Calving Capers Episode 1

On February 5, 2016March 21, 2016 By colleengbergIn Agriculture, Calving Capers, Domestic AnimalsLeave a comment

During these somewhat routine days before calving starts, a flurry of activity goes on behind the scenes for me. This week has been focussed on completing all the farm
books recording in order to send off to the accountant to compile our 2015 tax returns. It is in order too, I practically do all the work for them but in return they keep their charges down. I prefer that they do the last tweaking anyway.

Along with record-keeping is nailing down all our inventory numbers for year end purposes. So many outside parties need that particular set of information from us. Our government, our banker, our accountant and of course ourselves. It was quite exciting this year to see that my efforts paid off. I reconciled every calf right down to the last head. Small victories create much satisfied excitement for this rancher girl!

So as we approach the busy weeks ahead I’ll take the time to feature my cast of characters in the drama about to unfold. This week meet 12B, otherwise known as Goldilicks.

I named her so in her early days after weaning. She had lost her pretty pink calf tag so we no longer could recall who her mother was. But what made her unique was her willingness to come up to any of us and readily lick our gloves, no matter if we were in the corral or out in the pasture. She is a lighter red in colour, almost goldish under the noonday sun so what better name than Goldilicks?

After a summer of frolicking in our north pasture with her sisters and a couple of fellas (the bulls) she is now an almost-grown-up cow….rather, a bred heifer. She is carrying her very first calf and you can bet I will be keeping a watchful eye over her as she nears her calving date and commences her life as a productive mother cow.

She earned the coveted number 12 (one of Flicka Rancher’s favorite numbers) to go along with the B which represents her year of birth. Most of the letters of the alphabet are used in the cattle industry to identify the year of birth. For example, breeding stock (heifers and bulls) born in 2013 are A, 2014 (like Goldilicks) are B, the animals we had and kept from last year in 2015 will earn a C tag and so on.

Just think, next time you’re walking by a field or pasture with grazing cows, check out their tags … you’ll be able to amaze your friends by informing them almost exactly the age of those animals just by the letter in their ear tag.

Calving Capers continues next week!

Calving Capers

On January 27, 2016March 21, 2016 By colleengbergIn Agriculture, Calving Capers, Domestic Animals2 Comments

And finally, my final assignment in Blogging 101. I can hardly believe I stuck to it! I am prone to be a great starter of “things” and not always a “finisher” of same so feeling pretty confident now and full of focus.

The final assignment is to create a feature for my blog – something for my readers to return to and to expect on a consistent and repeatable basis. Well, what is more repeatable and consistent on a ranch than calving season! It also happens to be one of our most favorite as well as challenging times of the year…loaded with adventures and story after story begging to be told.

At the same time I’ll be able to keep my calf inventory count absolutely current and up to date on an almost daily basis….something unheard of in my normally “let’s catch-up now” world. [Keep an eye on my side bar over the next few months.]

Our official calving season commences mid-March this year. My feature – Calving Capers will appear every Thursday to satisfy my earlier promise to devote Thursdays to blogging. Look for the first episode of my feature on Thursday, February 4, 2016.

Variety Pack

On April 21, 2015 By colleengbergIn Uncategorized1 Comment

It was a Flicka Rancher kind of day today. In between the laundry….

I helped pull 16Z’s calf with Cowboy Husband [mom and calf look like each other!]….

mended the fence line….

watched over two calving cows while Cowboy went to town for his eye appointment. Of course they start to calve when he drives out of the yard!

So happy to have them successfully deliver on my watch.

Back to do a little more fencing…

And so, like many other Flicka Rancher days….supper didn’t happen!

Gentle Assist

On April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 By colleengbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

The hardest part of calving is after-calving. It’s the days, weeks and months ahead whereby we work to keep the little critters alive, safe from predators, free from disease and well-fed and nurtured. Most of the time the calves jump up a few minutes after birth and head right to their mother’s teats and begin to suck. That first drink, and hopefully that happens within the first hour, sets the tone for the health and ability to thrive for the young one going forward.

On occasion though we have a challenge. This fella from 8U cow is blind. He had a hard birthing experience which may have affected his vision or it may just be his fate. But for these first days he needs a little gentle assist from us to find those precious vessels where he can access his mother’s milk. Eventually we expect he will be able to sniff her out and do this all on his own. We sure will keep this pair close to home. For now, we’re quite willing and able to help him along.

Of course, any animal that gets this kind of special attention gets his own name. I call him Ugo.

Room With a View

On April 13, 2015April 13, 2015 By colleengbergIn Uncategorized2 Comments

During the frenetically-paced days of calving, my kitchen becomes my Room with a View. Just to the east of our yard is a small field where we have our cows living close-by. So here I can check on the girls while I do the dishes, prepare our rare meals, or even the more rare activity of baking. This site also is my head-quarters for record-keeping and tag-making. I so love my easterly view.

Snowflake

On April 9, 2015April 10, 2015 By colleengbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

There just seems to be no time nor energy by day’s end to sit down at the computer and write to my blog during this challenging calving season. Snowflake came up to greet me today though,

as if to remind me that “Hey Girl! Use your mobile app and show your friends and followers how well I’m growing!!”

Catching Up

On March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 By colleengbergIn Uncategorized2 Comments

I missed my Thursday Blogging activity last week and my husband actually is on my case to get at it tonight before another week passes by. My reaction? Hey, he really does care what I’m doing here every Thursday maybe?

So I have two story-lines to relate which will help in the catching-up theme I’ve adopted for today.

1. Very happy….no, make that ecstatic to report that my one and only cow, Puddin’ delivered a beautiful, healthy heifer calf just a couple days ago. She came during a spring snowstorm and so I’m quite willing to accept the name my husband immediately called her….Snowflake.I love her white under-belly and white legs….she’s going to be a showy gal.

2. I’m working on another story which I hope turns out as happy as the above cow-tale. Year after year in the spring we have the same pair of Canada geese that return to the ranch to nest and try, try, try to build themselves a family. Yet year after year they fail in some way either because of their own bad decisions on where they nest or circumstances beyond their control like coyotes and hawks finding their eggs or the young’ns before they get to water. Suffice it to say they just have no luck. So we thought we would attempt to steer them towards a more successful nesting environment and hubby Peter planted two bales in the very middle of a nice clean slough in our field to the south.

We figure these are perfectly enticing as a nice safe option for our gander and his mate. They’ve been flying around the property scoouting things out over the past few days. We’re just crossing our fingers that “the Mrs” will approve and settle in soon.

I’m thinking if I were a goose, this would look pretty idyllic! I get into researching the behavior of Canada geese each year about this time. Apparently, they do like elevated sites to nest in which would be around water. As I say…..idyllic!

New Life

On February 13, 2015February 13, 2015 By colleengbergIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Being the conscientious, forward-thinking, responsible ranching couple that we are….we were diligently attending an afternoon seminar on Farm Taxation/Succession in town yesterday. {Yawn!]

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, one of our young bred heifers was busy birthing a baby! Problem is, we don’t officially start calving until the end of March. The other problem is, there was a wicked -30C windchill going on. Thankfully she had calved on the straw bed. Also thankfully, hubby had decided to leave the meeting just a few minutes early….I swear he had a premonition….he’s pretty in-tune to our critters. He found this poor shivering little new-born calf upon return home and gave her the front seat [or floor, in this case] of the Ford pickup for a nice warm-up.

She got to meet her mom an hour or so later and all is well

But then, next morning, when both of us are about to head back to town for our respective jobs….another incident on the straw bed. Another new calf from a young bred heifer! Oh right….back in May of last year the bulls broke out!

We are so fortunate to have home-grown, calm and quiet young heifers in times like these. I guess then – unofficially – calving 2015 has begun on Berg Farm & Ranch.