Finally in 2016, we started our small cattle business. We started off with 5 Mama/Calf pairs, and two pregnant cows that were due to give birth within 30 days. They came to our farm three days before Easter.
Unfortunately, we did not get off to a good start. Every morning and evening when the cows came up to drink water and take some mineral salts we did a cow count. Easter Eve we were missing one of the pregnant cows and assumed she went off to deliver her calf. She was very agitated when she arrived making us think she was close to delivering her calf.
Day after day passed and she never re-joined the herd. We never saw her again. She either escaped or died during the birth process and the coyotes got her. The second pregnant Mama delivered her calf on April 21. Another baby girl calf.
We never stopped doing our “cow count” every morning and evening. Late afternoon, one Sunday in June, one of the Mama cows was not with the herd. We looked all over for her, finally found her standing along the fence on the northwest side of our pasture. You can imagine our surprise when we saw a little baby calf laying at her feet! We had no idea another cow was pregnant!
This summer was brutal as far as temperatures and lack of rain. Between mid-June and the first week of August there were 26 days where the high temperature exceeded 95 degrees. Almost no rain at all during that period either, causing whatever grass we had to die. Fortunately, we had hay reserves to feed them. Late August had some rain, but not enough to grow some grass. We sprayed our pasture for weeds in preparation for planting seeds, and that about killed everything green. It’s discouraging however, we are in better shape than most with the heat/drought situation. All we could hope for was a wet fall...
The temperatures finally cooled down when fall arrived however, the rain never came. Our pasture was still just dirt. We started supplemental feeding our cows in addition to their hay. The first weekend in October, our white Charolais cow delivered a calf, but unfortunately, she abandoned it and it did not survive. Dick tried his best to feed it milk from our neighbor's dairy cows, but the poor thing never had a chance. We have no idea why Charolais did not want her calf. Another disappointment.
We were given an early Christmas present when our half white face mama cow delivered a baby boy calf on December 13th. She's a good mama, taking excellent care of her new calf. It was a scary couple of days with the expected night time temperatures dropping into the teens a couple of days later. The little guy did great! He is a frisky little calf, running all over the place. He's the only boy in the entire herd of 6 mamas and 8 calves. Lucky him!
Soon after our December baby was born, we FINALLY got some rain. Even though it was a little late, we went ahead and planted some grass. All we can do is hope for the best. Surely 2017 will be easier. What a first year as cattle farmers we have had!
