Goodbye Bart

Here is a photo of Black Bart when he first came to our farm. He is a polled American Dexter Bull. He was very productive at our farm. My husband's intentions were to raise some Dexters and sell them.
Well that never quite worked out. Bart did the breeding, the gals did the birthing and somehow we ended up with just more Dexters to feed.

That is another story however.

Bart produced some beautiful calves!
There was Stella, she was so cute when she was born!

I'd like to keep her as she is so tame, but she is another mouth to feed and hay prices are soaring.

As you can see, they are not huge cattle, but rather a nice size. However, I can't justify the cost of just keeping them because they are neat.

Anyway.
I opened the electric gate and fully expected to have to convince Bart to leave his pen. Bart looked at the open gate and walked regally through it and quietly down the electric gate into the pen where we'd ship him out.

He didn't run, buck, or even bat an eye. It was almost as boring to watch as paint drying.

I commented to my neighbor who had come along to close the fence gate while I walked behind Bart that I'd rather it be ho hum and boring.

Bart spent the day grazing and being quiet.
I worked in the garden and picked more buckets of beans. I peeked into the one squash plant I seeded and saw dozens of squash!
I pulled up more carrots and beets with Charlie's help, of course.

My garden may be messy this year, but it has been very bountiful.  I hope I am done by the time the corn is ready to start to freeze!

Here is a view of the garden from the porch...

Just as it began to rain, Jeff showed up with a trailer and we loaded up Bart. Rich actually came out to help which I was so surprised at and happy about.

He even visited with Jeff for a bit. Jeff had climbed into his truck and gotten out of the rain. Rich stood with his hands in his pockets and chit chatted with Jeff.

Bart will provide us with a lot of meat this next year. I will freeze and dehydrate my vegetables to add to our winter food.

Goodbye Bart.
Hello food.

And so it goes...

Fog and Pasture

We used to fence off the neighbor's meadow and keep it clipped and grazed by the equine for quite a few years.

After my husband's stroke last May we sold most of the equine. I tried keeping up on the weeds vs. the electric fence last year but lost out. Without my husband clipping it with the mower, it became a tangled mess of multiflora rose and other nasties.

However, it still presents as a beautiful place to watch the sun come through the fog on those typical Driftless mornings.

Charlie and I walk back almost every morning to check on the status of the mules and Fifteen in the back.
And whenever the small herd sees me, the come up to the gate.

On the other side of that crooked-ly fence is the Merry Meadow. If I could drive a tractor and operate the mower, I'd clip the meadow just to keep the weeds down and create a nice place to ride with the kids. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get my husband or the neighbor to clip a trail????
Anyway, that was just a fleeting thought to be filed for later.

This particular morning, the fog was incredible.

Layers upon layers of mist rising...or fog.

And well, the rest was just nice to stand and watch.

I am currently working on putting up some fencing in the woods behind the meadow. I should say I am working on repairs and replacing part of the fence.

We haven't used the 'wooded' pasture since 2009. The posts are there, but there is some fixing to do.
I am just going to work on half of it.

I guess that is the one thing I do love about electric 'rope' fence. I can make a section just about anywhere just clear the weeds and underbrush and put in the posts.

Maybe I should just take some photos or draw it out. Hmmm. Thinking again!
My goal by mid summer is to have good rotation for the 5 head of cattle and the 5 head of equine.

The Dexter cattle are experts at browsing the undesirable weeds and cleaning up brush.

The ladies doing their job. They gleaned this pasture and are out working on the ragweed and other grasses in the large winter pasture.
Soon they will rotate back to their favorite lot.
I think I call that #4.

Well there you go. More than you wanted to know.

Meanwhile at the Farm

Here is hubby with his new spring haircut and beard trim visiting with his mom who is in rehab for a fall she had at the beginning of the month. The staff a Vernon Manor have been stellar. She's had intense Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy along with decent meals and her meds have been monitored.

The difference from before her fall to now is pretty amazing. Yet the woman of course is set in her ways. She is set to be released on Good Friday. I am of the opinion that she needs 24 hr supervision. Mostly because we've discovered that her mobility is still and issue [but good enough for Medicare standards] and her memory is a huge issue [but not 'bad' enough to warrant skilled care].
Medicare will only pay for up to 30 days in a Skilled Nursing Facility, thus the other reason for her release.


That is all on that front.

Hank is now a confirmed steer. He and his mom Stella will be moving to a larger pasture on Good Friday. They will share a fence line with Stella's old pasture mates. Hank will be 3 months old tomorrow. He and Charlie share a birthdate.

After a few weeks of being reacquainted with a fence in between them, they will go into the larger dry lot to await pasture rotation once the woods pastures begin to green up.

I've spent the past few days removing worn out soft braid wire and replacing it. All five of of pastures now that are in rotation have been 'Dexterized'. The Dexters clean the woods of berry briers and brambles along with eating ragweed and burdock.
The mules eat what the Dexters don't and we end up with a great way of keeping the woods and noxious weeds under control.

The 'other' usual suspects. The red headed sisters, the bay horse we call 15 and Fred hovering in back. Missing is the grey mule, Mica who was over eating hay in the feeder. I'd just finished up a session with the shedding blade and I am again their best-est ever friend.
Sundance is on the right, she is the younger mule who will get her education this year.

I worked with Charlie in the cold wind to string new wire and test the fence. I needed one lower line for the Dexter cattle.
Charlie is a very distracted helper. He was more interested in the mud he could get into and chewing on clumps of grass.

I had his new super-light weight cord on him so he couldn't just take off.
He made multiple trips with me to the large shed and back to the pasture. The cold wind didn't seem to bother him as he was 'busy' discovering the world.

The pastures had been set up for equine. I'd come up with a rotation plan and my husband actually agreed to it.
Since his stroke last May, I've been left to more and more of the decisions.

The remainder of the Dexter herd will be trucked out and sold at local auction. The two large bulls we have will be sent off for meat and sold.

I found a new cord for Charlie. It is super lightweight. However he doesn't seem to mind dragging it or allowing me to guide him with it as a leash. The new cord is a piece of my clothesline. It works very well.

However, Charlie is a master at getting into small places and thinking it is a game.
He is still very young so I don't get too upset with him. He is still a pup. The outdoor world is a huge adventure and his acute sense of smell leads him astray...well, astray in only human terms. If I had his sense of smell I'd probably have to investigate every mouse, deer, rabbit, and squirrel smell I came across too.

This weekend ought to be a wild one. My Kenosha Gang is coming up Thursday night to spend the weekend. We'll be coloring eggs and doing some farm work. I don't know what I'd do without these helping hands!

Charlie always seems to come up with a good solution for busy days. Cuddle up and take a nap!

Hank update

From...this wet shaking cold little thing....

to

But the clean up every day!

At least it is all frozen stuff.
I have a wheelbarrow, but the 'carcass' sled is much easier on the snow.
The little apple picker doesn't work on cow piles so I've resorted to the shovel.

Hank makes a bed out of any new hay in his pen and Stella has to eat around him.
This weekend it is going to warm up so the heat lamp will go off and I will take the sides off the makeshift pen.

I've got to figure out what to do with the pair after a month or so. Stella was always 'picked' on by the other girls and I don't want her and Hank pushed around. I may rewire a pen near Little Richard and put them in there. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet.

However. Hank is doing fine. He is running laps around Stella and kicking up his heels.

Stella is being a good mother and very patient.

Stella is also really good about me being in the pen with her and Hank, of course I have to watch her, but she allows me to capture Hank and hold on to him.

And that is your Hank Update.

Hank, Hankster,...The Hank, the Dexter Calf

So 'the calf' who was born in the cold during our Christmas Supper ... remained days without a name.
I am often hesitant about giving a name to a critter that ... well, simply put, should not survive.
Yes we already established that this young heifer had been penned with a young bull and had not been separated before what we felt would be active breeding time.
Well, we were very wrong!

I did not feel confident that without bringing the calf into the house and giving it milk replacer that I'd be able to keep it alive. The little guy was cute. All animal babies are cute.

My Kenosha Gang showed up Friday evening and we put together a heat lamp and made the little pen a bit cozier by putting plywood around it to keep the heat in and the cold air out. Well, that was the idea.

The little guy seemed okay but would sleep in one corner or another and would shiver a bit. When he was up and nursing he seemed fine.

Well I bedded them heavier with shavings, I have been cleaning their little pen each day and putting in fresh pine shavings.
I'm sure Stella would say thanks, but she is more interested in water and in hay. She does stop occasionally to pull my gloves off my hands.

The heat lamp and bedding really helped a lot. Mother Nature took its course and Stella was nursing him very well. He found the best way to nurse was to go directly under the tail.
I tried to tell the calf that perhaps one day he'd not want to do that.

He didn't listen to me at all.

While I was cleaning the stall and making arrangements on Friday before our next house guests arrived, I found myself talking to the calf and Stella while working on their little pen.

I called the calf 'Hank'. He looked like a Hank. And it stuck.

Welcome to the farm 'Hank' The Sir Prize little Dexter!

The temperatures were forecast to drop well below zero on New Years Eve. Daryl had brought a small heater and he set it up. New Years Eve we'd thought we'd do all sorts of fun things.

But Hank ended up as the main attraction. With the temperatures falling well below -12 F and the wind chills a sinister -33 or so, ... we opted for no night hike. However everyone took turns checking on Hank.
It didn't matter if it took several minutes to wrap up and put on facemaskes, heavy gloves, boots, coveralls,.... we all had to see Hank.

Yes. The Hank has defied the odds and continues to grow like a little weed.

He sometimes thinks he is a Big Boy...well, not quite yet!

However, he is doing great.

What a wonderful thing to happen on our little farm to give us hope and and joy for the New Year.

I need a name

During our family Christmas Meal I noticed Stella the escape artist getting harassed by Belle. Stella was laying down in the fodder we had out and wasn't getting up which was very unusual.
I jumped up from the table and hurried to get my coveralls on. It is amazing how fast I can throw on those insulated coveralls.
LOVE my coveralls!

Ariel was close behind me, she grabbed my farm coat and out the door we went sort of leaving everyone at the table with my parting words "Something is wrong with Stella...!"
Actually I was not believing my eyes. I think Stella was calving. She shouldn't have been, but...we didn't move her out of the pen where we had a young bull until late spring...so...

Oh.
I stepped through the hot wires and Stella stood up and sort of whirled. Out slid a calf. Stella stepped away and I bent down to the calf, pulled off my gloves and cleaned out his nose and throat. I wished I could have seen Ariel's expression although I will bet she watched intently.
My hands were full of the calf's smell and I gently put them up to Stella who smelled them and made a soft guttural sound. She followed my hands back to the calf and she started to clean him.

I sent Ariel to the house to tell 'Grandpa' that we needed to take Stella and the calf to the shed.
By now everyone dressed. Rich and his daughter set up a pen in the shed while Ariel kept the other Dexters at bay with sorting sticks. I ran into the house and tracked snow and fodder over the floor to grab some old towels.

Stella will generally follow me or allow me to push her where ever I want her to go. She is the not a very large Dexter, so I formulated a plan. I'd pick up the calf and she'd follow the calf and I into the pen in the shed.

Rich said the calf would probably not survive in this cold. I said that I'd sure like to give it a whirl. I could not abandon the thought of trying to make this little guy make it.

It was quite the sight I think. I was crouched holding a wet calf wrapped in a towel in front of Stella's nose. She'd lick the calf and I'd crab walk sideways away from her. She'd follow and make guttural noises. Behind me, Rich, Ariel, and Steph all kept Stella on track through the yard and up towards the shed.

We got to the driveway and Stella stood stock still. She had to pee and no one was making this new mom move until she was darned good and ready. It made us all laugh. We even talked to Stella as if she were a person, asking her if she was done yet and did she have any other thoughts?

We got her into the pen with no problems. We put down shavings and hay. Stella seemed starved and ignored the calf.

I went in the house to get on some dry coveralls and more towels.
My mother in law asked me how I got so wet. I explained I was calf-slimed and laughed.
Pretty soon everyone else came in too. Rich said Stella was ignoring the calf and he'd tried to get it up to nurse with no success, that Stella kicked at the calf.

Ariel asked me what we should do. I told her that personally, if it were up to me, I'd get milk replacer and bring the calf in the house. She seemed to think that was a good idea. I took the towels and rubbed the calf dry.
Ariel watched as I pulled the calf close into my lap and hugged him tightly. I willed him to live and to get warmth from me holding him so tight. He shivered and seemed to push into my body.
I don't think that Ariel saw my tears. Perhaps she did. My heart has an extreme soft spot for animals. I hugged him tightly before setting him down in the bedding.

I explained that had we known, we would have had a box stall put together and a heat lamp. The last time I'd had a calf born in this time of year, it hadn't made it. Annie had come to us with calf and we didn't know it. We nearly lost Annie because she was technically too young to have been bred.
Photo from January of 2012. Saving Annie

We did save Annie. I even hand milked her much to her disdain and had tried to save her calf. However both had been so chilled that we lost the calf.

Of course the conversation turned to cattle and the calf...and Stella. I mused that if Stella's calf was half as sweet as she was, he'd make a beautiful steer to have around for petting. It felt bittersweet to talk like that. I wanted the Calf to be fine.

As the company gathered to leave, Ariel went back out to say goodbye to Stella. She was all set to find a dead calf.

She came in the door and her glasses fogged up.
"He's up and walking around!"
Everyone went out to look and they came back with the same conclusion. The calf was up and moving around.

After they left, Rich said he was going to bed. The day wore him out.
The Kenosha Gang folks called...Daryl and Amanda and we talked about our plans for the weekend.

They said they'd bring a heater and we could modify the stall to prevent them from getting too cold during the upcoming weekend sub zero cold snap.

I hung up with a bit of hope in my heart and grabbed my fresh coveralls from the dryer. They were warm.
Snap!
Cha-Ching!
I grabbed the towels I'd just dried and stuck them back in the dryer while I dressed. I had a plan for the next 24 hours.

Heated towels every two hours!
The calf really responded well to that and he even scooted around the makeshift stall while I cleaned up mom poop.

Stella had cleaned up her hay so I fed her more and gave her fresh water.

This was taken at midnight.

I didn't awaken at 2am. At 5am I ran out to the calf laying in a pile of hay and shavings giving me the classic Stella Look.

Stella at 12 hrs old:

So it looks like this Dexter Weebull is strong this morning. I have help to make things even better coming this evening.
I am hopeful enough to actually think of giving him a name.

Any takers?

I had a thought:

Sir Prize

A friend on Facebook said he should be called Zero for the subzero temps.

Let's hear it!

Stella and the rest

Stella. My favorite little Dexter heifer. She is just down right adorable and sweet.

I think this is Belle. Not as Sweet. She likes to chase Stella.

Bunny. Our first born on this property. Grumpy Bunny. Always looking to be lead heifer.

Vanessa. Queen Cow. Three time mom. She has attitude. And she runs the lot of them.  She is an original.  I didn't get a shot of Beauty. But she looks much like Belle. I'm not sure I can tell them apart.

Farm Life

The past few mornings and nights I have run outside in pj's and slippers to 'grab' shots of the sunrise or sunset.
The colors have been absolutely brilliant.

I also went on an short excursion to find some dried weeds in the valley. Of course I got sidetracked by the "Ice Fingers" clinging to the grass on the banks of the creek.

I'm trying to scout out the best trails to take some friends on.  We will be doing a New Year's Eve Night Hike.
Hoping to make it an annual event!

The Kenosha Gang left me some 'tack' markers. I'm going to work on one of the more difficult trails to follow ... in the day... or in the night and clean it up a bit. I will use the tack markers that reflect light.

That should help.

I collected the items I needed and spent a few minutes sitting by the creek admiring Mother Nature's ice sculptures.

Same Ice Fingers, different angle.

Sometimes I have to place the camera in the creek itself.

For whatever reason...I think I could spend the whole day just hunting for these little fingers of ice on the grass.
So many beautiful possibilities.

Again. This is the same little formation of ice. Just another angle.

I didn't have much time, I had to get back to start chores and supper.
And wouldn't you know it!
I put the bouquet I'd picked down for a moment while I picked some burrs out of my scarf...and left them there!
[A good reason, I believe to go back today???]

So I went up the steep trail to the Merry Meadow.

Out came the pink fugly camera.
My photo group was doing Silhouettes for our weekly theme.

The sun was so low in the sky. I couldn't resist.

Not a pure shot by any means. But I like it. It depicts a winter version of a scrub apple tree.

I made it home in time to do chores.

I make it a point to visit with each of the mules and 15 [our horse] every day.
The Redheaded sisters took advantage of the last rain and covered themselves in mud. I let them be covered like this as it adds a layer to their already very thick winter coats. I will groom them for riding later. Any grooming is always a love fest on our place.

Last but not least.

Stella. Our youngest Dexter heifer. She is such a doll. However she is on the bottom of the 'totem' pole in the girl's herd.
But she is also the most tame and friendly heifer we have.

For whatever reason, she loves to pull on my gloves.

Dixie reminded me that Gun Deer Season is over and she would love to help me mark trails.
Hmm.
Morris reminded me that he likes very short walks in the cold and prefers more than one blanket to burrow into on the couch.

And...
so begins another day!