Weaning Calves and Giving Thanks!

    November has gone by for me! Though it is safe to say that I was busy for most of the month. I focused the first two weeks on preparing for an FFA speech contest. I got second at districts and I'm the alternate for the state speech competition. I have also been working on an essay contest, which I am still in the process of putting the finishing touches to it. Throughout it all I had school work to tackle, taking four weighted courses may not have been my smartest move!



     Last weekend we moved the cattle herd out of the pasture and into the pins; it was time to wean calves. For those who don't know the process of weaning calves, it is simple. My dad will push one cow down the shute to my brother and I who are in charge of two gates. If it is a cow, young calf, or bull, my brother opens his gate to let them back into the pasture. If it is a steer or heifer, I will open my gate. The steers and heifers will not be able to drink their mothers' milk, opening the cow up to have another calf. Once the older calf is ready, we will sell it to the market. We keep the weaned calves in the pins by the barn. For the first couple of days, they will be a little skittish because they are not used to us feeding and interacting with them. Well it isn't much interacting, I try to stay on the opposite side of the pin because they run all over the place! We will keep them in the pins till January, then we will sort out which heifers we want to keep. The heifers and steers we do not want will be sold at auction.

The cows were ready to go back out into the pasture!

    Though we needed to get weaning done, I was not looking forward to it. My dad had picked the coldest day to work! So we bundled up in coveralls, ski masks, gloves, and hand/toe warmers, what helped though was knowing that my grandma had hot chocolate waiting for us. :)

    Hope everyone has a safe Thanksgiving with friends and family!