If you've ever been involved in Agriculture, you know the term "family farm" means EVERYBODY in the family pitches in. There are always age-appropriate jobs to be had and one can often learn a lesson from the enthusiasm and pride of a small child in completing even the most simple tasks. I'm a little late in this post, but a few months ago it was time to work the cows and calves for another year. Generally done before going to spring grass and prior to starting another breeding season, it is important that you vaccinate your cows and calves to keep them healthy for the year. It is not much different than taking your child into the health clinic for a booster shot of the chicken pox vaccine. It is also one of the many opportunities to work together as a family, teach the importance of agriculture and food production to our kids, and develop the work ethic that will see them thru a successful life no matter where they go. Here a few of my favorite pics of the day...
Bringing in the cows... sometimes we use horses, sometimes we use 4-wheelers, and sometimes we just shake the feed bucket! Either way, it's always a beautiful sight watching them come up the lane.
Feeding time... Everything gets hand fed each night thru the winter. This provides a good source of protein and energy to maintain weight, improve milk production, and get them ready for a new pregnancy in the spring.
Working the calves... All of the baby calves get vaccinations for multiple respiratory diseases to keep them healthy after their initial immunity wears off from mama's colostrum at birth. This is a great place for the kids to help.
Record keeping is essential... Another great job for the kids is having them keep track of what animals have been worked. They write down all the tag numbers for us and keep track of steers and heifers. This is a fun way for little ones to learn and practice writing numbers. They started doing this at a pretty young age!
As my buddy "B" says, it doesn't matter what you're doing, as long as you're doing it together!
After the recent floods in our area, we seem to have an abundance of these little guys around (turtles, not kids). So Nate did what any typical 5 yr old would do and gathered some up to haul to the house. His father obliged him and helped set up an old sand box complete with water, vegetation, and other turtle essentials (whatever those are!) After much though and review of their unique personalities, we carefully selected the names "Speed", "Speedy", and "Henry". After a few days, we decided they were better off in a more natural environment so they were released back into the "wild" at a local neighbors pond. The kids were interested in learning more so a quick Google search led us to learn the following:
