Tagging Calves

Spring is here and with that brings “new beginnings and new babies”. This is the time of year we all look forward to. The rush of last year’s AI season finally coming into play! Tagging calves turns into a family outing enjoyed by all of us. It’s a good thing most of our cattle have awesome dispositions, because ring around the ATV could be quite dangerous with kids!

This year we moved our calving up a couple weeks earlier due mostly to our bull sale and wanting a bit more age on the bulls that we sell, and “turnaround” out at Agrium where Dirk works during the week.

The first couple weeks of calving brought snowstorms and really super cold weather. The outlook wasn’t looking good, and we tended to have a rough start losing somewhere between 4-6 calves. Any way you look at that is a $1500 to $5000 dollar loss depending on the gender. Luckily for us things turned around and the weather improved and the calves kept coming. The conception rate by AI was higher this year than last mainly because we kept Dirk healthy and all in one piece.  We also had some exceptional ET (embryo transfer) calves born which are SOS x Macho bred. We also have gotten a lot of “chrome” this year. (Calves decked out in white.)  I can hardly believe how much they have all grown. It is always exciting to see a new baby being born. Clay and I kept watch out our big front windows; occasionally we would need the binoculars. I sometimes felt bad for the poor mother cow; I can only imagine the horrific pain she must be feeling times 2!  But they always seemed to pull through and mother the calf once it was born.

Before tagging the calves we like them to be at least a couple hours old. We typically would head out to pasture in the evenings after dinner, with the sleigh in tow. Sometimes the crew was so big; the outing required 2 ATV’s. We ride up to the pair slowly, and then Dirk makes a quick snag and grabs the calf all the while trying to keep the mother calm. The sleigh is a really cool invention and makes tagging & giving shots to the calves real easy and within reach. We tag all of our heifers on the left and the bulls on the right. I like this, I can easily identify between the two. Dirk then records all the data such as the tag number, gender, calving ease etc. into his little black book.  It is amazing the amount of data this is compiled and recorded in managing a cattle herd.  We then move them to the “pair pasture” across the road with the calf in the sled and the mother following close behind.  The pairs join the other newborn calves and we head off for another one! This is an outing that happens almost every night for about 30-45 days. Surprisingly it never gets old and is an event we all look forward to, prepare for and plan on!

Looking forward to 2013! Wow, that sounds odd!

Easter

The commercial side of Easter is always fun! Getting together to eat good BBQ food, dress up in fun pastels and bright colors, coloring eggs and hiding them, finding  eggs and chocolate bunnies scattered all around the yard, setting out Easter baskets in hopes that some bunny will come and fill them with treats galore. It has always been one of my favorite holidays!

This year was no different! We had fun coloring eggs with our besties, The Hatch’s. We also enjoyed a weenie roast and an egg hunt! Clay was even able to get in on the action until he got detoured by the Ranger! It was a fun day hanging out with friends.  Later on that evening we met up with Dirk who had been sledding for the day and headed to Lava for dinner and the hot pools. It was a relaxing evening and a perfect end to a perfect day!

Sunday morning we all got up and got ready for church. The girls peeked in at their baskets but never even asked if they could look or start hunting for all the candy that had been hid around. Clay of course just couldn’t resist! The girls are such good girls and I am glad that they know the true meaning of Easter and were willing all on their own to celebrate Christ first.  

After church I snapped a picture of my two pretty girls in their new curch dresses. Clay had fallen asleep on the way home and as much as I wanted his picture taken I wanted him to nap more!. Then after all the waiting they just couldn't wait any longer they had to see what was left in their Easter baskets

Later that afternoon we met up at Dirk's parents house and had a bbq and another egg hunt. The kids had fun finding more eggs! It was so warm that day that all the candy had melted in all the eggs, which I was thankful for...we already had too much candy!

My sweet hubbie! He is my EVERYDAY BEST friend.

I just love him more than life itself! He makes each day better that the one before.

Our 3 new friends: Nutmeg, Snowball and Whiskers!

Easter is a very fun time but with all the excitement around the commerical side I think it is easy to forget the real reason we celebrate Easter.

 

Jesus Christ is our one true friend who we have never seen, who we knew long before we came to this earth. He is the friend we should strive each day to become more like. He is a friend who loves us unconditionally, who gave his life for each of us.

The real reason we celebrate Easter, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died and rose fromt the tomb three days later so that we too will live again.

"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven..."--Joesph Smith

He is not here, for He is RISEN!

I testify that He lives. This I do not doubt. I know with every ounce of my being that Christ IS the son of God.

I pray that I may one day be worthy to kneel before him and see his face as He returns again to the earth and walks among us.