Coffee's Ready, Come and Sit on the Porch

[frustratedearthmother]

i've peeled off 18lbs this past year.

That's fantastic - congrats!

 

[flowerbug]

That's fantastic - congrats!

thanks! i feel so much better and have really noticed the difference the past month. 5hrs a day of going up and down the ladder and moving a lot really did the most of it i'm sure.

 

[The Porch]

got up at 5:45, my brain is not fully charged

I am only at this point, its 6:30 grrrrrrNess, [let chickens out fed dogs]
cup #2added more wood to fire

 

[CrealCritter]

Snow caught me by surprise. it was cool yesterday, in the 40's. Then it just snowed overnight , didn't see that one coming. Looks like a good couple of inches of snow out there

Neighbor was doing some redneck sledding this morning. Pulling his kids around behind a 4 wheeler. His kids had a great time, laughing, hootin' -n hollerin'. Happy children, it's like the sound of heaven to me .

I just watered the cattle, hose was not froze. Now I need to go drain the water out of it, so I can water them again tomorrow.

I guess winter is here, we actually had fall this year which was so nice
.
Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[The Porch]

it didn't freeze here last night so i'll be gardening for a few hours today. breakfast was an avocado a few eggs and some mayo and green olives. very rich and should hold me all day.

yesterday stood on the scale and surprised myself at being at 165 lbs. that means i've peeled off 18lbs this past year. 10 more to go but i'm ahead of where i thought i would be. less junkfood and eating a bit better and also less food in general. keeping really busy does also keep me out of the fridge.

keeping really busy --------yes,
burn more than taking in works good for me, we try to eat "clean" as fresh as we can get it/non processed-- the only snacks in the house is raw nuts and popcorn once in a while I will bake a spice cake and we put yogurt on top.
But for the most part movement is key, and YOU have been very busy! So happy for you!

 

[farmerjan]

@CrealCritter ; not sure exactly where you are... here are a couple of places to contact for A.I. breeding service... Select Sires; Central Star coop for Wi, Mi, northern In....800-631-3510
Select Sires Mid America.......Ky, Southern In., Il and more mid western states....847-464-5281
Coba Select Sires...... Oh and parts of WV and some states south.... 614-878-5333
ABS Global; general info on technicians etc.... 608-846-3721
Genex; based in WI.... 888-464-5281

I know you are in Il or In area... many vets don't do A.I. breeding and most are not very good at it; because they do not do it often. An A.I. tech for one of the companies will have many breedings under their belt and be more experienced. There are other companies also. Look up Artificial Insemination in your phone book or area directory... A.I. will get you artificial intelligence... not where you want to be.
If there are any dairies around there, stop and ask who does their A.I. breeding.

You will need a head catch/chute for the tech to be able to breed the animal... and you will have to learn to identify their heat cycles... or give shots to get them to come in heat to be bred at certain times...
Think about WHEN you want them to calve... and then count back 9 months to when they need to be bred... a tech can give you a calendar that will have it marked for breeding date/next heat date if not settled/ calving due date...
Understand that if you get a bull, you can use him for a short period of time and then get him castrated by a vet (due to his size) and then beef him... or even beef him as a young bull... BUT.... there are those inherent risks with bulls.
A.I. will give you better bulls that have better type than just someone raising up some bull calves... and you will know more about any genetics behind them, their probability of producing smaller calves (easy calving bulls) or those producing bigger calves, some are very good at settling cows some are not as good but are desired for their specific genetics...

Contact the Belted Galloway association (beef) for breeders in your area... or the Dutch belted assoc (dairy)... or the other breed your cows are supposed to be out of... can't remember what you got...Dexters? May be someone not too far off that would lease a bull for 2-3 months for breeding.
Understand that most of these organizations do not keep alot of these "odd breeds" in their semen tanks but can order them specifically for you.

Realize too, that you are going to have to keep any young heifers separate from the breeding cattle so that they do not get caught too young and small and then are unable to have the calf. A heifer should not get bred before she is 16-18 months in most all cases, and the amount of growth she has is as big a thing as her age. And I mean not sharing a fenceline or the bull will go visiting if the heifer does not go visiting first. Hormones at that stage when they are in heat will propel them over fences as if they had wings....

 

[The Porch]

Snow caught me by surprise. it was cool yesterday, in the 40's. Then it just snowed overnight , didn't see that one coming. Looks like a good couple of inches of snow out there

Neighbor was doing some redneck sledding this morning. Pull his kids around behind a 4 wheeler. His kids had a great time, laughing, hootin' -n hollerin'. Happy children, it's like the sound of heaven to me.

I just watered the cattle, hose was not froze. Now I need to go drain the water out of it so, I can water them again tomorrow.

I guess winter is here, we actually had fall this year -nice
.
Jesus is Lord and Christ

YES! & YES.......................... do you remember last year???? you did not have fun, do you remember what @baymule told you??? coffees kicking in

 

[baymule]

Winter is here too! It will be lows in the 30’s for the next forecasted 10 days AND be THIRTY DEGREES Sunday night!!!! It will not even reach highs of sixty but remain in highs of cold fifties!! WINTER!!

Hahaha!

 

[CrealCritter]

@CrealCritter ; not sure exactly where you are... here are a couple of places to contact for A.I. breeding service... Select Sires; Central Star coop for Wi, Mi, northern In....800-631-3510
Select Sires Mid America.......Ky, Southern In., Il and more mid western states....847-464-5281
Coba Select Sires...... Oh and parts of WV and some states south.... 614-878-5333
ABS Global; general info on technicians etc.... 608-846-3721
Genex; based in WI.... 888-464-5281

I know you are in Il or In area... many vets don't do A.I. breeding and most are not very good at it; because they do not do it often. An A.I. tech for one of the companies will have many breedings under their belt and be more experienced. There are other companies also. Look up Artificial Insemination in your phone book or area directory... A.I. will get you artificial intelligence... not where you want to be.
If there are any dairies around there, stop and ask who does their A.I. breeding.

You will need a head catch/chute for the tech to be able to breed the animal... and you will have to learn to identify their heat cycles... or give shots to get them to come in heat to be bred at certain times...
Think about WHEN you want them to calve... and then count back 9 months to when they need to be bred... a tech can give you a calendar that will have it marked for breeding date/next heat date if not settled/ calving due date...
Understand that if you get a bull, you can use him for a short period of time and then get him castrated by a vet (due to his size) and then beef him... or even beef him as a young bull... BUT.... there are those inherent risks with bulls.
A.I. will give you better bulls that have better type than just someone raising up some bull calves... and you will know more about any genetics behind them, their probability of producing smaller calves (easy calving bulls) or those producing bigger calves, some are very good at settling cows some are not as good but are desired for their specific genetics...

Contact the Belted Galloway association (beef) for breeders in your area... or the Dutch belted assoc (dairy)... or the other breed your cows are supposed to be out of... can't remember what you got...Dexters? May be someone not too far off that would lease a bull for 2-3 months for breeding.
Understand that most of these organizations do not keep alot of these "odd breeds" in their semen tanks but can order them specifically for you.

Realize too, that you are going to have to keep any young heifers separate from the breeding cattle so that they do not get caught too young and small and then are unable to have the calf. A heifer should not get bred before she is 16-18 months in most all cases, and the amount of growth she has is as big a thing as her age. And I mean not sharing a fenceline or the bull will go visiting if the heifer does not go visiting first. Hormones at that stage when they are in heat will propel them over fences as if they had wings....

Thank You FJ! I've got a lead on two folks that do AI (not vets). I'm not even going to consider breeding until early spring, because of daisy, she should be of age by then. I also have two leads on a stud bull but both are Angus. I think the calf's would be too big. I have some research to do and you just gave me more options to explore that I didn't know about - Thank You

Jesus is Lord and Christ

 

[The Porch]

So, DD #2 called, they are "talking" with DDIL about things they can do thanksgiving week, like go up?? somewhere and play in the snow?? she has a 6mo old Belgian Malinois she has been doing a lot of training with, she may have to bring him. now, Tony dog is only 3, BUT due to BLESSED covid, Tony did not get the socialization and training Ziva did. by the time he had his parvo shots all on board classes were shut down.
Tony & Ziva are herding dogs, when the grandkids get squirrely/running/screaming/loudX10- I put the dogs in my room,,, the dogs want to #1 protect them from what ever it is that is making them scream
[ long sticks= light sabers or swards] #2 heard them to a safe spot and make them be still---
So I dont know hoe Tony will react to a boy puppy, he might do just fine and he might not,
SO,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if DD#2 has to bring her dog she will bring his crate, I will have to keep my dogs in my room. We will have to rotate letting dogs out and ,,,well you get the pic
Oh and, DD's dog is not 100% house broken. so mom says he will need to stay in his crate while in the house. If he pees on something, Tony will go back and pee on it,, it IS his territory, thats what dogs do,,,,,,,,,,,,

Praying the guy that helps with DD's dog training will keep puppy while DD is here,

I so VERY much want she, her husband and son to come up and even though my stress level will max out I will do what ever it takes to make everyone comfortable and enjoy their time, My sons days off land on they full week, so 7 of our 11 grand kids will together. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at our sons house, DDIL's parents will be there too,
sorry for the ramble I do feel better just typing it out , ,
DD#3 isnt going to come up, she is going to her fiancés sisters house. He has 2 sisters and there are a total of 10 kids,
DD#1 lives in MO. so she and her family are not coming