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April 17th. Lambing's nearly over!
In case you've been wondering what we've been doing recently, then it's been lambing and calving. The former has taken up most of the time and Jane has spent lots of time looking after things.
I've also been involved in a number of bull sales. The final one being yesterday, the Moose Creek Red Angus sale from Kisby, Saskatchewan.
So there's been little spare time but we have kept a journal of our lambing and lambing management in the 2012 Lambing page under the Clun Forest Sheep heading or click on the wet picture above this. |
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After weeks of terrific weather we've had a brief break to remind us what winter can actually look and feel like. It's sunny now and the snow will be gone very soon and then we're back to sunny warm days again. Just right for lambing time.
Lambing is going well. It was supposed to begin today but we have had a few over the past couple of days. 10 ewes have lambed now, 8 sets of twins and 2 singles. But we lost 2 lambs, the first from not being there and the 2nd from a tough, backwards, presentation. That's how things go sometimes! |
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I am sometimes asked about some of the management practices that I follow as the year unfolds. I am no real authority but have been at this for 4 decades. The older we get the more we realise there is still lots left to learn.
Lambing time is here and so I am starting a diary of what I do as we head into lambing. If you go to 2012 Lambing under the Clun Forest Sheep menu then you will find us lambing. Lambing is due to start tomorrow but we already have had about 8 ewes lamb. So, we're under way!
If you click on the picture above, the one of the lambs, then you should end up with the same lambing page as I mentioned above.
These management ideas are just what I do and I am still learning. |
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March 23rd, 2012
My work!
It’s been quite a while since I last post anything for my site. Just so much going on and I haven’t found the time to think about the farm site.
One of the main changes has been at work. Once all the 1000 cows were processed and sorted for their wintering areas, and then the calves were processed and vaccinated, etc., I decided that it was time to move on and find other employment. I had thoroughly enjoyed working with the crew on the farm and loved my work with the cattle, looking after the pastures and spending the summer and fall alone out in the big pastures where the cattle grazed.. It was a demanding job, although some may not have seen that, and after nearly a year I was glad to have the chance to quit and remember the good times. The farm had sold to a Chinese group in December and certain things had changed. Colin also needed time to find someone else before calving started in April and so the time seemed right.
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Calving started at the end of February and it’s been a slow time.
We had a cold winter of 2010 / 2011 and then a terrible spring last year, cold and wet, with a late start to the pastures. All this slowed the rebreeding process and I am now paying for it.
I don’t usually feed my cows any grain but once they have calved this spring I have started them on some pellets and brewers grain, mixed in with a breeding mineral, all with the hope of an earlier breeding for this year and an earlier calving for next year.
The cows are in good shape and the new calves are doing really well. It has been a fantastic spring and the weather has been well above normal all winter long. Amazing after the memory of the previous winter when I had to haul all those loads of hay and belongings from the other farm, in one of the coldest winters on record. …..
I had been looking seriously at breeding most of my cows AI this spring but I have been so pleased with the calves from my new bull that I may just go “o’natural” and leave the bull to do what he was purchased to do. I may AI a few of my heifers to the Final Answer bull. I still have some straws left from him and may as well use them up.
Lambing begins next week
and the ewes are looking in really good condition. They are on a pound of sheep pellets (12%) and then a quarter of a pound of the brewer’s grain supplement (about 30% protein). Their condition looks really good. It’s such a balancing act to make sure they are getting exactly the right amount, not too much and not too little. I put them all through the handling system 2 weeks ago to vaccinate them. I had a good chance to feel them and check their condition. I took out some that were getting too fat and put them in with the rams who are on a lesser diet.
I didn’t de-worm very many of the ewes, checking for any ewes that were even slightly anemic, (and treating just those) rather than de-worming every sheep whether they need it or not. It’s the first time I have done it this way and so I will find out whether it was a good or bad decision in just a short while.
The ewes are heavy in lamb after the flushing program I took on last fall. I hope not too many triplets but they sure look heavy!
They go out to the pasture south of the buildings each morning and spend the day out there with their hay. That will change now that their lambing is very close.
The donkeys have been with them and we have watched closely for any unwanted predators. We do our best, on that subject, and are continually on our toes.
The lambs that I had last October / November have now all gone. It’s good to have them out of here. They averaged 86lbs and I had a $1.90 a lb for them. With no deductions, shrink or yard fees, I was quite happy with that.
My chore horse for the past 15 years,
the Percheron “Tim”, spent most of the winter eating hay in the front field. I only used him about 5 times because of the ice around the yard. Another year without very much for him to do. With the summer coming along with, again, little for him to do, I made the decision to sell him.
We were fortunate that the one fellow who showed the good knowledge with horses also wanted him and so he has gone to Terry Marshall from Rapid City. Terry is a well known horseman who gives both hay rides in the summer and then sleigh rides in the winter.
Tim has fitted in well with his other black and so he now has a proper job again. We’re looking forward to going over for a wagon ride with him.
It’s been a busy schedule for bull sales for me.
I produce DVD catalogues of upcoming sales and there has been extra interest this spring. I have also had to learn the art of sending the videos up into space and onto Utube. Having learnt that I will soon be making some for this site as well.
My 3 bulls, on test at Eastondale Angus,
are due to be sold on the 2nd April at their on farm bull sale. Dale’s sale will have about 45 bulls in the sale. Yesterday was semen checking day and they all, but one, passed. The one that basically failed was just deferred to see if he improves in the next few weeks. I know Dale was really pleased with the results.
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A sunny day and the 350 cows arriving in one of their winter pastures. 70 round bales of hay, 1500 lbs, will last them for 6 or 7 days.
One of the first calves born this spring. It's been a slow process.
A Clun Forest ewe stands alert to the world around her.
The ewes are heavy in lamb. There will be about 60 to lamb right now.
Tim walked right onto Terry's trailer, in his usual style. Just a 100% partner. I hope his new work will be more fullfilling than grazing the fields around here.
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January 28th
The ewe flock. (Photo above) On the farm here, I have continued to feed the ewes their small amount of pellets each day. They are in very good condition and I want to make sure they don't get too fit. They start lambing at the end of March and so have 2 months to go, 8 weeks. The demands on the ewe start increasing about 6 weeks before they lamb and it is in these final 6 weeks that the foetus / lambs do the majority of their growing. It's important to meet these demands with an increased ration and also to make sure the thinner ewes are seperated out and fed extra. They may be carrying the triplets, or they may have twins but the ewes may be older and less able to keep up with the others. Then it is also important to seperate out the ewes getting to fat. They may be carrying singles and so you don't want to end up pushing them on too much otherwise you may have lambing problems, apart from waisting feed. Unfortunately we don't have anyone to scan the ewes, as they do in many other places. This practice can tell you exactly which ewes have the multiple births, etc., and so it is a more accurate way to sort the ewes into their necessary groups.
Calving on my place will be starting in about 3 weeks, I hope. I notice some of the heifers starting to change. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of the new bull I bought last year.
Working with the cattle at work
The past few weeks we have been busy working with the cows, getting ready to move them to their winter feeding areas. So we started with preg checking and then into vaccinating and treating them for parasites. It takes time as we process and sort the cows into their different groups. On Thursday we moved the one group of 350 cows south of the yard some 8 miles. It took most of the afternoon before we arrived at their destination. These cows won’t start calving until the end of April and so they have a few months before any excitements start. Enough bales, around 75 1500 lb round bales were set out in each of the pastures last fall. The cows will be moved every week to a new feed area. There are enough pastures to last until well into calving time and so we won’t be handling those cows again for another year. They have water, pumped from a well which is fed by a dug out, and pumped into a large insulated trough. This is all powered by solar power, both wind turbine and by panels. Next week we have more cows to move and then into processing the weaned calves.
A new set of twin lambs in all that cold weather
The ewe that I had been waiting on to lamb gave me a set of twins about a week ago. They seem to be doing OK.. I set up the cow camera in the horse barn and was able to watch for any progress on a tv in the house. The camera, which I have had for about 5 years now, is the best investment I have ever made on the farm. It cost about $1000 with all the features I ordered. I would hate to go into calving or lambing on my place without one.
Meg's becoming a complete nuisance
I haven’t had much time to work with the dogs on the cows and it’s getting closer to calving and also pretty slippery out there right now. I have been continually aggrevated by Meg. She certainly has a mind of her own and her youthful wickedness is causing problems. I only have to turn away for a moment and she is off chasing something. When called back there is no sheepishness / embarrassment in her appearance, she’s just getting ready to charge off again in some other direction. I have put her on a long line and taught her to lyedown and to come back to me. That was no problem but her respect is very limited, time wise, and she is always on the look out for her next crime! So her walks are now limited and she is put away sooner than the other so as to stop her getting any more bad habits.
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Starting out with the 350 cows, heading south.
Almost there. Just 1 mile to go before we reach the start of their feeding areas.
Bales in the foreground and then the watering system in the back ground, powered by solar.
Looking down the 75 round bales of millet just after the cows have arrived at their destination. 75 bales will last for about 1 week.
A photo of my tv in the house with the ewe and her new twin lambs sucking.
Meg has become a nuisance and is always finding something to work. I just turn my back for a moment and she's gone.
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Eastondale Angus Annual Bull Sale
While I remember. I mentioned Dale's annual Bull Sale in a previous writings. Anyway, for any of you interested in the sale, it's going to be on April 2nd at 1 pm. That's a Monday. If you want to talk to him about his offerings or want any sales information you can reach him at 1-306-739-2805.
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It’s a cold day out there today.
–26c, leaving a wind chill factor of below –40.
Jane left this morning to go to the UK to see her folks. It was an early trip to the Greyhound bus, just after 4 am., and then back here to catch up on some sleep.
My Energy Efficient Watering trough.
With it being so cold, the first check this morning was the new energy efficient watering trough. It’s worked well up until now but was frozen at the weekend. So we wrapped a heat tape around the water pipe, replacing the 60 watt light bulb inside the lower part of the trough. The light bulb worked well keeping everything warm inside the trough but it had burnt out, presumably at the week end. We didn’t know and so the pipe froze. However, although we thought the heat tape would be a good and long lasting cure, it wasn’t. This morning the trough was empty and the pipe frozen. Well over an hour later, using a heat gun, etc., the water started running again. Now the heat tape is disconnected and a new 100 watt light bulb is warming the inside of the trough again. It wasn’t the hour or more that it took to thaw it out, lying on the ground in –40 c temperatures, it was a matter of the frustration of not knowing whether I would manage to get it going and, if not, what was going to be plan B. The rest of the week is going to be below –30c and so no time to be fooling around outside working on water bowls. The small 60 or 100 watt incandescent light bulbs give off lots of heat and as long as they don’t burn out they are fine. So, I’ll have to see if I can find a more Heavy Duty light bulb, one that will last a longer time. I’m sure glad I voted against driving Jane to the airport, selecting the Bus option as a better idea right now. Jane didn’t think much of my decision, then, but I’ll guarantee she’s glad right now!
Jan's 3rd time out with the stock
After I had the trough working again, I wanted to fetch the cows home for a drink so that they would get the water going in the pipes, getting rid of any really cold water. They were quite a distance away, eating some bales I had put out on Sunday. Although I had decided not to continue working the dogs in the cold and with the ground so slippery and the cows getting closer to calving time, I still decided to take out Jan to fetch them back for me. Jan is a young Border Collie, I just started, and this was her 3rd time out with the stock. The first time she was pretty hesitant, the 2nd time she was moving around the stock better and started fetching them to me on balance. Today, her 3rd time out she was completely perfect. We walked out to the cows, encouraged them to move together and then I clapped and yipped a little, resulting in Jan moving away from me and around to the other side of the cows. I slowly walked back through the one field, then through the next one, and then back into the paddock that approaches the corrals. All the time she continued to steadily fetch the cows to me, working on her balance. So, after 5 minutes or so, we were all back in the yard and the cows were at the watering trough. Jan was splendid.
Work at the Ranch
It was a busy week last week. It was time to start sorting and processing some of the cows at the ranch where I work. We had 2 days of preg checking to do and a day of sorting before we could start into the preg checking. The numbers were pretty good, as to open cows, and as things stand right now, the numbers show that we will be calving 999 cows come May. The 2nd day of preg checking the vet managed 518 cows from 12 noon through to about 4 pm.. The new handling system was excellent and there was never a lull. Around 20 cows can fit into the alley up to the chute and we were able to keep the alley full all of the time. Out of the 999 cows pregnant, there were 200 that we have just bought, at bred cow sales, that didn’t need to be checked.
New help for me as we head into calving 1000 cows
Also, on the calving subject, we’ have organized 2 local, younger, cowboys to work with me starting in April. They will certainly be taking a huge load off my shoulders as calving out 1000 cows, covering hundreds of acres, was going to be a challenge on my own. With 3 of us we will be a bit over staffed but the plan is to keep increasing the cow numbers, over the next few years, and then we will be more efficiently occupied. Vaccinating, etc., the cows and calves was supposed to start this week but with it being so cold right now we’ve decided to hold off until next week when the whether is supposed to improve a bit.
The ewes in winter
The ewes are now about half way through their gestation period and so there's about 10 week left until lambing should begin. I'm pretty excited about the start of lambing, seeing if there's an increased production from the extra work and management that has gone into the ewes since they were weaned from their lambs. I am still feeding the ewes about 2/3 of a lb a day of a high energy barley based pellet ration. They have really kept in great shape and may have even improved a little throughout the gestation period. Within 6 weeks of lambing time, a ewe will start to really need the extra nutrition. The lamb does about 75% of its growth in the last 6 weeks and so it's a big challenge for the ewe as it keeps pace with the extra demands put on her system. To ensure that she has lots of milk and is in a strong and healthy body score for the lambing time, it is imperative that the feeding regime alters and increases accordingly. Ewes that start to become extra fat could be sorted off as they might well be just carrying singles. The skinnier ewes maybe carrying triplets and their demands are greater. Once again, if you have the chance to sort those off and feed them a better ration may pay dividends come lambing time. The balance here is not to feed too much to the ewes that need the extra because that also can cause problems. It's important not to make any fast and hasty changes to their diets.
I have one ewe that must have got bred when the Suffolk jumped out of the ram pen last fall. I have the date marked down and have just recently moved her into an insulated room in the horse barn. It's not warm in their but it's better than anywhere else. minus 8c opposed to minus 30 outside. I have my cow camera set up in the room and so I can keep an eye on her from the house, instead of having to run out their constantly. I bought the cow / cam about 5 years ago. It's the best $1000 I have ever spent on the farm and should have done it years ago, plain and simple!
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The offending, and frozen, watering trough. I am not sure just how much of a saving it will be. After a late dinner I looked in the mirror, investigating my burning ear, only to find that my ear was bright red, swollen and my ear lobe sticking out at about 60 degrees and twice the usual size.
Since I moved here I have been unable to really use this small cattle shed. Part of the roof had previously blown off and I had not managed to get around to fixing it. The wind would raw through the open roof and then through the shed. On Sunday, Jane and I took several hours cutting away the ripped and deformed tin and then replaced it with some new tin. It is now pretty cosey, so the cows think anyway.
My new yearling bull heading for cover from the blowing snow and minus 30 degree temperatures.
Jan on her 3rd outing with the stock. She really did a perfect job. Careful and thoughtful.
Jan going around the cows.
I haven't used Tim much this winter. A few weeks ago there was enough snow to use him for the chores. Then it thawed and the snow either disapeerded or changed to ice.
This afternoon as the ewes waited for me to let them back to their over-night shed. They are in ideal condition for this time of their gestation. 10 weeks before lambing starts. I am still feeding them 2/3 of a lb a day of a high energy barley based ration.
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Working with my dogs
I seem more than usually inspired with my dogs at the moment. Each day I am finding the time to work atleast one of the dogs but usually two of them. The results are amazing and reminds me of the time when I used to start many dogs each year and would be disciplined in my approach to making sure that there was consistency and a continual effort. I remember how fast I would see young dogs develop through a continual program of work. Even spending 15 minutes every other day will reap great rewards. So I have managed to keep up this momentum with the 3 young dogs that I am starting, but also with the 2 year old Kit who I had left alone for most of the summer after her initial start in the fall of 2010.
If you click on the photo of Meg, on the right of this column, you will go directly to her page. This was a photo that I took when she was about 4 months old.
I'll add some photos in the next few days. |
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Weighing bulls At Eastondale Angus and other stuff
This past spring Dale Easton asked if I would be interested in putting some bulls in on test with their bulls and Clint's bulls. I have been sending my bulls to the Manitoba Bull Test Station at Douglas for the past 3 years and so this was a great offer. Dale has been an Angus breeder for many, many years and is a well respected breeder of Black Angus cattle. A few years back he was awarded the Saskatchewan Breeder of the Year, a major accomplishment when considering the size of the cattle industry in Saskatchewan and the size and quality of the Angus cattle bred in his province.
Today I ventured down to his place to help out with weighing the bulls as they move ahead to the early April sale which he holds each spring, on his farm at Wawota. It's usually in early April. I'll post the date as soon as I know for sure.
His top bulls, born this past February, were in around the 1100 lb mark with some of them higher and then some of the younger bulls being lower than that. My bulls were a bit later calving and were not as prepared as they should have been and so were lighter. They may catch up some of their ground. My bulls were all from the herd sire that I had been using for several years, Eastondale Right Time, from the well known and respected, Leachman Right Time.
Other stuff. ...... I advertised my excess chickens on EBrandon several weeks ago, FREE!! I had lots of calls and they eventually went today. I kept my usual 6 or so and that's all we need for here. It was a relief to see them go this evening, they were eating me out of house and home and with very little to show for all the feed they were being fed.
I've been working with my young Meg dog and she is doing so well. I bought her this past June and so she is only about 9 months old. It's almost a miracle as one sees these young Border Collies find their balance and start their working careers. I have also been working with my young Star dog. If you go to his page under Border Collies you can follow his path to success.
Our weather has been completely incredible. Our normals for this time of the year is around the minus 20 for a low and then with day time temperatures in the minus 10 to 12 mark. Today it was plus 5 and sunny. As I worked one of the young dogs this evening I took a photo of the cows returning to the corral with the sun setting behind them and the barn.
Into the new year, 2012
As the new year begins, I have started the first of the pages on my 4 Border Collie dogs. Atlast, as the dust of the late fall and Christmas time settles, I am now finding some time to start working and training my 4 young dogs.
If you're interested in following the progress and stories of these 4 Border Collie dogs, go to the sub menu under the Border Collie menu. |
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A small bunch of the pen of bulls on test at Dale Easton's farm, Eastondale Angus. I have 4 bulls on test there now after one was taken out.
Working with Meg this afternoon. Meg is from a completely different line of working dogs. Although she's a purebred Border Collie, she's not registered. The previous owners had let the registration papers lapse on their dogs but there was a good reason for me taking one of these lines on.
A beautiful day. Our temperatures all winter, so far, have been well above normal. This is in complete contrast to our bitter winter we had last year.
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