Iowa State Fair - Fun, Family, and Flash Back

FUN - We had a blast at this year's Iowa State Fair. I realize it has been 3 months since the fair, but this is the first chance I have had to write about it.  The weather is beginning to change, my coaching duties are over, and it gets dark so fast in the evening. Why not do something semi-productive and blog? Paxton and Chadon are showing and doing an incredible job and having fun doing it!

FAMILY - This is most of our family posing for an exciting "Grand Champion" picture. We are missing Dalton - no chance in getting him away from his Senior year of football.  Plaid shirts and boots - we even look like cattle people.  Except for Sandi and her flip-flops - we will make her a cowgirl eventually!  Some awesome memories for our family!

FLASH BACK - Grand Champion Miniature Hereford Bull - very exciting for our first-time showing miniature herefords! As you can tell by the picture he is as gentle as they get. He makes for a warm, comfy couch, too.  He will be 22 Cattle Company's herd sire for quite some time.

I'm excited to introduce to you little "Chase" - named by my fourth grader who already thinks he is going to show this little guy.  Our first bull calf born this year was called "Ace" so the 2nd was naturally called "Chase" the "Ace".  He is square, thick, and quite the cutie!  Let me know what you think of him.  Oh, his mom is a first-calf heifer named "Xita".  

What does it take to flush a Cow?

To start with it takes a really, really good cow! She really should posses one or more of the following.

Donor Cow:  KAP Gentle Utica

1. She has an incredible pedigree behind her.  
2. She has won a number of shows and a lot of people know about her - meaning her eggs would be valuable.
3. She has already produced some outstanding offspring
4. She has one or all of the above but cannot (mostly because of health or age) raise another one on her own.  

Flushing is not cheap!  So you better know that this is what you want to do from the beginning.  So here is the breakdown on costs:

1. Drugs for flushing - $110-$130
2. Flushing - $150-$250
3. Semen costs - $25-$300 depending on what bull you are using - Miniature Hereford Semen is crazy expensive! Don't forget, you may have to pay for a semen certificate when you register the calf as an added expense.
4. Freezing embryos - $35-$50/embryo
5. Implanting Embryos - $45-65/embryo
6. Boarding a cow if you need it can be $4-$9 per day

"Bianca" an ET calf out of the above cow Utica - she's good!

Do not forget that you will need to sync some cows for fresh transplanting or be on the lookout for good recips. It is good to have one or two cows ready in case you do have a couple non-freezable embryos but may be good enough for immediate transfer.  If you were to send your embryos to a place like Trans Ova because you do not have any recip cows, you can buy the pregnant recip for $2200-$2500 after 60 days verified.  (That may have gone up after the crazy cow prices around this area.)

One last thing to remember, the percentage for an embryo to develop into a pregnancy in a recip cow is around 50-60%, but you can't always count on that.   

SO, what does it take to flush a cow?   It takes quality (cow/heifer), cash, and planning (time to give shots, time to flush, and time to get your recips ready).

I sure hope those calves turn out!  

Miniature Hereford's - what makes them so special?

22 Cattle Company - 3 Miniature Hereford Heifers

Isn't it strange that as you get older you begin to enjoy history much more than when you were in school?  Studying history in the livestock industry is no different.  My dad, who is now 80 years old this year, absolutely loved feeding cattle.  I honestly think he would still be doing it to this day if it weren't for the 1980's.  An extremely tough time in the cattle industry and felt painfully hard in the Midwest.  Fortunately, my father was aware of the risks and chose not to feed cattle when he could not pencil a profit.  At that time, crop farming took precedent and he no longer filled his yards with cattle.  In fact, the fences were eventually removed, one by one, until corn or soybean rows filled the once busy cattle feedlot.  Although, his memories of feeding livestock live on to this day.

So what does that have to do with this post?  Well, when I look back at my dad's or uncle's 4-H scrapbook, guess which pictures always stand out?  Stop at an old stockyards or sale barn that decorate their walls with historic pictures.  Which breed of cattle often catches your eye?  For me, it's the pictures of the purebred Herefords with their stocky, solid build and their neatly curved horns.  Fat steers weighing right at 1000# or less.  Only, they weren't called miniatures back then. 

No longer do I need to hear my dad say, remember when. . .  I just ask him to come to the Iowa State Fair.  Dad, you can relive your childhood through your grandchildren.  You see, it is "SPECIAL" when there is a commonality between multiple generations all because of a breed of cattle.  The Miniature Hereford has certainly connected Granpa's history to the Grandchildren's future in our family.  Why not own a few yourself?  

On the sixth day. . .

Genesis 1:24-25  "And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

Registered Miniature Hereford Bull - "Ace" (first Miniature to be born on the 22 Cattle Company Farm)

I am excited to introduce my first little Miniature Hereford bull calf born on the 22 Cattle Company farm. God graciously created the livestock on the sixth day - perfectly formed - for His glory.  Man was created on the same day to have dominion over the livestock. What a priviledge and responsibility God has given us.  

Fleda (KAP Prince Oscar x KAP Lady Rachel) & "Ace" (KAP Lil Kid Vance)