The Surprises of a Unplanned Weekend

During the weekends when Katelin is home we rely on her help a lot. It is always nice to have that extra pair of hands, which know how to run the tractor, fix fence, catch calves, and drive gooseneck trailer. Well last weekend we had a surprise that wasn't needed per-say. 

Twice during this weekend we had unexpected surprises, we will begin with Saturday. In the morning Mark, Barb, and Katelin got up and while Mark headed out to chore we women worked on some breakfast and got other things around such as laundry and dishes. Once chores were finished here at the house dad came in to grab some breakfast and head off to chore at our other locations.  Lunch was made and once Mark came home we ate. I (Katelin) got ready to have a long list of things to do from Mark (dad), which always seems to be longer than the day will allow and today was no exception. The list was something like this...move 15 bales around to the pile (where we grind them for feed), water the hill cows, and fix the hot wire fence in the pasture.  Seems simple enough right? NOT and it never is! Moving the bales and watering was easy yes but the next task ha!  Once I (Katelin) went out to the pasture with Moose in tow, we started in search for the elusive hot wire fence....that was mysteriously lost...for a short period.  While walking to the east I thought to myself I bet this is going to be a great big ball of wire and not going to be fun at all... Well to say the least, I found it...and yes it was a great big ball of tangled mess of wire UGH! It was a pain to even start to get apart...and well I had to call reinforcements...meaning Mom (Barb) and after about 3 hours of where does this one come out...where did my end go? And oh just cut it already!!!!!! Finally we got it all done and strung back out and hooked up to the juice (electric fencer) and we had power! Thank Goodness! Then back to chores and to get ready for a fast and furious Sunday morning.

Sunday morning came and Mark started off at Merle's while I started feeding at home.  It was all going according to plan until I saw a calf that wasn't getting up to eat. The calves usually jump at the chance to come and get food before momma does. So I kept feeding until dad came back from the other two places where he chores.  I had him come and take a look at him since he still hadn't gotten up.  Once the calf was up we could see there was definitely something wrong. It looked like a big volleyball underneath his belly nail.  We caught him and dad and I put him into the chute to see what it was. Well neither of us had any idea about what was wrong nor was there anything we could do until after church. So we both headed back to the house to clean up and get ready to go to church. 

Once the church service was over we came back home and tried to decide what we were going to do with this calf.  Finally dad thought he probably better use the emergency vet line to see if they could at least diagnose the issue and if it wasn't anything big then we would all feel really bad for making our wonderful vet come in on a Sunday afternoon while he should be taking an afternoon nap. But if this large volleyball like mass was something of larger issue we would need the expertise of our great vet. So we hooked up the gooseneck trailer and loaded the calf, then dad looked at me and said go ahead and go. Off I went to Bluestem Veterinary Service in Holland, KS about a 25 minute drive, over hills, rough roads, and through twists and turns, really wasn't that bad except for the bumpy roads part between the county line and Carlton ugh I hate that road.  Anyhow back to the volleyball issue, once I arrived at the vet's buildings we unloaded and got the calf into the chute so that the Vet, Mr. Barton could have a closer look.  He got that face, the face that no one ever wants to see when things like these happen. He gave me the diagnosis..."well it could be a couple of things, one which I think it is, is an umbilical infection. This is where the calf has an infection from the day that they are born from their umbilical cord and it stays up in their gut and just kind of rots away there. And the other it could be is just a growth,  which finally dropped from his gut." And then came the even better news...I hope you can hear the sarcastic-ness of my voice... Mr. Barton “And I think we need to keep him over night no food, or water so that his gut is smaller in the morning. I would like to have him put under general anesthesia so that incase something happens to move or come down I can go straight into surgery instead of having to put him under and wait." Great...was my thought. So the calf was to spend the night without his momma, and he wasn't happy. And neither was my father when I called to give him the news. Great just great. Just what we need on a Sunday. That was some of what he stated. So I came back home with an empty trailer hoping that the calf would be ok and would make it through the surgery.

Monday morning came and we waited to hear back from the vet. Eventually we did. He was up and kicking, but the vet had let us know that with this type of cut, could become infected if he didn't heal right and could become to be a problem.  So off I went again to pick up the calf and a couple other things which we needed to stock up on.  The calf was so happy to see his momma that even before he got off the trailer they were talking to each other...well Moooing. He was happy and so was she. When they finally were in the pen he went straight to getting his breakfast which he had missed out on.  They both are now happy and the calf is still healing from his wounds, but it has been over a week since he has had this surgery and is alive and kicking, oh he even decided he was going to go on a little journey and get out of the pen where we had him in.  He was more than happy to get back with momma when I put him in.

So all is back to normal here on the farm. We are calving our spring cows out now, so that means babies! Boy are they cute. There are now 8 total from our heifers and the cows. The babies are all running around and terrorizing their mothers. It has been beautiful weather here for the past few days in the high 40's and lower 50's which has been nice for the calves but it does affect them as well. Hope all is well at your end of the rope. And remember faith like a mustard seed can move mountains. Happy Trails.

Christmas Time

Christmas time around the farm is keeping us busy.  This past Monday we had a nasty winter storm come through Kansas, luckily we didn't receive much snow but mostly rain. This put a major damper on things...literally. After the sun went down the rain turned to sleet/snow. Although it didn't turn out to be too much it still made things difficult for feeding the cattle. Most of the cows that were on winter wheat pasture or grazing stocks were let into a pasture so they could seek some refuge from the storm.  Now things have began to melt and are getting muddy. But here are some pictures that were of the beauty of the storm.

We are all looking forward to getting together with family and friends over this holiday.

And a warm wish for you and yours to keep safe, happy, and remember the true meaning of Christmas this holiday season. The birth of our Lord, Jesus, in the manger.

December 13th

See what Katelin has  in her Korner...it's some random thoughts for the day!

The Changing of Seasons

This fall has become a blur of events many of which are still keeping us busy. The farm is still much alive and running as we are finishing up harvesting the fall crops of sorghum (milo) and soybeans. As well as harvesting we are preparing for the next year's wheat crop, with sowing our winter wheat into the fields. While the farm keeps on rolling the cattle part of the operation is in full swing. We are getting ready for this upcoming winter season. This is the time where we are getting our cows off of the summer pastures on which some have calved on (fall cows). Our cows are usually very hungry for some candy when we go to bring them home or to just check on them (cubes or cake is what we call it). Soon the cows from our pastures will be filling our pens, winter pastures, and wheat pastures. Once the cows and calves are at home we will vaccinate them with boosters as well as working the calves giving them similar vaccinations and preparing them for the possible harsh winter that might be coming.

This weekend Mark and Warren also have been prepping some heifers for next years calving season. They will be artificially inseminating them with the semen finishing up this week. We do this so that we can select bulls who have a different genetic line than the ones that we have on our farms. There are many pros and cons to artificial insemination such as, selection of sire, breed, and birth type (new sexing semen) but as well as cons being more processing time, veterinarian costs, and lower conception rates.

            This past week the weather has been great…up until Saturday it was WINDY! The family gathered up to catch some cows and bring them home. It isn’t always fun and games though, the wind made choring a real pain…dust flying everywhere and there wasn’t a thing you could do about it. Although the weather changes around the farm we continue to work. Sometimes the weather is unpredictable such as today. We began the day with sunshine and a few clouds, and the day turned into a rainy and windy day. The rain came as a welcome sign as we have been dry throughout the entire summer; this makes us able to start to play catch up.

            Well hope all is well with you and yours. I will try and keep the blog up to date…more than I have been! We did feel the earthquake from Oklahoma, nothing really happened except some vibrations, glad we don’t have those more often.

Quick update!

There are new photos posted on our facebook page if you would like to see them go to:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unruh-Farms/119686868052678

Feel free to follow us on facebook as well!

Things are going good the week is going by fairly fast and we have a lot going on at the moment here is a list of what is on our plate:
-Planting cover crops for grazing
-getting the ground ready for wheat to be planted
-chores as usual
-watering at the pastures
-Arts and Crafts Fair in Hillsboro on Saturday
-fixing fences
-mineral pastures
-checking other pastures for babies!
-more chores
-more chores.....yep that bout sums it up!

Send me a message if you want to help out!

Yeah can you come feed me?!

The Fall Season Begins

The summer season has seem to came and gone faster than I have ever remembered it going.  We have now moved onto a time where the fall calves come off their mothers and the hot summer heat is supposed to go down...but is it? This is also the time when school starts and well it's now a part of my life...not the college life, but I now have acquired a job at my old high school. 



One last meal before leaving momma!

   

Mark leading the cows and calves into the corral.



Things seem to have progressed over the summer with working on the farm. We have just weaned this year's fall calves and boy are they looking good for as dry as we are.  The heat and humidity are a killer on them though. While still at the pasture,we do all the rounding up and loading. Once that is completed we bring them home to begin the process.  During their beginning days in the pens they are bunk broke and water tank broke as well. Since we have had to haul water to pastures due to the extreme heat, some are already water tank broke. We make sure there is water and free hay choice while they are in the first week of being away from their mothers.  Once they are set we begin to change their feed to granular feed consisting of coarse rolled milo. Eventually they will be become feeders and move up to our new pens which were just finished last year.  When they are brought home to be weaned they will get a set of booster shots to vaccinate for respiratory disease and to help them fight any pathogens that might come along.   



Eat up!



Time for supper!

 

Last batch of fall calves brought home.





Look at the uniformity!





Katelin's Fall Hiefer 181K





Sarah's Fall Heifer 172s

With all the new calves being home we seem to have a lot more to do. The chores are not bad at all...unless you don't want to get eaten by the calves. Although we still have the calves at home we still are having to haul lots of water to the pastures since our ponds have been depleted from the hot summer with little to no rain. This seems to complicate the day's activities at times since there have been fields to work, machinery to repair, and errands to run.  All of the things that it takes to run a farm always go together hand in hand.  While some call it work, others who enjoy it as a life and a love call it play. 

I should also bring you up to speed on things with the extended family. The family added a new member, Corina (Neufled) Enns is now married to Darren Enns (my cousin). The entire family took a vacation to the wedding which was in Colorado, except me. I went to New York to a best friends wedding which was on the same day, but got to see my cousin's wedding through pictures and a reception back in Kansas. Grandma and Grandpa did take another trip to Colorado, as they usually always do, to get peaches. Which I may say are delicious!! (As I am eating one for lunch Yummy) Sarah left for college once again for her sophomore year at Hesston College where she is a Resident Assistant of mod 3CN. And the other random things that happened between the last blog and now are: The silage has also been put up and packed as well as a little cutting of alfalfa. But more and more water is being hauled to the pastures. But thankfully the family is all together safe and sound, along with many fall heifer calves which were born right around the vacation time. Blessings to you and yours.

IT'S HOT!

July 22nd
It has been a while since I was last here and I apologize. I think the summer has run away with my sense of time. Either that or things are keeping me too busy to keep you all up to date. So since I am inside on this very hot Kansas day I better do what I need to, and write!
Over the past two weeks it has been a whirl wind of activities. We all have been busy at it; working in the fields, spraying fields, checking pastures, checking water in pastures, and haying.  Since the temperature has gotten to be a constant 100+ for the last week, this is what we call prairie hay weather. When doing our prairie hay, which is the native grass in Kansas, we can swath, rake, and bale all in the same day if we don't have any other fields to catch up from the day before.  If this hay is put up right  the cows love it during the winter months, but if it is a rougher and more coarse type of hay they tend to pick at it only eating what they want out of the round bale feeders.  Usually my Uncle Warren is in the swather, my father Mark in the baler, and cousin Nathan takes the raking along with sharing it with Grandpa at times, and me, well I get the privilege of moving the bales. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy it, but would you want to be outside in 100+ degree weather with no umbrella or cab on the tractor? Me neither, so most of the moving of the bales is stuck in the morning or the evening when it is a little cooler....a little. Prairie hay is one hay that we use to grind up for feed when the winter months come, we are hoping that this year we get just as much as last year but it isn't looking that way. With the summer rains not coming we are in a drought. This drought has also allowed those who have CRP, conservation reserve program, to cut some of that grass for feed since we are short on everything else.Side note for those who don't know what CRP is it is --The Conservation Reserve Program which reduces soil erosion, protects the Nation's ability to produce food and fiber, reduces sedimentation in streams and lakes, improves water quality, establishes wildlife habitat, and enhances forest and wetland resources. It encourages farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally sensitive acreage to vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings, trees, filterstrips, or riparian buffers. Farmers receive an annual rental payment for the term of the multi-year contract. Cost sharing is provided to establish the vegetative cover practices. IF you want to learn more see this website http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/crp/ . After we are through with the prairie hay we look to move onto cutting some CRP ground although it is a much different ground and hay than what we are use to.
July 30,
Things are progressing with the hay and it was now time to take a little vacation. We are proud to have a wedding pass this weekend, our cousin Darren Enns  married Corina Neufeld in Colorado. So all of the family is all off to a little time of vacation. I myself am currently in Croghan, New York for a wedding as well. On my trip I have been privileged enough to go to the big city, New York, New York. It is a whole different world in the city. I do have to say that this country girl will stick to it. I do like the country A LOT better!! The city is a very fast pace place. I was able to see the sights of empire state building, time square, central park, and from a distance the statue of liberty thanks to some great friends who make great tour guides.  All of these were great sights and the girls who were on the trip of a two days had a great time of refreshment.  I was so happy to be at one of my good friend's wedding but sad to miss my cousin's as well.  All of the time and new experiences were well worth the trip.