Sunday, June 12, 2011

A Few Good Heifers

Our little farm has grown some more as it was time to finally get some cattle. After waiting almost twelve months for the prices to come down, we gave up and decided to just buy some. We went to the Quoiba store cattle sale with very well defined objectives – anything except Black Angus. Almost all the cattle in the valley are either Friesian dairy cows or Black Angus and I just wanted something different. That way they will be easy to recognise if they get out. 
Quioba sale yards

We bought some cattle, sixteen Hereford heifers. Seven are twenty months old and ready to join and the rest are twelve to fourteen months old with a little growing still to do. They are all a little light in condition but we have plenty of feed to put them right. We got them at the Quoiba sale on Friday and unloaded them into the cattle yards just after dark that evening. Saturday morning we drenched them for worms and other parasites and back into a holding paddock, today they go out to their home paddock. In a month or two when they have gained some weight we will buy a Hereford Bull to put with them. In a couple of years we should have a nice little herd on the farm. The gestation of a cow is 285 days so nothing is going to happen in a hurry. 
Some of our Cattle waiting for the frost to lift.

Just hangin around.