It's been a very busy spring for us. I changed jobs and now have a longer commute. I'm enjoying what I'm doing and the company I'm now working for has a great culture that allows for a better work/life balance. I've been riding the 3 and 4 year old's regularly. All three of them are doing very well and I look forward to getting to some of the state parks this summer. We've also been roping in the arena for the first time. It's a wonderful thing to be able to do the training for roping at home!
We've been putting in quite a bit of new fencing. Some to keep the beef cattle in their pasture and some for the horses as well. This will allow us to do some more rotational grazing. We have more options for Tonka, he will have more room to stretch his legs without being over the fence from the mares. Last year we had him & Dixie in a smaller pasture that required feeding hay from August on. We also wanted to keep the pregnant mares that are close to foaling in a different pasture, away from the ever-curious 3 and 4 year olds. In the past we had fewer horses and they were all pastured together and had the foals that way. There weren't any issues, but it was definitely more stressful for the new mom's (both the 4-legged and 2-legged) and an increased risk of the babies getting hurt. With 9 horses in the pasture and 3 young ones that are trying to move up the totem pole, we felt it was time to start splitting them into smaller groups.
Our palomino mare had her first foal yesterday, a beautiful stud colt out of Hancock Silver Tonka. She was 2 1/2 weeks past her due date. She didn't have too many problems with the birth, but there was some pretty extensive tearing. I'm hoping she will heal up alright on her own, but will need to be watching it closely. It may require stitches once the swelling has gone down. I look forward to watching him fill out and seeing what his color will be.
In the next couple of weeks we are expecting four more foals, three of those are out of Tonka. I'm excited to see what the rest of the herd will produce for us.
This year the weather has been much more cooperative. After the rough weather we had last spring we decided to turn the bull out a few weeks later. That turned out to be a good decision since mother nature threw another tough long winter at us. We have 12 calves on the ground so far and are over half way through calving. Our first-calf heifers had their babies without any issues. So far we have a high percentage of heifer calves. That will give us some options for deciding what to keep and sell in the fall. A few of our cows are getting up there in age and we'd like to be able to sell a few of them and still increase our herd size at the same time.
We've been putting in quite a bit of new fencing. Some to keep the beef cattle in their pasture and some for the horses as well. This will allow us to do some more rotational grazing. We have more options for Tonka, he will have more room to stretch his legs without being over the fence from the mares. Last year we had him & Dixie in a smaller pasture that required feeding hay from August on. We also wanted to keep the pregnant mares that are close to foaling in a different pasture, away from the ever-curious 3 and 4 year olds. In the past we had fewer horses and they were all pastured together and had the foals that way. There weren't any issues, but it was definitely more stressful for the new mom's (both the 4-legged and 2-legged) and an increased risk of the babies getting hurt. With 9 horses in the pasture and 3 young ones that are trying to move up the totem pole, we felt it was time to start splitting them into smaller groups.
Our palomino mare had her first foal yesterday, a beautiful stud colt out of Hancock Silver Tonka. She was 2 1/2 weeks past her due date. She didn't have too many problems with the birth, but there was some pretty extensive tearing. I'm hoping she will heal up alright on her own, but will need to be watching it closely. It may require stitches once the swelling has gone down. I look forward to watching him fill out and seeing what his color will be.
In the next couple of weeks we are expecting four more foals, three of those are out of Tonka. I'm excited to see what the rest of the herd will produce for us.
This year the weather has been much more cooperative. After the rough weather we had last spring we decided to turn the bull out a few weeks later. That turned out to be a good decision since mother nature threw another tough long winter at us. We have 12 calves on the ground so far and are over half way through calving. Our first-calf heifers had their babies without any issues. So far we have a high percentage of heifer calves. That will give us some options for deciding what to keep and sell in the fall. A few of our cows are getting up there in age and we'd like to be able to sell a few of them and still increase our herd size at the same time.