Cows, calves, the bull

The cows I sold at the livestock auction:  #60 weighed 1410 pounds and Beulah weighed 1765 pounds.  I had guessed that #60 weighed 1300-1400 pounds.  So I was close.  I had guessed that Beulah weighed around 1600 pounds.  I got decent prices for each cow.

I may have buyers for most of my calves.  We'll see.  One buyer is interested in 4 heifers.  But I needed to come up with a price for them.  Friday I took the 4 heifers to be weighed.  Donna helped me load them in my just cleaned stock trailer.  I made it just before the weigh scale closed for the day.  The 4 heifers weighed more than I thought they would.  I guessed the larger heifers weighed around 500 pounds.  The 4 heifers weighed 555 pounds each.  One heifer was born later and is a little smaller.  That means the 3 larger heifers weigh more than 555.  So I was off with my guess.  And since I guessed the steers weighed 550 pounds as they are larger than any of the heifers, that means the steers weigh 600 pounds or a little more.

The weight changes also changes the price the calves are worth, increasing the cost of each.  Now to see if the buyers still want what they thought they wanted (and could afford).  And I had to re-clean the stock trailer.  This time it took only an hour to wash the manure out of it.

Steer and smaller Heifer.

This morning I discovered Diamond was eating the hay from the hay bales.  What?!  I had put a tarp over the hay bales and corral panels around the bales.  Oh, but I didn't get around to putting in metal t-posts to hold the corral panels in place.  Diamond and Maria pushed the corral panels against one side of the bales, reached in and torn the tarp, and Diamond was eating from the hay bales when I caught her.  I had to fix the tarp, re-position the corral panels, and then put a few t-posts in the ground to hold the corral panels away from the bales.  Now to see if this works.

Rain and cold is in the weather forecast.  So I was trying to get things done before dark.  It was dark when I came into the house.  I had a phone message from my southern neighbor, Ruth.  Earlier she noticed one of my cattle outside of my pasture.  I got a flashlight and my sorting stick and went out into the dark.

In Wyatt's field south of my pasture, and along my fence, using my flashlight I found Haynes, the bull.  He had gotten out like this over a month ago.  While I added to the fence where I thought he had gotten through, he must have found another weak spot in the fence.  I herded Haynes back through a gate and into my south pasture.  He ran off in the dark to join the other cattle.  Tomorrow I will have to look at the fence again to see where he had gotten through.