tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post8231047498952898858..comments2023-11-07T06:51:41.301-06:00Comments on The Beginning Farmer: OverwhelmingEthan Bookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01333115493519268802noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-82863511865809800052008-07-30T16:14:00.000-05:002008-07-30T16:14:00.000-05:00Hi,My dad, brother, and I were there, and stayed f...Hi,<BR/>My dad, brother, and I were there, and stayed for the whole thing. (I was wearing the green head scarf and my dad had the hat with the feather in it) It did seem like alot to take in. I had been reading his book (Reproduction and Animal Health- available through Acres USA) before I came, so much of what he talked about was familiar. We have a very small herd, but we are going to attempt to raise our own Jersey bull.<BR/><BR/>Rich,<BR/>You do not need a large herd to do line breeding. I suggest you read Gerald Fry's book that I mentioned above. It is also available through amazon.com.<BR/>That dime sized spot is actually called the adrenal swirl- a swirl of hair on the neck or back. To preg check at about 60 days- if the hair in the swirl is standing up she's open, if the hair is laying flat then she's either bred or not cycling.<BR/>We have very tame cows so measuring is no problem, but when you are familiar with linear measuring you can readily eye cattle and know almost at a glance how they would probably measure up. Anyway, it is worth measuring your cows just once. But I understand if your cows are wild, it would be a challenge, to say the least. <BR/>Taci<BR/>www.thelowerbarn.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-80503278996544704282008-07-25T02:31:00.000-05:002008-07-25T02:31:00.000-05:00Mr. Fry is a contrarian, and a wonderful one at th...Mr. Fry is a contrarian, and a wonderful one at that. I highly recommend others get familiar with his theory and practice if they are interested in raising grass-fed beef. You will find it very interesting the Mr. Fry, as passionate as he is about raising the very best quality grass-fed beef, has thrown EPDs out the window and has a very practical way of evaluating quality that you will find refreshing and common sensical.<BR/><BR/>-EnriqueAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-35557030316326087552008-07-24T19:06:00.000-05:002008-07-24T19:06:00.000-05:00"...If you aren't line breeding you aren't doing t...<I>"...If you aren't line breeding you aren't doing the best that you can do..."</I><BR/><BR/>From my understanding, line-breeding can quickly "fix" the superior qualities present in a superior bull in the following generations of the cow herd. But I've never seen a satisfactory answer for easily finding that "superior" bull with those desirable qualities. I also haven't seen how big of a cow herd you would need to implement an effective line-breeding program.<BR/><BR/><I>"...There is a dime sized spot of hair on the back of a cow near the front shoulders that can indicate whether or not a cow is pregnant..."</I><BR/><BR/>Where exactly is that spot and what does it look like when a cow is pregnant?<BR/><BR/><I>"...You gotta get your bulls from your own herd..."</I><BR/><BR/>I can see many advantages to raising your own bulls, but how exactly do you choose which ones to retain? Wouldn't your bull calves need to be at least 12 months old before you could start to evaluate them? I wouldn't have a problem with eating beef from a young bull, but there might be some bias (or a discount requested) if you tried to sell the beef to some if not all consumers.<BR/><BR/><I>"...I was only able to be there while he evaluated two cows..."</I> <BR/><BR/>His linear measurement system is interesting, but how did he get accurate measurements? Did he have to run the cattle into a chute to measure them, or was it a matter of "eyeballing" them from a distance? I can just imagine chasing a cow around a pasture with a measuring tape trying to measure her neck length!Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11412944120622315804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35188043.post-75034000206864821962008-07-24T13:16:00.000-05:002008-07-24T13:16:00.000-05:00We would have really liked to have gone to this fi...We would have really liked to have gone to this field day. Pesky day jobs! I'm hoping PFI will have Mr. Fry speak at their conference one of these years.sugarcreekfarmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09655268212094370061noreply@blogger.com