This is an exciting time of year at Riemer Family Farm. Every spring in late April through May the calves are born. This spring is the 83rd for the herd dating back to when my grandfather, Willis Riemer, purchased cows in 1927. We are over halfway through this calving season and we have 15 calves from 14 cows. Yep, that means we have a set of twins. Twins in cattle are about as common as twins in people. We currently have a herd of about 25 cows. The gestation period is also about 9 months in cows, as the bull is sent down to the pasture around July 4th every year. You could say it's a sort of independence day for the bull.
The "cows come home" to the barns and have access to the barn from late fall through early spring. The calves are born near the buildings in early spring and monitored closely for a couple days after birth. The cows and their new calves are then sent down to the 55 acres of pasture on the western most portion of our land to graze during the spring, summer, and fall.
No comments:
Post a Comment