Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

Mike CHS

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Farm Bureau every once in awhile sends out their farm life magazine. It has some good articles but then I saw a recipe that is absolutely decadent. We rarely eat sweets but this one is on our go-to list now of recipes to try as soon as our blackberries start putting on. I never heard of one but the recipe is for a blackberry cake with a blackberry icing. :)
 

Wehner Homestead

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I hate culling! It’s a lot easier if it’s beca there’s an injury and the suffering needs to end or the animal is aggressive. The ones that have personality but don’t produce well just don’t always have a place. We have two cows in that latter section going this year. They will be replaced with two heifersborn here from our best producing line. Sometimes it has to be a business decision. The kids hate when anything leaves the farm. Still trying to get them to understand. DH and I say goodbye to almost everything that leaves here!
 

Mike CHS

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All of our sheep can be handled without fear and come up to get scratched but it is a business even if it is a small business. We are fortunate in that we only need for our girls to pay for them selves and any profit is nice but not needed. We originally wanted sheep to work our dogs (who never get to work now) so go figure.
 

Mike CHS

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I posted awhile back that I feed the main flock in a section of our back yard that is enclosed with electric netting. I feed in the morning and then again between 3:30 and 4:00 in the afternoon. The first picture is my view out of our living room window at about 3:15. It doesn't matter where they were 5 minutes ago and I haven't seen who is the leader now but they will come trotting up and just lay down. They know I won't let them in till the troughs are turned over and wiped out if needed and feed put in the trough.

The second picture is of an awesomely bright sunset we had tonight. Their was a light rainbow that I tried to capture but it was drowned out by the bright sun light.

The last picture didn't capture what we wanted to. We were coming up on Lake Guntersville and there is some really steep (13 degree) grades and as we topped one of the hills it looked like the road stopped and you were going to run onto a grass strip power company line right of way going up the next hill. By the time Teresa got the phone set up we were passed the point where it was an optical illusion but it's still a cool picture.

Sheep waiting on feed 30 May 2018.JPG
Sheep at sunset 30 May 2018.JPG
Hiway view 26 May 2018.jpg
 

greybeard

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In the last month though both she and her babies have gone into growth over-drive like

Not unusual. Somehow, culls seem to know.... and often do 'something' to get off the ax list. It hardly ever works with me..a temporary reprieve at best...easy to get on the list, almost impossible to get off it..
 

Mike CHS

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I don't know anything about cattle but in this case the yearling ewe was barely big enough to go to the ram but she was on the young side. Once they get bred they devote all of their resources to their lambs growth and it isn't unusual for them to have a growth spurt after the lambs are on the ground.
 

greybeard

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I don't know anything about cattle but in this case the yearling ewe was barely big enough to go to the ram but she was on the young side. Once they get bred they devote all of their resources to their lambs growth and it isn't unusual for them to have a growth spurt after the lambs are on the ground.
Pretty much the same with momma cows, and especially with heifers. Growth of the fetus can drag 'em down some and once born, most of the input all goes to making milk. They recover condition pretty quick on good grass tho. The ones that don't, take the trailer ride.

I do tend to feed bred heifers a bit more, but learned my lesson years ago not to feed em too much..or too often...calf gets big in the womb and the heifer has more trouble having it. (after two 100lb calves from 2 different heifers the same season, from a bull that had never made a calf over 70lbs, I realized it my fault, not the heifers. I had to pull them both, a hard pull with a calf jack both times and lost one of them)
 
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