A place to find resources, discuss and learn about beef cattle farming and all its nuances. Okay, a place to joke around about farming, I guess.

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

The song of the Willie Wagtail...

I spotted a Willie Wagtail this morning, another sure sign that Autumn is fast approaching. He or she was a bit camera shy!



One of my favorite birds is the Willie Wagtail.

Why?

Because when it sings it sounds like it's saying, "Pretty Pretty Creature" and it brings back memories of my mother and I when I was growing up on our farm in North-East Victoria.

I also love eagles, hawks, crows and magpies. Not to mention ducks, rosellas and the list goes on - let's leave it as I love all birds and animals.See more pictures of the Willie Wagtail here  or get more information about this facinating bird here.



 
If you want to hear the song of a Willie Wagtail. There is a download available at Amazon called the Willie Wagtail Dance by Mort Hansen.
Interlude - Willie Wagtail (World)Interlude - Willie Wagtail (World)
You can listen to the preview for free on the Bumbliwa picture above. It will take you to the Amazon site - don't forget to bookmark this blog and visit me again!

Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Autumn is on its way...

The days are getting shorter...


We are loosing an average of one minute sunlight in the morning and one minute at night as the sun comes up later and sneaks itself away that bit earlier in the afternoon.




The tree at the back of our house faces south-west and is loosing its leaves.


The two trees out the front face the north-east and are still green.

The calving is almost done.


We have 2 calving seasons; late Summer/early Autumn and late Spring/early Summer.

And, 2 selling seasons per year. Calves born in winter avoid pink eye from flies appearing mostly in warmer months. Calves enjoy the Spring growth while growing out.

The calves born later have ample milk because the mothers have surplus grass form the Spring growth. I guess we have two calving seasons as a sort of back up system. If anything goes wrong in one season we have another set of cows calving.

Many farmers have one calving season either Spring or Autumn because then they don't have to spend two seasons calving which may involve assisting the cows. We cull any non-performing cattle and this tends to avoid us having to go into the paddocks to assist in th birthing process. The less interference the better.  

It is best to do your own research and find out what works best on your farm. One farm can be very productive while another may not. Learning about your property takes time, effort and patient observance.

If you have any questions, (we are by no means experts), but we might be able to help. Let us know if you need any hints or tips. We are always more than happy to help with all things animal-related.


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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Exciting New Home For PEPPER And Four Of His Friends...

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Much excitement on the farm today!

PEPPER got himself a new home and four of his friends went too.

Two of the new babies, two of the previous hatching and PEPPER got to go and live in a nice place in New South Wales, called Bowna.

This here, dog, is Benson, he's a little concerned that "his chickens" are going...
Benson loves baby animals and always stays with them until they leave the farm. It's just a "Benson dog" thing...

Zak, however, was way too busy fetching sticks and taking a dip in the dam to be concerned about the babies leaving the farm...

Friday, February 19, 2010

Homes are being arranged for the chicken babies...

It's "Ugly Ducking" stage for the most recent chicken arrivals.

They are growing their "real" feathers and the "downy" feathers are disappearing. They will look all scruffy and odd for the next few weeks until their feathers grow properly. It's a hard time being bossed around by all the older chickens and it gets really tough for any chickens that start to look like roosters, more about that below...





Check out Houdini now!


Is he a she or she a he?

It's still a bit it hard to tell. My guess is a "she".



And here's PEPPER (below). He was special because he went to Beechworth to a new home with three of his mates. Two came back because when they grew and it became obvious they were roosters and not hens. Hens lay eggs, roosters don't so Pepper had to come back to the farm.

It's sad, but roosters don't very often get homes, but this weekend PEPPER finds out if he's going to go to new home. We shall find out on Sunday if he can impress the visitors and get himself a new abode.





He'd really like a nice new home because the big bossy rooster (his Dad; see picture below) is picking on him constantly. It's a funny thing about rooster Dad's, they just see their little boys as threats that grow up to be big roosters and they feel they have to prove something...


Here's ROOTY the rooster Dad giving the "girls" (hens) a lecture!
"Now, listen up, I say listen up girls! It's about time..."


more another day...

Monday, February 01, 2010

Chickens, Chickens And More Chickens...

Here's the newest members of our family...







This here is Houdini - who has already managed to escape several times in her big three day lifespan!











These awesome little devils will be available for sale soon. Please feel free to drop me an email if you would like to add them to your collection. Pick up only from Wodonga, Victoria.  

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