Dairyfarmer's Thankful Thursday

There's nothing sweeter than watching a mama cow

welcome her new baby with a tongue licking bath.

This licking cleans and strategically moves  and helps expel 

any fluids that might be present in the calf's lungs. 

It's obvious that our Creator thinks of everything!

Within just three months,

this new baby will have out grown the individual hutch we

raise them in and need to be moved to a small pasture.

This process is what we call weaning.

Calves are usually 10 to 12 weeks old when weaned from the hutches.

Before moving the calves they are on water and pelleted feed

that is formulated for their growth and development. 

This preparation decreases the stress on the day

 we actually move them and for the adjustment to their

new surroundings.

I'm thankful for each of these healthy calves that will

one day be producing high quality milk and

for the opportunity I have to work with my two sons

everyday down on the dairy farm.

Dairy Farmer's Thankful Thursday

I returned from a trip to Little Rock just in time

to check on the calves during their afternoon feeding.

It was a dreary,rain threatening afternoon and already getting

dark when I made my way to the hutches.

The calves were already finished with their afternoon milk

and were enjoying the grain that had been added to their feed

bucket.  With the threat of rain, I was glad to see that 

each calf  had their head down in the feed bucket.

I'm not quite adjusted to the  Daylight Savings time change that 

occurred this past Sunday but 

I'm thankful that our calves don't seem to be bothered at all.

Their  growth and development goes right on

as long as we provide milk and grain twice daily and monitor 

closely for any illness.

                                                 
                                                   
                                                 

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

Even though we have a daily routine that includes milking our cows

 and feeding all the animals on the farm, today was anything but ordinary.

During fall or spring calving season, 

it's not unusual to have from one to three calves born.

Today we had a total of nine new babies!

It was anything but a routine afternoon  as Ryan and I worked to

give each new calf a bottle of colostrum and vaccinations to prevent illness.

I'm thankful for these kind of interruptions of our daily routine

that bring smiles to our dairy farmer faces

                                                                                  and

                                         for the new crop of calves for Hattie  to help  feed!

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

It was a week filled with listening and learning  about agriculture issues.

Arkansas Farm Bureau President Randy Veach spoke to 

agriculture and business leaders about  the impact of trade 

on Arkansas farms at the

 Arkansas World Trade Center in Rogers,

Dr. Mark Stephenson spoke about the changing landscape of dairy markets

 at the Heart of America Dairy Expo in Springfield, Missouri,

and

Arkansas Farm Bureau Vice President spoke about

the current threat to  our Right to Farm in Arkansas at the

 Winter Commodity Conference in North Little Rock.

                                         
                                          I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a member of
                                           organizations  that support our farms and farmers
                                            and for the routine days down on the dairy farm.

Dairymom's Thankful Thursday

While I'm always thankful for rain, 

feeding calves is much better when the sun is shining!

After all the calves received their morning milk, 

Casey and I proceeded to feed the grain.

My job was tractor driving while Casey scooped a measured 

amount of grain into each calf's bucket from the tractor bucket.

I'm thankful for each of these healthy calves

 that are growing down on the dairy farm

and

 that my son trusts me not to run over him!

Dairy Frolics

It doesn't matter if the gate was left open by accident or the dairy  calves pushed it open,

 the calves must go back to the pasture they call home to make sure they are fed and cared for  properly each day.

After gathering them all in a working pen,

the frolics began!

My job was to serve as the counter--keeping track of the ones sorted out of the pen for the group going to the west pasture. It was a low stress job--perfect for me!

 After sorting, it was a little like what you would call a cattle drive...

although it was just across one pasture to the next gate.

Going through the gate was a little tricky but we outsmarted the last three on the second time!

As the calves entered the pasture they were running,jumping, and bucking.

It looked a lot like a school playground when the kids begin recess.  

Lucky for us, the pasture was green on both sides of the fence!