My foreman is working part time at another farm, he invited me to take a tour of his side job and we got to see hundreds of acres of fields. Along with hundreds of black angus cows. Seeing a farm that has been around for a long time was really cool.
At this farm they do stock cattle breeding. Meaning they do not slaughter them, only grow them big to sell them off to other farms.
Approaching the gate everything is kept close so no cows escape, this farm is off a busy highway road so its important to keep them where they need to be.
With the gates open we head on in.
I jump in his truck and we start touring around the farm. He points out the tag system for them and how different colors and dates mean different things.
Cows are seen feeding on the grassy fields, they seem to know my foremans truck and look to see what he is up to.
Some of the cows are just laying around, others are mingling and eating grass.
This farm has over a thousand acres, broken up into many sections along the road.
It was great we had a truck to drive around in so they did not have to walk everywhere.. Also the truck provided safety if a cow got mad at us or something.
This farm has lots of downed trees on it, we were told if we want the firewood we can go collect it.
Some fields are more over grown than others, this is how they rotate the cows between fields.
Here are some young cows, not fully grown yet but getting there.
We drive the truck up and they all gather to see what is going on.
Heading over to another part of the farm, we get to see more cows.
Its really peaceful out here, hope they like their farm.
Lots of fields and lots of cows, though it does not take them all that long to eat all the grass, so they must move them every so often.
My foreman comes across a sick calf, he notes its number and lets the main farm hand of this ranch know about it. A mother cow stands by close keeping an eye on the baby.
He looks at his record book to figure out whos cow this is and when it was born.
We drive on and my foreman spots a deer, though its too quick for him and gone before he can take a shot.
I take a shot too, but with my camera, a quick car mirror selfie. haha
Wild orange trees are found on the property, I had no idea these were so far north!
We did not get out to pick any, but cool to know. They look like black locust but grow more horizontal than vertical.
Visiting another pen, he has to keep these cows in and the other cows out.
One cow is very determined to get into there and he has to chase it away.
They all just kind of stare.. lol
Damn that one cow got in! He tries to cut it off but it gets away.
So he goes looking for it as it bunches in with the other cows, but its spotted.. the jig is up! He chases it to the gate and out of the enclosure.
Later on we come across a calf that was just born.
He tags it, gives it a shot of antibiotics and weighs it.
The mom stays close by and watches.
After he releases it and it goes back to its mom.
This calf was just born hours ago, and its already walking. My foreman says if its more than a day or two old its so fast you cannot even catch them on foot anymore. At that point trucks and horses are used to herd them and catch them when needed.
