Not Exactly Spring

Last year for various reasons there were a couple cows (although one cow hasn't had a calf for a few years as far as I know and I'm still not convinced she is bred) that did not have a calf. Because of that (and the joys of setting up a farm on the fly) our calving has begun already. We were shooting for calves when the grass was green, but I guess now we are having them when we are dreaming of green grass! Nonetheless, cow and calf seem to be doing fine and I hope things continue down that direction.

The little bull calf was born early this afternoon inside the shed. As I was doing chores this morning I noticed some tell-tale signs that she would be calving soon and guessed that today was going to be the day (I had know she was getting close for a bit now). So, I decided to separate her from the rest of the herd inside and throw in plenty of bedding for the cow and the soon to be calf on the ground. It seems like it was just another carefree Dexter birth!

I am still amazed at how little these calves are when they come out ... and so very cute looking! As you can see this little guys is black and in the picture he was still getting his cleaning from momma. Also, while I was out there I was able to see him eating. I'm always glad to see that when we have a bull calf because for some reason the few bull calves we have had haven't been as smart about the whole eating thing! But, this guy has it figured out.

Hopefully we'll have a few more calves to come ... But, I'm perfectly okay for them to wait until it is a bit warmer out!

Not My Favorite, But...

I can't say that our current bull is my favorite Dexter bull, or even close to that. He has give us plenty of frustration with his desire to get out and roam around and he isn't exactly as cuddly (not that you should ever cuddle a bull) as some Dexter bulls that I've bet. But, with all that being said he does have a few redeeming qualities that I don't hate.

He seems to have fleshed out nicely on the spring grass so far (at least comparatively speaking) and it also seems like he is a guy that will get his job done. One other thing is that he is a little smaller in size so I'm hoping he will bring us a couple smaller calves from our two bigger cows. Our big cows hardly even seem like Dexters when you compare them to the others in the herd!

All that being said, I'm still on the hunt for a herd bull that fits us perfectly and will continually improve our herd. We have an uphill battle to get the herd to where I would like it, but this is an okay start.

New Life

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. Well, that is the case today because this picture tells it all. The first little Dexter calf was born on Stoneyfield farm sometime late Saturday night and everyone is doing wonderful.

When I went out to do chores Sunday morning before church I found all the cows up waiting for some water ... all the cows except for one that is. On Friday I had noticed that our newest cow (that came with the bull from Nebraska) was really starting to bag up and she looked like she would be calving soon. I'm glad to say that I was correct in my assumption, because I found them down in the valley just hanging out and enjoying some nice mother/son time.

If all went well last year we should be coming up on some more calves in the near future, but I sometimes wonder how many cows our previous bull settled. We will see for sure in the next month or two. Not exactly the schedule I wanted to keep, but we will get things back on track over time.

Tomorrow I'll share an update on the hog hut, and I bet I'll have some pig news soon as well!

I Fought the Mud...

...And I Won! Yesterday you might remember that the Expedition and the stock trailer were stuck in the mud. But, it was more than just that because inside the stock trailer were three new Dexters for Stoneyfield Farm. It was getting late and we were too far from where they were supposed to be to rig something up, so I just threw a bunch of hay in the trailer and bedded them down for the night. But, today I finally scored a point against the mud!

When I came home from work today I decided I was just going to try and get the truck and trailer on the gravel. I figured if I could do that I could figure something out. So, after a little slow going I was on firmish ground and I thought maybe I could make it to the pen if I took a run at it driving towards it instead of backing up to it. My plan worked and with the help of a cattle panel and a 16 foot gate all three of the new Dexters are in place.

So, you may be wondering why three new Dexters and why now? Well, we are going to need a bull this summer and if I have learned anything over the past couple of years I have learned that it is somewhat difficult to find a decent bull when you need one. So, when I saw this group for sale at a good price I jumped at the opportunity. I figured it was best to at least have something.

This was a package deal though, so I came home Monday (after about 7 hours of driving) with an almost three-year-old bull and cow along with their 7-month old heifer. While he isn't the greatest Dexter bull ever he is a decent looking bull and will work for our herd. The cow and the heifer also have added something to the herd.

I am beginning to think that I want to focus mostly on the dun or red cows mostly for heat resistance and the way they look. So, this summer (maybe after calving) I'm going to sell two black cows and keep these two dun cows. This will help with the money we just spent and will also bring us closer to the dun/red herd I'm looking for.

One more thing ... none of these three are registered yet. That means they don't have names! Do you have any good suggestions?

Baby Beef and Dexters...

I wrote a post for the Epi-Log that will go up later this morning about Marin Sun Farms in California. The cool thing was that they have a meat CSA that helps them do a better job of selling the entire animal and allows them to have consistent sales. But, there was one quote that struck me while I was reading the article in, "The Stockman GrassFarmer" that I didn't touch on in the Epi-Log post.

Specifically the qoute was, "He is currently experimenting with harvesting beeves at weaning as 'baby beef' to get their carcass size down to a more customer friendly size".

The first thing that popped into my head is, "that is exactly what a finished Dexter is ... a customer friendly size!" Of course I do understand that he will get to that size much more quickly with baby beef, but Dexter owners can reach the same "perfect carcass size" by finishing their beeves, marketing the meat as meat with a great flavor, and all along mantaining a small buy very useful breed.

Like I said, I understand the differences, but I also see this is as a great way to market Dexter beef for consumers. I continue to become more and more interested in the idea of a meat CSA, even to the point of combining pork and other meat into the monthly packages (I think they may do that at Marin Sun). I'll have to do a little more research into this...

RED!

Dexters are either going to be black, dun, or red (in order from most common to least common). On our farm we have both black and dun and we absolutely love them... But, why not have all the colors? That is the question I asked myself when we got into Dexters, so even though I said that I was done buying cows I ended up getting a nice little red heifer this weekend. Her name is Grandma's Jasmine and she is from Grandma's Dexter Farm near Toddville, IA (north of Cedar Rapids). We picked her up on Saturday and she is already settling in to her new environment as the first Dexter on our new farm.

One of the reasons that we decided to purchase her is because our herd bull, Hershey, carries a red gene (he is dun). Now that we have a red heifer on the property we will have a chance to have some red calves most likely beginning in 2010. Of course I doubt we are going the seed-stock route, but is nice to see the various colors in the herd and if we did want to sell some heifers at some point we could have a nice variety ... maybe

Also, we were able to put a halter on her at Dan's farm so I plan on working with her this fall and training her to lead. Hopefully we can show her next summer at the ADCA annual meeting that will be in Fort Dodge, if nothing else it will give me an excuse to go out and mess with the cows a little bit more.

So... we have pigs, chickens, and now a Dexter on our new farm. This week we will begin moving in and need to be totally in by the 14th. After that fencing and preparing for the baby will be our priorities. Hopefully we can find time for it all!

Are Dexters a Fad?

A few days ago a question was raised on a post over at Homesteading Today. The question was, "How long will they last?" The "they" was referring to dairy cows. Of course depending on whether or not it is a commercial operation or a home cow the time can vary from a few lactations to a quite a few years. But, when the idea of Dexters lasting a long time was brought up the responses weren't all daisies and roses. And I admit that I threw my two cents into the fray in defense of Dexters. Not that they were a better breed, but that they were an option for the small land holder looking for a dual purpose cow. You can read the thread and my comments by clicking on the link above.

One statement that was brought up is that the Dexter bred shows all the signs of being another "fad" breed. That one really got me going, because I know that from a historical standpoint they have been around for quite awhile (going back to their origins in Ireland) and the reason for their longevity has a lot to do with their usefulness. Just because their numbers have dropped off over time does not mean that they are not a viable option in certain situations it more than likely means that they didn't fit the industrial model of agriculture. They have even been in Iowa for almost a hundred years now! But, continuing the argument wasn't the reason I brought it up today...

The reason I bring it up today is because I thought about the question, "what if they really are a fad?" I know this is something I have thought about at different times, in fact I even blogged about it once before. What if the bottom of the market falls out in the Dexter world? What happens when nobody wants to buy my extra heifers or older cows? Am I going to end up with some high priced "lawn ornaments" as one poster mentioned on Homesteading Today?

Well, I think I have come to a conclusion and I'm going to run with it ... WHO CARES! I am not going to throw myself into the seedstock business. Of course I will sell some cows or heifers from time to time and maybe even some bulls if I have a notion, but the reason I chose to go with the Dexter breed is because I wanted to produce beef that I could direct market. And I believed and still believe the Dexter suits my needs the best.

After everything is all said and done on our new land we will probably have around 23 acres of pasture. You could not run a very big herd of commercial cattle on that acreage, but because of the size and forage conversion abilities of Dexters we can run a few more head. Also, from everything I have read, heard, and experienced these Dexters are great foragers and good gainers on pasture ... of course that speaks to their heritage as a small cottage or farm cow in Ireland.

But, most importantly I have tasted and I have read great things about their meat and their ability to finish on grass. And that is the main reason I went with Dexters, because I want people to eat them! Of course there are the health benefits of eating grassfed beef, there are many articles and books to point that out. But, how about this for a healthy marketing angle ... Dexters are smaller, so their portions are going to be smaller. Portion control is one of the many buzz words in the health and dieting community today, so I can market my beef in a few ways.

First of all it will be grassfed. You are what you eat is the saying ... cows eat grass, so they are grass ... we eat cows, so we are grass ... grass is a lot like salad and my teachers told me salad is good for me! Secondly, I can tout the benefits of being able to buy the whole steer, not just a half or a quarter. That way you will get all of the cuts instead of just 1/2 or 1/4. It is almost the ultimate freezer beef in my opinion. Third, there is the portion control angle. You can still have your steak, but you don't have to have one the size of your dinner plate (and you probably shouldn't no matter how it was raised). And finally, I can market the fact that Dexters are a heritage breed that deserves to be maintained for so many reasons (I don't want to list them now).

I don't think Dexters are a fad that will come and go. I also don't believe they will become a commercial mainstay. But, I do believe they are a great option for our farm and many other farms like ours. I also believe they are a great choice for families freezers all around me ... and I will be working to convince them of that!

If they are a fad ... WHO CARES ... I have a plan. But, they are not a fad :)

Dexters Eat Hay!!!

I'm not sure if any one can relate to this, but let me just say right away that it started out as an experiment. About a year-and-a-half ago we really came to the realization that farming was something that we wanted to pursue. We had discussions with many different people and looked at many different options and decided it was the direction we wanted to go. After some research we decided that we would like to have grassfed Dexter cattle as one of our centerpiece operations if we were able to make a go at this farming thing. So, we started looking for Dexters thinking that it would be nice to have a bred cow or heifer and a steer that we could raise for our own freezer. We just wanted to get a start on something and we worked out a deal with my family so that they could live on the farm.

We found exactly what we wanted, we made the trip and picked them up, and we had the beginnings of our Dexter herd ... or at least a bred heifer and a steer. It was a nice little way to get our feet wet. Well, one thing lead to another and I found some cows for sale in Missouri that I thought I needed and then we had six Dexters. Still not to many, but a nice little amount. We made hay this time and put up what we thought was going to be plenty! Then I found a few more Dexters for sale in Illinois ... and I just knew I needed them. So, after a trip to Illinois we added 7 more to the herd. Our "experiment" now numbered 13! That was 4 boys and 9 girls roaming the pastures of the farm and we were beginning to think the hay might not last.

Now, with that many Dexters roaming around and so many girls that would need to be breed soon we knew that we needed a bull. That is why we started our search for a bull that ended with Hershey. After many trials and tribulations we were finally able to go down and pick him up. There was only one problem ... when we drove out of Five Ponds Farm there was more than Hershey in the trailer. We also brought home a cow and her heifer calf! Now, if you are scoring along at home, the herd total is up to 5 boys and 11 girls purchased! Also, don't forget that we have already had two calves this year ... one of each (boy and girl) ... bring the grand total up to 6 boys and 12 girls and a herd of 18 hungry mouths that all love to eat hay! In fact, with all the snow we had this year they have had to eat A LOT of hay.

That brings me to the conclusion of this little story about our "experiment". Yesterday I had to take some time to drive down to the farm and the over to another farm to buy our third load of hay! What started out as, "plenty of hay for a heifer and a steer," just didn't cut it for a herd of 18 hungry mouths. Hopefully we will be seeing green grass soon and our herd can begin to forage on their own. I for one know that I don't want to buy any more hay this year!

One more word of caution ... make sure you have the details of your "experiment" spelled out completely before you take off on your venture! :)

Eight...TEEN is Enough?

The past couple of days have been pretty eventful around here. Well, I guess they haven't been as eventful around here as it the past couple of days have been eventful on the road! Late Monday morning I was finally able to get away and pick up SGF SANT Hershey. You may remember reading about when the deal was finalized way back in THIS POST, but because of mechanical problems, schedule problems, and weather problems I had not been able to get down there yet! But, now he is home ... along with a cow and heifer!

The traveling actually started on Saturday when I drove up to Dan Butterfield's, of Grandma's Dexters, to pick up a bull calf and two cows that I was going to deliver to Steven in Southern Missouri (you may recognize the name because he comments from time to time). So, late Monday morning I headed out of town and swung by the farm to pick up the trailer and Steven's cows. The driving was uneventful (except for a traffic jam in St. Louis) and so was the unloading (even though it was slightly muddy and 9:00 PM). It was great to finally be able to put a face to the name and chat with Steven and his family. They have some pretty cool things starting up down there so it was neat to see what was going on.

After that I headed on my way to Erik and Marian Van Beever's Five Ponds Farm (with a break for sleep). I arrived there and also enjoyed putting a real live face to the many e-mail conversations we have had. It was neat to see their diverse livestock ranging from sheep and goats to Dexters and of course their Red Wattle Hogs! Of course I picked up Hershey while I was there, but I also had decided to bring back a bred cow and heifer calf they had for sale (Gigi and Tinkerbelle). Hershey looks as great in person as he did in the pictures and I'm looking forward to seeing him mature this summer. I am also pleased with the prospects of Gigi and Tinkerbelle bring to the herd.

So, now there are eighteen Dexters roaming (not so much in the snow I guess) Stoneyfield! If you are scoring at home it adds up like this: 8 cows ... 4 heifers ... 4 steers ... 1 bull calf (to become a steer) ... and of course, 1 Herd Sire!! Don't forget that we have at least three more cows we are expecting to calve. And to think, this started out six months ago as an "experiment"!

**The first picture above is of Hershey of course, and the second is of Tinkerbelle (calf in front) and Gigi (horned). Hopefully I'll be able to post some more pictures soon!**

7 Things You Don't Know About Me ... Farming Edition

I usually don't jump on these internet things, but I thought I would give it a whirl if I could giving it a "Beginning Farmer" theme. So, the question then becomes ... What sort of farming things don't you know about a guy who blogs about farming things six days a week? Well, I have tried to scour the depths of my mind to come up with seven things that readers may not know. Here goes nothing...

1. As a child my family raised quite a few pigs from feeder to finish. We didn't have a confinement building as such, but pretty much every building on the farm had pigs in it ... and in between all the buildings. Spending time on the farm was a lot of fun for a young boy. So much fun in fact that you could create fun games for yourself (I was an only child). One of my favorite games was an obstacle course that I set up around the farm. One portion of the obstacle course included a flying leap off of a pile of dry manure across a pond of not-dry manure. Things went well all weekend long and my times were getting better until that untimely slip ... straight into the not-dry manure! I'm pretty sure I smelled for an entire week and I still can vividly remember in slow motion the moment I realized I was headed for the abyss.



2. On a separate occasion on the farm I had spent the day getting sweaty and dirty as any boy should, but when it came time to clean up for church the next morning I refused to take a bath. I am ashamed to admit that I was stubborn to the point of throwing a fit ... so, my dad took me outside (in the fall) and just plain hosed me off (clothes and all). So, I guess you can say that I was hosed down literally.



3. We have always had horses on the family farm and for a while we were part of a saddle club that had regular competitions. At one of those horse shows I placed second in the western pleasure competition and third in walk/trot (I think that is what it was). It was pretty cool be cause I received trophies and everything!



4. At the same horse club (different event) I was competing in the Texas Flag Race. In this event you grab a flag out of a bucket of sand race around a barrel (it is set up like a barrel race) and place the flag in a second bucket. I was riding my pony Star ... who like all ponies was rather stubborn ... and when we made it to the second bucket Star just stopped. Dead in her tracks stopped and wouldn't move for anything. The problem was that she stopped next to the bucket, but out of reach as I was sitting in the saddle. So I was stretching and reaching ... and then ... plop! I just slid off the saddle and she took off out of the ring. I'm pretty sure even the announcer was laughing over the PA ... maybe that is why I'm in no hurry to get horses.



5. I purchased my pony Star (mentioned above) with the money made from selling a pen of feeder pigs. My dad helped me raise them and feed them and I learned about selling at the auction and all of that good stuff. In fact we did so well with them that I was able to get a saddle also. The only downside was that we built a nice wood plank feeding floor for them that I used as a basketball court until the piggies showed up ... the piggies did a number on that court!



6. This just came to my mind ... really doesn't have much to do about me except for the fact that I witnessed it. On the old home place where we lived for a while there was a nice wide well pit on the other side of the fence from the horses. One day a horse decided to find out whether or not he could jump the fence ... well, come to find out he could jump the fence, but he landed right on top of the plywood covering the well (probably not the best cover) and broke though falling into the well! He was stuck to say the least! But, never fret, because a John Deere 4020 can do many things ... including lifting a horse out of a well! Everyone was okay, and now I have a story to tell.



7. Okay, this last one really doesn't have anything to do with me. But, it is a bit of useless knowledge that I have been storing up in my brain only to use on rare occasions. If you have been reading this blog recently you know that it is illegal to have chickens in Knoxville. But, did you know that in the state of Minnesota it is illegal to enter Wisconsin with a chicken on your head! I guess they didn't want people in Wisconsin thinking that those Minnesotians were crazy...

So, there you have it. Six things that you may not have known about me and one little bit of useless legal information. Come to think of it I have a friend who is in Minnesota right now studying to become a lawyer ... maybe I'll have to talk with him about that law!

The Importance of Our Heritage Cattle

Recently I came across a very interesting article written by Gearld Fry on the New Farm website. The article was originally published on his website, Bovine Engineering, and is titled, "Intelligent Husbandry of Primary Heritage Breeds Could be Our Key to More-Sustainable Farming and Food." That is one super long title, but it is a great article so I will let it pass!

I believe the opening section of the article is an amazing representation of what is happening in livestock agriculture (and probably crop too) right now and you should probably read it and re-read it several times so it sinks in. But, the basic premise is that at one time our farms were filled with "truly functional family cows" raised by this generations fathers and grandfathers. Once the sons and grandsons returned from educational institutions they bring with them new "knowledge" about creating the perfect herd from a commercial standpoint. Oh, and they learn this knowledge from Universities that are funded by large corporations with greed behind their motives.

So, the son our daughter takes over and starts to implement change using the latest breeding techniques in animal sciences. They create calves that wean bigger and finish bigger and that produce more milk, but they also find that despite all of the vaccinations their cattle keep getting sick and dying for no apparent reason. With all of the inputs, work, burnout, and animal loss their farm becomes increasingly unsustainable...

I think this quote from Mr. Fry sums up best where we are right now as an agirculutral industry (maybe it is a bad thing to be considered an industry) and culture:

As it is, cattle—animals that in their natural state could normally stay fat and healthy on green grass and good hay, and nourish families with wholesome and healthy meat and milk as God intended —have been steadily transformed into what has become a starch-dependent, mongrelized production machine that produces food that tastes like cardboard and causes heart disease and numerous other health problems.

At one time farmers and ranchers never or rarely had to give any sort of treatment to calves while still nursing ... not so today. At one time twice yearly worming wasn't even on the radar ... not so today. At one time cattlemen breed for sick-free cattle who could produce instead of super producing cattle who rarely weren't sick. In the words of Mr. Fry, "My friends, this should not be."

The rest of the article goes on to tell more about the faulty system that we are operating under in today's livestock world. I think this is a must read article for any farmer who believes that their farm should and can be sustainable.

In the article Mr. Fry mentions that there were 8-10 breeds of cattle that were adapted to various environments across our country. I think he raises Devons, so I assume that would be on the list, but I wonder what else. Maybe he mentions on his site or maybe some of you have some guesses? Let us know what you think.

In the meantime, check out the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy to learn more about our heritage breeds that are in danger and consider a breeding program that takes advantage of the genetics that our forefathers perfected over years and years ... not just the ideas of 50 years and research funded by animal medicine companies.

**As you may have noticed from the picture above I suggest Dexter cattle. They may not work for everyone, but the do fit the definition of a dual purpose home cow!**

An Afternoon of Work at Stoneyfield

Well, since our town decided that I shouldn't have five chickens on my property I decided to make a quick trip down to the farm yesterday. I had to dismantle the the nest boxes (buckets), grab the feed/oyster shell/grit, gather up the hens, and load everything up into the back of the Expedition. You can scroll down to yesterdays post to see a picture of the chickens new digs. They are just fine, but I don't think they will be as warm (and it is going to be very cold for the next couple days). Since I had a reason to go down I planned on doing a few other things that also needed to be done.

First of all I met my dad in town at the farm store to pick up 6 cattle panels to upgrade a little section of fence with the impending arrival of our bull, Hershey. The entire front lot (about 2 acres) is surrounded by cattle panels except for this one little section that just had the very old worn down woven wire/barbed wire fence. Considering our heifer Vicki can jump that fence at will we didn't want to see what would happen when there was a bull on one side and cows in heat on the other side! So, I dropped a bit of money and we headed to the farm (with a short interlude to pull the mailman out of the ditch).

At the farm I set up the new chicken pen (corner of a shed that had been used for puppies) and mixed up a bunch of feed for my dad. They should be good to go for awhile and I don't feel so bad about bringing the chickens down because at least they will get some eggs! In fact I think everyone (Dad, Stepmom, and brother) are excited about them ... except for my sister.

Despite the cold air and the wind it was pretty easy to put up the panels. In fact we were able to drive in a few t-posts with no problem. After we had the panels set up we set about cutting out the bull calves from the herd in order to wean them. Now, I have heard lots of great things about Dexters ... but, on Thursday I really experienced one. In the morning my dad put out the hay in a small pen we have in the corner of the front lot and then called the cows up (they do come when you call). They all walked in and started eating while my dad broke open the water tanks ... then, six of the girls must have received the memo because they just decided to walk out! So, when I showed up there were just three cows/heifers in there with the four boys. Showing our cattle sorting prowess we both walked into the little pen and I announced that I was going to sort the bull calves over to one side. Just as I said that the bull calves did exactly that! Dad opened the gate ... the girls walked out ... we were done and we were speechless!

This weekend is going to be very cold and while they have some good wind breaks out in the pasture the bull calves in the small pen for the time being had none. With that in mind we build a barricade of hay bales around one corner and put up some old panels around it to keep them from eating all of the hay. I think the boys will be as snug as a bug in a rug ... or at least as Dexters in a corner of hay.

It was nice to get out there and do some work that I had been meaning to do. It is just more difficult because it is such a long drive. After the afternoon of work and being informed that we couldn't keep our chickens we are all the more ready to make a move ... hopefully soon!

**I hope you enjoy the pictures of our cattle. From top to bottom: 1.) Ginger with her face all up in the camera; 2.) Vicki, who is staring to look very pregnant; 3.) Ginger looking longingly at her calf in the pen; 4.) The boys eating by their hay wall**