Feed That Calf: The New Game Show

Good morning and welcome to Feed That Calf, America's new favorite game show where the contestants have to feed a new calf. I'm your host, Handsome Dairy Dave. Let's go meet our three new calves for today's show.

Are they not just adorable? These three holstein bulls are just a few days old. I have been assured by my producer that these calves have only nursed their mothers and they are guaranteed to have gotten the full amount of colostrum they needed on day one.

Our contestant for today is Farmer Bright. Tell us a little about yourself and what your game plan is this morning.

Well, I grew up on a dairy farm and have fed calves my whole life. I hope to go out there and do my best to get them off to a great start.

Farmer Bright, I've noticed your boots are a little dirty this morning.

Yes, that's because your water hose was frozen up outside the studio calf barn.

Okay, moving right along.  Farmer Bright have you chosen which calf you intend to feed for the competition this morning?

Yes, I'll feed the one on the left.

Great! Let's begin!

Farmer Bright has mixed up a bucket of warm water and milk powder. From the way he handles a bucket I can tell he wasn't lying when he mentioned he had done this before. Now he's approaching the first calf. Will he go the traditional route of "going to the calf" or will he make a power move of "hanging the bucket" and letting the calf come to him. Ladies and gentlemen, he has hung the bucket! A daring move, but it just might pay off. The calf is coming toward the bucket and is actually licking it. Farmer Bright is slowly moving in, taking the calf by the mouth and squeezing it once, twice, three times on the bucket. The calf is sucking on his own.

Farmer Bright has done it! We have a winner! Today's prize is the knowledge of knowing this calf has had a healthy breakfast! We'll see you again next time on Feed That Calf!

A Day Off On The Farm

You may be questioning the photo above with the title of this post, but I assure you they do go together. Saturday afternoon was supposed to be my day off. Maybe a dairy farmer never has a day off of the farm unless they are too far away to come back home. Just like parents can't stop taking care of their children, farmers have a hard time neglecting their animals.

We had been watching 167 closely for about two weeks awaiting her calving. On Saturday morning she still showed no signs, however come the afternoon the process had begun. When she had not finished on her own a while later our hired hand came to get some help.

The good news was the calf was halfway out, but this little bull had big hips and the cow could just not push him on out. We tied a couple of twine strings to his front legs and barely pulled as the cow started a contraction and the calf practically fell out on his own.

The bad news was the cow didn't want to get up. She was tired and worn out from her ordeal. To give her a boost and to prevent the onset of milk fever we decided to administer some calcium to the cow. 167 hopped up quickly after this and boy was I relieved.

The weather forecast called for rain that night so we moved the cow and calf out of the maternity field and into the barn lot. There she would have easy access to shelter, hay, and water. After grabbing a couple mouth fulls of hay, 167 began licking her calf off. Soon enough he was up and nursing his mother like a good calf should.

That afternoon off may not have been a trip to the movies or going out to town for a bite to eat, but it still had a happy ending for this dairy farmer.

Waiting on Breakfast

Probably before most people pour their first cup of coffee or plunge their spoon into a bowl of milk and cereal my cows have already been hard at work.  Most of the cows came wandering in on their own for the morning milking at around 4:00 am. The rest I rounded up on the truck. After being milked the cows had to wait to eat their breakfast.

Then they lined up at the long feed trough to munch on corn and wheat silage with a little bit of grain mixed in to finish out their diet.

The cows then headed on out for their morning nap by 7:00 or so. What have you been doing this morning?

Wordless Wednesday: Scenes From the Farm

Cow Vacations

"But I don't want a vacation!"

Whether you call her a work-aholic or just a creature of habit, 162 has not gotten used to not being milked yet. The day before yesterday she started her sixty day vacation which is also her dry period. Yesterday and this morning she came down to the gate to go to work and be milked even though she doesn't need to.

Dairy cows cannot be milked everyday forever and ever. They need time off just like people do. Cows, generally speaking, are milked for around 300 days and then have a sixty day dry period for the last part of their pregnancy. After they calve they will be ready to start being milked again.

162 is now hanging out in the dry cow pasture. She has access to water and hay. She also comes in once a day for silage, grain, and minerals. In a few more days 162 will realize she doesn't have to "go to work" with the milking herd and can enjoy her time off. Even cows need a vacation.

Just Talkin' Farm Work

Lots of things happening on the farm this week. The one I'm most proud of is that we finally got one group of calves moved. We have different fields for different sized animals. As they move up in size we move them to the next field. We have been on the receiving end of much rain lately and it has been too muddy to move them with our trailer. This week it dried out and we could finally check that off our to do list.

As spring gets closer our silage supply gets lower. This photo was taken inside of our 20 foot by 70 foot silo. About once every 10-14 days we have to lower the silo unloader to the next window like I did this day. We still have a bit of it left and hopefully enough until it is time to chop our winter wheat. In the meantime we are supplementing the cows diet with some really good lookin' leafy green hay we purchased.





I finished out the week with an off farm trip to a Tennessee Farm Bureau District Kick-off Meeting. Farmers gathering together to support one another and working together to bring a voice to consumers and legislatures alike; what a great organization to be a part of.

One of the interesting things discussed at the meeting was the new child labor law. I believe that farm work provided the discipline I needed as a child to make me a better person as an adult. I would hate to think that laws could be passed that might hinder me from providing that same opportunity to instill those values in my own children.