Another..."last" update.

[Warren Allison]

Called Scott to talk about opening day Saturday. We are just going to hunt quail horseback this weekend. Old traditional way with gaited horses, so I am bringing 2 down and gonna leave the beagles at home. Scott said me oughta might shoot some deer Saturday evening and Sunday morning. He said we need to put 3 or 4 in Ms. Mattie's freezer, because we WON'T be putting that Brahma/Chianina/Corriente steer in it. I have mentioned that Zeke has him halter broke, and doing tricks like lying down, and counting. He will get him to lie down, then sit on him for an hour or so, singing songs to him. Well, Scott said Ms Mattie asked him how much a steer like that would cost. He asked her why she was wanting to know, He was worried she might think it is too much money to just give the meat to her and Zeke. She said she was asking because she wanted to buy it! He told her: "Ms. Mattie, you don't have to buy it. We already gave it to you and Zeke for your freezer." She started crying and said " That's why I wants to buy it, Missuh Scott. Zeke done fell plumb in love with that steer, and it will break his heart when y'all come butcher it. I have some money saved from my preserves and all'" Scott said she got out her Crown Royal bag and pulled a roll of bills out. She said " I got near $250 in here I will give you and Warren, and I will pay more every month when I get my check. Now how much is he?" Scott told her that there was no way he or I either one would take money for Zeke's calf. That he had more than earned it with all the work he does for us. He told her we'd just go get another one to feed out for the freezer. A neighbor of theirs had bought some bottle calves this spring...Holsteins... and he told Mattie we would just go buy one when I get down there this weekend. He said she got out her roll and said " Well, it is only right that I pay for it. I have been mooching and bumming off y'all for a year since I got hurt How much you reckon it is?" He said "Oh, probably about $50, now that they are nearly grown. She got out $50 and handed it to him and said " Now you take this. I'd be much obliged if you'd let me do my part" Scott told me it was hard for him to take that money...that he about wanted to cry. I said " No, you did the right thing. You let her keep some pride and dignity."
He and I had already figured that most likely, we wouldn't be able to process Zeke's steer anyway.

These Holsteins are 9 months old now and fat as ticks. We gonna buy one Saturday, and Scott's gonna feed it out on corn and oats for a couple of months. We will take it to a deer locker for processing after deer season closes. I told him if he can't keep it somewhere away from Zeke, he will make that one a pet, too. If I have to, I will bring it up here and feed it til we decide to butcher it. Or, depending on how busy the deer processor is, we might just get it this weekend and take it on over there. Scott said those Holsteins looked to be about 700 lbs...maybe 8. Probably only yield about 4 hundred pounds of meat. But if we put up a deer about every week on average til deer season closes, and Scott already has about a 400lb barrow he is going to process and give half to Mattie, then that ought to do her for a while.

If it were entirely up to me? And, if Zeke hadn't been through all of that hell in the last year, I'd butcher his steer. Have him there watching , too. Same thing with the hog. I'd make him do the shooting. Mattie can't have much longer, and me and Scott are both starting to show our age, too. Well, maybe next year. I guess it won't hurt him to have the rest of the fall and winter to still be a kid.

 

[sstterry]

How do I get in on a couple of those $50 grown steers?

Warren, you and Scott are good people doing good things. There will be an extra star in your crown one day.

 

[Warren Allison]

How do I get in on a couple of those $50 grown steers?

Warren, you and Scott are good people doing good things. There will be an extra star in your crown one day.

The Holstein dude is giving us a break since it is for Ms. Mattie, We only have to pay him $750 for that $50 steer! It works out though, because she is always giving us stuff she has canned. Scott and I neither one are what you might call wealthy, but we don't live paycheck to paycheck either. Sometimes something you can do that is nothing to you, or spending a little money on something for another, might mean all the difference in the world to them...maybe the difference in like and death. And often, if you can just get it started, others will join in and want to help. No government agency or program can help people like their friends and neighbors can. And the great thing is, not only does the one you help receive a blessing, but so does the helper. There is nothing Scott and I could spend that $750 on, that would make us happier. We are both so grateful to be in a position to be able to make a little difference. I told Scott that $750 won't be a drop in the bucket compared to what Zeke's steer will costs us. The kind he is, he will get to a ton or more in weight, and probably will live 25 or more years. Way longer than Scott or I will!!

 

[Warren Allison]

Well, solved the "$50 steer for $750" problem today. I bought a tawny colored Corriente cow today with a 340 lb , Braunveih, POLLED, bull calf on it at an auction. Scott's brother was atythe sale, and brought him to his house tonight. He is bringing it with him Saturday when he comes down to the Kudzu Place for opening day. We gonna turn them out on the 450 acres of row crop residue and when we move the herd back to the Kudzu place in February, I will take that calf to the butcher. If this guy who has been buying all of our Corr herd don't want her for $600, I will breed her to the bull we will use on the Plummers next spring. Unless she is already bred. Scott's brother said he talked with the seller, and the calf is about 4 months old, He said she had been running in the pasture with that same Braunveih bull. So last night I was about to pay $750 for a Holstein steer, because Ms Mattie and Zeke didn't want to butcher the steer we already gave him. Tonight, worst case scenario ...if she ain't bred..... I will have a free steer that is half Braunveih.....much better than the Holstein or Zeke's Chianina/Brahma/ Corriente, and a Corriente cow that I can sell for $600, and only gave $415 for the pair! If she is bred, then I make even more money. I need to go buy some lottery tickets! Luck is on my side for a change. (knock on wood)

 

[Warren Allison]

Well, hell. I guess my plans on getting out of the business are pretty much shot. With the 5 I bought yesterday, the one I bought at Athens Wednesday, and that one I traded for a week or so ago...the one where people said I should have given the boy more money instead of what he asked me for it? That makes seven Corrientes ( Well, 6 and a Fla Scrub) . At least it isn't 120 to have to fool with! But, I most likely will sell those 4 black ones that I gave $210-$230 for tomorrow. I called the dude that has been buying our solid black one the last 2 years, and told him I had 4 more young ones, heavy bred to a black angus bull, and he can get them for just $750 each. I told him to come up in the morning and look at them and to bring his shotgun and hunt quail with us. He said " I will be there! Can I bring my son, too?" So they are sold, I got a feeling. Gonna head out here in a little while with 2 horses and those 5 cows. Carrying my SSH to hunt off, and my 2nd best cow horse, in case we need to do something with cattle while I am there. Weather is going to be warm and windy, so the dogs gonna have to work hard to find the birds. Gonna have yo use all pointers. The setters would lay down in the first water they found and not hunt.

 

[Warren Allison]

Pretty good time this weekend. We are EAT UP in bird!! You barely got mounted and rode 50 yards before the dogs pointed again! We had 4 gaited horses and about 9 people who came down to hunt( (including the dude and his son that came to look at those 4 black Corr cows I bought Thursday. And yes, he bought them! ) so we'd take them out 3 at a time...Scott handling the dogs and me handling the hunters. I had to ride my cow horse, but he is as gun broke as the others are, so no problem, other than my left knee is gone from getting up in the saddle so much. Hot as it was, those pointers still worked excellent!

I got there late Friday night, and put those 5 cows and the 2 horses in the corral, pulled my trailer close to the poll barn so I could hook up power, and just spent the night there. My old lady had bought me this Verizon Hot Box, I think it is called, and damned if I didn't have internet service out there in the boonies! Looks like a router or modem, and I guess it works like one. only it is using my Verizon cell phone data. by connecting with Verizon Cell towers. I don't really know, but it works! Scott's brother had brought that LH cow with the Braunvieh calf earlier that day, and he put them in the arena, too. He said Scott told him to because the calf was still a bull, and me and him would work it Saturday.

As it got close to dinner time....noon...we decided to put the dogs in the kennel for a few hours, and go across the road to the dove field. We still had a lot of doves flying. On the hundred acre cotton field right next to it, Scott's nephew had sowed wheat, oats, rye and barley on Monday, We just stood in the tree/fence line between the two fields, and everyone limited out in about 2 hours. We took the setters with us, to let them get some retriever practice., We didn't hunt them Saturday because of the heat, but we may as well!! They were hot and tired after the first 50 they went and fetched, and they had to do that a couple more times! We went back across the road, got the horses and dogs out, and hunted til it got close to dark. Scott remembered that calf we had had to steer, and said he couldn't go get his cow horse and get back by dark...but said if I would head him, he'd heel him on his TW. Scott usually does the banding, but his horse didn't know how to work a rope, so I had to get off and do it! Gimping on one leg, arthritis in my hands and fingers so bad I almost never got the rubber band on the bander, or get the bander open enough to get around this little guys family jewels.

When we finally got to the house, way after dark, his wife had fried quail, cooked dove in onions and gravy, and had mashed potatoes , biscuits, and pinto beans for supper. I went back to my trailer that night after supper. I hadn't heard any coyotes all night Friday night, but wanted to stay out there Saturday too. After we had flushed all the coveys, they'd be calling all evening and night, and that might would attract them. But, didn't hear a one Saturday night either.

Pretty good trip. Came home with a mess of quail and a mess of doves in the cooler, and $3k in my pocket from selling the 4 black cows I bought Thursday for a little under $900.00!! Got home, and my right knee blew out going down the stairs, because I had been using it and favoring my left one. I had even mounted from the right side all weekend, because of my left knee. So I am walking like a prisoner with shackles on his ankles! Hurts every time I click the mouse, and just have 1 finger on each hand I can type with! But, all in all, I had a BLAST!

 

[Warren Allison]

This weekend was the beagles' turn. Scott was just not able to walk much at all, so he decided not to hunt this weekend. So, I took Zeke with me, and we used the Ranger. Zeke just doesn't ride well enough to do it horseback. I figured I would have enough on my hands keeping him safe with a gun, to be fooling with a horse, too. We took 3 each on the morning hunt, and another 3 each on the afternoon hunt. A little cold, but clear and no wind. So many rabbits, that the dogs would be on one and jump another one or two during the chase. They'd get a little bumfuzzled, but put those noses down and work it out like a good hound should. We mostly worked up and down the creek that morning, and I never saw a coyote track. None at the pond or the beaver pond , either. Plenty of fox tracks., and 2 different bob cats, but no yotes. I think all those years of Corriente momma cows with calves, has pretty much caused the yotes to just write this place off. A lot of our pack is out of a 3/4 beagle 1/4 foxhound bitch we had. A rabbit hunting fool. Little bit longer legged than a beagle, and a little bit deeper voice. These offspring of hers are 7/8th beagle, but still got the legs their momma has. The way these dogs hunted Saturday, Warren Buffet wouldn't have enough money to buy them!

After lunch we saddled up and rode across the road to check on the cows. Zeke is way too excited about Gail's calf, which should be here in about 2 weeks or so. So I told him" Rope her and we will carry her back up to the pasture at your house." So, he took out his rope, and started walking his horse over to Gail, who just stood there watching them. He had the rope figure 8-ed about twice around himself when he got up to her. Gail and the horse just stood there, about to go to sleep, while Zeke fooled with trying to get his rope coiled up right so he could get a loop on her. He finally got off the horse, and straightened his rope out on the ground, then coiled it back, then got back on his horse. He missed the throw. He did this twice more, and the last time he was on the ground fixing his loop, he just walked over to her and put it over head, like you were placing a collar on a horse or mule! He got back on, and we walked Gail up the road to Zeke's house. The couple that so generously bought the calf will be down in Dec 21st to visit us all, and I hope she has had it by then. He wanted to bring his steer back too, but I told him we'd leave him with the other cows, til Gail has her baby, then we would bring him back once the baby was a few weeks old.

I had a great supper last night: Fried rabbit, mashed potatoes, biscuits and gravy, with the last fresh tomatoes and some Vidalia onion.

 

[Warren Allison]

@MurraysMutts @farmerjan Well, just off the phone with a very tore up Zeke! Gail apparently calved this morning. He called me from out side her pasture, about to cry. He had gone to feed her, and saw there was a calf laying on the ground beside her. So, he decided to go in and pick it up. He was crying: "Gail is mean to me! She snorted at me, and wouldn't let me get the calf! Mr. Warren, something is bad wrong with her. It looks like her guts and blood and stuff is coming out of her butt!" . When I quit laughing, I told him to stay out of the lot, and watch them to you see the calf get up and nurse. He said " It got up when I walked up to it, and is nursing now. I think it is a boy, because it has a long, skinny looking black goober". I told him they were both ok,, and to leave them alone and don't try to get in their again til Sunday, and Gail wouldn't be mean to him then! I knew Scott's wife was taking him to Macon to the hospital today for tests, so I told him to go in and ask Mattie to tell him about the guts hanging out her butt, and the long skinny goober on the calf!! I told him to go get Mr. Scott when he got back, and take him to see the calf. and if Scott told him ok, he might could get in and pet the calf, but if Scott said "no" to do what he said. I just don't want him in there with a new momma without anyone else out there with him. I asked him what color, and he said brown, but any color from tan to deep red to nearly black is brown to him. I will call Scott tonight and find out what she had! I don't think he has ever seen a new born calf. He would see the Corriente calves when we rounded them up at weaning, and he would be helping to load them.

 

[farmerjan]

@MurraysMutts @farmerjan Well, just off the phone with a very tore up Zeke! Gail apparently calved this morning. He called me from out side her pasture, about to cry. He had gone to feed her, and saw there was a calf laying on the ground beside her. So, he decided to go in and pick it up. He was crying: "Gail is mean to me! She snorted at me, and wouldn't let me get the calf! Mr. Warren, something is bad wrong with her. It looks like her guts and blood and stuff is coming out of her butt!" . When I quit laughing, I told him to stay out of the lot, and watch them to you see the calf get up and nurse. He said " It got up when I walked up to it, and is nursing now. I think it is a boy, because it has a long, skinny looking black goober". I told him they were both ok,, and to leave them alone and don't try to get in their again til Sunday, and Gail wouldn't be mean to him then! I knew Scott's wife was taking him to Macon to the hospital today for tests, so I told him to go in and ask Mattie to tell him about the guts hanging out her butt, and the long skinny goober on the calf!! I told him to go get Mr. Scott when he got back, and take him to see the calf. and if Scott told him ok, he might could get in and pet the calf, but if Scott said "no" to do what he said. I just don't want him in there with a new momma without anyone else out there with him. I asked him what color, and he said brown, but any color from tan to deep red to nearly black is brown to him. I will call Scott tonight and find out what she had! I don't think he has ever seen a new born calf. He would see the Corriente calves when we rounded them up at weaning, and he would be helping to load them.

Bless his heart. Guess you all should have tried to find a video of the birthing process so he could have been a little forewarned. I hope that he stays out like you advised... we all know that a cow can have a total personality change when they are in protective momma mood... Thank goodness you guys brought her home the other day... someone is going to have to help with the grafting any more calves on her... once she gets past the protective mode...

 

[MurraysMutts]

And HOPEFULLY it's just afterbirth and not a prolapse!

I wish you would get some dern pictures!

 

[Warren Allison]

Bless his heart. Guess you all should have tried to find a video of the birthing process so he could have been a little forewarned. I hope that he stays out like you advised... we all know that a cow can have a total personality change when they are in protective momma mood... Thank goodness you guys brought her home the other day... someone is going to have to help with the grafting any more calves on her... once she gets past the protective mode...

In retrospect, I probably should have left her. She would have done fine calving in that 450 acre row crop pasture. When we found her, probably this weekend, we could have just lead her back to Mattie's house on horseback. There is a gate on the back of that place, and only a couple of cotton fields between it and Mattie's house. Maybe 3-4 miles ,. and we'd never have to even get on the dirt road. At the time we took Gail over to that bull, a dairy man had about 6 Guernsey heifers over there getting bred to the same bull, so they should be caving about now, too. He said he'd sell us one to put on Gail, if he had one about the same time. There is a Saturday sale and a Monday sale in that area, and Scott has said he would go see if there was a beef calf there after Gail calved. I'd probably rather just get one of those 1/2 Brahmas from the dairy, even though he will want a war pension for it. I think one of those would be healthier. If we just keep her on grass and hay, we mighty not need another calf this time .Ms., Mattie had said she'd like to milk her if she wasn't bad to kick! LOL She could probably get a half gallon a day for her and Zeke, and still have plenty for the one calf. We will know in the next few days, I guess.

 

[MurraysMutts]

In retrospect, I probably should have left her. She would have done fine calving in that 450 acre row crop pasture. When we found her, probably this weekend, we could have just lead her back to Mattie's house on horseback. There is a gate on the back of that place, and only a couple of cotton fields between it and Mattie's house. Maybe 3-4 miles ,. and we'd never have to even get on the dirt road. At the time we took Gail over to that bull, a dairy man had about 6 Guernsey heifers over there getting bred to the same bull, so they should be caving about now, too. He said he'd sell us one to put on Gail, if he had one about the same time. There is a Saturday sale and a Monday sale in that area, and Scott has said he would go see if there was a beef calf there after Gail calved. I'd probably rather just get one of those 1/2 Brahmas from the dairy, even though he will want a war pension for it. I think one of those would be healthier. If we just keep her on grass and hay, we mighty not need another calf this time .Ms., Mattie had said she'd like to milk her if she wasn't bad to kick! LOL She could probably get a half gallon a day for her and Zeke, and still have plenty for the one calf. We will know in the next few days, I guess.

Ha!! Shes a jersey!
She can pull a gallon a day easy and still be plenty for 2 calves probly!

I sat on my hands today while a 5x5 jersey sold for 750 bucks. She was nice but I'm out of the project business for a bit.

 

[Warren Allison]

And HOPEFULLY it's just afterbirth and not a prolapse!

I wish you would get some dern pictures!

Ha!! Shes a jersey!
She can pull a gallon a day easy and still be plenty for 2 calves probly!

I sat on my hands today while a 5x5 jersey sold for 750 bucks. She was nice but I'm out of the project business for a bit.

Reckon she could without feed? Just hay? If so, we might try that. I called Scott and he was 10 miles from home. He is going to change and go see about them when he gets home. You got me worried about prolapse, now!

 

[MurraysMutts]

Reckon she could without feed? Just hay? If so, we might try that. I called Scott and he was 10 miles from home. He is going to change and go see about them when he gets home. You got me worried about prolapse, now!

Jerseys are usually calving queens!
Shouldn't be an issue. But without seeing her......

 

[Warren Allison]

Jerseys are usually calving queens!
Shouldn't be an issue. But without seeing her......

We can probably get another calf, and let Ms. Mattie milk her too, and if it looks like that is too much, she can just quit milking her. Scott has some silos with corn, soy beans and peanuts in them. And a half silo of last year's oats. One time he talked about, he might fire up his old hammer mill, and grinding some beans, peanuts and corn in it, then mixing that with some oats and peanut oil. But, I don't think he is able. I got a feeling if I go down there Saturday, I wont get to do much hunting.

 

[Warren Allison]

Scott called. It is a 78 lb heifer. Red with Jersey markings. @MurraysMutts it was after birth, not prolapse. Gail let Zeke go up to her and pet her as she always does, and just got a little anxious.... casting her eyes at him, etc...when Zeke petted the calf. He wants to name it Apple Brown Betty!!! Where in the world he got that from, we cant figure out. Scott wants to get another one Monday, when the colostrum is gone, and is calling the dairy to see what they have. I convinced him not to fool with a sale barn calf. He said he took some pictures and will get his wife to download them to their computer. She hasn't done the dove shoot pictures yet, though. That camera has got to be getting full.

 

[farmerjan]

A second calf and not much grain ought to be about right. She will probably produce enough milk for Miss Mattie to milk for the house also.
Glad that Gail got calmed down and let Zeke pet her and even the calf... He must've just gotten out to her not long after she calved and was just being a normal "new momma worried" for a bit. I definitely agree that one off the dairy would be better as far as health...
Now you have to convince Zeke that her calf and the new one needs to be kept in the barn separate and bring Gail into the barn/stall for the calves to nurse her twice a day so that she will not refuse the new calf.... and for her to get used to the idea of being milked too... and that it is not mean to take the calf away from Gail so that she will let both nurse her and then in a few days she will think they are both her own calves... he is going to hate taking her away from her calf for even a few hours... but in order to get her to take a second one, you will have to convince him... and for her to be separated from them also so Miss Mattie can milk her... both calves can go on her on one side and Miss Mattie can milk her other side til she gets what she wants then the calves can finish her... or milk her first and then let the calves go on her... I think she will have more than enough milk to share with the house and 2 calves.

A little feed in a bucket/feed trough when you let her in to the calves for the first few days will go a long way to her relaxing and letting the second calf on her... and she will want to come in for a little feed if she is getting milked... Bribery works wonders...

 

[Travlr]

Zeke petted the calf. He wants to name it Apple Brown Betty!!! Where in the world he got that from, we cant figure out.

Apple Brown Betty

This delicious Apple Brown Betty recipe brings crisp sweet apples with a touch of lemon together with a cinnamon nutmeg crumb topping.

www.smalltownwoman.com

 

[Warren Allison]

A second calf and not much grain ought to be about right. She will probably produce enough milk for Miss Mattie to milk for the house also.
Glad that Gail got calmed down and let Zeke pet her and even the calf... He must've just gotten out to her not long after she calved and was just being a normal "new momma worried" for a bit. I definitely agree that one off the dairy would be better as far as health...
Now you have to convince Zeke that her calf and the new one needs to be kept in the barn separate and bring Gail into the barn/stall for the calves to nurse her twice a day so that she will not refuse the new calf.... and for her to get used to the idea of being milked too... and that it is not mean to take the calf away from Gail so that she will let both nurse her and then in a few days she will think they are both her own calves... he is going to hate taking her away from her calf for even a few hours... but in order to get her to take a second one, you will have to convince him... and for her to be separated from them also so Miss Mattie can milk her... both calves can go on her on one side and Miss Mattie can milk her other side til she gets what she wants then the calves can finish her... or milk her first and then let the calves go on her... I think she will have more than enough milk to share with the house and 2 calves.

A little feed in a bucket/feed trough when you let her in to the calves for the first few days will go a long way to her relaxing and letting the second calf on her... and she will want to come in for a little feed if she is getting milked... Bribery works wonders...

Great advice. The family she escaped from when Zeke found her, milked her and raised calves off of her, too.
This is gonna be workl! And time consuming! And in March the other three will calve. so that will sure enough be a lot of work! We might breed those 3 back about a month apart to stagger it a little. Thanks so much @farmerjan for filling me in on those details. I am glad I live 3 hours away! When I called Ms. Mattie after supper she basically told me about the same thing. She said when she was little, and her daddy came home from the war, they moved to a dairy, and he, her mother and 2 older brothers did the milking, and she remembered how they would raise the calves. she said by the time she was old enough to help milk, they moved off the dairy and her daddy went to work pulp wooding, but they had a milk cow and would get other calves from the dairy to put on her. She said she didn't want to be milking no cow, but she would show Zeke how to do it. And how to churn butter!

There is no barn at the pasture at Mattie's house , but we can make three 12 x12 stalls out of panels, and put one of our funeral home tents we use at the dove shoot to eat under, over the panels. Or move them to Scott's house and use the horse stable. Or, best place would be the pole barn by the corral at the Kudzu place. When we built it....40 foot long, we dropped a 12 foot lean-to off one side that is inside the corral., so we can make 3 stalls under that, or even put up 3 stalls in the pole barn itself. Problem would be getting Mattie down there (about 3 miles) when its cold and/or rainy. Good weather, Zeke can carry her there in a golf cart, or the Gator or Mule. Do you milk her 2 times as well when you let her in to the calves, or could you just milk her once a day, and feed the calves twice a day?

Scott said Zeke told him he thought Gail had peed on it, or bled on it, because it looked wet or oily, and its ears was stuck to its head, so yeah, I bet he got there not long after it was born. Probably why she was "mean" to Zeke., but she got ok a LOT faster than a Corriente or Brahma, or an Angus would!

I kinda wish now I hadn't bought those last 2 from my MC brother's widow. Or at least, NOT carried them down there. When I bought them, I was planning on just hauling them to the sale, though they would not have brought what I paid her for them. I paid her about $2k each, but she would not have let me just give her that much money. I wish I HAD sold them, or sent them to Oklahoma to @MurraysMutts !! But, I had the idea in my head of Zeke having 4 brahma/dairy replacement heifers to sell every year, and 12 beef steers to sell every year, and at today's prices have about $20k go into his trust every year. But, maybe it wont be so bad. Zeke has shown us time again that he can learn how to do anything we show him exactly like we show him, and any task he is given, he is gonna complete, and complete it right. Maybe he will get to where he can handle this nurse cow situation on his own.

 

[Warren Allison]

Apple Brown Betty

This delicious Apple Brown Betty recipe brings crisp sweet apples with a touch of lemon together with a cinnamon nutmeg crumb topping.

www.smalltownwoman.com

I guess that's where he got it! Thanks, @Travlr !