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I raise Scottish Galloway cattle in southern Ontario. I have one field that can be rather wet until the middle of the summer and another dry one that I rent from a neighbour. I'd like to do some over-seeding to increase the density of the grasses. I'd like some advice on the best time to do...

Hello all: I am going to be borrowing my neighbours hay field to pasture my cattle. It has grown good hay in the past but was not hayed last year so the grasses right now are long, brown and dead while the rest of our pastures are starting to get green. I'd appreciate any thoughts on what I...

My neighbour and I have struck up a deal whereby I am doing some tractor work for her (spreading manure, bush-hogging) and I get to use one of her fields as pasture- about 6 acres or so. It used to be a hay field which they did not cut last year. It has always raised really nice hay. Spring...

I feed my cows hay in my barnyard and riding ring in the winter as I treat these as sacrifice areas so that my fields are not ruined. I'm told the soil under is sandy but with years of manure deposited there, they are retaining a lot of water. They also rut up bad in early spring and late...

These looked like a good ticket to cover my hay bales. I store them on pallets and/or on gravel and feed one or two bales at a time so I liked the single bale bonnets. Unfortunately shipping per box of 16 is like 100 bucks! Just wondering if any other folks from Canada is using a similar...

I usually pay $45 for 4 x 5 bales of second cut timothy/alfaalfa mix. Heck I have to get it trucked from a little bit away to pay even that! Local guys charge $50-55 for the same given the market here is all horse owners. The field across the road for me is all timothy and was just baled 4x5s...

I have two permanent paddocks which I subdivide into furthur sub-paddocks with a single strand of electric using step-in posts. It has usually worked well but occasionally (once a week or so) calves have been getting out of the sub-paddock. I'm wondering if others use the same kind of system...

I've got my chute setup with two panels at each end to 'funnel' the animal that I am working into it. I use a gate I have mounted on a post to crowd the animal into the 'funnel'. Most of the time my setup works quite well. I get my cows to come into my holding pen every so often for a bit of...

My wife noticed one of our calves (11 month heifer) with bloody direaha. The vet happened to be in the area and dropped by and diagnosed it to be some sort of a parasite (don't have the paper she wrote it down on). He gave the calf an injection and advised my wife to pickup some liquid...

We had a hay delivery today of 42 round 4x5s. We are going through about 60 per year. It is much cheaper for us to purchase from a supplier who is a couple of hours away so we must buy 42 at a time. Unfortunately we don't have a building to store it in so we line item up in rows with the bale...

I have a heifer calf who will be 7 months and a uncastrated bull calf who will be 5.5 months. I would like to wean them together since they are buddies and ought to have company when weaned. Unfortunately, I have no other heifer calves this year. I am administering the first shot of tetanus...

I apologize in advance for the rant but I need to rant somewhere. I don't quite follow why it is so hard for me to purchase vaccines over the counter somewhere. I can purchase antibiotics at the local TSC store or feed store. None of them carry vaccines. I talked to one store owner today who...

This morning I found that one of my two cows had a scrape around her elbow joint. Not sure where she got it. Realized that I ought to have some supplies on hand for such things and for some basic assistance during calving. Realistically given I have no experience, if I have a calving problem...

I'm thinking of getting an automatic waterer for the small herd of cattle I am starting (my first two arrive tomorrow actually!). I was at the farm equipment show looking at Ritche waterers. They look like they are well built. There are literally dozens of models. I don't expect I will...

I'm planning to pick up two round bale feeders for the litter Galloway herd that I am starting. I had decided on the Model MWR feeder pictured here: http://www.agdealer.com/pages/view-list ... /index.cfm. It is about $450 up here. Someone was telling me that feeders that allow the hay to...

I have seen this offered as an option on squeeze chutes. Can someone please explain to this novice what it is and what purpose it serves?

I am about to start a small herd of Galloways and I am looking to acquire a squeeze chute and any other equipment I need for basic handling. I'm going to start with three or so cows and build the herd up to 8-10 cows and perhaps a bull. A basic CattleMaster squeeze chute (D90B pictured here...

While I am thinking of going with Galloways, if there is a special chute to be acquired to handle cattle with long horns, it might be worth looking into for me now as I fancy Highland cattle as well. How are long horned cattle handled through squeeze chutes and other handling equipment? What...

Hello all: I am pondering starting a small Galloway or Highland herd this coming spring and I am doing a bunch of research before embarking on said venture. I have about 12 to 14 acres in pasture with two permanent paddocks - about 6 acres and about 8 acres. Permanent paddocks are well...

Hi there: We have a small hobby equestrian farm and were thinking about adding a couple of stocker calves to the mix this spring or fall to raise for the freezer. Most of our horses winter outside. Our facilities include a sizable three sided pole barn that provides shelter from the weather...