Overcast and uncomfortable with occasional light flurries. Moved cows to 3rd split. Heifers remain in SNG as we moved through our final splits for the paddock. We hope to move to a new paddock in a day or two. Returning from feeding cows I saw a pair of Sandhill Cranes at the creek crossing on the county road southeast of the house.
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Received 3 to 5 inches of snow. A few storm related problems with the heifers. We had to pull 2 heifers in the evening. Dropping fence and letting animals drift was a wise choice. We moved cows to 2nd split in SG2. Sharp-tail Lek still pretty active just south of the corrals.
Warm turning to snow and NE winds by evening. Uncomfortable moisture. Cut heavies into lot for checking and left pairs out on grass. Lowered some fences to allow pairs to drift if necessary. I moved cows to first split in SG2.
Wake to clear and cold. More daily splits for both groups. Challenging day with the heifers. One heifer calved successfully and then prolapsed everything. We saved and grafted the calf but had to put the cow down. Another heifer calved with a leg back. Tough pull-lost the calf but saved the cow. Mostly good otherwise. On a bright note, I flushed a sage hen in SG2.
More sunshine ending a week of freezing nights and cool days. Still feeding cows very other day 4 bales. Heifers getting 1 bale at dusk. More Ferruginous hawk and red-tail hawks show up.
Overcast and cool. Continue daily splits for both groups in same paddocks. Heifers calving pretty fast now. Only pulled 2 in the last week, and only one hard pull. Bird singing starting to pick up.
The morning found 2 to 3 inched of new light snow on the ground. Continue daily splits and remain in same paddocks (SG6 and SNG6). Observed a number of migrating Kestrels and Curlews-very cool, as bird returns have been slow with cool dry conditions.
Cold, windy, and overcast. Moving both groups daily. Travis delivered 5 black bulls and 2 Herford bulls. We had a nice open discussion of testing different economic models for the ranch. Lightly trailed heavy heifers into the lot to watch during the night. I left the new pairs on grass. I heard my first curlew. Ryan took one load of light heifer calves to the sale.
Cold dry NW winds persist all day with some calming at night. Steady calving pace with 2’s. Pulled a monster calf-alive but will need some work. Fed cows and no moves. Moved 2’s. Check in on bird arrivals (still slow): Kestrels; say’s phoebe; more meadowlarks singing; turkey vultures in town.
Cold dry NW wind all day. Natalie and I moved cows to next split. I moved 2’s to next split. Left 2’s out. Why? The benchmark for calving 2’s is to assist less than 10% and wean calves off 90% of bred animals (123). Leaving them out at night and checking at dusk and first light mitigates risk by around 70%. 10% of 123 is 12 animals x 30% is about 4 animals that likely will need help during the night. Bringing them each night causes some disruption with new pairs and limits available feed time by 2 hours or more-a performance risk. We may choose to bring in every other or third night to reduce risk. Next year we will calve same time as cows which will shorten night period and help mitigate potential risk. We also feed at evening which helps delay calving during the night period. We plan not to lose a cow via lack of timely checking, yet this strategy could allow the possibility. Natalie gets 5 sheep from Lehfeldts to begin dog training.
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Bill Milton
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