I'm a Dad......kinda!

[Anonymous-0]

I know this is not a tractor, but I will use my tractors to take care of it! This little bugger is my very first calf, out of my very own cows. Dad has not had large animals on the farm for about 10 years, so I decided to get back into it. These are the first cows that I have owned myself- I didn't reliaze just how much I missed working around cows. I was raised on a 120 head holstein farm and Dad quit milking and went into hogs when I was 12, so it's been a few years since I hauled cow manure! Sorry, but I just had to show her off!!

 

[UncleBubb*IH]

Hey, I know the feeling, my family got out of milking as well. Call me wierd, but I always get a kick out of watching a bunch of calves run around and play, happy cows are healthy cows. Good Luck

Bubb

 

[Chris in MO]

Cute little bugger. Hope things go well and you enjoy the work.

Christopher

 

[RobMD]

Yeah, cows are awesome. They"re not dumb by a long shot, they seem to have their personalities. I can always tell a good story about the cows we had as a youngster. *sigh* - I really wish I could reoccupy some farmland and raise a few for myself. It"ll be a while before that happens.

 

[730 virgil]

nothing like calves in spring. i like seeing those little citters ripping around.
i have a black bull to use on your black cow,but no guarantee he will throw black calves. he is out of red cow and black bull.
with highland cattle you don't know what color calf will be until they come out the door.

 

[highlandcowman]

nice looking calf 730 virgil what area do you live in? doug

 

[thurlow]

I'm all for you and somebody's gotta grow 'em if we're gonna eat beef, but................I'm glad it's not me. Was in the commercial beef cattle business (cow/calf) for 47 years; sold the last of 'em in May '05; haven't missed 'em yet. Really don't miss the phone calls at 2:00 A.M. and the sheriff's dispatcher saying, "Don't you have some cows on Patton Lane or Highway 19 or where-ever?" Well, you know they're not yours that are out, but you still gotta get up and go see......just on the off chance that they are. Maybe they are yours; maybe some drunk has run off the road again and knocked down a hundred feet of fence. Don't miss pulling calves in the dark and the mud; don't miss trying to get a cow on her feet who's managed to have the calf, but is paralyzed in the back end; don't miss dealing with retained afterbirth; don't miss grinding 10 or 12 tubs of feed (always backgrounded some yearlings and gave 'em some grain)per week; don't miss patching fences; don't miss the feral dogs chasing 'em; don't miss the castrating, the vaccinating, the inoculating, the worming, the branding, the ear-tagging, the feeding on the frozen rutted ground after it had rained for 2 weeks and then turned cold, don't miss cutting and splitting black locust fence posts (actually went to metal posts about 20 years ago, when the price of farm labor dictated it). Don't miss the pregnancy checking; don't miss catching a bull twice a day for 2 weeks and doctoring his 'male body part', being VERY careful not to get the DMS0 carrier on your skin, I'm all for you and somebody's gotta grow 'em if we're gonna eat beef, but...........I'm glad it's not me.

 

[Mike (WA)]

I hear ya'! I was only in it about 6 years, and only about 40 head, but got tired of trying to juggle a full time job, and all my free time taken up with "farming". And I was missing my kids growing up, which probably bothered me the most. So I just "up and" sold all of 'em one day, when price was good. Haven't ever regretted it, but I do miss the "baby races" in the spring. But for someone who has the time and interest to do it, more power to 'em.

 

[Nancy Howell]

Go ahead and brag! If you got your head in the clouds, better remember to watch where you"re stepping. I love to watch calves skip and play, too. Even better, is watching my horses on a good romp.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Oh I remember those days of leaving for Church and there in the pasture in the mud is a newborn calf-guess we'll go next Sunday!! I gotta tell you though I am still in the "hobby herd" numbers of only 7-so that still leaves time for other things.

 

[730 virgil]

doug not my calf. i'm in northwest il look on ACHA web site.
also look on stuck and troubled and see picture in-too-deep posted of my bull. standing in bale feeder.
he got in there as snow and ice were deeper inside of bale feeder than outside. he stepped in but couldn't get out as to high of step. i pulled the pin he stood there watching as if to say what took you so long.
when i went out to do chores he was sleeping in it. i went to get camera he woke up and was waiting for me when i got back outside.

 

[Bill in Colo]

I've been constantly in the business for 55 years. Loved most of it. My friends tell me there is life after cows. I guess this is the last season for me as a full timer.My cardiologist told me last month that the cows need to go as my heart is worn out. I have good help to supervise so am not doing much.
Enjoy them while you can!!!

 

[thurlow]

I ran about 275 head of mama cows,
which wasn't that many.........if
I could've gotten 'em 'congregated'.
They were in 8 different locations
(which meant 8 or 10 herd bulls) scattered
across about half
our county. Primarily, I was a
row-crop farmer and the cattle
operation fit in very well;
gave employees something to do in
Winter and mid-Summer, which were
slack times for the row-crop.
Actually, my earlier post was
more pessimistic than my actual
feelings; I just got old and it
wasn't fun any more. We used horses
to herd 'em for about 15 or 20 years;
I bought an old Jeep and found out
that a small 2-wheel trailer and a
few buckets of feed were better
than 3 or 4 men on horseback.

 

[steveormary]

Cows are not dumb and they have long memories. Sold out in 02 and moved to the south of NM not too far from the Rio Grande. I dont miss getting up on a cold winter night to check cows. Also dont miss shoveling snow or cutting firewood. So be carefull out there and have fun.

steveormary

 

[kyplowboy]

Your off to a better start than I did. Got my first cow when I was 14, lost the first calf, he was still born. Congrats on your first one. I hope the best for you, and your young'ns.

Dave

 

[Walt Davies]

I had my 1st when i was 17 or so and never forot about it so when i came up here I got two more calves and have built my herd around them.
I have two new ones now one born while I was in the hospital.
Walt