Wednesday 16 November 2016

Real Farmers

We are starting to feel like real farmers!


This fall we brought all of our cattle home to our property which is now strongly and thoroughly fenced for them. We sorted, tagged, de-wormed and weaned the calves with a certain amount of confidence and ease that we certainly didn't have in the spring! Although there is a lot of room for improvement still.


#14 is Matt's favourite cow


The herd at home this winter

 Our first ever crop of calves went to auction this fall, and with an exception or two, it was a group we were very happy to put our names on, with an average weight of 640lbs.


We kept two calves, a heifer and a steer. I see this every morning when I go in the barn to feed


The little heifer (Cinnamon) climbs into the feeder


Here is little farm girl taming up Rocky. He loves to have his tail scratched.

 

 Just this week we added ten bred heifers to the herd. The last cows were bought through an auction, sight unseen. These ones we were able to hand pick and find the quality would like to base our herd around, which is pretty exciting!



These pictures are from choosing them
 
 

And here are the girls at home now!

It was a huge learning year! We pretty much did everything for the first time and there were a lot of decisions to be made and new skills to learn. We both firmly agree that it has been the most enjoyable year we have had on the farm. We have definitely found what we love, and where we want to be!


And to finish off, here is little Milo! He is starting to look like a horse! I absolutely love this colt!

Monday 3 October 2016

End of the season

The rest of the summer has been another whirlwind of activity.
Currently the gorgeous fall colours are being replaced with a biting wind and crisp frosty white mornings.


I will finish off our haying pictures first. What a great haying season we had!


We ended up with more than twice the hay we had last year, which was very exciting.


This was the last field we did to finish it all off.




Bringing the hay home was another big job. We hired a friend with another flat deck to get the job done.



Matt made us this amazing hay maze/fort/hide and go seek playground. We spent hours hopping from bale to bale and hiding in them. So much fun!


One pile of hay, tarped and ready for the winter


Another stack


This was a first on the farm: we had a broody hen, our favourite named Snowball who hatched out a clutch of chicks. It was so neat to watch her mother them and teach them how to "chicken".



Our greenhouse produced quite a bit! You can see squash, pumpkins, tomatoes, cukes and corn if you know where to look. They grew so big that they pressed right up against the roof plastic.



Little farm girl did a lot of growing this summer. From taking meals to Daddy on the quad all by herself to riding in her first little britches rodeo!


One of my favourite things this summer, was having the cows at the community pastures. We would go twice a week to check on them and the fencing. It was always a highlight of the week!


Bullish next to his neighbour, he still has more growing to do!


Number 12 LOVES grain and she knows we bring some. She comes barreling out of the group with a hippopotamus-like run, bellowing loudly.


She is pretty hard to ignore when she wants something!




The calves have grown very well! We are having a lot of trouble deciding who to keep. They all are so fantastic.

 


This little milk faced heifer is Sasha's baby, she is a strong contender for keeping a heifer for the future.


I had a really fun summer too! I have absolutely the best horses.


I haven't spent much time riding, but their liberty work is coming along just beautifully!



Basically, they are well trained at whatever I can do with a baby along for the ride!



A last visit with the cows before they come home


We had so many adventures with them here. From crazy lightning storms, to bulls fighting and herds on the loose.

Always an adventure




A chunk of our summer was spent on perimeter fencing. Hours and hours were spent clearing and chipping fence lines, re pounding posts and building braces, but its finally all ready!


Yesterday was the big cow moving day. We had worried about it all summer. To get to the corrals we had to walk the girls about a mile through the bush, up a windy narrow road.


In the end it couldn't have gone better. We had an abundance of help and the girls stuck to Matt like glue. He walked them the whole way and it was quick and easy.


They sorted easily and loaded well.


I will kind of miss visiting them at community pastures, but it feels so great to have them home. I can see them grazing out in the back from my window.


These pictures are from the morning cow check this morning.


We had to check the horses of course too...



Finding the girls in the fog




We are really happy to have them home, and they look happy to be here too!