Who are you calling a Heifer!?

Keeping with the theme of playing, "What went on on the ranch"....

Running a registered herd is quite a bit different then running a commercial herd.  With our Black Hereford herd, we are quite anal about keeping meticulous records.  From very specific birth weights, weaning weights, calving ease even down to specific dates of vaccinations.  This helps us build up data on our herds so we have everything we need to present to our buyers and prove what an amazing group of cattle they are!

So, just like the bulls, we have to get yearling weights on our little heifers.  It's a pretty quick but necessary step  of their lives but, like most women, the heifers would rather look away from the scale then have their weight shouted throughout the barn. We use this data to calculate their average daily gain, something we are very proud of with our Black Herefords.

Nonetheless, its always pretty incredible to see how quickly our little girls have grown from 70-90 lb little newbies to 900 lb teenagers.  It brings a tear to my eye... they're all grown up!

Sale Week Rituals - part uno

It's almost here! The biggest day of the year, the be all to end all, the reason for our existence!  Well.. that may be a little much. But it is, most certainly, what we work for all year round.  I'll be taking you through a few of the presale rituals we have and what/who all it takes to get this thing rolling.  My posts will not be timely, they will not be daily, and I can't promise my grammar will be correct.  We are talking some pretty long days here folks but it ALWAYS pays off. 

Every second Saturday in February we have our annual production sale where our best yearling bull calves and our best heifers and a few pairs make their big debut in the ring and happily go home with the highest bidder.  It takes over a week to get ready for this big shenanigan and almost always, without fail, it always gets super muddy right before the big day. 

You saw last month how we trimmed, photographed and videoed all our cattle that would be in the sale.  Well since then, they've just been hanging out in what was a nice dry lot and what is now a big sloppy mess thanks to all the rain.  ( yes I said rain, yes it is February, yes we are all freaked out but this unseasonably warm weather but were moving on)  So, one big thing we have to do is get rid of all that mud!

So, time to rinse and repeat.. .literally.  We bring in all the bulls and get them all cozied into the pens.  Then, one by one, we run them through the wash rack where they get soaked, brushed, soaped, brushed and rinsed.  From there, they go across the aisle where they get their blow outs to make sure they are totally dry and clean.  The boys love the day at the spa!

From there, we will turn the bulls out into the horses beloved South Pasture where they will hopefully stay clean, dry and mud free for the next three days.  It's an all day thing to wash and dry 50 bulls.  Well, really, its a two day thing but we're all so stubborn that we decided one long long day was better than two just long days so were pulling a 14 hour shift to get it all done. 

Luckily the girls have better manners and they stay much cleaner so we don't have to mess with them. 

Today was the bulls, tomorrow is the barn, we're on the home stretch people, I can smell it!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Sale time! That's right folks. The much anticipated, once a year ( well soon to be twice but that's besides the point) Hoag's Land Black Hereford sale is quickly approaching and we are all in full blown worker bee mode!

It takes a lot to put on a sale and as this is the last time when we'll be selling Bulls and Heifers on the same day, we have our hands plenty full.

One of the first steps to getting ready for the sale is putting together our catalog that we'll mail out to everyone that's been to our sale, expressed interest in our breed or even muttered the words Black and Hereford in the same paragraph.  ( just kidding on the last one, that'd be creeeeepy) 

In order to get the catalog out we put together all the Stats on each bull.  Imagine a baseball card.  You see a picture of the 2nd baseman; his batting average, RBI's, homeruns, etc.  We put the same type of info on the catalog for a bull; weaning weight, scrotal circumference, yearling weight, etc.  

Then, we get them all gussied up for their still shots.  Thank God Cowboy John asked his brother to help becuase this is not a job I could nor would want to do these days. I've suffered through in the years past and you come out looking like a coal miner.  I definitely was handed the pregnancy trump card on these three long long days.

This process includes brushing them down, clipping their faces, blowing all their hair forward and giving their bodies a " hot shave"  so all their super fuzzy hairs are nice and short but they still have plenty of winter coat. 

From the salon its out to the pen where yours truly spends all day standing and squatting trying to get just the perfect picture! Head forward, close leg back, far leg forward, show us your goods, arch your neck...( It's like trying to get a teenager to pose for a picture when they dont stick their tongue out or close their eyes right at the last minute! )  We use these pics for the catalog and the website... and the blog of course!  

Then! ( oh its not over yet) the next day we have a videographer come out and take video of the bulls and hiefers walking one by one.  Seems pretty simple right? WRONG!! Again, we're dealing with a teenage mentality and hormone level. They've been in the barn waiting to get cleaned off again so when its time to go outside its more like "WHIPPEEEE< WOOOHOOOO buck buck, kick kick, snort, buck kick" Right.

So, again yours truly with her trusty side kick and star sibling, Mikey, spent 8 hours moving 110 head around into just the right positions until Charlie, our very patient videograper, gave us the go ahead to let them go.  Needless to say, long long long day for anyone.

But, we now have all sorts of data, pics and visual stimulation for our buyers to ooh and ahhh over how good looking our cattle are and thats the whole point, right? 

Now we're off to the printers where we patiently away before a whole day of folding, taping, stamping, addressing, and mailing. 

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Big Ol Bertha

Hi Y'all! My names Big Ol Bertha and I'm in charge of the feedin' round here.  These cattle know that when my engine gets a rumbling, their tummy's will stop grumblin!

But first, I gotta get my load on.  We start at the pit where my driver puts a big load of ground hay, then a big load of silage, top it off with some distillers grain and were off to the silos. 

Here I get a couple hundred pounds of corn and a little extra mineral to keep the cattle healthy and strong.

When our ranch gets full we have around 700 head to feed but not everyone gets the same thing. That's where the trusty board comes into play. It helps keep all the rations straight so everyone gets exactly what they need.

Inside my tub is a big scale so my driver can know how much of each part they're putting in. This also helps ensure nobody goes to bed hungry!

As soon as I'm loaded we sit and mix for 3 whole minutes. ...   ...  ...

And we're off! I have a chute that comes down off my tub and all the cattle know when they hear me coming, they better get their seat at the dinner bunk!

yum!

I get to work twice a day every day no matter what the weather is like.  These guys gotta eat!

I have the best job in the world!!   

ABHA Annual meeting

This was the first year for our new October meeting that coincided perfectly with our American Royal in Kansas City. Normally we try to couple the annual meeting with our annual sale in February which leads to tired faces, short meetings and long long days.

This was also the unveiling of our new ABHA office located in downtown Kansas City right along side ( well not exactly along side but a lot closer than before) the American Hereford Association and a stones through from the Charolais Association.  This is big time people!!

We had a pretty good turn out and talked over important points involving our breed including how excited we are that we have culled out almost every genetic disease that runs through herds so we are squeaky clean! We raised our standards for what new bloodlines can enter into the ABHA from the Hereford side and cheered about our new marketing plan.

All in all it was a nice quick weekend that resulted in nothing but optimism for the years to come.

Fat Bottom Girls

I'm back! Sorry about the delay folks! The feedlot is open and everyone is finding their way as we get it all sorted out!

 

A few things that have been going on... we weighed our calves on the 15th to get the data for our upcoming sale! ( oh don't you worry, you'll hear more than enough about our ABHA sale on the second Saturday in February)

Then we did another round of vaccinations.  We always like to give them some time in the feedlot so they can be calm and comfortable before we give them their shots.  This round were protecting against blackleg, black disease and enterotoxemia along with a live virus vaccine that will protect against BVD, parainfluenza and bovine respiratory syncytial virus ( see "Am I glowing?" for further info on the vaccines)

And, if that wasn't enough, we also pull hair to test for parentage on our multi-sire pastures, hair color dominance and to test for A.M (Anthrogryposis Multiplex ) on certain heifers and bulls that we think have the possibility of being a carrier.

Those are pretty Mom fingernails

And that's all she wrote! Little guys go into a separate pin, horned cattle are going to get weights to turn their horns down. 

Those are cowboy fingernails

We do this so its easier and safer for the cattleat the bunks ( You'll poke your eye out!) and  to go through the chute, so it's safer for us when we're working them in the pens but most importantly to keep our hard working Brute Squad safe! Nobody likes a horn to the leg!!