It looks like summer here now!
Just some miscellaneous photos of the past week. Too busy to post much…
Edyta and Maks, new barn cats.
A man (Hangdog) crawling around on the roof.
No wonder he is so hangdog, now he has to tear off the roof and it is 98°F.
Grandma’s lacecap.
Broccoli side shoots – enough already. Bad child bringing me a basket o’ broc – I want to trade places 
Beware of mean children wielding cameras! Does this butt make my calf look fat?
Jane complete with fly repellent ready to go back out to pasture.
“I’m not always a good calf, I just play one on the blog.”
Lola, always the first one to drink at watering time.
The bull. “Nuff” said.
A friend’s calves.
Had to cross the river to get to a county fair – it’s always fun to look back towards home. The landscape looks way more dramatic from the river crossing.
While at the fair, had to check out the cows. They were all slicked up and on their best show behavior.
We spent a fair amount of time, no pun intended, watching the drill competition. I never tire of that. Skilled riders, great horses, costumes and tack. Throw on a corn dog and I’m good.
And a harbinger of summer here – those blackberries I love to hate, in my favorite dime toss dish to boot.
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Jane has such an intelligent expression. What a gorgeous girl she is!
Hayden, she is a smarty! The true definition of a house cow – she watches our every move
If you’re late with a feeding she lets you know!
Oh Nita, I love seeing how your summer days are culminating, and always love seeing Jane’s pics…she’s growing up so much in every progression of new photos. And county fairs are the BEST! Kaleb sends butt wiggle greetings to you and yours
Robbyn, it’s funny we have finally had a how week of weather – makes all that cold weather a dim memory
Oh my I miss good fair food, we ate some ice cream and that was it, while watching the mudders – redneck for sure!
Nice to see what’s been going on in your neck of the woods!
Linda, same ol’, same ol’
have you heard it’s supposed to rain next week?! not good for finally ripening tomatoes.
my butt should look that good bending over next to a calf!
What are you going to do with all that broccoli, freeze it?
Your new barn cats are cute! It’s interesting to see the difference in their markings, even though they are both tabbies. It looks like that one is missing a tail; is it a Manx kitty?
Paula, I hadn’t heard that – not good for roofs being off either!
That kid, I could fill a blog with unflattering photos of myself that she has taken!
I blanch and freeze the broccoli and we end up roasting most of it in the winter – pretty yummy
There is actually another cat sibling, she is a tabby too but long haired and she has a tail. Geez they are good hunters! I hope they can make it through the winter, it’s tough on cats here.
Love the photo of the cats
Herby, thanks they are dolls!
If I’m not mistaken, you have a bull in your herd for only a few weeks a year (and not necessarily the same bull every year). How does bringing him into the herd impact the rotational grazing? Does he respect the fencing as-is, or do you need to “beef” it up? Do you need to increase the size of the paddock to accommodate not only him as an additional head, but his activities and the change in herd dynamics?
Randall, sometimes we get the same bull, most times not. He is here for 6 weeks. The bull rental guy is old and he culls for bad temperament. They are trained to electric fence and they “get” the first paddock shift because they watch what the herd does. The only changes I make are: I pull breeding age heifers out of the herd beforehand and dry lot them. And interesting enough the bull usually eats and drinks about what 4 yearlings eat and drink, so I don’t really have to change a thing. It doesn’t make sense for us to keep a bull anymore with so few cows, if we ever increase the number of cows I would go back to owning our own bull. Both sides of the coin have pluses and minuses.
Great photos! We’re thinking of introducing a couple of kittens to our barn as well. Although it will take a while before they’re as big as the resident rat that’s been nipping grain from our chickens!
As far as barn kittens go, I’ve read that you should just let them hunt from the get go, and not supplement their diet. Never having done this, we were also wondering: do we have to worry about them using the cow’s hay as a litter box? Is there some other arrangement we should set up to discourage any potential interaction with the hay?
Darcy, thanks! Barn cats are a necessity, but hard to keep. I do supplement their diet with raw meat, & occasional kibble, because I want them to have a home base in the barns. They do hunt anyway, we went this past winter without cats and the rodent population exploded. The kitties have been here for about a month and they have made dent already
Pretty much females stay and will raise litters in a place where they feel safe. They don’t range so much and with a litter to feed they hunt voraciously. Toms like to wander even if fixed, so they are in a little more peril. Cat predators here in the barns are owls, bobcats and coyotes so there is always something after them. One night on his way home from work my husband saw cougar crossing the road with the neighbors cat in it’s mouth – so kitties here have to stay close or ….
As for the litter box question, I have never seen any of our cats use hay for a litter box, but they will utilize shavings or dry dirt. Do you mean hay in the manger or in the stack?
I was thinking our mostly our stacked bales, but I think you’ve already answered my question. The cats will most likely look for something loose on the ground that they can dig into and use as cover up. So, I take it that you don’t provide any special litter box or encourage a designated spot.
Darcy, no litter box, except whatever molehills they can find. We try to discourage areas like the garden, but other than that they pretty much go where they please and we don’t really see them. Luckily the gardens are a ways from the barn, so it doesn’t really become a problem.
The cats are so cute…looking at you with kitty love eyes.
We are having to put on a new roof also. But it won’t stop raining long enough to get much done. ick.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
What do you use for fly repellent? I’m assuming it will be organic or as natural as possible. This is my first year raising cows, and the flies have been on them something fierce.
Jason, I use No-Fly from Crystal Creek as a wipe on for the dairy calf. The beef herd is on their own. Some attract more flies than others. Feeding good minerals helps too.
The No-fly is expensive but it really lasts a long time.
http://www.crystalcreeknatural.com/animal_products/nof.html
MOH Long time no post; I’ve been getting trained by an aussie! I read your page daily like a column. No milk cow yet – we are not ready :0 Have a milk goat for starts and making some cheese. and .. No – your calf does not look fat, butt I have mean children too.
Greenhorn, MUST send pictures of your Aussie trainer! Good to hear from you
And shame on those children!!
Upon seeing the “butt picture”…Katie commented, “Nice “Dairy-air”…yuk, yuk, yuk. She’s the queen of the corny joke.