With the entrance of September comes many things; back to school, autumn weather, harvesting and for us, newborn baby beef calves. Mid September is about the time when our mama beef cows begin to have their babies.
We took a drive out the other day to check up on how progress was coming along.
All of our beef cows have been moved down the hill to the flat area to have their babies. We have only spotted a few babies thus far.
Here's one. She was so very curious of the big camera pointed in her direction.
And if you look close, you can see this mama decided to stick her tongue out at the camera.
After the mamas calve, they'll breed with the bulls from October - April (who have been patiently waiting for the return of their mamas), graze, nurse their new born calves, and wait to be moved again in April.
Driving out to check the beef cows and newborn calves is one of my favorite things to do on the ranch, stay tuned for more photos.
I feel like I'm always sharing photos and stories about our dairy and I tend to forget about the Natural Beef we raise here on the ranch. Maybe because the beef cattle graze on the hills behind Stafford Lake......which is the other half of our ranch across the street from us.
Our Natural Beef is raised on many acres of pasture. They have never been given antibiotics or growth hormones.......they are raised naturally. The only thing we do give them is a wormer. We feel this keeps them healthier and comfortable and thus will be able to retain much of the protein they are eating.
You're probably wondering, 'what if an animal does become sick with an illness?' This does not happen very often but if it does, we would never allow an animal to suffer in any way. We feel the humane way to handle this is to give the animal antibiotics to treat the illness and then sell it at auction. They are not kept here on the ranch and they are not sold as Natural Beef in the food chain. We love and care for all of our animals and treat them with the utmost respect.
I went out yesterday morning to snap a few photos of the beef to share with you.
This mama cow came right up to my car window....very curious. You can see the west end of Stafford Lake in the background.
Three of the bulls on the hillside.........
The beef cattle have the best view!
Here's Miss Nosey again.........
Cute calf...........
They didn't want to move out of my way as I was driving along...........
A horned mama and her calf.............
The same horned mama. Most of our beef cattle are Polled Herefords (born without horns) except for this one. She's the oldest mama at 15 and we acquired her before we began breeding Polled Herefords. She hasn't gored any of the other cattle thus far......
You know, I can never get away from those bulls! Although, for some reason, beef bulls aren't nearly as frightening to me as are the Holstein bulls........
Chloe had to put in her two cents......barking the entire time out the window.........
Another hillside shot..........
I actually ventured out of the car to take this photo............
We'll be doing our annual cattle drive within the next two weeks. I'll keep you posted.
Elegant Filet Mignon - Paula Dean
We use Kraft Zesty Italian sometimes when we marinate, especially when grilling venison.
Another hillside shot..........
