Babies everywhere!

Had a call from Dad Tuesday night - he had a slew of calves to update me on. On Sunday they had 3, with another on Monday. Looks like the weather is cooperating for them at home (40 degrees and higher) - which is unusual for us. The latest calves on the ground are Durango. Dad says they're long, lithe little buggers and that cows just haven't been having any problems.

Baby #2 has arrived

Just got an email from mom this morning entitled "Calf Update." We must trade at least 100 "Calf Updates" throughout February and March. Why? Because we are so excited about each new arrival (and ok, because I keep an Excel spreadsheet of data that I cross-reference with dad's calving book).

Remember our last bundle of joy was born Feb. 6? Well - they're keeping it in the family! Baby #2 is related! 0806 (Angel) gave birth first... and while we haven't decided a name for her calf, our 4-Her would like to call her Harmony. Well, Angel's mother - 27N (Heaven) - gave birth last night to a healthy, bucky little boy! We're excited about this new bundle of joy because his father is an AI stud - Messmer Packer - and we just ordered 30 more units of Packer to breed our cows this spring.

Mom tucked in her email a note about how it is supposed to be -8 tonight at the farm. Brrr! I hope the new babies that are coming into the world won't have to face that cold temp. I expect lots of calves to start rolling in now.

Say Cheese!!

My dad, Jack, tried to take pictures of the new mama and her baby. Here's his handiwork!

Looks cold, doesn't it??

Ah, ain't she sweet!

First calf of the season!

Good morning all! I come bearing good news - we started our calving season yesterday. This is cause for excitement every year because we wait with anticipation to see the arrival of the new crop of artificial insemination (AI) calves. This year, we weren't disappointed (will publish photos of the new bundle of joy when possible).

We start calving our heifers 1 full breeding cycle (3 weeks) before the cowherd, so it was one of the new-moms who had a baby. And the day couldn't have been nicer. Saturday morning, Feb. 7, 2010, the temperatures were 34 degrees (quite nice for February in Northern MN). The mama was 0806, better known as Angel, and she had a little heifer calf. The cow has a beautiful udder. I'm excited because this is a continuation of the line of Don Burt cattle (I was given 0806's mother, 27N, as a bred heifer for handling the Don Burt cattle sale). It always reminds me of Uncle Don.

Let me know if you have any names for our new cherub! Grandmother's name: Heaven; Mother's name: Angel...

Calving success

I just checked in with Gary Jacobson to see how the bred heifer (Lot #8) he purchased from the MN Great Northern Sale doing. This is what Gary had to say:

She calved Feb. 11, 78-lb. heifer calf. Nice udder and nice disposition. Have 179 calves on the ground since 1/20/09. So far great luck!!!

That's good news from the north! We're glad to see a customer happy with one of our females. At our farm, we're just preparing for the big round of AI calves. So far, we have 6 on the ground, and 21 are expected to come any day now. Luckily, even though you may AI your herd on the same day, it doesn't mean they will calve all on the same day. Cattle have their own natural calving distribution. I suspect it will be a busy weekend at Shady Oaks Farm.