Holidays are Officially OVER

Salena went back to school today so I guess the New Year has really started and we have to get back to business.

It has been a full weekend for us.

Salena and I got all three of the deer processed and in the freezer. We ended up with somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 lbs of meat. She and I were both sore and tired from all the cutting, grinding, and wrapping.


On Friday, Salena took the camera out just before lunch to take some puppy pictures and got a really nice one of our sweet Lizzy.

Little did we know that it would be our last.

We left for a brief trip to town right after lunch. When we got back, Lizzy had gotten on the porch, laid down in her favorite spot on the mat in front of the door and died.

Having and raising all these pups even with our help was just too much for her at her age.

Now raising them is a family affair.

Since Salena has been supplement feeding them all along, they already know and love her. They mob her and as you can see they are squeezed under her leg to snuggle up. What you can't see very well is the ones that are crawling UP her pant leg.....

Even Charlie gave us a hand with the early morning feeding when he came home from work.

Now that Sis has gone, Seth, Adam and I will have to handle it.

On Saturday morning, Seth baited up the cows into the catch pen with some feed. Since Neil was home for the weekend, we decided to work them.

The guys sorted and ran them up to the chute. Salena worked the headgate and chute while I palpated the girls to check for pregnancy. There were a few girls that we knew were not very pregnant and they are the reason we sold the bull. They were not far enough along for me to feel a pregnancy so we "put a patch on them". This is a sticky patch that goes on their rump and the color gets rubbed off if they come in heat. Just helps us to watch for them returning to heat so that I can breed them artificially if needed.  There was only one cow that should have been bred who was not. Also got a few surprises because a couple of them are closer to calving than we thought. I think that we are going to get a few calves in March after all.

We also managed to get my friend/enemy, Brindle, caught up in the bunch. I know that she is not bred because we sold the bull too soon for her to be back in heat after calving. Our plan was to sell her after weaning this calf. I had almost talked myself into giving her another chance-- even after she treed Adam and me while hunting. When we ran her thru the chute, I had them put a patch on her so I could watch for her to come into heat. I was thinking that if we could get her up to the chute then, I would breed her and try to get one more calf. We also managed to get her new calf castrated with out any drama.

When we were all finished and ready to put the girls back out in their pasture, everybody behaved and went right through the gate--- except Brindle. She ran all over acting crazy. Blowing and bellowing, wild eyed and threatening to jump the fence. She blew her last chance! Neil laid down the law and she is GONE as soon as her calf is old enough to wean.

And finally-- Holly's udder issues seem to have resolved themselves and we are getting plenty of milk.

I made the first batch of cheese for 2012