Tuesday 9 September 2008

Heads and Tails

I know it has been a week since my last confession post ...oops wrong place and that's another day.

I can't believe a whole week has almost passed.

I was thinking about
the Tuesday meme today .My post isn't technically a heads and tails one - but they do have heads and tails so it counts.

Todays H o T theme is HEADS - Box

Therefore - I am thinking outside the box and about the tucker box. Most of us keep meat in our freezers which is a box. I won't be talking about my freezer though ... boring unless it is full of gourmet food. Mine is not. I am going to talk about

I digress ...anyway back to my post ... where was I ? Never mind I have been busy working -spring cleaning and business stuff. We also went to my Father-in-law's farm 4 hours away for 3 days. I played the Pioneer woman, while the Toolman slashed the paddocks and the teen bashed the paddocks in the old cars and motorbikes.

There was lots of long dry grass like this that needs to be slashed so the cows can eat the new growth.

The farm had 60mm of rain in a few days and that is good news. It means the grass will start to grow and the cows will have grass to feed on instead of having to be hand fed.


The Brothers' loved the farm . We got to pat a newborn calf as it got separated from it's mother when the cows stampeded to the other paddock. It was so adorable. We had to put it in the back of the ute and take it back to it's mother who ran far away with the rest of the herd. We knew we had found her when we saw it feeding.


I saw another cow kick the poor little thing away, but it wasn't it's mother.

I am going to worry about it now ...yesterday we saw it sitting by the fence no mother in sight. Although quite a few of the calves were alone and mothers were off grazing.

Last month a set (or two) of twin calves were born and my Father-in law has given them to S & J - hopefully they are heifers and not steers (as all the little boys got marked on Sunday).

To market to market - go the steers but the heifers have calves and they will get to keep the profits when they get sold...forever Girls rule ! They can have calves for a few years too.

So the boys rounded up all the cows and moved them in the cattle crush .We counted the cows,calves,heifers, steers & bulls (2)-altogether there were 106 cows - including 27 calves and #28 born after the counting and tagging.Plus the previous seasons calves heifers (female cows who haven't had a calf but will ) and BBQer's steers ...almost ready to take to market.


The 'twins' were black/dark brown calves - their breed is Angus.The Black bull has been a busy fellow because there were a lot of black/brown calves and we didn't know which ones belonged to which cow when we had them in cattle pens. Then the rest of the day they were all skittish so we didn't get to see them feeding.

So unfortunately we don't yet know whether S & J's twins are steers or heifers yet.We will have to go back soon and look for the twins feeding and check out the number on the tag. We marked the list as steers (they castrated all the little boys) and heifers. So we can match them up eventually.

It will be exciting to follow them through... all the way to tucker box or to see how many calves their cows have.
S & J can't wait to learn how to drive the tractor.


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11 comments :

Hootin Anni said...

At first glance of the first photo I thought you were going to tell us how a herd of cattle will box in the calves for protection from threats! LOL...what do I know?!!

Love the photo of the boys walking hand in hand down the lane. AND the tractor photo. Precious!!!!!!

My HoT is posted. Come on by for a visit if you can get a chance.

Lilly said...

Amazing post. I love, love, love the photo of the boys walking down the dusty path - that is AWARD WINNING! Nothing like some time away is there?

jeanie said...

lol - tell your relo with the cattle that at least black baulies are a small step in the right direction!!!

Have I ever steered you towards my sister's blog? She has a beautiful black bull on the latest post that would lift them a bit.

Your boys are growing SO MUCH!

Anonymous said...

Great HOT post! I just love the pic of the boys walking towards (forgive this city girl) a silo in the distance. Just a terrific shot :)

My entry is here

Stop by if you have a moment. Have a great week ahead!

Sherrie said...

Great story and photos....Your boys are adorable!!!

Anonymous said...

I love the photos that shared your day. It looked so peaceful and homey. I'll bet the poor little calf is doing just fine. I wouldn't make a good farm wife. I'd want all the babies to be inside with me! Your little guys are adorable. Have a great HoT.

Anonymous said...

How exciting! I love that picture of the twins holding hands...

I hope the twins are heifers for you! And that the boys get to start driving the track soon.

Barb said...

This sounds like a lot of work, but rewarding as well.

I love all the pictures you posted and cannot believe how much the boys have grown!!!

peppylady (Dora) said...

I bet between your two boys they could figure out how to drive the tractor by the self.

Mine is up and the coffee is on.

Crazed Nitwit said...

They are too cute for words! The boys, not the cows. HUGS!

Anonymous said...

looks like you all have a lot of fun away on the farm :)

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