Spring is such a special time of year at Almosta Farm, with all of the new calves running around. We had our first one on March 16th and now there are 9 cute faces that make you smile.
Heidi the Rescued Calf receiving a pat from dear friend Sharon
But it hasn’t been without a challenge. One of the senior cows, decided to pick a fight with another cow for whatever reason about a week before she was due and lost. I had a horrible feeling that there would be ramifications to it. Unfortunately, I was right ; the cow had her calf the next day. It was a normal birth for the cow, but that’s where it ended. The only thing going for the calf was that she was breathing. After a valiant try I decided to call the vet, because I knew I was losing her. He said that stress and adrenaline can cause a lot of problems. Her heart and lungs sounded good. So he gave her a steroid shot and antibiotic shot. He said that I would need to get her up every 3 hours around the clock, to get her moving and nursing until she could do it on her own. After 5 days and 2 other vet visits, his last effort was that she had a systemic infection. He gave her an IV of Iodine and antibiotic shot with me following up with daily antibiotic shots for a week. Now, I am thrilled to say that she is running around happy and healthy. She is the first one of the calves to greet me to be rubbed. I live by the idea that it is my job to give a calf every possible chance to live, then if it doesn’t work; then it was meant to be. I will say that I have given the cow a stern talk and warned her to never do it again. I don’t know if she listened.
With my term coming to a close this year as a director with the North Central Highland Cattle Association, I have been honored to be elected to be the Chairperson on the Jr. Committee. There are 5 very enthusiastic gals on the committee and we are having a great time, making plans and goals for the kids.
Show season is starting early, this year with the first one in Mercer, PA in May. We had a “gal friends & cattle” weekend a couple of years ago and had such a great time, we decided to do it again- with 5 gal friends and 9 head of cattle. It doesn’t get much better to spend time with friends and cattle.
So far, we have had an amazing winter with very little snow and cold. With the Stock Show on the horizon it’s always a very exciting and stressful time. This year was especially the case, as I have been responsible for 2 other farms, with 3 of the animals being in the National Sale. It is my 3rd year working with Gray Owl Farms in Rush City, MN. They had a yearling highland heifer and bull that I have been working with. I also had the pleasure to have a 2 year old highland bull from Maple Hill Highlands from Stanwood, MI that also was on the trailer. So in all there were 8 Highland cattle headed west. I was very blessed to have Gray Owl Farms offer one of the hired men to come along and help. It was Mark Sheldon’s first time out there and he was very excited. Tom McConnell and his daughters from Balaton, MN also came to Magnet to follow us out. Bailey was going to show Almosta Farm’s Salli in the Jr. Showmanship class. We had an uneventful trip to Denver and then the work starts. we put long days in and have very short nights, but it is a lot of fun.
Mark and I proved to be a great working team and appreciated his ideas that made things easier. Dawn Manthei came in Thurs. to work with her 2 year old bull. Not only are we there to promote our farms but also to promote the breed. With the Vaughn family from Gray Owl also there; we had lots of people to talk to folks about our farms and the animals. We all had a great show day and sale.
Almosta' Farm's Hatti was the 3rd highest selling heifer at the National Western Stock Show
The five days as always goes by so fast then it was time to head for home. We left Denver right on schedule and was 2 hours on the road when my pickup broke down. It’s one thing to break down with your vehicle but when you have animals on the trailer it adds another whole set of problems. I quickly learned that no one is open on Sunday. But between Tom, Mark and I putting our heads together; we came up with a plan. Tom had a relative in the Sterling,CO area that owned a feed lot and she was willing to come and pickup the trailer to get the animals in a safe place. AAA came to take the pickup to Sterling,CO with Mark going with along. Tom, his girls and I went with the highland cattle. After 2 days, waiting for the repairs to be done we were on our way home.
With all of the hard work and stress, all of the farms had a great show. Almosta Farm had the 3rd highest selling heifer, Maple Hill Farm had the 2nd highest selling bull, and Gray Owl Farms had the Jr. Yearling Bull Division Champion. But the best part of going to this event is catching up with old friends, making new ones and having fun with this great breed.
