FGP Cattle

     Merry Christmas and Holiday wishes to each and every one of you.  May the holiday season be filled with love, laughter and good times.  May you be surrounded by family and friends as you share this special time of year.

     The livestock are fed, the eggs are washed, the presents are opened - now it is time to feed ourselves!

     Enjoy all that the season has to offer.  See you next year!

     Yesterday morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  It served as a reminder that our fall days are numbered.  One of these days we are going to wake up and there will be a whole pile of snow on the ground and it won't be going anywhere.  At least not for a few months.  So that means that we have to start trimming down the to-do list and focusing on what really needs to get done.

     The calves are all home now.  We left the cows in the pasture to clean up some of the grass still out there.  We would have prefered to bring everything home and fenceline weaned but we plowed all the grass up at home this year to regenerate the grass so there is nothing here for the cows to graze on and we aren't quite ready to feed hay yet - who knows how long winter will be.  We planted 10 acres of corn this year that we will use to graze for November and December and then let the cows clean up again in the spring.  We have been looking at it for the last month trying to decide what we should do exactly.  Should we silage it or take the chance that the cows will be able to graze it?  The corn is 8 feet tall and pushing 10 feet in some areas.  Not quite sure how we will get through to put electric fence up, never mind how the cows will do.  The boys are itching to run through it but we're afraid that we'll lose them in it and won't find them until spring!  On the other hand, we're not really set up for feeding silage and not to keen on having to run the tractor every day to do so.  It is so much nicier just moving a wire every few days!  So for now, the corn still stands.  The cows will be coming home next weekend so we will see how well they do then. 

   We'll get out and get some pictures when the cows go out so everyone can see what we decided to do in the end and how the cows are enjoying it.

    The winter seems to have slipped by without anybody noticing.  Or maybe it was having the time to notice!  If we weren't busy checking for new babies, we were fighting with frozen twines to bed everyone done after another windy, snowy day.  There were times that it felt like we were bedding more than we were feeding.  And looking out the window, it seems like that is going to continue for a little while yet.  The ground is mainly white and there are still quite a few piles for the boys to climb.  If only the straw pile looked so good.  We are down to the last few bales of straw.  Even the square bales got used this year!  Here's to hoping that there are no snowstorms/rains until the grass is out and growing.  Tomorrow we have to go to the neigbour's to buy some more hay so we can scrimp along until the ground greens up. 

     The slow melt is good for slowing the threat of flooding.  And I am sure the grass will benefit more from it too.  But it has been a little beyond slow lately.  It is time to get on with spring and get the weather warming up!  We may be a little soft after last year and the lack of snow and cold weather.  But I think we have made up for it enough this year with the long, deep freeze in January and blizzards in March. 

    The winter seems to have slipped by without anybody noticing.  Or maybe it was having the time to notice!  If we weren't busy checking for new babies, we were fighting with frozen twines to bed everyone done after another windy, snowy day.  There were times that it felt like we were bedding more than we were feeding.  And looking out the window, it seems like that is going to continue for a little while yet.  The ground is mainly white and there are still quite a few piles for the boys to climb.  If only the straw pile looked so good.  We are down to the last few bales of straw.  Even the square bales got used this year!  Here's to hoping that there are no snowstorms/rains until the grass is out and growing.  Tomorrow we have to go to the neigbour's to buy some more hay so we can scrimp along until the ground greens up. 

     The slow melt is good for slowing the threat of flooding.  And I am sure the grass will benefit more from it too.  But it has been a little beyond slow lately.  It is time to get on with spring and get the weather warming up!  We may be a little soft after last year and the lack of snow and cold weather.  But I think we have made up for it enough this year with the long, deep freeze in January and blizzards in March. 

    The winter seems to have slipped by without anybody noticing.  Or maybe it was having the time to notice!  If we weren't busy checking for new babies, we were fighting with frozen twines to bed everyone done after another windy, snowy day.  There were times that it felt like we were bedding more than we were feeding.  And looking out the window, it seems like that is going to continue for a little while yet.  The ground is mainly white and there are still quite a few piles for the boys to climb.  If only the straw pile looked so good.  We are down to the last few bales of straw.  Even the square bales got used this year!  Here's to hoping that there are no snowstorms/rains until the grass is out and growing.  Tomorrow we have to go to the neigbour's to buy some more hay so we can scrimp along until the ground greens up. 

     The slow melt is good for slowing the threat of flooding.  And I am sure the grass will benefit more from it too.  But it has been a little beyond slow lately.  It is time to get on with spring and get the weather warming up!  We may be a little soft after last year and the lack of snow and cold weather.  But I think we have made up for it enough this year with the long, deep freeze in January and blizzards in March.