Weaning weights are down

You may see and hear a lot of activity in farm yards at this time of year.
Anyone who still is calving cows in the early spring will find themselves weaning calves and likely preg. checking cows to make sure they are going to calve again next spring.
I had my regular helpers this past weekend, along with Callen (my vet cousin’s son), who spent a good part of the weekend with us, as well.
Maddie and Marlee certainly were not wanting to miss out on this weekend since it was the big decision weekend on which calves get to stay in the herd and, of course, they’ve likely had their selections picked out since the spring.
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We moved all the cows home Saturday and then weighed all the calves. I wasn’t shocked that my weaning weights were less than many years because I’ve always found that they are down in a year of wetter grass.
The calves really have been growing this month and if you look at the weather, this past month has been the driest period we’ve seen all summer long.
I suppose I could consider selling and weaning calves a bit later, but I feel the cows deserve a break since these calves are six and seven months of age now.
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Since Stacey was home, and the cows all were home and locked in the yard, we decided we should preg. check, as well.
Thankfully that went very well and we might have finished it in record time. We have a whole bunch of slow-moving cattle that have no fear–even of our little helpers.
We still had to halter a few of them just to get them to walk a little faster!
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We are down to three trials left in the field at the Emo Agricultural Research Station, which we are going to tackle them this week–ready or not—since we are thinking the tile company will be here next week.
The combine is giving us a bit of trouble, but we’re hoping it isn’t anything serious and we can complete our 2015 trials.
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It is cattle sale week so many farmers will be busy getting their year’s work off to market. For many, this in the only pay cheque they receive in a year.
If you are looking for some fun over the weekend, join us at the Stratton sales barn on Saturday (Oct. 3)–it’s a live auction and we have a great lunch counter!
If you have any questions about the sale, call James at 271-2005.