Puberty....

Next we'll meet the calves who are entering puberty... they're no longer cute cuddly calves, but aren't quite mammas yet, otherwise known as the East Group (creative, huh?).  Around 6 months they get to move up to this group.  At this point, they're just working on getting bigger, so they can become mamma. 

 

Next comes the heifer group, where each heifer has a chance to become a mamma!  Around 15 months they're bred.  We use Artificial Insemination (AI), which means we use semen from different bulls that we purchase.  The genetics of both the mamma heifer and daddy bull are analyzed, therefore hopefully making the best mating possible - you want a healthy, good milk producing cow!
 

 The benefits of AI aren't limited to improving the genetics of the animals we have on the farm.  It also helps with planning, because we know when we bred a cow.   Not to mention that we don't have to deal with any live ornery bulls!

Every couple months our vet comes to "preg check", or check to see who's pregnant.  I am amazed that by just putting his hand/arm in the cow's uterus he can tell usually within 3 days of when we bred the cow how far along she is!  Speaking of our vets and others who help us out....

Did You Know... that it's estimated that more than 26,000 Iowa jobs are provided by the dairy industry – including jobs on dairy farms, by dairy processors and other services that benefit and aid the dairy industry—resulting in more than $1.5 billion contributed annually to Iowa’s economy.

Moving Up...

After being in the huts, calves move up to either the Hog House or the Old Barn, depending on the size of their group as well as the groups around them.  Usually a group is made up of calves born in a 2-3 month window ranging in size from 3-10 calves.  These calves' main focus is getting bigger and getting socialized - familiar with group housing.

Did You Know.... that our farm is a Century Farm, meaning it's been part of the Bolin Family for over 100 years.  Dan's Great-Great Grandpa bought the farm in 1890.  There's been a lot of changes during that time, but hard-work, family values, faith, and fun have always been key parts of Beaver Creek!  Join us in 5 years to celebrate 125 years of Bolin farming! 

Again, here are some videos of the Hog House and the Old Barn calves about a month ago. 

The beginning

As most things do, cows start out as calves, and that's where our tour will begin.

Did You Know... technically a 'cow' is only a female bovine that has had a baby, or calf.  Before she has a calf, she's called a heifer. 

A cow is pregnant about 9 months, the same as humans.  Before a calf is born, we don't know if it will be a boy or girl.  Over the long-term our calves are about 50% male & 50% female.  The technology is out there to use sexed-semen, which would give us a higher probability of female, and we're considering that in the future, especially since out of our last bunch of calves, only 2 were girls!

The boy calves are sold to a neighbor, who feeds them, and then sells them for beef.  And the baby girls head to "the huts", where they'll live until they're about 2 months old.

The babies receive milk from a bottle for a few days and then drink their milk from a bucket, until they're 6 weeks old.  They also receive water and slowly increasing amounts of grain & hay.

They're kept in separate huts to lessen the potential for spread of sickness, if it were to occur.

June is a busy month for calving... we're planning to have about 20 new babies born!

Here's a video I took last month while Dan & I were watching the farm of the hut babies & surrounding fields and pastures. 

Did You Know....

June is Dairy Month!

That's right. And since we might be the only dairy farmers you know, we'll be giving you a tour of Beaver Creek Farm over the next couple days.  Get ready to learn about modern dairy practices and the wonders of milk!

Although right now you'll only get a virtual tour, you're always welcome to stop by and get a real live tour!  See the cows, feed the calves, roast a hot dog, and of course drink some milk!  Just like these little guys did today!

We were excited to have some college friends and their boys stop by for a tour today.  It was a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing you at Beaver Creek Farm too!  But for now, a virtual tour will have to do... so let's get started...

Welcome to Beaver Creek Farm, home of the Bolin Family, and a member of Swiss Valley Farms!  We're proud to show you around our farm where we take pride in taking good care of our cattle & providing you with good, wholesome, nutritious milk!

Did You Know.... We're only one of 1,922 dairy farms just in Iowa? 

May Review

I figure if I can at least update once a month at least I won't feel behind!  We had a busy May - not spending more than 5 nights in one place and the last three weeks, not more than 3 days in one place! 

Thankfully we started out at "home", which is somewhat relative since we're still staying at Matt & Ashley's, but it's our home for now.  Then we headed to our future "home", the farm, for 5 days, while Pam & Dave visited Matt, Ashley, Noah, & Foster in FL.  Noah got to go to Disney for his 5th birthday, and as Amara's face says in the picture below.... "Noah & Foster got to go to Disney & all I got was these socks & an outfit?!?"  We had fun watching the farm and were thankful to Dan's grandparents for coming over to watch Amara a little bit in the evenings so I could go out and help with calf chores. 

We also celebrated my first mother's day.... I have such a sweet baby girl!  Thank You Lord!  She's been growing, although still quite petite!   She's catching on the the eating thing more and more everyday.  She's become much more smiley & interactive which is quite fun!  She'll still up on her own for quite awhile but we don't trust her alone yet, as she still has a tendency to fling herself over.  The Lord has truly blessed us with a very content baby, which I'm sure it just for this stage of life - we've had a crazy schedule, with late nights but she's willing to sleep in all sorts of places - including the car and mommy's arms, which is so nice! 

Then it was off to Ames to see a lot of friends.... it was wonderful to see so many friends, share about Turkey in pictures, stories, food, tea, gifts, and more!  We also got to go to Cornerstone for the first time since we returned. 

We were back for a day & we went to see Uncle James coach his track team from Schaffer Academy.  It was the perfect day for a meet!  Plus we stopped at A&W on the way home... YUM!  Then we watched the farm for a couple days while Pam & Dave went to a dairy meeting. 

They returned and we were off again to Ames to see more friends and have an Open House.  We had Turkish food and saw more friends! Thanks to all who came! 

Thanks John & Becky for helping us host!

 

A day back home, and we were off again - this time to Minnesota!!!  First we stopped to see James & Nicole, and see James We stopped in the Cities and saw friends & family!  Then it was to St. Cloud to see Lynn's parents, cousins from out of town, and celebrate another cousin's wedding!  Congrats Matthew & Heather - we're SO glad we were able to celebrate with you!  And, it was a blast to dance again... we didn't really "American" style dance while we were away and we love dancing! 

The beautiful bride & groom!

The bride & some of her bridesmaids.... my cousin, Lindsey is on the right.

Now my brother is into LARP or Live Action Role Playing and therefore has all these cool weapons that the boys, I mean men, had fun playing, I mean fighting, with on Saturday evening... let the battles begin.... (please excuse all my laughter - it was hilarious!)