Farm & Ranch
Meanwhile back at the ranch…
By Rayford Pullen, [email protected]
Hopefully, your spring calving is completed. If not, you will be dealing with the problems those late calvers bring to the table for many years to come. While we all deal with this problem to some degree, late calving cows will be raising calves that do not fit into our program for not only working calves and shipping calves, but they will be less apt to breed back due to the fact that when the weather gets really hot, bull fertility drops significantly, which may be nature’s way of preventing summer calves which never perform as well as the earlier born calves due in part to the fact that forage quality deteriorates almost as proportionately as the temperature rises and milk production declines due to the same factors.
Although I am writing this article with over a week left in the month of March, 90 percent of our first calf heifers have already calved and 96 percent of them are raising a calf.
One calf died during the calving process and one calf appeared to have been born premature while two calves died within two weeks of being born for reasons we are not sure about.
We pulled three percent of all the calves born, one with a calf puller and two by hand just to be on the safe side. The mild winter we had this year reduced our mortality greatly which means our live calves are running around 97 percent for all cows that calved. To read more pick up a copy of the May 2016 issue.
By Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Hannah Claxton, Editor
As the sun rises each day, so do the dozens of mouths that Meghan McGovern is responsible for getting fed. Rather than the sounds of a rooster crowing, McGovern hears the bellows and bleats of a variety of exotic deer, the chortle of kangaroos, the grunts of water buffaloes, and the chirps of a lemur.
Nestled against the banks of the Red River, the Double M Ranch and Rescue, with its high game fences and deer sprinkling the landscape,s its in stark contrast to the surrounding ranches.
“Having deer is kind of like eating potato chips- you can never actually have just one,” said McGovern with a laugh.
McGovern has several herds to take care of- fallow deer, axis deer, water buffalo, goats, and bison. In smaller numbers, there’s also a few kangaroos, a lemur, a potbelly pig, a pair of zebras, a watusi, and a few horses.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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