I'm learning how to be a thrifty showgirl

We like to save money by buying nice, second-hand things or by making things/doing things ourselves.

I decided to save hundreds of dollars on a loose mineral feeder by building my own.

My granddad got me a free end-of-roll piece of oilfield gasket.  I had an old blue barrel, and GrandDad got me a threaded rod.

We used a saws-all and cut the barrel, and I smoothed out the bottom seam with a grinder.






I drilled a hole in the bottom and put the rod through and secured it with a washer and nut. 



I used a chop saw to cut the threaded rod down to size.



I drew a circle the full size of the gasket and cut it out.




I drilled a hole in the center and put a nut and washer and then the gasket and topped it off with another washer and nut. 

Ta-DA!



(GrandDad INSISTED in putting a metal foot on it, but it doesn't need it.)

This is how a cow flips up the lid with her nose!  Yep, it works!

By Special Request: FEED

During Spring Break, I did not get to take a vacation from my animals, but my mom did let me sleep in.

Picking up our feed order in the rain

On the first day of break, at 8:00 A.M. - opening time - Mom called the Livestock Nutrition Center (LNC).  She placed my order of 750 pounds of Hi-Protein Dairy Mix.  It was ready for us to pick up around 3:00 that afternoon on our way to go do chores. 

LNC has huge facilities where they process all kinds of feeds.  They also have huge grain trucks that deliver grain by the tons!  I’m a 4-Her that doesn’t live on a farm.  We don’t have a tractor with a front end loader.  We have to do all our work by hand. 

We take our pickup to LNC, and after we pay in the office, a forklift brings out a mega sack and lowers it into the bed.

We drive to Windy Hill and back up into the barn.  On the back wall is an old lariat (lasso/rope).  It is looped around the center upright of the barn, and we use it to tie through the top loops of the mega sack.  With the tail gate down, mom drives out from under the mega sack, and it falls on the floor.

We each grab a loop and “one-two-three-heave”  it a little bit at a time to get the slack out of the rope, and set the mega sack upright a little better.  Then we open up the neck of the bag, get the storage bins and hand dip all 750 pounds of feed.  To cut down on rats and mice (which attract rattlesnakes) I keep all my feed in thirty-nine gallon lidded rolling garbage barrels. 

I have to order feed about every two weeks.  The current price is $401 per ton.  That makes my bill $152.38.  My parents finance parts of my projects, so they sign the checks, but they make me fill them out so I know how much things cost, and so I learn how to fill out a check properly. 

I also had to swing by Willoby’s Feed and Outfitters to pick up some beet pulp.  It is around $15 for a 40 pound bag.  I bought three.  (Yeah, I know I could get it cheaper somewhere else, but you have to support your local businesses whenever you can.  They are really nice people, and they are always ready to lend a hand or visit and they are always smiling and they look you in the eye to talk to you!  You can't find that in just any store.)

Grass hay is another important part of my animals’ diets.  They must be able to eat hay at their leisure all day long.

I buy hay in the round bale since I have three heifers ranging from one to three years old, a nurse cow, and two beef calves.  I have to have it delivered one bale at a time to two different hay rings on the farm, because, like I said, we don’t have a tractor.

I’ve been very blessed.  For a long time I paid $40 a bale before it bumped up to $60 when school started, and now, thanks to the drought, I’m paying $110...but still that’s a blessing.  Other people are paying way more than that, and they don’t get it delivered. 

One of the hay rings I use in the east pasture belongs to the landlord, but the other one in the south pen, I got off Craigslist for $50.  It is beat up and looks like it’s been through a tornado, and my dad had to weld a couple panels back that someone had ripped off so baby goats could get inside, but it’s mine.

Diet changes depending on the age of the animal.  Calves don’t eat the same as older heifers, just like toddlers don’t eat the same thing or same amount as teenagers.

PART 1 By Special Request: ROAD TRIP!

I feel like I'm moving out when we pack up for a trip to a show.  For a state level competition, our school dairy team will travel with anywhere from 30 to 40+ show animals.  It takes a lot of supplies to care for that many animals.  We take at least two two-day, one three-day, one four-day, and one five-day trip each year.

Some of the many items we have to take include multiples of:
Sealed barrels and buckets with measured feed...plus a little extra, just in case.
Hay
Water barrel
Show halter for each animal
Rope halter on each animal
Automatic waterers for cows and bred heifers
Straw for bedding
Pitch fork (sifting poop from bedding)
Flat blade shovel (scooping poop)
Clipping chute
Body clippers/blades/oil/extension cords
Head clippers/blades/oil/extension cords
Top line clippers/blades/charger
Shampoo
Water hose
Towels
Scrub brushes
Top line brush/powder/special hair products/dryer
Body brush
Paper towels
Fight-Bac (anti-bacterial spray for milking cow's udder)
Feed pan for each animal
Gallon can to measure out feed for each animal
Camp chair (which you shouldn't get to sit in very often because you should usually be busy doing something)
Divider panels to put on both ends of the big heifer/cow section to keep the bedding and the animals from drifting to either side.
Wheel barrow (to carry the poop)
Flat bed wagon to deliver hay down the aisle
Giant fans on brackets to keep the milk cows cooler (too hot means they don't want to eat or produce milk)

I know that I'm forgetting something.  That's why we keep a lot of our supplies in specific boxes, so we don't have to gather as many things together each time we load. If you DO forget something, there are always vendors like SULLIVAN'S who can sell you your missing necessity.

Don't get me started on what all I have to pack for myself!  Just imagine packing for a five-day trip in preparation for freezing cold, rain, and heat...PLUS preparation for getting soaked while washing at least three of those days.

We use several trailers.  The big aluminum trailer's gooseneck has supplies strategically crammed full.  That trailer usually has the front section full of young heifers.  The back two sections are full of older heifers.  Production milk cows live at dairies, so they will come in other trailers and at other times.
The smaller steel trailer is crammed full of supplies.
Normally, one trailer and one set of workers is dropped off early in the day for initial set up:  install dividers and fans, bust straw, make beds, install waterers, unload supplies, set out hay.
Then we also use private trailers to bring animals.

When you load an animal, it must first have a rope halter put on its head.  This halter adjusts like a slip knot to fit to the size of the animal's head.  You always walk on the left side of the animal.  A section of rope hangs from the halter that you use as a lead.

Animals are loaded one by one according to size and condition.  We basically load from smallest to biggest.  Each animal is securely tied in a slipknot fashion to a post in the left side of the trailer.  They are tied closely together.  This causes their rear ends to slant to the right side of the trailer.  We put the ittie bitties in the very front to keep them safe from bigger heifers.  Dry cows and large bred heifers go in last.  Milking cows are in a different trailer and are also arranged from smallest to largest.

Some animals step up into the trailer easily.  Others, you have to get up in the trailer yourself first and pull.  Some walk to the edge of the trailer and won't step up.  You have to pull and have someone else give them a little goose around their tail area.  That gets them moving!

So imagine loading all of this stuff.  Then unloading and setting it all up properly.  Then at the end of the show, loading it all up again, and finally, when you get home, unloading it all...AND cleaning out all the poop from the trailers that had animals in them!

PART 2 By special request: WASHING!

When you show your animals, of course you want to present them in the very best condition for judging.  This means they must be clean and clipped.

Washing a dairy heifer or cow is quite a chore.  They must be clean everywhere...and I mean EVERYWHERE.

Because they are outside animals, they have dirt from head to toe.  They also have manure pretty much all over them in one form or another:  fresh and mooshy, dried balls or clumps, or ground up manure dust.

Items I use for washing include:
water hose
garden hose sprayer nozzle
household scrub brushes (nylon bristles)
soap
bath towels

If using stock show facilities, there will be a "wash rack".  That is a place with rails to tie your animal's halter and water hydrants to hook up to.  If you are doing this at home, you will need someplace close to a water hydrant where the animal can be tied.

You don't need a super long hose.  The more you have, the more it will get stepped on and tangled.
Before you begin scrubbing, take a good while to soak the animal completely.  This will loosen the dirt.  The more they are soaked, the faster they will come clean.

Everyone has their opinion on soap.  Some people use dishwashing soap like Dawn.  Some people use shampoo like Suave.  I like the expensive stuff:  Orvus.  It comes in a giant jar like jumbo mayonnaise.  It is a semi-solid at room temperature.  As you rub it into their hair, it melts, and it's like the dirt just runs out.  I love it.  I wish they could be wash-rack clean every day. You use the scrub brushes to get them clean right down to their hide.  Their hair is going to be clipped really short, so we want them squeaky clean.  Don't get carried away on the backbone (top line) because we don't want any hair loss up there. (I'll get to that soon in the "Clipping" article.)

Scrub the body/torso (from the neck to the pins).  Also wash the belly and the udder and teats.

Scrub the head:  down the face, outside the ears, under the jaw, behind the top of head (poll).  Just don't get water in the ears (cover them with your hand/bend them closed one at a time).   Be nice and wipe water away from the eyes.  

Scrub the neck and chest-type area (brisket).
Scrub the rear end (pins, tail head, flank, vagina, anus, top/sides/underneath the tail).  Dissolve, scrub, pull-off and/or clip off any manure that hangs on to tiny hairs.

Scrub the legs.
Scrub the "armpits".
Scrub the hooves...tops, fronts, sides, backs, in between, and even underneath if you can get to it.
Their hooves can be black or white, solid colored, striped, or blocks of color.  Each hoof can be different on the same animal.  

Use a damp rag inside the ears...all the way in as far as you can reach with the cloth stretched over your fingers.  Scrub scrub scrub, and dig for potatoes!  Some shy away, but most like it.  (You should also clean the ears again with a clean damp rag about half an hour before you show.)

I feel bad for my girls having to be bathed in cold hydrant water, so I always towel them dry.  If it is very cold, I try to borrow a warm blower to dry most of their bodies...except the top lines.  Heat will make the hair shed, and we don't want that.


 

Look what I got!

The two beef calves went to the sale Saturday, and in their place, I got a little bull calf and named him...

are you ready..?

... Pretty Boy Floyd!!!  (He's just so PURDY!)

He's a Brown Swiss bull calf, about a week old, born on a dairy.

Here he is getting to know his new wet nurse, Ayan.

(Ayan had a couple teats that were kind of cracked.  It looked like one of the calves had used its teeth a lot.  We got some Vetericyn wound spray and gave her some relief before we put another round of calves on her.)

Part of the deal of using the trailer was to wash it out, so after Pretty Boy was taken care of, I had to clean up the mess from hauling off the beef calves and bringing him home.  Mom held the flashlight and kept

Cleaning out the stock trailer in the dark

me company.  She kept trying to help
spray the floor down, but I wouldn't
let her.







We gave Floyd and Ayan just over a week to level out her production, but she's a milking producing machine, so we needed one more mouth for her to feed...so we got Bucko!

I'll keep Floyd and Bucko on Ayan for the next two months until Faith calves.  Then I'll take them to the auction and put Faith's calf on Ayan.  Faith will also need a new home.  I don't know yet if she will calve at Windy Hill or at her new home.  We just have to see what kind of sale arrangements we can make.  "Dear Lord, please help me find a good home for Faith...QUICKLY."

My Little 4-H Cloverbud Buddies!

I assist Susan Allen (Dairy Max) with her 4-H Cloverbud chapter.  I help with crafts and playtime/games.  Yesterday, I even brought the healthy snack!  I made them grape and cheese kabobs!

They are really sweet (and energetic!)

I have made them lowfat yogurt smoothies.  I have made them pumpkin pancakes.  We have made crafts from recycled milk jugs.

Paradin' Around!

April 22, 1889 was the day of the famous land run in Oklahoma that opened up new land for settlement and established Guthrie as the first state capitol.  Every year on the Saturday closest to that date, Guthrie hosts the 89'er Parade.  Tens of thousands of people turn out to watch the parade and join in the week of festivities.

This year, and last year, I represented the Oklahoma Ayrshire Association in the parade as the Oklahoma Ayrshire Jr. Dairy Princess.  I also used the convertible as advertising for Dairy Max and 4-H. (The picture above is this years picture.) While I was ridin' on my fancy princess moblie, a woman who teaches with my mom was there with her daughter. My mom and I were paradin' down the street, and my mom stopped to switch out candy buckets, I saw the teacher's daughter sayin' "Hi Maddie! Hi Maddie! Hi Maddie!," and while we were stopped she walked right up next to the car in the middle of a parade!!! I was so surprised and worried at the same time all I could say was, "Oh hi sweetie! Mom, give her some candy! Quick!" and mom was so surprised she gave her a big handful of candy and said, "Now run along! Bye!"

On down the parade route, I saw a lady from my church, and of course I  threw candy to her and her daughter, and later, that lady told my MawMaw that she told her little girl, " Look, there's Maddie!" and the little girl said, " I know a REAL princess!?!"
I just thought that was DARLING!
It was a good day!

Recruiting more dairy exhibitors...

We are SO BLESSED to have a dairy heifer essay contest in our school.  Mr. Jerry Allen and family donated money to start this contest.  Last year their funds purchased a Jersey, a Holstein, and a Brown Swiss.  Those heifers were given away in the contest, and now they are all soon due to have calves of their own!

Sexed semen was used on each of them, so we are anticipating three new heifers!  In case you don't know, you can buy sexed semen, which allows you to get a female offspring.  Sexed semen is only used on virgin heifers.  It is advertised as ninety-some-odd percent reliable, but we've never heard of it not producing a female...yet.  Hope we never do.  Baby bulls get sent to the sale, or you put them on a nurse cow and fatten them up and make a good profit on them in a few months at the sale. 

In case you didn't already know, you ONLY WANT to get female dairy offspring.  Female offspring are called "heifers".  When a heifer gets old enough and becomes pregnant and has a calf, she starts to give milk, and this makes her a "cow".  Dairy = milk.  Males are called "bulls".  Bulls DON'T give milk.  So just like a human father does not give milk for the baby, and the human mother DOES provide milk to nurse the baby, it's the same way for cattle.  (Thanks to the BARNYARD movie and tv show series, people are confused.  They show OTIS -who is a dude and has a man's voice- with an udder! )

One brand new essay heifer was born the night before last.  It was two weeks early and a total surprise to its owner!  The new calf's name is Jellybean.  She's a real cutie!  I'm sad that her current owner has to donate her back to the essay program, but at least she will be able to see her at every show!
One down, two to go!

I've been trying to think of people that would be good candidates for the essay contest.  I'm trying to find students that are responsible, that can keep their grades up, and don't mind working hard.  I'm telling them to pick up an entry form and try to win one of those new heifers!  We need good workers on our dairy show team.

So how did I get my own blog? Well...

One day 

there was a post 

on the Tulsa State Fair - Livestock 

facebook page.

  

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My mom saw it and told me about it.  (I had been asking for my own facebook page or webpage for awhile.)  She told me to send in an email like an audition for the blog.  Here's what I sent:

Dear Kara,

My mom saw your post on facebook about looking for a 4-H blogger.  She asked me if I was interested in it, and I said sure.  I'm going to tell you a little about myself and see if I'm what you're looking for. 

My name is Madison MacKenzie Cook, but people call me Maddie.  I just turned twelve in January.  I have been in 4-H for three years now.  I have owned and exhibited dairy heifers and cows since I joined.  I started with one Ayrshire heifer, but one of her stomachs wasn't  functioning correctly, and she died of bloat at six months.  I cried myself out that day and decided that I wanted to try again.  So I got a new Ayrshire calf a few weeks later (on the day she was born!) and I doctored her umbilical cord, fed her colostrom all day and all night and have raised her myself ever since.  She is getting ready to turn two and is expecting her first heifer in August. 

I have also added a Holstein (who is expecting her first heifer in June), a Brown Swiss heifer, a Brown Swiss nurse cow, and a bull calf and a heifer beef calf on the nurse cow.  Would you believe me if I told you that I live in TOWN?  Would you believe me if I told you that my parents never raised livestock and neither have my grandparents?  None of them were ever in 4-H or FFA.  They just really believe in the importance of the life lessons and the work ethic I will learn with my dairy projects.  They do a lot of stuff to let me do this. 

I don't live in the town where I go to school.  We live in Guthrie, but my mom is a teacher in Crescent, so I have always gone to Crescent schools.  My animals live at my Godmother's little farm in Crescent, so I tend them everyday after school.  Every day we are not in school during the year, we make the half hour drive and back to take care of my chores.  Like I said before, I live in town.  When I got my first two heifers, they needed bottle fed three times a day, so we snuck them into our neighborhood and hid them in our garage!  They lived there for about four months each.  I don't know how many laws we broke! 

My Brown Swiss heifer was Runner-Up in the World's Purtiest Cow Contest at Tulsa in 2011.  She was Cleopatra and I was Julius Caesar.  She also helped me win Jr. Showmanship!  My Ayrshire was Junior Champion.  I also got to be on FOX NEWS 23 in Tulsa the morning of Opening Day at Tulsa this fall.  I was on air for almost THREE MINUTES!!!  We downloaded it off the internet and everybody in the sixth grade watched it in their homerooms.  They thought I was a star. 

My Ayrshire was a gift from my Godmother and her brother, but I saved up my stock show winnings, birthday money, and odd job money and bought my Brown Swiss myself.  I  have a purchase agreement for my Holstein, and I almost have my nurse cow paid off.   I have filed for prefixes for each of my breeds, and I'm just waiting to see if I got them.  We chose "GODBLESS" because God has blessed me with so much, and when you say my animals' registered names, it will sound like I'm saying my prayers.

We just finished our local show.  I got a first with my Holstein and a second with my Ayrshire.  With my Brown Swiss I got a first, Champion Jr. Dairy Heifer, Reserve Grand Dairy Heifer, and 4-H Dairy Showmanship which also helped me win Overall 4-H Exhibitor.  This is an honor I have won two years in a row.  I got to go to Pinpoint in OKC and pick out THREE award jackets the other day!!!

I am the 4-H Reporter for our chapter.  I have done this for two years in a row.  Before that, I was the Activities/Refreshment Leader.  I write articles for the Logan County Courier and the Guthrie News Leader.  The Courier publishes a lot more of my stuff, though.  It is a one time a week paper.  I'm published at least once a month.  I also have a little trivia thing I call "DAIRY:  Did you know...?"  It is published in a little box in the paper that I call The Dairy Corner.  If you want some samples, I can send you some.  I have made a public service announcement that I play at least once a year on the cafeteria flatscreens.  It is also on YouTube.

I am the Oklahoma Ayrshire Jr. Princess.  This is my second term as Jr. Princess.  I got to be the Christmas Parade Marshall in 2010.  I also work for Susan Allen with Dairy MAX.  I have a booth that I take to health fairs, 4-H days, field days, and our county premium sale.  I promote dairy as a part of a healthy lowfat diet.  I mostly give away kids' cookbooks, informational pamphlets, stickers, pencils, and stuff.  I've worked with her at the capitol.  I'm working to get Fuel Up to Play 60 going in our school, and I'm helping get the sixth grade track team started in the middle school. 

Dairy isn't the only thing I do in 4-H.  I also do speeches, illustrated presentations, bake show, impressive dress, and shooting sports.  I was number four in the state in junior air rifle.  I make all sorts of crafts and things to enter in the fair.  I have also had Junior Champion cake or pie at the county more than once.  This will be my third 4-H recordbook.  I have earned two pins each year, and I have won the Dairy Foods Award and Outstanding Beginner.  I am working on Outstanding Junior and the Nutrition Award this year. 

So that's the kind of stuff that I do.  See the attached photo to SEE who I am.  These are the cover sheets to some of my donor thank you letters this year.  I will have to send them separately to see if they are small enough to send to your email.

I don't know if I'm the kind of blogger you are looking for, but I sure hope I am.  If I am, what would be expected of me?  How would I blog for the Tulsa Fair website?  Please let me know what you think.

Thanks for taking time to read this, and please be sure to have Three a Day, the Dairy Way!

With sincere gratitude,
Maddie Cook

I guess they liked something they read, because the very next day, I got an email telling me they would LOVE to have me as a blogger, and they gave me all the instructions to set up my own blog.  The rest is history!

Poppin' the gate and jumpin' the fence...

There's always something unexpected to take care of.

Mo-nay

Tuesday...
Beautiful weather.
Pulled up Windy Hill and noticed too many heifers in the east pasture.  The double gate had been pushed open.  Not only were there visitors (that do not belong to me) in the east pasture, but my heifer beef calf was now in the west pasture!  Luckily all the dairy heifers are tame and can't resist the sound of feed being shaken around in a bucket.  They got back on their side quickly.  Getting the beef heifer back was another thing.   I had to halter my nurse cow and lead her into the west pasture and have the calf follow her back in (while keeping all the others in their normal pastures).  Took some extra time, but it worked like a charm.

Primo a.k.a Cash

Friday...
Beautiful weather.
Heard that the bull calf had jumped the fence. Sure enough, he had.  Didn't know if it would work, but we tried the same trick as before.  He's a heck of a lot bigger than the beef heifer, but apparently he's still a momma's boy, because it was even easier than before!

It's time for them to go on down the road.  Come on big money!  Baby needs some new shoes!  (and a new bull calf to put on that nurse cow!)