The Vet Returns - For The Cattle

Our vet, Mike, returned to the farm yesterday - this time for some cattle care/maintenance. 

First, most of the bull calves need to be castrated.  Glenn usually does this task, typically when the calves are much younger and smaller.  At six months of age, Glenn elected to go with Mike's experience.

With our new herd  management, we decided to keep the bull calves bulls longer to take advantage of the growth hormones they produce naturally.  In years past, the bull calves would be castrated within one month of their birth, then injected with a growth hormone.  Boy, that was silly and expensive.  Mother Nature is much more efficient.

The best three bull calves were spared the knife.  They will be used as breeding stock, either for us or to sell for others.  This is one way Mountain Glen Farm is expanding and becoming more diverse in the products offered.

Second, the most questionable (young, previously off schedule calving) cows were pregnancy checked.  This task is definitely one for the vet as this procedure requires a lot of knowledge and proficiency.  If a cow is open, not pregnant, then she is shipped to market.  We cannot afford to carry a cow that is not working, not producing a calf.  Most of the cows checked were between 2 and 4 months along (yes, Mike is that good) - right in line with our management guidelines. One cow was open and one old cow (over 14 years old) was iffy.  These two cows will be culled from the herd.  There are rarely second chances - definitely, not this time.

Yep, that's manure on the red glove!
 You can guess where Mike's arm (all the way to his elbow) goes to do the preg checks....

We did have one minor mishap when the penned herd got a bit excited;  one of the cows decided to leave - she climbed over the metal gate. (Are you getting that mental picture of a 1200 pound, 4-legged animal, udder hanging down climbing over a gate? All I can say...not a pretty picture.)  She was fine, but the perfectly good gate was severely bent due to her weight - ugh!

Lastly, Jake (I know he is not a cow...) got his rabies update, thus; avoiding an office visit - a real nuisance averted.

Another huge job finished...for this year, that is.