantees, however when I do get back home we will just be about ready to start calving season, which I hope to talk or at least post pictures about quite a bit, as it is one of my favourite times of the year so until then, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! May the season be filled with love and joy!!<br />
<br />
Merry Christmas!!!Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-67618844733780276892011-10-31T20:18:00.000-07:002011-10-31T20:18:10.665-07:00Time Flies!Wow! I'm pretty sure that it was yesterday that I was just about to start my third year of university and I blogged last, but it's actually already the end of October, crazy how time flies! Anyway, it's been forever but not much has really gone on in the last two months besides lots and lots of school work!!<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzxPAjoXZZk84Aoa5l8hHdFdfKrQVa6Wr_Xut4ppVJWwtMhk3lyPmSD51ez3Zujwt6W3QgM_TDY5XxTIopGk0YedTfRzYkgxwWC6H0AFVCEnL-t2jFY6a0G8WEosI6224BYmL2s-7SNxm/s1600/P1020317%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidzxPAjoXZZk84Aoa5l8hHdFdfKrQVa6Wr_Xut4ppVJWwtMhk3lyPmSD51ez3Zujwt6W3QgM_TDY5XxTIopGk0YedTfRzYkgxwWC6H0AFVCEnL-t2jFY6a0G8WEosI6224BYmL2s-7SNxm/s1600/P1020317%255B1%255D.JPG" /></a>I am currently in my third year at the University of Lethbridge continuing my pre-vet! It is going alright, this semester is much better than my previous ones, I have no labs this semester which makes the world of difference! So, besides immersing myself in some biology, biochemistry, religion and economics of agriculture, I have made it home a couple of weekends! Each time I noticed the continued and mostly finishing of the fall harvest. Harvesting is one thing that we don't do at home, we harvested many years ago but we don't anymore just for the simple fact that it makes for a long year, and it is never ending! During harvest is usually a time for us to catch up on everything were behind on and taking a little break before the big calving season starts! The other weekend I made it home was for Thanksgiving, where we weaned our 500 calves. It was high time for that and we had wonderful luck with it raining a few days before, which kept the dust down which is exactly what you want when weaning calves cause then there's a less likely chance that they get sick from it being so dry. It was a wonderful weekend spent with family and processing calves, one of my most favorite things to do!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It has been an unbelievably fast two months, the first semester of school is already half over..... CRAZY! It has been a good few months though, my going home visits, the purchase of my first car and learning what seems like very useless things in school! I hope all of your life's are going well, no matter what your doing! I hope to blog more often but that hasn't gone well so far, but I will try when I have the time! Until next time!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Oh, and Happy Halloween!!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42L-JJ9rOkmsb0BTIjDzbKTz8slQ_-YSmpCQdhFp4eoE6UBzyx1uZ4HtZyt_1Tu1uivZ5c3kqtjyVmW2MBbderX1db9OzKnIAmgZ9_H7u2hMtTxpr7QEY6DyHvJbxIWdG-oj-UBADxqaZ/s320/happy-halloween.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42L-JJ9rOkmsb0BTIjDzbKTz8slQ_-YSmpCQdhFp4eoE6UBzyx1uZ4HtZyt_1Tu1uivZ5c3kqtjyVmW2MBbderX1db9OzKnIAmgZ9_H7u2hMtTxpr7QEY6DyHvJbxIWdG-oj-UBADxqaZ/s1600/happy-halloween.jpg">Image</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span id="goog_263938311"></span></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-11232700091314518272011-09-03T21:12:00.000-07:002011-09-03T21:12:57.344-07:00Is She Pregnant?<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp4I89W7-IqiuNOOT5Nxs3mjH3T89newvO8UgrplHwRChT3APnl5AXT-9vxTj8iDzzUg5IjsB8rzoh2TKpyOXExqk8OstmmXn4H-QuN-W-8zFUgDP2QwOwm9ZtHaiF0PBrEJB0oB83aWc/s1600/dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkp4I89W7-IqiuNOOT5Nxs3mjH3T89newvO8UgrplHwRChT3APnl5AXT-9vxTj8iDzzUg5IjsB8rzoh2TKpyOXExqk8OstmmXn4H-QuN-W-8zFUgDP2QwOwm9ZtHaiF0PBrEJB0oB83aWc/s320/dad.jpg" width="240" xaa="true" /></a>It's been a while since I've blogged, life's been busy and the days are very quickly disappearing until I have to go back to school and this thought does not excite me all that much. A few weeks ago now we performed one of my favorite jobs to do on the ranch which included preg testing our cows and heifers! We spent the better part of four days checking if our 612 females are going to have a baby next year, with 450 being cows and 162 heifers. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It was a busy few days but a few years ago we would preg test all our females in one day when the vet did it. Now, that day was long, it would start at about six in the morning and end late that night. When our vet however retired from preg testing cows, my dad and neighbor teamed together and bought an ultrasound machine to preg test with. So, we have been using it for the past few years, so we are in no rush to finish preg testing in a day, with the machine it also takes a few less people. When the vet came we would have a couple people on quads going to get the next group of cows because we didn't have time to lose waiting for cows whereas now it's not such a big deal to have them their right away.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazqO5_X540722FYZpAeQWroS4lQtzNrPo4dDljsdyt6jmZcRGEdr4tZwoMGns0bxrL7VOKWapwT_6vXh95Lei1p17j7-e8fj3MAmMjI69K_TtBW691Xcv52xqcFjgKgfz0Y14KYuqlIC_/s1600/DSC01919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazqO5_X540722FYZpAeQWroS4lQtzNrPo4dDljsdyt6jmZcRGEdr4tZwoMGns0bxrL7VOKWapwT_6vXh95Lei1p17j7-e8fj3MAmMjI69K_TtBW691Xcv52xqcFjgKgfz0Y14KYuqlIC_/s320/DSC01919.JPG" width="320" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screen, big circle on bottom left is 91 days, small is 63<br />
and circle on right is 77 days pregnant.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The machine is a simple probe with a camera on the end that will show a picture of the fetus. With the settings on the screen you can see how long the cow has been pregnant for my measuring the fetus and comparing it to the circle on the screen. Some people preg test to simply find out if the cow is pregnant or not, we however want to find out about what time she is going to calf, so we measure the baby. The time taken varies for each cow, some are done in a second, others take a while longer. It's easy to see if a cow is pregnant but it's the open ones (open meaning not pregnant) that can be hard to decipher.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">With my dad preg testing, we usually had our hired hand on the head gate catching the cows in when they came in, my brother was in the back keeping the chute full of cows, continually chasing them in and I had the wonderful job of paperwork. This includes writing down the weight of the cow and the number of days pregnant. I also had to make sure I payed attention because on some of the cows we had AI dates, or some also had seen bred dates, if they had any of these I had to make sure that I told dad the date because a lot of the time that was the date that the cow got pregnant and instead of having to come up with a number of days, I could just highlight that date if it was the one.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOafEJ6BJYyIGwYt4ZdF8heh9Ra0krS9tmFTDefSEmzMko4AoBbfexT5il8ieljB1F-YJPT7BJFRl-NR19y34Oh1q6xa1wOyOQf-t-2tQbzRchGE2waYEwuzQJB0dXc2xS6tiomJfxhcdM/s1600/paper+fixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOafEJ6BJYyIGwYt4ZdF8heh9Ra0krS9tmFTDefSEmzMko4AoBbfexT5il8ieljB1F-YJPT7BJFRl-NR19y34Oh1q6xa1wOyOQf-t-2tQbzRchGE2waYEwuzQJB0dXc2xS6tiomJfxhcdM/s640/paper+fixed.jpg" width="476" xaa="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paper looks like this, with cows number followed by the AI date/Sire, Exposure date/Sire/Seen Bred When,<br />
Second Exposure Date, days pregnant and weight.<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It is quite a process, but a fairly enjoyable one and the equipment has worked real well for us over the years, it's nice cause we have the leisure to preg test whenever we want and I think it's more comfortable on the cows too, when a vet preg tests the cows will walk around with their tales up for a bit whereas with the probe they hardly notice and just walk out of the chute like nothing ever happened. Definitely one of my favorite times of the year and I just can't wait until winter when all those little babies are born into this world!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If you have any questions about preg testing or anything please don't hesitate to ask!</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-23831810680407464142011-08-26T20:31:00.000-07:002011-08-26T20:31:22.090-07:00Silaging <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRVZWhc_v1aF0T8SUisQXalXIJWqpVSaw81EGvl7BzUx0mC32nu8qSTTYVt-oxpaTOLQ0zR7ZUjfzl_aKq5ij3uHF7IIdPsVpb8WPO8kiRgNt09J3qTJKVoaqwXDpzuaUWHJeI78PjpBs/s1600/DSC01890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRVZWhc_v1aF0T8SUisQXalXIJWqpVSaw81EGvl7BzUx0mC32nu8qSTTYVt-oxpaTOLQ0zR7ZUjfzl_aKq5ij3uHF7IIdPsVpb8WPO8kiRgNt09J3qTJKVoaqwXDpzuaUWHJeI78PjpBs/s320/DSC01890.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chopper</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After the Hardisty field day which was another wonderful and good day we came home and plowed full swing into silaging! We silaged for four days and covered the pit on Wednesday morning. It makes for a busy few days from about eight in the morning to ten or eleven at night and is a very important time as silage is what we feed in the winter months to our cattle and are their main food.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This year we had a very large silage pit, we silaged more crop than we usually do because we got a bunch of winter kill on the alfalfa so it didn't come in very well so instead of haying it we silaged it. Silaging is also a process that takes a few people to successfully complete it. Every year we get together with our neighbors and we help them silage their crop and they help us silage ours. Most of the time you need:</div><ul><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5h9n00kGo9oz3ZyK7upDHeITpS_nEP6DCwW_vWY19xqmiqsacq7iWIfcHkzlZ53qFEFbMCOlE353u8oq7FjhfwLpSOmDT8244TeleVtengaRQG420z2U7tRYxNdOOE8I6dgYQgBeFwVVI/s1600/DSC01894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5h9n00kGo9oz3ZyK7upDHeITpS_nEP6DCwW_vWY19xqmiqsacq7iWIfcHkzlZ53qFEFbMCOlE353u8oq7FjhfwLpSOmDT8244TeleVtengaRQG420z2U7tRYxNdOOE8I6dgYQgBeFwVVI/s320/DSC01894.JPG" width="320" /></a>1 person swathing a bit ahead of the chopper</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">1 person running the chopper</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">1 person on a tractor packing down the pit and moving the silage up</li>
<li>3 or 4 people driving trucks depending on the distance of the field.</li>
</ul><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YP1zXwAK5znKNzGgiaxxTysRl9CrGGUlE9h7q7mOdZ9mMps8I8IHSWDlAp1xxOARSsDEwwdg4BGs2pZf_h_imd3T5G-GFzzhnx2OIJm93VjXFtwAMOl3hQRMscqlldS319m3F8_-znpF/s1600/Pit+fixed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YP1zXwAK5znKNzGgiaxxTysRl9CrGGUlE9h7q7mOdZ9mMps8I8IHSWDlAp1xxOARSsDEwwdg4BGs2pZf_h_imd3T5G-GFzzhnx2OIJm93VjXFtwAMOl3hQRMscqlldS319m3F8_-znpF/s320/Pit+fixed.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pit</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> Now once the silaging is complete we have to cover the pit so that it doesn't get any air or moisture so then it doesn't rot. There are a couple ways to cover pits. Lots of people cover pits with old tires onto the plastic, it is a lot of work to move tires and cover the pit. We used tires back when we would bag the silage and you would just have to do the ends of the silage bag. When we starting putting the silage in a pit however we have covered the pit with big round bales. We find this works wonderful, it gives the pit a good seal and we haven't ever had issues with the silage spoiling. It is also less strenuous on the people, we have a couple people in tractors moving bales and then three our four on the ground holding the plastic down. The ground people don't have to do any heavy lifting or anything and it is much nicer. I have covered silage with both tires and bales and I must say I prefer bales much more than tires.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLyeRksPqqH8xHnzpa4AHcpGWyWWebcQSFxx1VdRGnIEhJKOMhGmkSatJcs1zL1ugHwnPBS2N_hyGvfI4Zs-KrojSJGLYWoulIUmLbt7miz1OA8J0TkQi2zzNQl54DewJBCOudqHQmMj8/s1600/DSC01905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLyeRksPqqH8xHnzpa4AHcpGWyWWebcQSFxx1VdRGnIEhJKOMhGmkSatJcs1zL1ugHwnPBS2N_hyGvfI4Zs-KrojSJGLYWoulIUmLbt7miz1OA8J0TkQi2zzNQl54DewJBCOudqHQmMj8/s320/DSC01905.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the amount of silage above the pit edge. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So, we successfully got another crop of silage of the ground and by the looks of the pit it should be more than enough to feed our cows during the winter. I also got to smell the sweet aroma of fresh silage for a couple days, a smell that I quite enjoy. Some people don't like the smell as much, but I quite enjoy it now anyway, not so much when it's older.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH_W8Px9-Mlt00L1P8-Hb9fNDN-W0eQIOTVMxypZx_ZpEMS5krCAJ-gvhyUUginrBovS5sNbgrSqmWZbve5XjKaZ76LxwddoZce2zXo1qBr6y_4y8GhTE1zsBFoM72zsuYKpEH5PwFyRB/s1600/DSC01912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeH_W8Px9-Mlt00L1P8-Hb9fNDN-W0eQIOTVMxypZx_ZpEMS5krCAJ-gvhyUUginrBovS5sNbgrSqmWZbve5XjKaZ76LxwddoZce2zXo1qBr6y_4y8GhTE1zsBFoM72zsuYKpEH5PwFyRB/s400/DSC01912.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ohCHng9KpOvZKpP-c_P4kYYNteQxWSlP6Xqc1MRqCOumsh3AvX2QQFMPwwssh4qx6o9cTFLq9rBbSqLEXL2CMREzpZiuvf2oRVSEkyTR1-7valeSGO2cAgw5APYcHN-MhQJqj4xHOvRQ/s1600/DSC01917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ohCHng9KpOvZKpP-c_P4kYYNteQxWSlP6Xqc1MRqCOumsh3AvX2QQFMPwwssh4qx6o9cTFLq9rBbSqLEXL2CMREzpZiuvf2oRVSEkyTR1-7valeSGO2cAgw5APYcHN-MhQJqj4xHOvRQ/s400/DSC01917.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy86gx1X8Iq5oCQrts2XOMlG0-xNVsRif1j6f00GnmrcCRYKVGjIWsWQNX0AXkWbe4JahXgTv4cR_uVIariUsQKwT6a8y-dEv6_63JYjxfkhD0AR6_Pr-qrsGtYzD1JfoEJGMFC4t2m1z_/s1600/Pile+fixed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy86gx1X8Iq5oCQrts2XOMlG0-xNVsRif1j6f00GnmrcCRYKVGjIWsWQNX0AXkWbe4JahXgTv4cR_uVIariUsQKwT6a8y-dEv6_63JYjxfkhD0AR6_Pr-qrsGtYzD1JfoEJGMFC4t2m1z_/s400/Pile+fixed.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Complete</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5h9n00kGo9oz3ZyK7upDHeITpS_nEP6DCwW_vWY19xqmiqsacq7iWIfcHkzlZ53qFEFbMCOlE353u8oq7FjhfwLpSOmDT8244TeleVtengaRQG420z2U7tRYxNdOOE8I6dgYQgBeFwVVI/s320/DSC01894.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 547px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 617px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /><img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YP1zXwAK5znKNzGgiaxxTysRl9CrGGUlE9h7q7mOdZ9mMps8I8IHSWDlAp1xxOARSsDEwwdg4BGs2pZf_h_imd3T5G-GFzzhnx2OIJm93VjXFtwAMOl3hQRMscqlldS319m3F8_-znpF/s320/Pit+fixed.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 172px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 516px; visibility: hidden;" width="72" />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-57024850690601732272011-08-17T21:07:00.000-07:002011-08-17T21:07:36.403-07:00Boy from Girl<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVs8dEZ-ffooFtBMowZXCckuspUSmf_KhZ2G5ankPUvtsWa-XOHFUyipytJUl4XI-FXFK5sY_0s9VL0N3XtEE0U69smP25K0KC2sefHmFS93YpHlHgh50QkbDLNwVW1_dftD2RMiWoccF/s1600/DSC01867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixVs8dEZ-ffooFtBMowZXCckuspUSmf_KhZ2G5ankPUvtsWa-XOHFUyipytJUl4XI-FXFK5sY_0s9VL0N3XtEE0U69smP25K0KC2sefHmFS93YpHlHgh50QkbDLNwVW1_dftD2RMiWoccF/s320/DSC01867.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headed Home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>A little while ago we sorted all four hundred and some of our cows, we do this every year around this time when we have a spare minute. We sort the bull calves from the heifer calves or boy from girl for one simple reason, to prevent any 'teenage pregnancies' so to speak. It is more than likely not going to happen, but because we have so many cows we can sort them apart and its just a precautionary measure and much safer. The bull calves will also ride the cows if their in heat, they can't really hurt the cows. But the bull calves will also sometimes ride the heifer calves which could injure them so we sort them annually.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAtOWCd9JsJhidtCpxXXF833Wx20hg8S4D39HJERljr0v4wvyhs6gIsxao5wtgAMYiIafePFVINFAY836bkYxA8PdfF8i1BIlRyXEHi8AEzuhOSN73YTZ43n00t5DZ8TdvjCOkbfc8n94/s1600/DSC01869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAtOWCd9JsJhidtCpxXXF833Wx20hg8S4D39HJERljr0v4wvyhs6gIsxao5wtgAMYiIafePFVINFAY836bkYxA8PdfF8i1BIlRyXEHi8AEzuhOSN73YTZ43n00t5DZ8TdvjCOkbfc8n94/s320/DSC01869.JPG" width="320" /></a>Once we sort them girl from boy, we go through our bull calves again and sort out the better ones and put them in a separate group. Dad finds this works great if someone stops in to look at cattle and they only have a few minutes, we will take them to the group of better bull calves. Around this time of year we also attend field days, which is a day where breeders bring bull calves and they are judged in a ring openly. These are the kinds of shows my dad loves, not very much work all you do is bull your calves of the pasture load them on the trailer and take them to a field day for the day. This year we sorted out 24 good bull calves for two field days and 12 heifer calves which are split into pens of three and judged by the people at the field day.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZu2Ai1T_slpv848hIpbNfdfVJNWUBlJHtVDD7QPo9ga-W84zn9i5UPZtomRDOdTZl66hArpdNAGyYDz4Im-ZSkdjg4XhbTIcpF8TxwvnA2fsOQ48JbzAKSy_00QGjiTCCElDao29J5SKD/s1600/DSC01870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZu2Ai1T_slpv848hIpbNfdfVJNWUBlJHtVDD7QPo9ga-W84zn9i5UPZtomRDOdTZl66hArpdNAGyYDz4Im-ZSkdjg4XhbTIcpF8TxwvnA2fsOQ48JbzAKSy_00QGjiTCCElDao29J5SKD/s320/DSC01870.JPG" width="320" /></a>The north western field day was last week in Cut Knife, Saskatchewan. It was a wicked long day, it takes about six and a half hours of straight driving to get there, so we left here at 4:45 in the morning and got home at about 2:30 in the morning the next day, so all in all it was a long day for us and the calves who were very happy to see mommy. It was our first time to the North Western field day and we ended up with Champion Senior Bull Calf and third in the pens of heifer calves. So, it was worth it and it is a great way to see people in the Hereford business and their cattle. I thoroughly enjoy field days. Unfortunately I did forget my camera so I don't have any pictures but I hope to take some for this Thursdays field day in Hardisty, Alberta (a little closer to home, about 4 hours).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Our sorting of boy from girl lets us kill two birds with one stone when we pick calves for the field days and it is a precautionary measure to prevent stuff we don't want to happen!Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-60773331225715065952011-08-04T19:04:00.000-07:002011-08-04T19:04:51.657-07:00A crazy month!I can't believe it's already August, as I get older it seems the days just go by faster and faster! Although I think I have to owe most of July going by real fast by how busy I was, in July pretty much two out of the four weeks was spent away from home, spending most of my time in a barn with a bunch of cattle! <div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk4wpQI2A4ugRqNmcwVr3Ywg8aztfoZ0KRPSldOIbcHvyNX__DwgF3fke4FL6cP56M83f_rFYWKlizL00vTTcRYAUEwbNIvNL07Y6kqN1xdXzwRkifRn2belLUGmso0r-S6l9dVVe98-e/s1600/DSC01719.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVk4wpQI2A4ugRqNmcwVr3Ywg8aztfoZ0KRPSldOIbcHvyNX__DwgF3fke4FL6cP56M83f_rFYWKlizL00vTTcRYAUEwbNIvNL07Y6kqN1xdXzwRkifRn2belLUGmso0r-S6l9dVVe98-e/s320/DSC01719.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdeN5inoYN_SgOSEXZDtzowddmUG6sJVuBsYcTcatKYpbop1rRvrC2Y_ftfIQVIYd3UpxJbw_VhXR_vl4FhhzuunjoMspgqEAV3e69Sxhvgk-nihMIRP62aR36w5rf6HWzgBMOJvoyXZl/s1600/DSC01739.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdeN5inoYN_SgOSEXZDtzowddmUG6sJVuBsYcTcatKYpbop1rRvrC2Y_ftfIQVIYd3UpxJbw_VhXR_vl4FhhzuunjoMspgqEAV3e69Sxhvgk-nihMIRP62aR36w5rf6HWzgBMOJvoyXZl/s320/DSC01739.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a>From July 12-17 was Summer Synergy in Olds Alberta. We headed up to Olds with our five head of cattle around noon on the 12th and got them settled into their tie out pens and everything set up for the week! Throughout the week along with feeding, watering, washing and bedding our cattle so they were nice and comfortable I participated in a variety of different competitions such as multi judging, show team judging, and showmanship during the week. And then Friday was the big show day, where all the kids in all beef breeds, dairy and sheep showed the animals they worked hard to prepare for the show. All the competitions during the week and the conformation show we got points on how well we did and those points got accumulated for the chance to win a scholarship at the end of the week. There was also a marketing component that counted, consisting of making a blog which is how this whole blog got started in the first place and thanks to all of you for reading, following and viewing I was one of the 27 who received a scholarship and was recognized at the Calgary Stampede grandstand on Saturday!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>It was a crazy, exhausting week but totally worth it in the end, walking across the grandstand in front of thousands of people was an experience that I am not soon going to forget! It was an excellent week and I would encourage anyone between the age of 9-21 to come to Summer Synergy in the future, it is a great week and a wonderful opportunity to meet new people and a great way to make get some scholarship money!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0tESgt7XgLEdAMYbNMDnL_k5biGR8y1SOkPa-uvo20qF71vgw5c1BjTqN6zAfbV6jERHC9jDQfSsW99uwqVE5ZrLnt3P3n8ajteT9lDF2EbhhxjZQIAS3hgoTiqazanS7RAGcnMJS4f0/s1600/DSC01769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0tESgt7XgLEdAMYbNMDnL_k5biGR8y1SOkPa-uvo20qF71vgw5c1BjTqN6zAfbV6jERHC9jDQfSsW99uwqVE5ZrLnt3P3n8ajteT9lDF2EbhhxjZQIAS3hgoTiqazanS7RAGcnMJS4f0/s320/DSC01769.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1b-ywMkpi_auTRcXwguAeeGVJgDduyQuzBamhokrpO9L_iCor8rKNneVk8Kyx7_5rIz5W6-SkuLMhGbLqCmQrqUhIj773jR4_YwuLjHLKL5Mmba-aC6yOokwHn0SpJr14_fVkWYMDGb5G/s1600/40w+fixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1b-ywMkpi_auTRcXwguAeeGVJgDduyQuzBamhokrpO9L_iCor8rKNneVk8Kyx7_5rIz5W6-SkuLMhGbLqCmQrqUhIj773jR4_YwuLjHLKL5Mmba-aC6yOokwHn0SpJr14_fVkWYMDGb5G/s320/40w+fixed.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a>Well, after that fulfilling week in Olds, I came home to catch up on some sleep, relax a bit and get ready for the week after for our trip up to Saskatoon Saskatchewan for the 2011Canadian Junior Hereford Bonanza July 26-31. Every year this show is hosted by a different province and this year it was a huge success with our highest numbers ever. My siblings and I took eight head on the long almost seven hour drive to Saskatoon. It is quite similar to Summer Synergy with different activities like showmanship, judging, grooming and team competitions happening throughout the week with the big open show at the end! I did alright in the show this year with my yearling heifer placing third in the class and the 2 year old bull 40W, featured <a href="http://rancherruth.blogspot.com/2011/05/breeding-season.html">here</a> received the honor of reserve champion senior bull! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSCzbXI_KRnXq7mUMoslSedmFBAPB_Jpd3YSy4-4KbOZaCI-lJlULIIpSF-kaW6tlfNGLBbTrLpqV2GmlLiB0ppaXB0yAAM57LCBVRKlZAo2Q7C_-kRtXqOQ7W3ccWgl0HtzGS0FNYFVr/s1600/DSC01853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSCzbXI_KRnXq7mUMoslSedmFBAPB_Jpd3YSy4-4KbOZaCI-lJlULIIpSF-kaW6tlfNGLBbTrLpqV2GmlLiB0ppaXB0yAAM57LCBVRKlZAo2Q7C_-kRtXqOQ7W3ccWgl0HtzGS0FNYFVr/s320/DSC01853.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Bonanza is probably one of my favorite parts of summer, I have been going since 2008 when Alberta hosted it in Medicine Hat and<em> </em>I have loved it ever since. It is another great way to meet fellow junior members that love to show and raise the Hereford breed! Again I encourage any Hereford enthusiasts under the age of 21 to come out and have fun with us, it is another great opportunity for scholarship money, free semen through the semen donation program and the chance to win money for a heifer through the heifer lottery, all you have to do is become a Canadian Junior Hereford Member.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It has been a great month, quite an exhausting one and I'm still catching up on sleep but it has totally been worth it. </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdS3UmCYbq5aA2Ldq7YLcg4c7HtCuXIlHcXQT7Oa3m594CuYp8Kaj1xyk4Ezsrfbsr3Wnx7-8CI42Yfe4ac0Ol6d1YvvpktKayAvOu_Ysh8FaQ2lRuTv0VAyRoURRr-gO0d8btQw8I75n/s1600/DSC01840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdS3UmCYbq5aA2Ldq7YLcg4c7HtCuXIlHcXQT7Oa3m594CuYp8Kaj1xyk4Ezsrfbsr3Wnx7-8CI42Yfe4ac0Ol6d1YvvpktKayAvOu_Ysh8FaQ2lRuTv0VAyRoURRr-gO0d8btQw8I75n/s320/DSC01840.JPG" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team Alberta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-23376372724737989002011-07-11T23:41:00.000-07:002011-07-11T23:41:08.434-07:00Bull Pulling!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz7SB67cWUzR_Y6hr7B6iPlaWwY0qeorx-2cJQM2ZQHMLQMwpkwgRjWmB6S_ONZvijBeLL15tvPNX7y4J2b0JKA9J1nAuNuSEJ3lRGuxInNem1fkrpEsv2yOnh6CdV11-VUtDyDFJiIyO/s1600/IMG_5772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz7SB67cWUzR_Y6hr7B6iPlaWwY0qeorx-2cJQM2ZQHMLQMwpkwgRjWmB6S_ONZvijBeLL15tvPNX7y4J2b0JKA9J1nAuNuSEJ3lRGuxInNem1fkrpEsv2yOnh6CdV11-VUtDyDFJiIyO/s320/IMG_5772.JPG" width="320" /></a>Well, it has been an extremely busy last few days! The big thing this weekend was that the breeding season at our place is officially over, except for the commercial heifers. So, the better part of Friday and Saturday in between baling hay was spent pulling bulls and moving cows. The way we do this is by pulling the bulls from each place separately and then locking them up in a pen of some sort alone also. Once we have all of them rounded up from the pastures, which was done over a two day time span this year we chase them out to a field separately too. We have this one fairly large pasture that is just across the road from our house, it has a slue in the middle, and it gives the bulls lots of room to spread out. We chase them out separately so that they aren't fighting in the process of chasing them out! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbYzjW3HFzjCsiL4hR68tu-Mtn6wISGrsGfvBiixAQ8x3YJAR7wouEPhGunMC6BWijG2hL5NOwJXFYKFbnYFaTycWxcK7mKHiNmHYDO3WqbxAf8yNphw7NF5-5T21yP3WuzPJlEjfHbi-/s1600/IMG_5774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbYzjW3HFzjCsiL4hR68tu-Mtn6wISGrsGfvBiixAQ8x3YJAR7wouEPhGunMC6BWijG2hL5NOwJXFYKFbnYFaTycWxcK7mKHiNmHYDO3WqbxAf8yNphw7NF5-5T21yP3WuzPJlEjfHbi-/s320/IMG_5774.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We send them all out separately but at the same time so that they can all get used to each other at once. If you have a group of bulls and then you just add another one sometime later sometimes they will gang up on the bull that is new. So, our herd bulls spent the first day or so fighting to see who would be the boss of them all, it's just what they do and is quite natural. But, after a while they do settle down and that is why they are also in a big field so they can spread out if they have to and close to home so that we can check on the regularly to make sure no one gets injured or sick in the chaos. We also moved some cows together, as it is a whole lot easier to check eight or nine bunches of cows rather than seventeen of them, and now with the bulls gone we can put more of them together.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> So, that was the big deal this weekend, another breeding season is over and new life's are growing. Sunday was spent with the extended family celebrating a Birthday and Graduation but he rest of the weekend and Monday was mostly spent haying and getting ready for the big Summer Synergy Show. It's been a busy couple of days but not as busy as the rest of the week is going to be! </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIKxF51s_FwYSuSX2Gk_UOXq3MpRMI8gGgW9_IfQ5Zy0wOp-jGNjgvMqvVOzXt70JSgyhoi6ofEhEjgo1PYeCcEXu6YzdKu_Jb4VKCs5CMcL6R36nO0p3X2HSoltDgS-nc00DWST4ccKe/s1600/IMG_5780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQIKxF51s_FwYSuSX2Gk_UOXq3MpRMI8gGgW9_IfQ5Zy0wOp-jGNjgvMqvVOzXt70JSgyhoi6ofEhEjgo1PYeCcEXu6YzdKu_Jb4VKCs5CMcL6R36nO0p3X2HSoltDgS-nc00DWST4ccKe/s320/IMG_5780.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEBy5YoJa6h9L3jiDPQRcgaQ-7OPHMa0EvDvBnP9sFC7rlkfF2u0U3XeieAteMlvNnA1oDl0u9OD1oC5yzmzesijFonNnU6X-MQNAsFrFOIYhG9nU5C742rjBU8zqyNzOq8y5LM4CWOyv/s1600/IMG_5777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoEBy5YoJa6h9L3jiDPQRcgaQ-7OPHMa0EvDvBnP9sFC7rlkfF2u0U3XeieAteMlvNnA1oDl0u9OD1oC5yzmzesijFonNnU6X-MQNAsFrFOIYhG9nU5C742rjBU8zqyNzOq8y5LM4CWOyv/s320/IMG_5777.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-24584199093009908092011-07-08T22:59:00.000-07:002011-07-08T23:11:02.424-07:00A Day of Golf<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3LDdkWKTLTxAqyzZ-5bPGGxZceb3ezIN0ol1GCxdkWBI9BbTrCTEbAYGot2dx9t9s9aAlIUbYSRZIAJ43umOXeUx0P-P7UHA04Ack5liPpNPCcA7AKD99NRq2Q7RdnAV_lbylln_vZO5/s1600/DSC01690.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3LDdkWKTLTxAqyzZ-5bPGGxZceb3ezIN0ol1GCxdkWBI9BbTrCTEbAYGot2dx9t9s9aAlIUbYSRZIAJ43umOXeUx0P-P7UHA04Ack5liPpNPCcA7AKD99NRq2Q7RdnAV_lbylln_vZO5/s320/DSC01690.JPG" width="320" /></a>I spent Wednesday and Thursday up in the town of Hanna at the Keith Gilmore Foundation Annual Golf Tournament! We headed up on Wednesday for the Alberta Hereford Association Annual meeting which my dad was part off, and we enjoyed either a steak or broil lobster supper. The country girl that I am, I stuck with the steak, but I did try a little piece of the lobster and it was edible and from what I heard some of the best lobster people had ever had!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Thursday consisted of the big day with the golf tournament. I golfed for the third time in my life, now the first time I golfed was when I was about six and I don't remember it much, and the second time was in grade twelve, glow ball golfing and that was pretty much just whacking the ball around all over. So this was my first time golfing for real, a full game and I must admit I quite enjoyed myself. I learned a few things, I suck at driving the golf ball, however I am a pretty good putter and golf is funner to play then it is to watch on TV, although it is still not my first pick of a sport but it's fun every once in a while! The day was ended with a wonderful steak supper and a live auction with all proceeds going to the foundation!<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMjS0Q8s4E83cthZ_0AxePoZL8R3TSBB05dHfSF7Fdf-jldK-AHh0T0ZnLYS0tqsuoFRvkcLj5G74nhEoHDv-H81ovHIr8L-z-EmfZJj80IgK27FtrE1L1NvYztj-s-pzuwQmPpMhhigR/s1600/DSC01691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMjS0Q8s4E83cthZ_0AxePoZL8R3TSBB05dHfSF7Fdf-jldK-AHh0T0ZnLYS0tqsuoFRvkcLj5G74nhEoHDv-H81ovHIr8L-z-EmfZJj80IgK27FtrE1L1NvYztj-s-pzuwQmPpMhhigR/s320/DSC01691.JPG" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel was practically a pro at golfing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The golf tournament is a fundraiser for the Keith Gilmore Foundation, which is a foundation that gives up to ten scholarships to post secondary students in Canada that are in the fields of agriculture, veterinary medicine, and agriculture journalism. I was one of the recipients last year, so I was asked to give a little speech about myself this year, so I had to go up their anyway so I decided may as well do a little golf. It is a great day spent with friends having a little fun golfing, and for a very worthy cause. </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">For more information on the Keith Gilmore Foundation go <a href="http://www.keithgilmorefoundation.com/index.htm">here</a> and if you are a Canadian student taking post secondary in agriculture apply for the scholarship, every student likes scholarship money!</div><img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMjS0Q8s4E83cthZ_0AxePoZL8R3TSBB05dHfSF7Fdf-jldK-AHh0T0ZnLYS0tqsuoFRvkcLj5G74nhEoHDv-H81ovHIr8L-z-EmfZJj80IgK27FtrE1L1NvYztj-s-pzuwQmPpMhhigR/s320/DSC01691.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 172px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 425px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UhLlv8y8Li24EzFgUhexLukQBAIZs6GpvosYp562fMAo6jrrNaCDVeI2PNJOqqx4Qf3FkDXpQ2UkixLvRVqakIpzl67aPsXVSKoE-4YK3HyHlNu4peLtGDtFh8OW0u2vEO3dxmu7mRzv/s1600/DSC01695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" m$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3UhLlv8y8Li24EzFgUhexLukQBAIZs6GpvosYp562fMAo6jrrNaCDVeI2PNJOqqx4Qf3FkDXpQ2UkixLvRVqakIpzl67aPsXVSKoE-4YK3HyHlNu4peLtGDtFh8OW0u2vEO3dxmu7mRzv/s320/DSC01695.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-86331229721823197892011-07-04T19:16:00.000-07:002011-07-04T19:16:51.573-07:00Invention Monday - BBQ<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/bbq1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Sheep in BBQ (41275 bytes)" border="0" height="260" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/bbq1.jpg" width="400" /></a>This little invention doesn't really help make life on the ranch faster but it sure does help with social life and getting together with people to visit and have a good time! My relatives invented a large stainless steel barbecue that can roast a whole pig or sheep. Many years ago we would have a pig or lamb roast, where we would roast a lamb or pig in the BBQ, we usually did a lamb because we used to have sheep. So, we roast a lamb and invite all our neighbors, friends, relatives over for a big gathering with lots of talk and lots of delicious food!</div><br />
We haven't used it for years but it hasn't just been sitting around the last little while. The BBQ has roasted pigs for a couple weddings and has been borrowed for a couple other occasions to all withing the last year or so. A few features of the BBQ are:<br />
<ul><li>The heat comes from the side not the bottom therefore doing a better job of roasting the animal.</li>
<li>There is a pan that slopes at the bottom of the BBQ so that the grease from the animal drains rather than flare up the BBQ.</li>
<li>It is not a whole BBQ but can be dismantled and put back together for easier management.</li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/bbqpig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="center" alt="Pig coming out of BBQ (26906 bytes)" border="0" height="231" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/bbqpig.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a>They made a plywood frame to go around so then we are not losing much heat in our windy country. We have roasted a 56 pound lamb to a 140 pound pig with the meat being absolutely delicious and very tasty. I miss those days, they were a lot of fun and hopefully we will put this great invention to use again soon like we used to!</div><img height="69" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/bbqpig.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 195px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 524px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-27963092209081919702011-06-29T20:39:00.000-07:002011-06-29T20:42:15.208-07:00Gophers!<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtJ4SfBn7HpXqHJk495giFVOfVU8TahgCyOFCCGNEeZzoUzOnSopcP8dBYD6_Zm62CVZNygBJN1H1uex0X9fgB2a12timzzC9uuaV557uV5xk8WZQnYbLS9w1VEaKOcqMcs8Fsu5AguPca/s1600/gopher+fixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtJ4SfBn7HpXqHJk495giFVOfVU8TahgCyOFCCGNEeZzoUzOnSopcP8dBYD6_Zm62CVZNygBJN1H1uex0X9fgB2a12timzzC9uuaV557uV5xk8WZQnYbLS9w1VEaKOcqMcs8Fsu5AguPca/s320/gopher+fixed.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>There is a little rodent that runs around called a Richardson Ground Squirrel but I are most commonly referred to as gophers. They cause havoc and are a bit of a problem in the agriculture industry. We have thousands and thousands of gophers in our pastures and we do have to do something about it to control them. Some of you may not agree with killing them but I have to give you my side of this problem. Gophers do two things that cause problems:<br />
<ol><li>Gophers dig holes - They dig them everywhere, making mounds of dirt and tearing up grass. This is an issue in the well being of our cattle, they can hurt themselves if they walk in a gopher hole. It becomes more of an issue during breeding season when they ride each other, it's easier to hurt themselves if they step in a hole while riding.</li>
<li>Gophers eat grass - They eat grass and pasture land, basically what our cows eat. Now one little gopher doesn't make much of a difference, but all together they do. A gopher weighs about a quarter of a pound, and will eat about seventy-five percent of their body weight. So, 0.25*0.75=0.1875 pounds a day. If their is just 1000 gophers together they are eating 0.1875*1000=187.5 pounds of grass. Now cows will eat about 1.4-4.0% of their body weight a day depending on the quality of food. So a 1200 pound cow would eat between 17-48 pounds of dry basis feed. So, just a thousand gophers, are eating about 11 or so cows feed a day! That is a lot!!</li>
</ol><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.itsnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gophers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" id="stimuli_lightboxImage" src="http://www.itsnature.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/gophers.jpg" style="height: 235px; width: 500px;" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.itsnature.org/ground/mammals-land/gophers/">Image</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>So, we do get rid of those annoying creatures, and there are a whole lot more than just 1000 of them, we have one field this year that is really bad, with thousands and thousands of them. And it doesn't seem to matter how many we get rid of, next year there is always another million of them. They are like a never ending problem in our area that we try to take care of as best we can!</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-6402947410049223662011-06-28T22:20:00.000-07:002011-06-28T22:20:54.384-07:00A little Supplementation!As I've mentioned before all our cows are out on pasture for the breeding season and they have been keeping us busy with regular checks. Checking everyone on a regular basis is very important to make sure all animals are healthy and making sure they have pasture, moving them when they run out. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9aV9eWhJo-pVjQmFtUvAKbW6Hrd1R9aBMXmQ699IaPRkTL7pInST9XhbvSNaiOwG3u94WzoEy3YVCK50o3VFopQa8tgKDmA6rKgaadmd0hjFYO3tTWbtAVC5yZFEuzD-70Y9ku58HaR_/s1600/IMG_5633.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9aV9eWhJo-pVjQmFtUvAKbW6Hrd1R9aBMXmQ699IaPRkTL7pInST9XhbvSNaiOwG3u94WzoEy3YVCK50o3VFopQa8tgKDmA6rKgaadmd0hjFYO3tTWbtAVC5yZFEuzD-70Y9ku58HaR_/s320/IMG_5633.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt (red) and seven way</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On a regular basis we also fill up tubs with mineral and salt as a supplementation and is very important to the cattle's diet. We have three different types of mineral that we give the cows:</div><ul style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Our soil is extremely low in cooper and zinc so we feed them a hi-boot cooper and zinc salt that supplies them with the loss in the feed they eat. It also has traces of magnesium which is also a deficiency in cattle.</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The mineral we feed with the salt is an ALT-GEN 17-17 Beef and Range Mineral which contains mainly calcium and phosphorus for the cattle's diet.</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Some of our pastures contain alfalfa which is a legume plant that grows purple flowers and will grow several times during the summer if grazed down. One problem that alfalfa can cause though is bloat in animals, which is when the stomach becomes overstretched by excess gas content and if not caught and treated quickly the animal will usually die. So to prevent this cows in alfalfa pastures get seven way mineral which contains vitamins and minerals that prevent bloat.</li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AnOBbXW9JpVxVtNuTMbMq_rzSCyqA-t_Lu9zIs236NJ7HX1KCoACEi2gsv5Bev_2B2lpgy0IPwXXUgrz2uNo5sVJlsje4x3RhLlwHjzp3bnCGDryq3ivoJ3HUDVzQw-aAkCjMmeP4zXX/s1600/IMG_5649.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AnOBbXW9JpVxVtNuTMbMq_rzSCyqA-t_Lu9zIs236NJ7HX1KCoACEi2gsv5Bev_2B2lpgy0IPwXXUgrz2uNo5sVJlsje4x3RhLlwHjzp3bnCGDryq3ivoJ3HUDVzQw-aAkCjMmeP4zXX/s320/IMG_5649.JPG" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a>These supplements are very important to a cows diet, especially during summer pasture and when lactating milk to raise their calves. So, it is very important to make sure that they have a constant supply of salt and mineral. And luckily the cattle absolutely love the stuff, it is usually a mad dash when giving them mineral to get to the tub first!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCDguW7o9fChuNyawY0C5eJ_SiKmnO811nGW8YvDfjfv4KrDPhUW0UXW13X-A9ZI9qUJojIR8n4SKShz3nIw2nUOusnugMmta1hkFdjO-1LcJziGONe5-xpomb0p9CIAH6anOoZBpD_-c/s1600/IMG_5650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiCDguW7o9fChuNyawY0C5eJ_SiKmnO811nGW8YvDfjfv4KrDPhUW0UXW13X-A9ZI9qUJojIR8n4SKShz3nIw2nUOusnugMmta1hkFdjO-1LcJziGONe5-xpomb0p9CIAH6anOoZBpD_-c/s320/IMG_5650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87StoScl60lXIWE8cVU8Uqm2ZxeapmbboItLNXgxdDhAJr6qFJ3s_6wJHHXPc0D-RXwSQYZpE0zsJ8ShV3L_2E5tB5n3Mjg6ddigyklYQ5VF5qh13G-OA2uaUbPy0jBUm6qGH9amN8QHM/s1600/IMG_5655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi87StoScl60lXIWE8cVU8Uqm2ZxeapmbboItLNXgxdDhAJr6qFJ3s_6wJHHXPc0D-RXwSQYZpE0zsJ8ShV3L_2E5tB5n3Mjg6ddigyklYQ5VF5qh13G-OA2uaUbPy0jBUm6qGH9amN8QHM/s320/IMG_5655.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AnOBbXW9JpVxVtNuTMbMq_rzSCyqA-t_Lu9zIs236NJ7HX1KCoACEi2gsv5Bev_2B2lpgy0IPwXXUgrz2uNo5sVJlsje4x3RhLlwHjzp3bnCGDryq3ivoJ3HUDVzQw-aAkCjMmeP4zXX/s320/IMG_5649.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 177px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 516px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" />Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-474535386357863892011-06-27T15:32:00.000-07:002011-06-27T15:32:47.373-07:00Invention Monday - Shredder<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/images/shredder3bales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="shredder3bales.jpg (9521 bytes)" border="0" height="194" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/images/shredder3bales.jpg" width="452" /></a>A truck with a mounted bale shredder that we bought because the prototype that they built took to long to iron out so we went ahead and bought a Brandt Bale Processor for the back of the truck. This wonderful truck has three uses, we can feed grain out of the box in front of the shredder, it can be used to feed hay to the cattle and it shreds straw which is what we probably use it for the most. Pretty much all winter long someone is shredding straw into the pens.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/images/shredderworking2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; height: 210px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 328px;"><img align="right" alt="shredderworking2.jpg (10691 bytes)" border="0" height="210" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/images/shredderworking2.jpg" width="320" /></a>Another sweet feature that my relatives came up with is they added a fork to the front of the truck so that there can be three straw bales loaded on at once, one in the shredder, one at the back and one at the front. This tends to safe quite a bit of time, so then you don't have to drive to the stack yard and get another bale every time you run out but simply push a lever and the next straw bale goes into the shredder.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This invention is one that saves a fair about of time and one that we use a lot. I have never had the privlege of driving this big truck, I have however had the honor of opening gates in cold weather for the person in the shredder so that it would save even more time. Unfortunatly the shredder has been in the shop for a while now getting fixed, hopefully it willwork again soon because it is a pretty important part of the ranch, especially come winter time so the wonderful cows and calves don't freeze! Here is a little video of the truck in action.</div><div align="center"></div><img height="63" src="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/images/shredderworking2.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 626px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 737px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxv8F-FT8NknwoH4rl0dJmksGzOXeGz8WnBV9pUAW8SRBqNwndIfVs0isWNXXyPN0sxFatwzqaHfU2FDIEk' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"> For more info on this great machine go <a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/shredder.htm">here</a>.</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-52102215024525563152011-06-26T16:58:00.000-07:002011-06-27T00:01:45.701-07:00Numbers GaloreA few days ago I did a blog on ultrasounding carcass traits in animals and had mentioned EPD's, today I will go into a little more depth on EPD's.<br />
<br />
EPD stands for expected progeny differences. Here is an example of EPD's for an animal. To some of you this may look like just a bunch of numbers, I will do my very best to explain what the numbers are and mean.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-ZtiUAhp-NSv7_OamSKEc2GmROlC5yD_NW6_uI1lFVc_A8CU0hw3AqcfR6S8T3R-bJLS-ff2mU8ngqnYIM3VKQRqk0SdC9DLrZ1yfpEZyzHtTwUs4zgqAasRuZk91GJ-HRwBlFoJK0lj/s1600/EPD+fixed+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht-ZtiUAhp-NSv7_OamSKEc2GmROlC5yD_NW6_uI1lFVc_A8CU0hw3AqcfR6S8T3R-bJLS-ff2mU8ngqnYIM3VKQRqk0SdC9DLrZ1yfpEZyzHtTwUs4zgqAasRuZk91GJ-HRwBlFoJK0lj/s640/EPD+fixed+2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<ul><li><strong>Calving Ease</strong> - is an EPD that has a multitude of factors that impact calving ease from gestation period, feed, climate, cow size to breed. Calving ease is how well a cow will calf, we want calving ease to be higher so that most of them will be unassisted.</li>
<li><strong>Birth Weight</strong> is the EPD that gets calculated using the birth weights of the bulls and cows progeny as well as the calves birth weight. The lower the number the better. This bull for example has a birth weight EPD of +3.6 and he is used on cows. Our one heifer bull has a birth weight EPD of -1.1 which is low and part of the reason he is used on heifers because you want heifer's calves to have low birthweights so that they can easily calf and don't need assistance.</li>
<li><strong>Weaning weight</strong> is based on the weight of the calf's and its parents weight at weaning (when we take the calves away from the moms). In this case it is the higher the number the better. For example if another bull at an EPD of 0.0 this bull with the weaning weight of +55.8 will sire offspring with an average of 55.8 pounds heavier at weaning then the bull with an EPD of 0.0.</li>
<li><strong>Yearling weight</strong> is the same as weaning only it applies to when the animal is a year old.</li>
<li><strong>Milk</strong> is another one of those EPD's that you want higher numbers. You can't have a cow that doesn't produce any milk so you want high EPD's, <span style="font-family: inherit;">it is a measure of the amount of pre-weaning performance gained by calves which can be attributed to the milking ability of a bull's/cow's daughters. The EPD is expressed in pounds of calf.</span></li>
<li><strong>Total Maternal </strong>is half the weaning weight plus the milk of the mother.</li>
<li><strong>Maternal Calving Ease</strong> is the calving ease of the mother.</li>
<li><strong>Scrotal Circumference </strong>is determined and adjusted from the yearling scrotal circumference of a bull's or cow's progeny, in centimeters and again the higher the EPD the bigger the better.</li>
<li><strong>Cow Weight </strong>is the EPD of the cow weight.</li>
<li><strong>Stayability </strong>is the probability that a bulls daughters will stay in the herd for so many years.</li>
<li><strong>MPI </strong>is maternal productivity index.</li>
<li><strong>FMI </strong>is feedlot merit index</li>
<li><strong>Fat </strong>is determined from the ultrasound measurements and the lower the number the less fat the animal has and the better.</li>
<li><strong>REA </strong>is the rib eye area EPD also from ultrasound, higher numbers mean larger rib eyes.</li>
<li><strong>MARB</strong> is the marbling of the animal also determined from the ultrasound with higher EPD numbers also meaning more marbling.</li>
</ul>The middle row is the accuracy of the EPD's and is very important when looking at the EPD's. For example the calving ease EPD is seven percent accurate.<br />
The row at the bottom is the average EPD's of all the calves born in 2009 of the Hereford breed. An average is made every year of the calves and is used as a guideline to compare an animal to the average. EPD's of different breeds cannot be compared because each breed has their own methods of calculating EPD's and they are simply not comparable.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJEycNbQOQ6GhcAERiDeWAheMPAjUPUEj8mZo-yPQ4pAawkPHENxoZjNLX6WqnD_OleBC2_eb7hXy-itJu20AIGatppo5zWF02362RBfYflTsn97KsVf7p1p-d6C6yT3C-S8jYExp-Jyh/s1600/Graph+Fixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="472" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJEycNbQOQ6GhcAERiDeWAheMPAjUPUEj8mZo-yPQ4pAawkPHENxoZjNLX6WqnD_OleBC2_eb7hXy-itJu20AIGatppo5zWF02362RBfYflTsn97KsVf7p1p-d6C6yT3C-S8jYExp-Jyh/s640/Graph+Fixed.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EPD's showed graphically in percentiles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>EPD's are a lot of numbers but are very useful in choosing herd sires to breed cows to. Through EPD's breeders can also increase the productivity and characteristics of their herd. They are also used to decide which cows to put with which bulls, for example if one cow has a low milking EPD, then we would stick her with a bull that has an above average, high milking EPD and the calf should average out and increase in milking EPD. EPD's are useful in herd management and are starting to be used more by breeders in their herd and in selecting bulls. Please comment and let me know if you have any questions!<br />
<br />
Credits: <a href="http://www.hereford.ca/performance.asp">http://www.hereford.ca/performance.asp</a><br />
<a href="http://www.hereford.ca/association_member/PDFs/forms/calving_ease.pdf">http://www.hereford.ca/association_member/PDFs/forms/calving_ease.pdf</a>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-10448972333317242722011-06-24T21:38:00.000-07:002011-06-25T13:28:01.452-07:00"The Selecta Belle"Recently we received a very large stack of old Canadian Hereford Digests and I was looking through a couple of them today and I came across a little story that I found to be very cute and funny from the 1985 Digest that I would like to share with you.<br />
<br />
<div align="center">The Selecta Belle</div><div align="center">By: Delita Belle</div><div style="text-align: left;">About mid morning Max appeared in the doorway.... "Could you help me sort some bulls?" he asked.... I was up to my elbows in bread dough, but the thought of leaving the house for a few minutes seemed very attractive... Quickly I finished punching the bread, slipped into my coveralls and rubber boots and, like an obedient little dog, I followed Max out to the corral.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Sorting the bulls was always an exciting time... This was when we selected those animals that qualified for the 'Bull Market.' The 'Culls' were sold for beef... Max always made me feel as if he valued my opinion. As he extolled the merits of every animal, preparing me for a decision, I tried to point out some of the qualities I liked. Max listened politely, pausing briefly as he waited for me to finish, hen he would explain to me that maybe those long eyelashes and cute little curls in the bulls tail weren't so important in selecting a bull....</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I really began to wonder why he had asked me for my valued opinion. Maybe he was felling sorry for me, since the last selection I had made turned out to be a fizzle... He was probably giving me one more chance to shape up... My thoughts turned to that fateful day.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The Five Star Sale was on and Max was having one of those days when the vet calls and the calving problems in our own pasture had put the cap on any chance of his leaving the territory for a production sale.... He must have looked me over and decided my inefficiency would perhaps be less noticeable at the sale...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So... armed with a list of careful instructions on how to select a female, I drove off to choose a heifer at the sale... I was so pleased that Max had such confidence in me. I was really going to make him proud of me...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After spending a glowing hour or so, visiting with other breeders and their wives, looking over a large selection of beautiful females from the herds of five breeders, I stuffed myself with delicious roast beef, apple pie and confidence... I felt I was well prepared for the important selection of a female for our herd...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I was filled with so much excitement and importance as I sat in the stand beside my friend, Doreen. We had so much news to exchange about the activities of our unbelievable kids.... We really missed seeing the first dozen or so females pass through the ring...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">A scurry in the show ring suddenly snapped us to attention. One very nervous heifer had decided she had enough of the poking, tugging, and pushing, and was making her wishes known. At the moment her wish was to have everyone out of the ring.... Everyone! As the last man scrambled over the fence she snorted furiously and whipped around a few times to make sure no one was sneaking back...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"Well, now! There's a spirited princess for you!" bawled the auctioneer. "Isn't she a sweet, lively thing?" And as she stood their in the middle of the ring, her head high, her eyes bright with anger, her body in rigid defiance, I felt a kinship with her.... Yes! She was a sweet, lively thing!... And as her eyes met mine a spark of sympathy seemed to light between us... "What am I bid for this beauty?" begged the auctioneer. "Do I hear five? Make it ten?" Up went my catalogue and Princess was mine!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I drove home on cloud nine with Princess churning around and around in the back of my truck... Max met me at the loading chute. He peered anxiously into the back, not saying a word... Silently he opened the back gate and Princess tore out of the box like a nipped hound and never stopped until she hit the fence...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"What on earth did you buy that for?" whispered Max unbelievably. As my delight in my purchase faded and the weight of Max's disappointment settled heavily upon me, my mind darted around for an excuse...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">"She had such beautiful eyelashes!" I whispered weakly...</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-55516408598853930632011-06-22T18:17:00.000-07:002011-06-23T14:36:15.073-07:00Ultrasounding<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijU2hs98LrcMXnEGpD0GtbsRzqFx6P01l5HCvu_hobAfT2y2-x1vT4gl-W_J5tIf-X06q8ZWfaGMadBNsG0B8ySvyk1WSOM-8nzxGec6nqQ9aNxtZsn16VzD2Vnscc0CyM0rEVCQ7FqBiy/s1600/IMG_5697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijU2hs98LrcMXnEGpD0GtbsRzqFx6P01l5HCvu_hobAfT2y2-x1vT4gl-W_J5tIf-X06q8ZWfaGMadBNsG0B8ySvyk1WSOM-8nzxGec6nqQ9aNxtZsn16VzD2Vnscc0CyM0rEVCQ7FqBiy/s320/IMG_5697.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Last Saturday was a little bit of a unique one, we had two men from Kazakstan come to our place for an ultrasound demonstration! It was pretty exciting to have them over and to hear their language, it was my first time and it's very neat. They came over to Canada to learn about ultrasounding and how to do it because they want to introduce ultrasound for carcass traits, mainly marbling into their herd! I will do my best to explain the ultrasounding process in this blog post! <br />
<br />
We have been ultrasounding for carcass traits in our herd for about the last ten years, every year we have an ultrasound technician come out to our place and ultrasound all our yearling heifers and bulls, about two hundred and twenty head making for quite a long day! <br />
<br />
The ultrasound measures and estimate of marbling, rib-eye area, back fat and rump fat at three locations on the animal, as shown in the diagram:<br />
<br />
<ol><li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/html/B1337/images/B1337-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" id="il_fi" src="http://www.caes.uga.edu/applications/publications/files/html/B1337/images/B1337-4.jpg" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="400" /></a>Is where the percent of intramuscular fat is measured and is used mainly to measure the marbling in an animal. Marbling is the little specks of fat that is found in a steak and is what adds flavor to the meat. Marbling is also the measurement that will vary the most in an animal, marbling is what they will lose first if their living conditions deteriorate or they get sick.</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Is rib-eye area and back fat. Rib-eye is an estimate of the amount of muscle and lean product in the animal. Back fat is an estimate of the external fat on the animal.</li>
<li style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Is the rump measurement and is an additional measurement of the external fat on the animal.</li>
</ol><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Carcass traits measured through ultrasound are highly heritable and will be transferred to the offspring. Over the years we have found that the animals with extremely big rib-eye areas tend to be larger and suitable for terminal sire use, whereas the animals with extreme marbling tend to be a bit on the shallow side and maybe a little bit harder doing. For this reason we look for a balance in our carcass EPDs. It is also seen that if an animal has a huge rib-eye area their marbling usually is not good and vice versa which is another good reason to aim for balanced carcass traits with no major extremes.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Ultrasounding is a very useful technique that is becoming more popular, more buyers are starting to look at carcass traits when they purchase animals. It is also getting to be known around the world as is proof by the Kazakhstanians coming to learn about ultrasound, I know they did and I hope you did too! If you have any questions or comments about it please don't hesitate to ask.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqtoqrfUrJyIXIf4s3niSH8pEN6gHruuYy_ds0_ifplFAOIDA9qra2txMHASwdhkITe6jhITNqVkf6VR3dL-S8f0gWHZP1DfONuJq1wXFGhJOzOLY61CD_iKR_WGc1HBWT3kxpybwdoUIr/s1600/IMG_5701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqtoqrfUrJyIXIf4s3niSH8pEN6gHruuYy_ds0_ifplFAOIDA9qra2txMHASwdhkITe6jhITNqVkf6VR3dL-S8f0gWHZP1DfONuJq1wXFGhJOzOLY61CD_iKR_WGc1HBWT3kxpybwdoUIr/s640/IMG_5701.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rump Picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gznwYoGIexlqd_cyRsK_qXEhKIql5U8pL5M3goaL6NzAsMQLMIsDcuBPbfDYRHNc4PjAPhKmyEPYf3W3NGw_MeBRKw03QBeDuS_yjdo208dVFo5os1gy0wBGReN2_gzAmp1IX5V05PWy/s1600/IMG_5700.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gznwYoGIexlqd_cyRsK_qXEhKIql5U8pL5M3goaL6NzAsMQLMIsDcuBPbfDYRHNc4PjAPhKmyEPYf3W3NGw_MeBRKw03QBeDuS_yjdo208dVFo5os1gy0wBGReN2_gzAmp1IX5V05PWy/s640/IMG_5700.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rib-Eye Picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl20agmQCRmN3iccw3vfhhZ6oMSc5f-JfoZNpUlaNdc75j8lq7d0EazOS7bNLqy4LLVh7V_1mQ7S3uK3PGn1uXo40m7DgQ_0W9wXw_PSAt8vshcI3GGb0xyZ5u9Wb5pdO6SpVmOPg_UiU/s1600/IMG_5703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRl20agmQCRmN3iccw3vfhhZ6oMSc5f-JfoZNpUlaNdc75j8lq7d0EazOS7bNLqy4LLVh7V_1mQ7S3uK3PGn1uXo40m7DgQ_0W9wXw_PSAt8vshcI3GGb0xyZ5u9Wb5pdO6SpVmOPg_UiU/s320/IMG_5703.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monitor<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1E-iuZFEF16JBc7t8tLbTC8YDAVKwy-xINyfGET5Ol4xlFURtGaEgyFb66mwIIrTzWlgf1ZpGMLSUAuHiCB6wqIl4gCBwX36sdL34Dnx_-gQtY3wOYCV4_iUKeP2mrSteP3TI8a_O3kOz/s1600/IMG_5698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1E-iuZFEF16JBc7t8tLbTC8YDAVKwy-xINyfGET5Ol4xlFURtGaEgyFb66mwIIrTzWlgf1ZpGMLSUAuHiCB6wqIl4gCBwX36sdL34Dnx_-gQtY3wOYCV4_iUKeP2mrSteP3TI8a_O3kOz/s320/IMG_5698.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="left"></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oYPmsyjh6WImEABjvhNazWGjKJbWJdADqNKzV-p4NV9Hlj97K7i8NgdZkgSZWajMQuWHPy79M5V7-SGrC7tBeLqaXDnHOnvkt2F04XrnwsvcNmb4e4iMC1rCZIZfAAs-sXuYPOKzVjZt/s1600/IMG_5704.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_oYPmsyjh6WImEABjvhNazWGjKJbWJdADqNKzV-p4NV9Hlj97K7i8NgdZkgSZWajMQuWHPy79M5V7-SGrC7tBeLqaXDnHOnvkt2F04XrnwsvcNmb4e4iMC1rCZIZfAAs-sXuYPOKzVjZt/s320/IMG_5704.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ultrasounding</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Credit:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_ID=7742#Measurements">http://www.caes.uga.edu/publications/pubDetail.cfm?pk_ID=7742#Measurements</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The Cattleman October 2010</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-2587706529450080672011-06-20T22:44:00.000-07:002011-06-20T22:44:55.254-07:00Invention Monday - Gate Latch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUAA5KxQ7ubI0ZLMmBv0Z7aeQwzjV69zCNbsgEc96Gu6JAGsny-LB-9d6GyyHhtTWpyIVWOA5JqD3yUwqXMTYYjN4AXCb2Aw-UfHwlYDZm3mk_fMnMUkbunxcg-HEgek7ZjNGmtjhYaXM/s1600/IMG_5709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGUAA5KxQ7ubI0ZLMmBv0Z7aeQwzjV69zCNbsgEc96Gu6JAGsny-LB-9d6GyyHhtTWpyIVWOA5JqD3yUwqXMTYYjN4AXCb2Aw-UfHwlYDZm3mk_fMnMUkbunxcg-HEgek7ZjNGmtjhYaXM/s320/IMG_5709.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closed</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Today's invention is a fairly simple one. We have a lot of land which means we have a lot of gates and my wonderful family inventors came up with a very simple and easy way to open gates. We do have three types of gates, some have a simple chain around it which is a real pain sometimes to close as the chain will hook onto the barbwire fence. The newer gates are wire gates that has three handles to hook. But most of them are the gate latches!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">When the latch is open it makes the gate loose so that it's easy to lift off and open the gate, no use of a wirer puller or to much strength, and then when it's closed the gate is tight. One of those simple inventions that makes gate opening easier and faster to do. For more info on how it was built and with what go <a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/latch.htm">here</a>.</div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jaiRZtygTagXYUSje1kr2cb1UPG96JfpTq0pmURlPfyM1AJxJ3ZRS2PsPxCQBGBBuJdG9fhzqtiAVKqjoTwTkN5oOP_gMbUaXNfYtYJD4iDilL7s-HORjI5yBGGWR9PlPXu1_2QlUlo3/s1600/IMG_5710.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4jaiRZtygTagXYUSje1kr2cb1UPG96JfpTq0pmURlPfyM1AJxJ3ZRS2PsPxCQBGBBuJdG9fhzqtiAVKqjoTwTkN5oOP_gMbUaXNfYtYJD4iDilL7s-HORjI5yBGGWR9PlPXu1_2QlUlo3/s400/IMG_5710.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Open</div></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2LhjpA7SZ_iHNaf-hMBDvwSxo4kMnnnhQjKAB2qpyK1cuVVtHTXtbccW6vvi8cbo73iMApnMt9je1mIWBQuegsJ_FzU0YnV74nEpOE5kGgK-EG88foQOPA73nPCrCIl1KjPFO3GDL6fE/s1600/IMG_5708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2LhjpA7SZ_iHNaf-hMBDvwSxo4kMnnnhQjKAB2qpyK1cuVVtHTXtbccW6vvi8cbo73iMApnMt9je1mIWBQuegsJ_FzU0YnV74nEpOE5kGgK-EG88foQOPA73nPCrCIl1KjPFO3GDL6fE/s400/IMG_5708.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wire Gate</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVRja85NrOCekPB1K4jXM54KLfuexM4lWwl1o5nJJx62Lg7b_EQcyxrYMZ4O2YnfXU8ARIOVX655k8by_fnDcFwCbmPzwrA-k5oCTu-1QkecrCZKP8Ib6s8qz8OVlrJv9whuj0LDS0DmQ/s1600/IMG_5707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVRja85NrOCekPB1K4jXM54KLfuexM4lWwl1o5nJJx62Lg7b_EQcyxrYMZ4O2YnfXU8ARIOVX655k8by_fnDcFwCbmPzwrA-k5oCTu-1QkecrCZKP8Ib6s8qz8OVlrJv9whuj0LDS0DmQ/s400/IMG_5707.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chain</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-90746643410456658182011-06-19T16:30:00.000-07:002011-06-19T23:17:19.655-07:00Happy Father's Day!<div style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I am so happy that many years ago my dad was born in the little country of Switzerland and had a childhood dream of ranching and being part of the agriculture world because otherwise I would not have grown up in the industry with the most amazing father ever being their everyday and doing so much. </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccKRtUSDDrB448X6w9Pn-6Vu_O-wim6rQv2-u1NzKUVXJ331iOnhq2Oj1rFlFXsAWPiecafjupUabyLsVFK8cRgqb19jvK5tn3rf0ftxMWSUwx8IKRGdWhGHP8sAdC3RE0fq21J-NZ3YQ/s1600/P1030174c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="130" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccKRtUSDDrB448X6w9Pn-6Vu_O-wim6rQv2-u1NzKUVXJ331iOnhq2Oj1rFlFXsAWPiecafjupUabyLsVFK8cRgqb19jvK5tn3rf0ftxMWSUwx8IKRGdWhGHP8sAdC3RE0fq21J-NZ3YQ/s400/P1030174c.jpg" width="400" /></a>So, he came to Canada and worked for my mom's dad on the ranch and became an integral part of the place and now is in charge of the amazing ranch. He has always been here for us kids as we grew up and then in our 4-H years he was on the end of the halter tying them up until we were old enough, rising bright and early to help us load for our Achievement Days and summer cattle shows.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>I am so thankful for my great dad and what he has done for me over the years, always here giving the best of advice. An amazing dad, who deserves the best! So, a very Happy Father's Day to all the great dad's out their, you all deserve the absolute best!<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxmrpIQuprlGQs6p6JqMjp300D-RrJkCk2zlAbqbu43Ag2J4A8OvzLpuOCLCQj-Qel-ID0HcKcaon3Z29V-s-OWPoWD1W6oODoWJ3zXfcgEUb5pUeX5UQX5X1WUq4dSv09h8FZeroPflG/s1600/SpringSummer+014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxmrpIQuprlGQs6p6JqMjp300D-RrJkCk2zlAbqbu43Ag2J4A8OvzLpuOCLCQj-Qel-ID0HcKcaon3Z29V-s-OWPoWD1W6oODoWJ3zXfcgEUb5pUeX5UQX5X1WUq4dSv09h8FZeroPflG/s320/SpringSummer+014.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jeqmVApm-m0PjpVqFqTpSMTespDFGe2jzTdAaK_wGpfMmJB8Px2xf0E0p2tMO8Cf1yezJgHeVRPyrLUOUsT8AblaZkw5HSD5fvVk5QIoK_6ZASSjfZIn2Pikne7SJDPEhLb9kSj6O_u7/s1600/SpringSummer+052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jeqmVApm-m0PjpVqFqTpSMTespDFGe2jzTdAaK_wGpfMmJB8Px2xf0E0p2tMO8Cf1yezJgHeVRPyrLUOUsT8AblaZkw5HSD5fvVk5QIoK_6ZASSjfZIn2Pikne7SJDPEhLb9kSj6O_u7/s320/SpringSummer+052.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><img height="31" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgccKRtUSDDrB448X6w9Pn-6Vu_O-wim6rQv2-u1NzKUVXJ331iOnhq2Oj1rFlFXsAWPiecafjupUabyLsVFK8cRgqb19jvK5tn3rf0ftxMWSUwx8IKRGdWhGHP8sAdC3RE0fq21J-NZ3YQ/s400/P1030174c.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 570px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 182px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /> <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-82151756423137420932011-06-17T22:19:00.000-07:002011-06-17T22:22:38.588-07:00Twine<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIaeAuDW5srdxGX7JwjZhjFs3q3aYrLCBlLFsEIJNMjQ_2FiVCrQIgw6PUlii7RYfHy2XjZcfoUMecwlZ86mOryT0wJvlKEWlUm6GePVPmRSSCZ_9M9OcJVDbJjaNpCYVKUr67ur-OVF0/s1600/IMG_5290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivIaeAuDW5srdxGX7JwjZhjFs3q3aYrLCBlLFsEIJNMjQ_2FiVCrQIgw6PUlii7RYfHy2XjZcfoUMecwlZ86mOryT0wJvlKEWlUm6GePVPmRSSCZ_9M9OcJVDbJjaNpCYVKUr67ur-OVF0/s320/IMG_5290.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Net wrap and Twine (blue is twine rest is wrap)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Quite some time ago, I did a blog post on one of the jobs that I don't really enjoy doing, well today the second lovely job of pulling twine that I could live without took place! I had been putting it off for quite a while, but dad decided it needed to be done, so I had help. There as four of us on the ground and one in the tractor cleaning the stack yards after us and within two and a half hours we had two stack yards free of twine! I must say I was very happy for the help because without them it would have taken me four times as long.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">In the summer we do a lot of haying and we have four stack yards where we store the hay bales. The irrigation hay gets wrapped with net wrap and the dry land hay gets wrapped with twine. I personally prefer picking twine so you don't always have to tear up the whole ground to get the stuff out. In the winter months we feed the hay and when you lift the bales off the ground and they are frozen to the ground so when they get pulled away some twine and net wrap stay behind.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHIhWQX1FpYo4cMTl0fDnBjGtbgsmXF9s9ZJ8wi1lbENnYcvHjZfVyc8G2rriuRZbs9gzs86Wpzw3oSSQjFBF-yEbNbTKuSNWImZpW6F94bn9DLIrEBovT6ypm-RhIq7XHzX0o1p670JV/s1600/IMG_5681.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHIhWQX1FpYo4cMTl0fDnBjGtbgsmXF9s9ZJ8wi1lbENnYcvHjZfVyc8G2rriuRZbs9gzs86Wpzw3oSSQjFBF-yEbNbTKuSNWImZpW6F94bn9DLIrEBovT6ypm-RhIq7XHzX0o1p670JV/s320/IMG_5681.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel never ceases to amaze me, there he was yanking on<br />
twine with all his might</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">So, we pick up the twine and net wrap in our stack yards for a few reasons. Twine can get caught in wheel bearings of vehicles, sometimes cattle, calves especially like to experiment and chew on things that they shouldn't chew on so they will sometimes chew on twine and it's not very good for them. It also keeps the stack yards clean and nice when people come to visit! It is one of those other jobs in the agriculture industry that isn't very fun but has to be done.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEE6mq1y9aEvtzapMOEaOCaWmjj7HPjV8YO7jvY8957PM9w3uZEKZpwjvXV-NQq2eTygPnBUgf_h1CMoI6lEbvoBprx_EacoQtzgvhvRRyEzsdqJJGcveCbEMkj3VLVbVkLbB8RJ2XzGQ/s1600/IMG_5684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEE6mq1y9aEvtzapMOEaOCaWmjj7HPjV8YO7jvY8957PM9w3uZEKZpwjvXV-NQq2eTygPnBUgf_h1CMoI6lEbvoBprx_EacoQtzgvhvRRyEzsdqJJGcveCbEMkj3VLVbVkLbB8RJ2XzGQ/s400/IMG_5684.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEojQkJpUqBBR7OqF3gxRP8dpR7D8up10z2xm2sJG2ux1NoyOujZfsLUHnPatRJRa3_0a6SK2RBov_n-OZx1SDI3GEcMMER8rSD2nt1BeCkQ_PNpM4OjxF3QS4cdas1-1_Fv1aTU-rRjt/s1600/IMG_5682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifEojQkJpUqBBR7OqF3gxRP8dpR7D8up10z2xm2sJG2ux1NoyOujZfsLUHnPatRJRa3_0a6SK2RBov_n-OZx1SDI3GEcMMER8rSD2nt1BeCkQ_PNpM4OjxF3QS4cdas1-1_Fv1aTU-rRjt/s400/IMG_5682.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-65702460511994867752011-06-16T19:15:00.000-07:002011-06-16T19:15:02.610-07:00Road Trip!Yesterday I took a road trip with my dad to deliver four bulls to three different places. Being in the agriculture business selling bulls involves a bit of traveling and a lot of visiting! We were delivering bulls down to the beautiful cypress hills country in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Of course when delivering bulls one doesn't usually drop the bull off and leave again, a lengthy conversation is usually held. And yesterdays topics consisted of the crazy bizarre weather, the industry, market, the happenings in each others country, cows and what problems have come about, it even consisted of talking about the hockey game last night, to many more topics. I love to sit and listen to conversations like these most of the time, it's a great place to learn about many different things and hear thoughts of other people in this great industry on topics of all sorts.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1F51WHHyHbRjC6x0J0_tKRae2vyWFWAT-vaJLAE44ZrTTJNcWKvy0PJgBhnB5MGgxK_2S9R_EBSt0TiuIm23synu74KUlYyovLorP352CgYBCsIUwmqTir2Nk74Vp2-drZdjqwaAqV5K/s1600/IMG_5679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1F51WHHyHbRjC6x0J0_tKRae2vyWFWAT-vaJLAE44ZrTTJNcWKvy0PJgBhnB5MGgxK_2S9R_EBSt0TiuIm23synu74KUlYyovLorP352CgYBCsIUwmqTir2Nk74Vp2-drZdjqwaAqV5K/s320/IMG_5679.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a>These four bulls were sold sight unseen meaning the buyers have only seen pictures but haven't seen the bull in real life before buying him, yesterday was the first time! So, we have never met them before and it's wonderful how we were invited into their home and started chatting as if we had known each other for years. And I think that just goes to show what an amazing industry agriculture is and how wonderful the people are in the industry!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It was a wonderful and long day but totally worth it, I love taking road trips to see other breeder's and country side. I forgot to take pictures of the glorious country side until it was dark so I snapped a quick one of the creek!</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-27809897629255451752011-06-14T22:33:00.000-07:002011-06-14T22:33:49.364-07:00Tattooing!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsl8o7gmjZf1z58WZtZV1Wdfnod1ax-sUbz-vnkTGYXnMG1H5DLcnxsWAtMiuyW5U1etK9ANHn19z-k0bS5Xw1rt9ZM7O1P6RrNdYzB1wPJo0p7xjVbAhFZvceBrTl-uOqVwKmLPF0D9T/s1600/plyer+fixed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmsl8o7gmjZf1z58WZtZV1Wdfnod1ax-sUbz-vnkTGYXnMG1H5DLcnxsWAtMiuyW5U1etK9ANHn19z-k0bS5Xw1rt9ZM7O1P6RrNdYzB1wPJo0p7xjVbAhFZvceBrTl-uOqVwKmLPF0D9T/s320/plyer+fixed.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plier </td></tr>
</tbody></table>As ranchers around the country complete the branding of their calves as the weather prevented some from getting it finished when they wanted to and it is why I'm glad we don't brand. We have never found it necessary to brand our cattle, their not on extremely wide range pastures and we are the only place with Hereford cattle for quite aways besides my Uncle but his cattle have red tags and horns so it wouldn't be that hard to tell them apart! We simply tattoo our calves for identification and I am going to share with you a little bit more of that process.</div></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwGbjx1WGxffckNsg_6PAGJ4TrJBm0VJCaAmrkVpOFIhL2zidBfbhssAxA7OEht9-rg8Vw27Py2Qp9z94ZLcX0Zxk3BOZE6TAbWwbAyCntwG__Q-HkwGzP2piDSWbDF4zPG5jQlPNtWjQ/s1600/IMG_5455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwGbjx1WGxffckNsg_6PAGJ4TrJBm0VJCaAmrkVpOFIhL2zidBfbhssAxA7OEht9-rg8Vw27Py2Qp9z94ZLcX0Zxk3BOZE6TAbWwbAyCntwG__Q-HkwGzP2piDSWbDF4zPG5jQlPNtWjQ/s320/IMG_5455.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LBH</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We tattoo our calves when they are at least three weeks old, so we end up tattooing about three, four times in the year. It takes about four people, one person tattooing, one changing numbers in the pliers, one behind calves pushing them forward and vaccinating in chute and one person out pack putting them into the alley. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">One part of the tattoo which is placed in the top of the right ear is the herd prefix letters, so for example Lilybrook Herefords cattle are tattooed with LBH meaning they are a Lilybrook Hereford calf, my calves have the prefix LBHR, and my two siblings are LBHM and LBHD. And the at the bottom of the ear we put the number of the calf and the year letter, this year being Y. After the tattoos have been put in, we rub black tattoo ink into the holes, so that it will be easily readable!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYsIPkRdaMBpCpIOc7On9MoWA7nuv7IUvGOCNAPb3ODB-X1f1J-LxqaLzxsawXL9i5wFTvkXkTHEtkJlwkqKf9OH8pirLBDQkq3dcacln9MMjWQ2P0zIHbpzjmsyhZGOtWQlG2G3JH5vh/s1600/numbers+fixed+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="92" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYsIPkRdaMBpCpIOc7On9MoWA7nuv7IUvGOCNAPb3ODB-X1f1J-LxqaLzxsawXL9i5wFTvkXkTHEtkJlwkqKf9OH8pirLBDQkq3dcacln9MMjWQ2P0zIHbpzjmsyhZGOtWQlG2G3JH5vh/s400/numbers+fixed+2.jpg" t8="true" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Numbers</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> It is also at tattooing time that we vaccinate our calves by giving them three shots to protect them from various diseases and viruses.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6CUnP_aRSQYpQuPZPXDFcY1RLlxg2GhAm92L_ZR5oEUME07rHBYQ9tog4cHcr1MZEaEMzcbY7mKMr8qifJEVX8p8M8Ywu0V2K1BBnrLixPbKnUisRCTbv3jDzJYWADUx2_zU6tigV8eb/s1600/fixed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp6CUnP_aRSQYpQuPZPXDFcY1RLlxg2GhAm92L_ZR5oEUME07rHBYQ9tog4cHcr1MZEaEMzcbY7mKMr8qifJEVX8p8M8Ywu0V2K1BBnrLixPbKnUisRCTbv3jDzJYWADUx2_zU6tigV8eb/s320/fixed.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RFID Tag</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The final thing that we do while the calves are in for tattooing is insert an RFID tag that can be read by scanning machines showing the person the calves information and can be used to identify cattle.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Tattooing is a simple straight forward process that makes it easy to identify our animals if they ever lose a tag or something else happens! If you have any questions on the process please don't hesitate to ask.</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>A few pictures from past tattooing days!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp2Ua_YPURsW_lZBqhZ3trB-Q-woVuBV150MVbxLK9GQhyPGyddaBw7U8qQ7fGDztAEVwklyFYmdlZQr_21Vkrz2mZ4a-4utaLRD6qGDJ84-UZSEm2TROT9gj40Rh5b9ihhlmh4IWvjhHv/s320/All-April+2008+159.jpg" t8="true" width="240" /></div><img height="22" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguYsIPkRdaMBpCpIOc7On9MoWA7nuv7IUvGOCNAPb3ODB-X1f1J-LxqaLzxsawXL9i5wFTvkXkTHEtkJlwkqKf9OH8pirLBDQkq3dcacln9MMjWQ2P0zIHbpzjmsyhZGOtWQlG2G3JH5vh/s400/numbers+fixed+2.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 564px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 661px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgm0CgCHHccw8-a1hqNwyP_TRilKV5JAF4p5ShyphenhyphenRpQdjMk1BUfE5F1kMs_41yqJ_9uGzyV3KaKvEBJZy0OrJS6YhgXeQ5w_wjVDPkcND5GxBp-wr9MLxJx8gpBhjfiEk4EowEYB1TRaMQ/s1600/All-April+2008+164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQgm0CgCHHccw8-a1hqNwyP_TRilKV5JAF4p5ShyphenhyphenRpQdjMk1BUfE5F1kMs_41yqJ_9uGzyV3KaKvEBJZy0OrJS6YhgXeQ5w_wjVDPkcND5GxBp-wr9MLxJx8gpBhjfiEk4EowEYB1TRaMQ/s320/All-April+2008+164.jpg" style="cursor: move;" t8="true" unselectable="on" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUs58BNVebIkQ9I8jUkC01FmsYm-RPJxOsLxAKms6pA86ej_-BEiDZaXOLK_W_IvhQBXTeFuy4OXkQ-5TzslGtsELANhHRcAEVnU7WlTklTOhOw1Cv4zcMrO41PyzXybmie9-VYlNsGGm/s1600/All-April+2008+168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggUs58BNVebIkQ9I8jUkC01FmsYm-RPJxOsLxAKms6pA86ej_-BEiDZaXOLK_W_IvhQBXTeFuy4OXkQ-5TzslGtsELANhHRcAEVnU7WlTklTOhOw1Cv4zcMrO41PyzXybmie9-VYlNsGGm/s320/All-April+2008+168.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh188OdGOlW4gc3xp9qyc6p5b_xwf23dGSDc-XTkpVLgPDlDO0TUgqOmAScuYLbhXKMVDo1I0K5tlMEPZ112supeUdoGNuuhbykriEvtivY_gkePXELuJyO7UKo95vDTSlq0a1nrikPGplQ/s1600/All-April+2008+169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh188OdGOlW4gc3xp9qyc6p5b_xwf23dGSDc-XTkpVLgPDlDO0TUgqOmAScuYLbhXKMVDo1I0K5tlMEPZ112supeUdoGNuuhbykriEvtivY_gkePXELuJyO7UKo95vDTSlq0a1nrikPGplQ/s320/All-April+2008+169.jpg" t8="true" width="240" /></a></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-54811876141315333992011-06-13T21:16:00.000-07:002011-06-13T21:18:19.668-07:00Invention Monday - Chute<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzxavE-2bw7LPJw6tgwXWxzE8kmr-bkj62eZAz-F_9wr0p0eTj9wk3rOJ-xqCLeqS4fneK_DT5O_fKgJHF_2vDIHJXmq2N0e8leL-5nVqmDK31eqeDavg8bJxB6y6fO7d5o0Xg5EkyEBs/s1600/IMG_5617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXzxavE-2bw7LPJw6tgwXWxzE8kmr-bkj62eZAz-F_9wr0p0eTj9wk3rOJ-xqCLeqS4fneK_DT5O_fKgJHF_2vDIHJXmq2N0e8leL-5nVqmDK31eqeDavg8bJxB6y6fO7d5o0Xg5EkyEBs/s320/IMG_5617.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /></a>I'm always surprised and confused when there are other people at our place and they don't know how to run the head gate. I think that everyone has one like we do because we have never had a different one for as long as I can remember! But it is another invention that my wonderful relatives came up with. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Now, the thing that sparked this invention was the fact that all our cattle used to be horned, we started dehorning heifer calves in 2001 but all our bulls still have horns, so we needed to come up with something that would open wide enough for the horns to make it through. With the scissor head gate we can catch anything from a very large bull to a little calf.</div><br />
With a simple pull on the rope the head gate opens and you can control how far you want it to open and then it is closed by yanking on the longer rope, which is long enough to move behind the animal so that it will come into the chute better.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWpvUFEQ5dpuikH1CPMorDO5Rh2LEQFJ5aInNQsgFyh08zHivgIwKUA_R11UphIUYPkVKqyIPuhjWjPt1aoNDU_p-jxt8ljaRVXgAkZqC0t4vwmu6crdYgY6g6fjk1A6kmM_42wcK3Qa-/s1600/IMG_5618.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWpvUFEQ5dpuikH1CPMorDO5Rh2LEQFJ5aInNQsgFyh08zHivgIwKUA_R11UphIUYPkVKqyIPuhjWjPt1aoNDU_p-jxt8ljaRVXgAkZqC0t4vwmu6crdYgY6g6fjk1A6kmM_42wcK3Qa-/s320/IMG_5618.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We have three of these chutes, one in each location that we use quite regularly for processing cattle, the green one is used the most and connected to our cattle handling system out back along with being located in a shed, it also has a lever that adjusts the width of the chute, if an animal is a little bit high strung and jumps around a lot we can tighten it so she can't move so much. It also has a little man gate at the back that once they are in the head gate we can open and go behind the cow to preg test, or for semen testing on the bulls.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We have had them for many years now, and they are still in good shape and have worked wonderfully! Every once in a while an animal will get away if the person on the rope isn't fast enough but it doesn't happen very often, it's a great system that makes little noise and allows us to process any size of animal, horns or no horns!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If you have any questions, comments or what type of chute your using, I would love to hear from you!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXfPKPmMPQIuzAWq7t8sKIKI_Ds0zCgIHHO6YadyvQHZpmlyBHtXvtTA5HY825-Le8oRkaKJ7Qaq18CP9I674BMxbYTzSSQVOt4joUzquZV13wHciRTbctkXe6TL0g20w0nW2x6Eari_Y/s1600/IMG_5629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXfPKPmMPQIuzAWq7t8sKIKI_Ds0zCgIHHO6YadyvQHZpmlyBHtXvtTA5HY825-Le8oRkaKJ7Qaq18CP9I674BMxbYTzSSQVOt4joUzquZV13wHciRTbctkXe6TL0g20w0nW2x6Eari_Y/s320/IMG_5629.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/headgate.htm">http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/headgate.htm</a></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-34817768545270576022011-06-10T15:26:00.000-07:002011-06-11T09:29:12.781-07:00Happy Farmers Day!As many of you may know today is a special day, it's Farmers Day. A day set out just like Family day or Victoria day to honor all the wonderful farmers and ranchers around that feed the world. <br />
<br />
I am very happy that there is a day to celebrate farmers and all the hard work that they do, celebrations were held in many places, even the little town of Claresholm had a hamburger lunch, music, games, wagon rides, petting zoo, farmer's market and machinery displays at the local UFA. Farmer's don't get enough recognition for all they do, from helping a cow calf in the middle of the night to harvesting crops.<br />
<br />
So, thank a farmer for all they do in this world, even though there is a day to celebrate farmers, they are working all the time, not eight hours a day but many more and sometimes at all hours of the day. So, to all the farmers and ranchers out their thank you for everything you do. Don't forget to thank a farmer today!<br />
<br />
Happy Farmer's Day!Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-67649303640137527112011-06-08T23:02:00.000-07:002011-06-08T23:08:33.195-07:00A trip down memory lane!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1lBOLgpnbzlXHtAHamXDjxkw-dniPhU5oFWik8U4gBLtZtbcGPukAN_P6NwHnixb2gD0jj2cCYM3IgEo1RuS4HyxCLmu8_JwZJBz0ThfHylkDK3__TrLr3dfH-0eOYpMqJwxk1LpXWaI/s1600/P1080701.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1lBOLgpnbzlXHtAHamXDjxkw-dniPhU5oFWik8U4gBLtZtbcGPukAN_P6NwHnixb2gD0jj2cCYM3IgEo1RuS4HyxCLmu8_JwZJBz0ThfHylkDK3__TrLr3dfH-0eOYpMqJwxk1LpXWaI/s320/P1080701.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel with his Heifer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Yesterday was a very long and wonderful day, it was the Willow Creek District 4-H Achievement Day, I got the honor of watching my sister's last 4-H Achievement Day and my little brother's first one, I spent most of the day taking pictures of the two of them and their cattle!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr></></></></><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi4GBFVurmhGF1CmGV5_yv0pBZ5y2vrQ3f89UF99r_EbjZnmlgvyYd0N04-HiuBGbVnHqbwFQnWXjrDp1uIAgUDXMGYRn9N8zwCNinQmrfob8cuUy_8LVnCZY5ZgheIp9K0Agbr6gAjHf/s1600/P1080742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXi4GBFVurmhGF1CmGV5_yv0pBZ5y2vrQ3f89UF99r_EbjZnmlgvyYd0N04-HiuBGbVnHqbwFQnWXjrDp1uIAgUDXMGYRn9N8zwCNinQmrfob8cuUy_8LVnCZY5ZgheIp9K0Agbr6gAjHf/s320/P1080742.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle and her Heifer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Being at Achievement Day also brought back memories of my eight years in the Claresholm 4-H Beef Club! 4-H is an amazing program that absolutely changed my life. Throughout the 4-H year the club has monthly meetings to plan events, along with fundraisers, community service and activities. There is also a public speaking competition that every member has to participate in to finish of the year. The public speaking was a huge part of my 4-H years, at the beginning I was very scared of speaking in front of people and I cried during my first speech I was so scared, but over the years I got better and if it wasn't for that first step and 4-H, I have no idea what I would be doing today. Anyway, as a 4-H member you also need to do a record book for your project which records rate of gain and what we feed them and expenses of everything.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKmRKGi2fpHyQDvFHo2nVvyeo_2vzANpMhWNIo3odvdOUJcEc-bWFewshaFKP3o-9uzhK812Zo-3zynpweKDOEiI_Yw6vGqkvzMQLGykfkUmXOD77O3uADgagl2l157hDiwuz1i3EjKBr/s1600/P1080806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggKmRKGi2fpHyQDvFHo2nVvyeo_2vzANpMhWNIo3odvdOUJcEc-bWFewshaFKP3o-9uzhK812Zo-3zynpweKDOEiI_Yw6vGqkvzMQLGykfkUmXOD77O3uADgagl2l157hDiwuz1i3EjKBr/s320/P1080806.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel showing his steer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Well, after a year of hard work and preparation it comes down to Achievement Day, the big day where everyone shows and sells their steer after a year of hard work, and it is the day that I miss the most! In our district we always had the choice to have a steer and then females which could consist of a yearling heifer, a two year old cow/calf pair, a three year old cow/calf pair and a mature cow/calf pair which is a cow that is at least four years old. All the females have to be 4-H females, so for example a two year old cow would have had to be shown as a heifer in the previous year to be shown as a two year old. Then we have the option of entering in the Breeder's Herd class, which is at least three animals, usually members will do a cow/calf pair and their heifer for Breeder's Herd!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qB0-dQtCNUDX84wigM8JY51t-DpzCDbTx5cqFjCWGL9Tt7sBUZZSSEuZB0N6mXTmgnY1C_ydxw7ppP5gj0uajxBVLHUiuFLYpYk-Y5cEE9cj-MJ2_w-1SSIOFY__CRuvUt2G6U-cfCne/s1600/P1080792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qB0-dQtCNUDX84wigM8JY51t-DpzCDbTx5cqFjCWGL9Tt7sBUZZSSEuZB0N6mXTmgnY1C_ydxw7ppP5gj0uajxBVLHUiuFLYpYk-Y5cEE9cj-MJ2_w-1SSIOFY__CRuvUt2G6U-cfCne/s320/P1080792.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>At the end of the day, the members sell their 4-H steers and thanks to all the support from buyers and the community the clubs do very well. Members get a fair amount more than market value which is always nice. My siblings and I never did get the full pay cheque at the end of the year, we always had to pay our dad for the feed, the animal and everything else that went with it. But I wouldn't have it any other way, through it I learned that life isn't free and it costs money, but I did make a little money over the years, and now I have a small herd of cattle that have been making me some money to.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Achievement Day was always a very busy day, especially as I got older I would have one of everything, a steer, heifer, two year old, three year old and mature cow calf/pair which made for a lot of work but was so totally worth it!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGosqKfR4KfvxzFVbCRdLbwplR_bU_XXJgTreniFqEdpwJ4MGbrUzECOA9wITQ_UYe3Wj8iZRBYAkwVq8GFcLjUTICLhzKN6o2ne9Md8A44_ijWsqqHghUZupBFakjNMS9vi_LYO_yHk_b/s1600/P1080819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGosqKfR4KfvxzFVbCRdLbwplR_bU_XXJgTreniFqEdpwJ4MGbrUzECOA9wITQ_UYe3Wj8iZRBYAkwVq8GFcLjUTICLhzKN6o2ne9Md8A44_ijWsqqHghUZupBFakjNMS9vi_LYO_yHk_b/s320/P1080819.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headed to the Ring</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I had an amazing time in my eight years of 4-H and I learned so much, from public speaking, responsibility and a little about life, the market and showing. 4-H is a great program and I am so thankful I could be a part of it, and sometimes I miss it but I also love to be on the other side watching the show, it was great to see my sister in her last 4-H, she did such an amazing job and it was also wonderful to see my brother's first 4-H Achievement Day and he has a lot more ahead of him so I can't wait to see him grow into an amazing young man.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qB0-dQtCNUDX84wigM8JY51t-DpzCDbTx5cqFjCWGL9Tt7sBUZZSSEuZB0N6mXTmgnY1C_ydxw7ppP5gj0uajxBVLHUiuFLYpYk-Y5cEE9cj-MJ2_w-1SSIOFY__CRuvUt2G6U-cfCne/s320/P1080792.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 216px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 1163px; visibility: hidden;" width="96" /> <br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3213608099069847607.post-56385215478103272762011-06-06T20:17:00.000-07:002011-06-06T20:17:34.278-07:00Invention Monday - Quad Ramp<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDzbY-d0zzNtXNlQCyBimRkF8sYH0Wf-tEkDhH9LRHzsAr6w82qnDRFmiSqDfZ80-TOanAbkicyyth_J2NpaAXQhfAJTmn8FO6fwoma5bB7Js1d1Jon_7T2AfpvVjxSp7iiy6gHDrV0wd/s1600/IMG_5599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDzbY-d0zzNtXNlQCyBimRkF8sYH0Wf-tEkDhH9LRHzsAr6w82qnDRFmiSqDfZ80-TOanAbkicyyth_J2NpaAXQhfAJTmn8FO6fwoma5bB7Js1d1Jon_7T2AfpvVjxSp7iiy6gHDrV0wd/s320/IMG_5599.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /></a>Another Monday, another invention, I think this is probably my favorite invention that my father and mom's cousin came up with! They built two ramps over the fence for the quads to drive over without having to open any gates.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This ramp has saved us a lot of time and it is used primarily during calving season, once over both of them you are in the calving area where the cows are to check during the night. It makes it nice and a lot easier to get up at three in the morning in -30 degree Celsius weather not having to get off and open gates.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It is very convenient and safe to use, we built the rail on the sides so that the we can't drive the quad over the edge. It has been used a countless number of times and has saved a lot of time.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If you have any questions or comments please ask or for more information on how it was built you can go to <a href="http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/QuadRamp.htm">http://www.lilybrookherefords.com/QuadRamp.htm</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe495Fq1_jxi8tYKaZyXZ9w7A97vMTcv8ZfbVeBhzwCnBZiY58OsUibpm2ZKR5dHA6GMQ0RWsUMv24f5hzDbdvZd7J_aAkRVLSTMwpG0Bx-ijj2VJ0AvpWDaF9cMX3Uq3Or6buYxRRkrqM/s1600/IMG_5596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe495Fq1_jxi8tYKaZyXZ9w7A97vMTcv8ZfbVeBhzwCnBZiY58OsUibpm2ZKR5dHA6GMQ0RWsUMv24f5hzDbdvZd7J_aAkRVLSTMwpG0Bx-ijj2VJ0AvpWDaF9cMX3Uq3Or6buYxRRkrqM/s320/IMG_5596.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMIivL1gIMwDONAIr-XdxZppUW3JFVvgTY9D0Tiz1sIhiZgV8WBMwB4PgyNt94dSQ364SejQIm5f6Va8oxdux_6NvUrJ0lyshaqBSxqWwNpE3_iTZvcveU74Xvg8GjZXJwQOFsei1WicT/s1600/IMG_5597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYMIivL1gIMwDONAIr-XdxZppUW3JFVvgTY9D0Tiz1sIhiZgV8WBMwB4PgyNt94dSQ364SejQIm5f6Va8oxdux_6NvUrJ0lyshaqBSxqWwNpE3_iTZvcveU74Xvg8GjZXJwQOFsei1WicT/s320/IMG_5597.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoqSdmo3M6W8k9gnAgzgedri8k9Lblk29SiMe_7Fa8lxYQiXObR1atGXa7uVgFN9x-xmMMjSOTeKMSnE_KuoTi0uGhVwFj4LXaFF-YBSWC_mYPu3yMl8BDTgLbkJpSD9d4GVn9CZ9eugV/s1600/IMG_5598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBoqSdmo3M6W8k9gnAgzgedri8k9Lblk29SiMe_7Fa8lxYQiXObR1atGXa7uVgFN9x-xmMMjSOTeKMSnE_KuoTi0uGhVwFj4LXaFF-YBSWC_mYPu3yMl8BDTgLbkJpSD9d4GVn9CZ9eugV/s320/IMG_5598.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Ruthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06089055322802362767noreply@blogger.com60