Hello blogging world! I have been absent for a while as I was having difficulties uploading videos. I finally figured it out and will share a few videos I've shot in the past month.
Here is a video that shows some of our replacement heifers. Each year in the fall, we save a certain amount of heifer calves to develop and add to our cow herd. This is a task that I love to do - we evaluate our heifer calves and save the heifers that will best fit into our cow herd scenario.
We will wean the calves in December. At that time the cows are "wintering" on our hay meadow, so we will bring the heifers home and keep them on the meadow by the house so we can keep a close eye on them. We also have our milk cow and a few other cows in the herd with them to essentially "show them the ropes." Also, once they are home, we will have the veterinarian out and he will give them their Bangs vaccinations, tattoo, and ear tag. This is to vaccinate against Brucellosis, a reproductive disease. If you look at the black heifer in the last scene – you can see her orange bangs tag in her right ear. And yes, she is a very friendly heifer!! She always comes up to see if you have something for her!!
It is really fun to see the calves you selected grow and mature into quality females for your herd. These heifers will be bred in June and calve for their first time next April.