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That time of year…

the time when I don't have very much time to devote to the website.  We are about two and a half weeks into calving season.  That seems hard to believe as I sit here, bleary-eyed and wanting to hit the sack.  Unfortunately, I have one more check before bed…then one at 3 AM…then another at 7 AM…and on the cycle goes. 

Most days I enjoy calving season.  When the weather is nice, the cows are cooperating, and everything is healthy, it is a lot of fun.  I actually get quite a few odd jobs done in the shop and around the barn yard.  So far, I've (almost) organized the shop, hung a new door on the old garage, built shelves in the barn, tidied up my fencing and lumber supplies, and set some new water tanks in place.  Naomi's family was here for Easter, and I was able to spend a good amount of time with them as well.

Then there are other days.  Today was almost one of them.  The weather was nice, so that was a plus.  I had to pull (assist in delivering) two calves today, which is somewhat annoying since they were both AI sired calves – they normally don't require assistance.  What was very disheartening was that the first cow did not want her calf.  It isn't uncommon for a cow, especially if it is her first calf, to not mother up if it was a stressful delivery.  That was the case, so now I have the challenge of trying to convince her otherwise.  That's not so bad…except I have two others in the barn already that I'm working on!  One of them is a similar case – too much stress at delivery, so the cow isn't interested.  The other one lost her calf (it died shortly after birth, at the vet, on Easter morning…more on that later) and I am trying to get her to take (called "grafting") a twin calf born to another cow.  This is a difficult task, made more so due to the fact that none of these cows has exhibited the slightest bit of mothering instinct.  I will be happy if any of them take, but I'm not terribly optimistic.  If a cow has a dead calf, but mothers it (licks it off and moos at it), the chances of grafting another calf on to her are fairly good – especially with the help of some sedatives.

My attitude wasn't the best today after I came in the barn to pull the second calf and realized the first one I pulled wasn't claiming hers.  I've been deprived of REM sleep for long enough that I have to work hard to keep a good attitude.  So, here's what went right today.  We had 11 live calves, which is pretty good considering we have 55 total on the ground.  The weather was decent.  I was able to take Ella out to tag new calves and she loved it.  I thought there was a cow aborting at Dad's but it wasn't (it was the one that aborted yesterday – 110 lb monster that wasn't even term!).  I found a pitchfork that I lost last fall, laying in the snow, right next to where I had just driven the pickup. 

About the Easter morning trip to the vet.  At 1:30 AM, I went out to check on a cow that had been just starting to calve at my last-one-before-going-to-bed check.  What I found was a head and one leg coming out.  That is a problem, since we need two legs coming for a proper delivery.  I put her in the barn and "scrubbed in."  I pushed the calf back into the cow far enough to get the other leg coming right, but then I could not get the head to come up into the birth canal.  I worked at it for probably half an hour before calling the vet.  By now, it is 2:30 AM and I am hooking up the trailer and loading her up.  The vet is located in Bowdle, which is a 25 minute drive.  During the trailer ride, the cow had laid down and worked some more at it and had pushed the calf's head up into the birth canal herself (the vet said this isn't uncommon).  Thankfully, the vet was able to deliver the calf vaginally rather than by c-section.  Unfortunately, it was too late.  The calf died a couple minutes after delivery.  It lived long enough to get about $25 worth of shots though.  So, I loaded the cow and calf back into the trailer and got home a little after 4:00 AM.  I unloaded the cow, checked the herd, took a shower, and slept for a few hours until church.  Yes, I stayed awake for the sermon.

As I have time, I'll try to tell more about what calving season entails around here.  Right now, it's time for the last-one-before-going-to-bed check.  Here's hoping everyone is bedded down and chewing their cud.

In case you are wondering what the calving process looks like, here's a video that shows how it should go (minus the cow standing up after the head comes out). 

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What you didn’t know about hormones and beef

Many people these days are concerned about how hormones are used in livestock production, both in dairy and beef.  It's an understandable concern.  We all want to give our families the healthiest food we can.  It seems to me that the hormone controversy is missing some key information that is needed to make an educated decision on the consumer's part.


I guess this is what tofu looks like, not that I know.

When hormones and food are talked about, it is most always in relation to beef or dairy.  Have you ever heard of hormones in fruits and vegetables?  No?  Do a Google search on hormones in soybeans.  Or look up "estrogen in sweet potatoes."   There are many foods other than meat and dairy that contain levels of hormones, often times at much higher levels than the hamburger you grabbed at the drive-thru.  It is difficult to find data on actual levels of hormones in a given food, but let's do a little experiment.  Estrogen is one of the most commonly-used hormones given to beef cattle to increase performance.  A web search for "foods high in estrogen" ought to have beef nearly leaping off the screen, right?  In fact, it doesn't even make any of the lists I looked at.  That's strange, don't you think?  Maybe the hormone levels in beef really aren't as high as they are made out to be.


For sale: Non-hormone-treated beef?
(yes, those are what you think they are!)

For those who want beef, but have been convinced that hormones are the devil, non-hormone treated beef, such as organic, has been recommended.  If that's what you want, more power to you.  I have sold some non-hormone treated cattle myself.  Every year in fact, even before it was popular.  They are called "bulls."  Now, which do you suppose has higher levels of hormones, an entact bull (that means he has testicles) or a steer (testicles removed) with two small time-released hormone capsules in his ear for the last 100-150 days of his life?  In case you are having trouble, the answer is A.  And it isn't even close.  Trust me on this one.  

Would you think twice about eating a hamburger if you were told it came from a bull?  Probably not.  


A cartridge of Ralgro, a commonly-used beef cattle implant.  Each of the capsules contains one dose and is inserted under the skin on the backside of the animal's ear.

There certainly is some confusion about how hormones in our food affect the body.  Do your own research.  Just be sure to check both sides of the issue.  If someone brings up hormone-treated beef as being bad, ask them what they know about hormones in their tofu.  "Hormone-free" anything is a misleading label.  Everything has hormones, and that is not always a bad thing.

Here's a few other articles about hormones in beef:
Hormones in cows and what it means for your health – Fox News
Hormones in your food – should you worry?  – Huffington Post
Steriod Hormone Implants Used For Growth in Food-Producing Animals – FDA 
Beef Myths – Growth Hormones in Cattle

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Rock Hills Ranch featured in seedstock flier

This winter, Lazy TV Ranch of Selby, SD interviewed Dad and I for a story they printed in their sale flier.  Many of the cows we have today are daughters of bulls we've purchased from them over the years.  Their Gelbveih and Balancer genetics are our choice going forward for our terminal cross.  They're good friends of ours and it was a privilege to be featured in their sale flier.  Here is a link to the article if it's too small to see below.  The Lazy TV Ranch website can be found here.