Don't be jealous of my awesome nurse cows

I am really blessed with two REALLY awesome nurse cows.

The first one is Ayan.  She's my gianormous Brown Swiss that my breeder picked up for me at  the Heart of America sale in November of 2011.  She had freshened that June and she's been milking for two solid years as of this month.  I used her as a nurse cow for Fara and Prim and a whole bunch of orphaned beef calves for the auction.  Finally we sent her to the dairy to visit a bull because we couldn't get her to settle with any of the semen we used on her.  FINALLY she got bred...by a.i.  Then she ripped a teat with her dew claw when she stood up one day, and so we brought her home to take care of her and dry her up.

I got Carmelita last year.  She's been my middle of the road Jersey, but she got bred right off (with Cupcake), and then all of a sudden things came together, and she won the county show and got to go to the premium sale.  Then she calved Cupcake and was immediately mother of the year to her and to a little Brangus heifer named Tornado.

Well, Posey calved the other day, and we pulled Cupcake out to wean her, and we brought Perriwinkle over to put in her place on Carmelita.  Perri had nursed on Posey right before we loaded Posey up on the trailer to get her to the dairy and get her milked out.  So Perri had eaten just two or three hours before.  When we got her into the pen and took the rope halter off her, she walked away from us and straight up to Carmelita and latched on.  No exaggeration.  Carmelita is awesome - and Perri is smart.

Juicy FINALLY did it!

Meet Godbless Lebron JL Apple.  He was born the night we came home from Tulsa State Fair.

Juicy has been at MawMaw and GrandDad's, but we were afraid for Juicy to stay there during calving with us at Tulsa.  She was due the day before we left.  Luckily the dairy owner let us drop her off early, so we took her when we took all of the cows back after the OK State Fair.

This was REALLY lucky for us, because Juicy had big problems.  JL only stuck one hoof out.  He had to be pushed back in, his other foot found and pulled forward.  By this time Juicy was worn out.  She couldn't push any more, so they had to pull him out.  Then she was too tired to stand, so they got her up and standing, and she started to clean him off.

He's a big one, and he's super sweet and oh so CUTE!!!  I'm selling him to some friends.  If Juicy's udder comes in good, they are even going to keep him to use as a sire later on.

Juicy had LOTS of edema.  She was swollen up as much as Faith was.  We have to wait for that swelling to go down before we can make decisions.  If she looks good, we will enter her (at the very last minute...probably AT the show) for the SNBSS next week.  I kind of doubt that her swelling goes down that well that fast, but we will see.  Who knows, maybe next year!

I'm bummed that her first calf was a bull, but at least we know her plumbing all works!  We'll try to breed her back using sexed semen and see how that goes.

Tulsa State Fair 2013

Tulsa State Fair 2013 was great.  The weather was great, and then it rained, but that's okay.
I took the same animals to Tulsa that I did to OKC, and here's how I did:

OPEN SHOW

Ayrshire Class 4 - 1st place and Breed Champion Honorable Mention

Ayrshire Sr. 3 yr. old cow - 1st place and Breed Champion Honorable Mention

Ayrshire Daughter/Dam - 1st place

Ayrshire Produce of Dam - 1st place

Jersey Class 1 - 5th place

Jersey Class 4 - 3rd place

Jersey Daughter/Dam - 1st place

SHOWMANSHIP (11-12) 1st place  (They do not do an overall showman.)

DAIRY JUDGING CONTEST - 5th place team (Cody Barnes, April Christensen, Maddie Cook, Alex Dale)

JUNIOR SHOW

Ayrshire Class 4 - 2nd place

Ayrshire Sr. 3 yr. old cow - 1st place

Ayrshire Best Bred and Owned - 1st place

Jersey Class 1 - 5th place

Jersey Class 4 - 1st place

Jersey Best Bred and Owned - 4th place

The milking parlor stalls got fixed before the fair.  It was the first year that our automatic waterers did not leak and make a mess of something.  We had more parents than usual that came, and they worked, too, and made things easier.

Some of my friends and I did a little late night clowning around...  SHHH...

Yea! LIZA!

I am so proud of LIZA VAN DER LAAN!!!   (That's pronounced "Leeza", by the way.)
She is the National Milking Shorthorn Queen!!!  We like Liza and the Van der Laan family. They have an awesome dairy down in Frederick, Oklahoma.  One day we're going to go tour it.  I think it is the second largest family owned dairy in Oklahoma behind Braum's (the ice cream and dairy store chain.)  The Van der Laans are some of the sweetest and hardest working people you'll ever meet.  Liza is a perfect example of what a dairy queen should be.  I'm glad to know her.

I finally feel OFFICIAL!!!

I know I've paid my dues.  I know we've been in school about nine weeks, but until I got that Blue & Gold jacket in my hands, I didn't feel official.  I got to wear it to show in at Tulsa.  It came in after we got back from OK State Fair.  Actually, my parents bought me TWO jackets: one to show in and one for official dress only.  It's a good thing.  It had to go straight to the cleaners after Tulsa.  It was COVERED in snot and slobber from my girls.  I could have wiped my own nose on my sleeve and no one would have known.

OK State Fair 2013

Big changes happened this year at the OK State Fair.
They brought back the cow classes, but we had to milk in a portable parlor.

They added AOB classes.  They added group classes.  This means I got to show a LOT more!!!
I only took Posey, Prim, Stopnstare, and Cupcake.

Here are my results:

OPEN SHOW

Ayrshire Class 4 - 1st place 

Ayrshire Sr. 3 yr. old cow - 2nd place 

Ayrshire Daughter/Dam - 1st place

Ayrshire Produce of Dam - 1st place

Jersey Class 1 - 3rd place

AOB  Class 4 - 4th place

AOB Daughter/Dam - 1st place

AOB Produce - 1st place 

JUNIOR SHOW

Ayrshire Class 4 - 1st place 

Ayrshire Sr. 3 yr. old cow - 2nd place 

Ayrshire Bred & Owned - 3rd place

Jersey Bred & Owned - 2nd place

Jersey Class 1 - 3rd place

AOB  Class 4 - 3rd place

SHOWMANSHIP (11-12) 1st place  and 

RESERVE CHAMPION SHOWMAN overall (9-19)!!!

Stopnstare was in heat and acting crazy, but I STILL did great in showmanship!!!

MY TEAM MADE IT!!!

WOO HOO!!!
MY TEAM MADE IT!!!

This summer I tried out for the Livestock Handling Skills Competition.  We took a written test and I GOT A PERFECT SCORE!!!  I even got all of the bonus math questions right!!!

Only one team per district is allowed, unless there isn't a qualifying team there, so my team got to be an alternate team for a different district!  I don't care.  WE'RE IN!!!

The last time we went to do preg checks, ultrasounds, and fetal sexing, my job was to work the head gate.  We'll practice as a team on a pot of cattle in the next month or so.  THAT ought to be interesting.

Wish us luck!!!

Proud To Dairy Post: September 2013

September 2013

I'm sure it'll be hard to choose, but what has been your favorite memory from a cow show? 

Probably my best show memory was the 2012 Heart of America Southwestern Brown Swiss Show.  It was my very first national show.  I just had one Swiss that I could take, JUICY.  

She placed sixth in her class.  Not too shabby, but the big thrills were still to come.

Jr. Showmanship was quite an event.  There were over two dozen of us.  We circled and circled.  The judge divided us in two sections in the south half of the ring.  Then she had us circle again.  Then she divided us again in the center.  Then she lined us up.  We stretched the entire length of the ring side by side, and I was on the end as  CHAMPION!!!  I can't describe how good I felt about my abilities being able to win such a large event and at a NATIONAL show!  

I got an embroidered blanket and my very first belt buckle!  It is pewter with a beautiful scene of Swiss on a dairy farm. 

Also at that show, my team got a Herdsmanship award! Then I found out that Juicy was a state Bellringer!  I got to have her professional portrait made to send in for the national contest. 

It was all one giant feeling of accomplishment! 

Proud To Dairy: August Post

August 2013:  “What are some of your secrets for balancing all that you do? How do you prioritize all of your activities and responsibilities?” 

My parents and I laughed pretty hard at this topic when we read it.  My big secret is my Mom.  She is the master of the clock and the calendar.

***Here is a page from this last year, and here is how my next month is already filling up.***

Not everything is on the calendar.  Even though we try really hard, we still miss something every once in awhile.  We feel stupid when we do, especially if we have it written down!  The calendar is also important because we make notes on it, like about heat cycles and diet changes.  

All year long, we get activity calendars from my organizations and Mom immediately copies down dates of things I will be involved in.  In June, we start trying to schedule my lessons for the fall.    

I am in pointe ballet and lyrical dance classes.  I am also on the 4-H air rifle team.  Dance and air rifle are hard to coordinate.  Last year on Thursdays I had to fly through my chores after school, go to air rifle early when the range was empty (thanks Mr. Arrington!), get my targets in, leave early, and change in the dance studio’s tiny bathroom, have pointe class, sit for an hour in the waiting room, do homework, text, visit, and then change into my lyrical foot wear, have lyrical class, eat, finish homework, go to bed.  

I used to do competitive Irish dancing, but I had to quit because the Oklahoma State Feis (dance and cultural  competition) is on the same day as the OKC State Fair Dairy Show every year.  I was practicing all year long and couldn’t make it to the competition.   We are still sad about that one.

I also used to take piano lessons.  I quit when my teacher got cancer.  During her recovery, I filled my time with more activities, and I never re-enrolled.  That’s kind of a bummer, too.  Now, I sometimes teach myself songs from the tutorials they have on YouTube, instead.

I am also a member of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls.  It is a Christian youth service organization for young ladies sponsored by the Masonic fraternities.  We have meetings two times a month, and we also have extra practices to prepare for speech and march contests, then of course there are the competitions that last several days.  I have perfect attendance since I joined over a year ago.  There are formal dress functions about once every month and a half, receptions, and dances.   

4-H has one meeting per month.  I have been an officer for four years.  Besides Shooting Sports (air rifle), I am also involved in Food Science/Nutrition, Photography, Impressive Dress, Prepared Speeches, Extemporaneous Speaking, Web Page Design, Farmhand Olympics, Livestock Judging, Arts/Crafts, Flyers/Posters/Brochures/Working Displays, Cake/Pie Contests, Share the Fun (Talent), Food Showdown, Powerpoint/Keynote Presentation, and probably some other stuff that I'm going to feel stupid for forgetting.  These are things I do on my own time as I can fit them in.  I don’t have to go to a meeting or a mini round up for them.

This school year I will be in eighth grade.  I will get to be in the middle school ag class again, and I will OFFICIALLY get to join FFA!  I will also stay in 4-H, but it will be tricky.  I have to be very careful not to double-dip in a project area.  I will be old enough to participate with the county-level of youth leadership in 4-H, so that will potentially add two more sets of meetings to my schedule.  For ag class, I also participate in CDEs and cattle grading.  This summer, since I'm finally old enough, I'm also trying out for a (beef) cattle handling team.  

Sometimes it gets tricky getting to things.  Thursday nights were bad this year.  To top it all off, Mom has Ag Booster Club meeting once a month on a Thursday night.  Sometimes Dad has to pick me up or MawMaw has to drop me off.  My parents sure do appreciate MawMaw and GrandDad.  They are our support system.  They live between our school and our house, so they are a great help.

Our calendar is full of reminders about meetings and lessons and DEADLINES.  I get my topics and deadlines from Proud To Dairy/Progressive Dairyman six months at a time.  That helps me work on them as I have ideas.  So like this article, it is June 20th, and I’m writing August’s article.  There are also essay deadlines, presentation deadlines, homework deadlines, registration deadlines, and then there are heat cycles to track.  Then when I get involved in contests or scholarship opportunities, I have to get essays, photos, scripts, and videos completed and submitted on time.  

Sometimes I have to make tough choices.  Sometimes I just can’t.  So it’s not even a choice to make.  Like in June, we had six dairy field days.  I got really sick on the Ayrshire one, so I stayed in bed and slept all day...but then got up that night and went to a 4-H recordbook information meeting.  Then the next week we HAD to get some things done for our home and our family and my animals during the OSU All Breeds field day.  We wanted to help the Chupp family with the 2013 National Guernsey Convention (even though I don’t own any Guernseys), but I have a weekend school of instruction that I’m obligated to for Rainbow, and I am expecting Posey to calve during that time, too.  There were two blood institute days I could have done, but I only did one.  I had to do some prep work getting things moved around and purchased for Posey’s soon-to-be calf.  So sometimes it comes down to choosing the thing I have the most invested in.  

I know my choices sometimes disappoint other people, but sometimes, I’m disappointed, too.

Of course, I always find some time to veg out.  I watch television.  I facetime, text, instagram, and facebook, and actually get together in real life with my friends.  I sleep late whenever I can get away with it.  Sometimes I don’t want to do anything but veg out, but my mom sometimes lets me practice driving her truck in the pasture or around the farm.  One time she turned me loose and I drove around the machine shop, backed up to my trailer, hooked it up, and pulled it around in front of MawMaw and GrandDad’s house all by myself while she was inside!  It was awesome!  Sometimes she says we can pick up my friends on the way through town and take them with us.  They love to see the “baby cows” or the “moo moos” (Sometimes I think they’ll never learn.)  So anyway, Mom uses things like that as incentives to get me in gear when I need it.

Not only do we have THE CALENDAR, but we also operate off alarms.  My mom’s cell phone can handle up to ten alarms.  Our minds are going in a million directions every day.  If we don’t set alarms, like “4:40 - pick up feed”, we won’t remember until after closing time.  That means no feed order until after we feed the next day.  There are lots of things like that to remember before closing time.  Several places we do business are not even open on the weekends, so between finishing chores and closing time, we have to burn up the road to get some things done.  

My dad has a plan that Mom will drive this truck until I get my license, and then it will be mine, and she can have a cute little car or SUV again.  That means that between now and then, I’m going to have to learn to master the clock and the calendar like her...but I have a feeling that she will still act like my executive assistant, except with a lot more texts and phone calls to check in.  I'm sure lucky she works for free!