Square Bales in a Round Ring - Not Quite a Fit! For People or For Hay..........

Southeast Texas just had a few days of temperatures reaching the freezing point, seems unusual for this time of year, but fortunately no pipes burst and the ice in the troughs was minimal, but then lately I've got water leaks on what seems a daily basis, that's surely as effective at preventing pipes from bursting as setting a faucet on drip!

I've been feeding alfalfa as a supplement for my British Whites some years now, but it was only this past winter that had me wishing for square hay feeders. Prior to last winter I fed the alfalfa in flakes on top of their round bales of coastal and that worked fairly well. But last winter saw a shortage of hay and the coastal I had lined up didn't work out. With greed running rampant in the hay business, the price of good coastal hay per bale plus delivery to my place was equal to and sometimes more than the cost of shipping in cow grade alfalfa from Nebraska. Thus I chose to ship in nothing but alfalfa last winter, and my cattle thrived like no other winter.

Shipping costs ran higher this year, but the total out of pocket cost per ton for Dairy Quality alfalfa was still equal to or less than buying a decent quality 20% protein grain by the ton in 50 lb bags. So this year I'm feeding coastal baled from my pastures as well as crabgrass hay out of Louisiana, and providing alfalfa as their supplemental protein, but feeding it by the bale rather than topping round bales of regular hay forage with the alfalfa.

As you can see from the photo, the big alfalfa squares barely fit into my rings and I have to bust up that middle once they've eaten down enough of it to make it doable (also, these girls are getting alfalfa from last summer that went through a 20 plus inch flood, thus the dark bottom side that you see!) -- to make the hay accessible all around the feeding area of the ring. I'm hoping a welding shop in Pennington will be able to make some square feeders for me. I've looked around online and most of what I find is very very heavy square hay feeders from up North that look more functional as stationary objects in a feedlot, which will not work here. I try to move the haying area all around my pastures to avoid excessive manure build up, and follow up with busting up the manure with a drag harrow. In the second photo you can see the adjoining pasture where my big herd is being fed and that it's time to move their hay rings to fresh ground. I try not to feed more than twice without moving the rings to clean ground, and so really heavy feeders aren't practical.

Lost Civilizations - Apocalypto - Lost Cattle Breeds

The past days have been busy and filled with much of the typical demands of a cattle ranch, with some llama (the one in front in the pic) and cat crisis added in. I lost a cat to a snake bite yesterday, and it was the second snake bite suffered by a cat in the past couple of weeks, the first one, Leopold, did survive -- it's got me wondering if some odd, insidious, northern snake that kind of likes moving around in the fall weather may have made the trip from up North with a load of alfalfa. One of my llamas is just acting puny, I can't see any obvious wound, but then she's covered in several inches of hair over the majority of her body. She waits for me to bring her food and water a few times each day, and seems to be getting a bit better. I haven't ruled out snake bite for the cause of her decline, it's a good possibility under the circumstances.

Tonight, I got around to watching Primetime from a few days back, the main story was on Mel Gibson's newest movie, Apocalypto. It looks to be a very good movie, and the premise I find fascinating, the rise and fall of a powerful culture perhaps via their own inadvertent self-destruction due to greed and wish to control, to have, to be, more and more. Ultimately, this led to a quite lost and destitute Mayan culture in the modern day. Of course, the point was made that perhaps the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq is reflective of the waste of human life and other natural resources that led to the apocalyptic end of the Mayan culture.

While to some extent I can understand Gibson's wish to correlate current USA events and attitudes with the historical rise and fall of powerful cultures and nations, there's ample bloody fingerprints from prior administrations throughout US history that have had less basis and more loss of life than current events -- what struck me as most important from this Primetime coverage of the movie Apocalypto was the footage of Mayan descendants in Mexico and Guatemala today who live in poverty. An ancient and mighty people who when covered by Primetime reporters find their best stories in a young Mayan boy who sniffs glue and lives in a garbage dump; and a 'single' Mom who prepares meals over a fire and weeps and tells them her life is striving to somehow make a better future for her children.

How will those children ever have a shot at a better future? Education is the key to better futures in the USA, and certainly a lot of hard work is vital as well. But the modern Mayan culture presented as the norm during the filming of this movie was distinctly lacking in any indication of options such as education or industry that would provide a way out, a way up, for one person, much less the modern day Mayan culture as a whole.

We also learn via this Primetime coverage that Mel Gibson's last movie has made over a BILLION dollars -- that's pretty awesome. The Apocalypto may well make more, they certainly made use of lots of native 'actors' and so there isn't a big budget for greedy USA actors. So, given the horrid conditions Mel Gibson described very well himself, and Primetime covered so colorfully -- why wouldn't Mr. Gibson himself already have a University being built in either Guatemala or Mexico for the modern day Mayan descendants? A BILLION dollars from his last movie and more to come ----- I think that would build a University (I doubt they'd object to cinder block walls or lack of 'really cool' stuff necessary in the USA) and pay some profs for a couple of years, and truly change some lives in this lost, but once mighty, culture. A failing of Hollywood Democrats is their own lack of example. They make more money than any average American can ever conceive, even some governmental bodies, use their popularity as a political tool, but be assured they don't put themselves at risk financially, they most assuredly have the best of CPA's or Financial Planners to assist them in using every conceivable avenue of tax savings.

So what's the point of this on a Cattle Blog? :) Well, the British White cattle breed is somewhat of a lost culture if you will. It is up to the breeders of this special bovine to continue to fight to bring it back to the revered status it held in ancient days. We will never know what events occurred that brought this special breed from immortalization in ancient oral tales to the small population to be found in the 19th century, any more than we can really know what caused the destruction of the Mayan culture. But we can work hard to educate those around us about the British White breed. And we can make better efforts to record their growth traits, their ultrasound carcass data, their DNA, and their many other desirable traits that aren't perhaps as easily quantifiable.

British White Breeders Looking to Cut Down on Tradional Meds & Wormers - Read Dr. Buddy's Blog - TAMU

September 08, 2006 Dr. Buddy's Blog

When is the right time to deworm cattle in 2006? (Click on the outlined boxes for the photos....sorry, don't know why they aren't showing in thumbnail!) (Update 12-09-06, Photo of day after arrival home at the ranch is posted below in the body of this blog, note the bull, JWest's McCluskey, opposite the fence that is right at one month older than all 5 ET calves, and obviously raised very well by his dam DFTX Snowflake. Always ensure that Recipient Dams are Healthy and will be fed well by your ET program provider.)

"Short grass is commonly thought of causing wormy cattle by the cattle grazing down where the worms are, but that thought is a misunderstanding. The reason that producers think that way is because the cows look wormy, when actually the cows' poor body and hair coat conditions are related to malnutrition from low intake of roughages on short grass pastures. When short grass is caused from dry conditions due to lack of rain and from overgrazing the slow growth of grass, the worms are not down there in the soil; the larvae have died from the dryness, and also from the heat in the summer.

When stomach worm eggs are passed in cattle manure, the eggs hatch in the manure. The larvae must be washed from the manure by rains. The larvae can only crawl (swim) up the grass blades while the grass is wet from rain or dew. As the grass dries, the larvae go back down to find moisture. As cattle graze dry grass, they don't ingest larvae. After weeks of dry weather, larvae die, and without grass mats for cover, all the larvae die, and the pastures become free of contamination. . ."

The images you see above (may have to click on a little box, they're not wanting to load properly, but if you click on the outlined box they will load!) are of extremely dirty, barren, over grazed conditions at an ET Facility in Athens, Texas in early fall last year, one can only imagine the level of filth that continued to accumulate around them, it's a pretty good guess that no one there understands, or wishes to work at, the concept of dragging a pasture after rotation. These calves came home underweight, sickly, and have yet to thrive and grow like their peers, and one heifer is permanently blinded by pinkeye in one eye. This would be an example of conditions that Require worming and medication, quite regularly. A well run cattle operation, whether Grass or Grain based, should never reach this level of living conditions for any Seedstock cattle, much less Embryo Transfer calves. Actually, I wish to never see these conditions in any cattle operation.

" . .While pastures are contaminated with larvae, it may be cost effective to worm if the cattle have become exposed to enough larvae during 3 6 weeks of continuous rains with soil temperatures of 55 85 degrees when the larvae are active. If these conditions occur in the spring on some pastures; the timing to worm the cattle is following 3 6 weeks of continuous rain. If the rains come on contaminated pastures, that would make deworming cattle in May but not all pastures are contaminated because of the drought and good management practices. With rains in a cold April,..........." Follow the link above to read the rest of this blog!

British White Cattle - They REALLY are more GENTLE than Other Breeds!

Too often some visitors to my ranch comment that their calm character is surely due to the "time I must spend with them".

As Breeders of this very special, uniquely beautiful, ancient breed we all know different. Their gentleness begins before birth, it's inherent in their genetic makep-up. Wanda Mae, the curious cow checking out what Mike's up to, isn't the norm in any cow herd, and she's been human-friendly since the day she arrived, as are her calves. It's a very HERITABLE trait.

Every scientific research report that one comes upon points to the fact that the calmer the feeder calf the better the carcass. One day it will be realized that when a commerical cattleman puts a British White Bull on his herd his calves are calmer, their growth is superior, and their carcass brings to them a premium over Black Angus, a highly volatile breed.

The DNA testing accomplished to date indicates the British White breed tests as well as as the much more aggressive and temperamental black Angus breed in terms of marbling and tenderness.

As DNA testing via GeneStar and/or Igenity progresses and is reported to and compiled by the BWCAA and members, I fully expect the results to continue to be superior and to further establish British White cattle as THE Beef Breed of the Future for genetic Tenderness combined with genetic Docility -- a combination no other breed can match -- and a combination that the Commercial Feedlot operator will not ignore and will demand from commerical cattlemen. Numerous articles are to be found on the positive impact on carcass quality from docile feeder calves in the chute and the feedlot.

British White Calves in the Summer of 2006

I really like this shot of my curious and gentle British White calves from this past summer, we were very fortunate here in deep East Texas to get ample rainfall until about September. In my memory, September is supposed to always be a month for rains in East Texas, but I think it's just significant events I recall in many Septembers that had rain in the background. Maybe I'll get a good shot of these same calves this morning, it's a crisp and clear day.

A Pretty November Morning with Gazing Grassfed British White Beef Cows

We've had some very nice cool days here in Southeast Texas, a lot earlier than last year, or at least as best I can recall. This morning the sky is clear and the sun is very bright. The trees began changing their leaves a couple of weeks back. The hickory trees change first around here and they seem to be a much stronger orange than ever before - you can see one in the tree line sort of shouting out it's color!

The Magical Milk White Milk Cow - Mother of all Cows

Here's a quite wonderful old reference to British White cattle (a matter of opinion, but what other breed was milk white then or is now?) to start off this blog:

'The milk-white milch cow gave enough of milk to every one who desired it; and however frequently milked, or by whatever number of persons, she was never found deficient. All persons who drank of her milk were healed of every illness ; from fools they became wise ; and from being wicked, became happy. This cow went round the world; and wherever she appeared, she filled with milk all the vessels that could be found, leaving calves behind her for all the wise and happy. It was from her that all the milch cows in the world were obtained. After traversing through the island of Britain, for the benefit and blessing of country and kindred, she reached the Vale of Towy; where, tempted by her fine appearance and superior condition, the natives sought to kill and eat her; but just as they were proceeding to effect their purpose, she vanished from between their hands, and was never seen again. A house still remains in the locality, called Y Fuwch Laethwen Lefrith (The Milk-white Milch Cow.)' " http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/wfl/wfl03.htm

Put British White Beef on Your Table for Dinner Tonight!

British White Cattle - Ask for Royally Good '"White Beef'" - Ask for British White Beef

Inviting everyone to take a look at the British White breed of cattle and see what's happening here at this Texas ranch. Beef is what's for dinner.....and for too long it's been the domain of that black breed.....If you're a commercial rancher, look to the British White breed for gentle crossbred calves, proven to result in more tender carcasses. For the seedstock producer, the British White breed gives all you can ask in fertility, milkiness, calving ease, hardiness, and more. Contact J. West Cattle Company for superior Grassfed Genetics.

British White Cattle - The Polled Ancient Park Cattle of Britain

British White cattle are the polled white park cattle of old Britain. The Park Cattle Society of the UK split in the 1940's and the British White Cattle Society of the United Kingdom was formed to pursue and focus on the superior milk and beef qualities of the polled white park cattle and the breed name British White was chosen. In the USA the British White Cattle Association of America provides the registry and guidance for the future of the polled British White breed.

British White cattle are uniquely marked with black points and occasionally red points occur today as they did in days of old. For additional information on the British White breed's long history and to locate a British White breeder near you see the Link box.