Calving almost over

[The Walker]

Just a few old biddies hanging on for the pure torment of it, I am sure.

Weather finally looking a little like spring. Vicky really does still hate winter and probably always will. She'd rather we move to the Florida Keys with my cousin and work as crew on his charter boat. Really, she would. I don't mind winter, but I'm in closer rapport with the seasons than she is.

Anyhow, Vicky has been quite busy with cooking and all for the extra hands we have on for calving and such. She does like it, though. She loves to cook for men that like to eat. Her lumpia is famous throughout the area and well appreciated. She has mastered the art of sourdough, buttermilk, buckwheat and beaten biscuits as well. She still has trouble with grits for some reason and leaves them to Maria. Let me set up a typical breakfast for you for several hungry men. Vicky, Maria and the housekeeper "Hazel" all cook breakfast:

Ham, sausage links, sausage patties, bacon, fried side, sausage gravy. Sometimes breakfast steaks.

Biscuits of some sort, pancakes, french toast, breakfast lumpia, breakfast burritos (Maria), plain toast (from homemade bread).

Eggs of all sorts.

Potatoes, either homefried or hash browns, potato pancakes (if we have leftover mashed potatoes from the night before. These are a favorite of mine), corn meal mush, grits, oatmeal. Rice, which some guys put milk and sugar and raisins in it.

Cold cereals (a couple of the hands prefer Apple Jacks-really, and Cocoa Crispies are a big hit- men just don't grow up). All sorts of homemade jellies, jams and preserves, including apple and pear butter (everyone likes those last two except for me).

Fruit of all sorts, fresh from the market or home canned.

Real maple syrup, various berry syrups, real butter, peanut butter, honey.

Milk, coffee, juices (orange, grapefruit and a variety of others, my favorite is orange-banana-strawberry but the grocery doesn't always carry it). The coffee is made my way and it is GOOD. Real cream and sugar for those who like.

So you can see the women-folk do it up right. One reason I can get the better hands is that we feed them realy well. In fact, I often have neighbors show up at breakfast and they help and then set down to table, too. Vicky's rice is really a bigger hit that I thought it would be. Most of these guys had never had really good rice. Of course most of them put milk and sugar on it in the morning and add raisins or fruit to it. Ruins it, my opinion, but they put it away with gusto. I like mine with butter and a little salt.

Good thing the house has a gourmet kitchen with two of everything. Two stoves, two fridges, etc. I think the family who owned it before me may have been orthodox Jewish or something, or else they really liked to party. At one time I considered doing away with half of it. Glad I didn't.

This really gets the hands up and going. I work them pretty hard and they really put away the chow. Good thing we also have two dishwashers.

Lunch is a rather more casual affair. Soup & sandwiches and such, fried chicken, that sort of thing. Beef and macaroni or chili-mac, spaghetti and meat balls. Easy stuff. Not a huge sit-down meal like breakfast.

Vicky is happiest serving me and trying her best to put some padding on me. She'll sneak out brownies to me mid-morning and try to get me to eat. Yesterday she brought strawberry shortcake with almond whipped cream out for everyone with lunch. Most of the temporary hands will be sorry to see calving season end.

We are quite happy and at ease with each other. She still squirrels away staples in various dark corners of the house and refuses to let Hazel launder my underwear. But she did hire Hazel on permanently to do the lion's share of the housework. Vicky will hand sew but machine sewing is not her forte'. She lets Hazel do that too or farms it out. I am amazed she and Hazel get on well. With Vicky's running inventory of household goods and storage methods I am sure Hazel would have been driven to distraction. It does me. I still occasionally run amok in the stores when Vicky is not at home to tell me where something is, which annoys her no end. Maria is looking mostly after Jose' now; they are getting on in years and Maria has enough to do with her own house.

Better go. Maybe I'll take a nap on the leather sofa here in the den. Breakfast is still 4 hours away. Be my luck as soon as I close my eyes one of the old biddies will have a breach or something. Oh well.

-Don

[Jeff S]

... in response to Calving almost over, posted by The Walker on Apr 8, 2002

Just kidding you. I'm sure for you active guys, meals like that are just the thing, but for those of us driving a big oak desk, replace calving season with end of the year reports season, and we'd all tip the scales waaaaaaay too much with meals like that.

- Jeff S.

[The Walker]

... in response to Does bypass surgery season come right af..., posted by Jeff S on Apr 8, 2002

Yeah, we burn it off pretty quick. That is why breakfast is large and lunch fairly light. I eat a sensible supper, usually a chef salad or somethung like that, but my breakfast goes back to my GI days when you felt like a big meal after morning PT and a five mile run.

One of the hands prefers milktoast for breakfast instead of cereal.

Me, I don't care for cereal, but if there is any leftover corn bread I'll crumble that up in a bowl and put milk on it and eat it like cereal. Love it.

We feed two shifts breakfast during calving. Those coming off of the 24 hour shift and those coming on. During the meal each shift ties in with the other as to what is going on. The boys coming off need ther meal to make up for the work they did overnight and the ones coming on need it to get them through the morning, since they haven't eaten since the night before.

I always did say that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and the only one you should really not skip. When I am off calving season my lunch is very light. Soup and either salad or sandwich, piece of fruit. Supper is light as well, with a balanced meal or a big chef salad. But I have to eat a good breakfast or I am grumpy and out of sorts. Now, I don't eat everything that is on the table, oh no. I will have some scrambled eggs and biscuits & gravy with coffee and juice. Or I'll have biscuits and corn meal mush and pancakes with bacon; or home fries and sausage with biscuits. Or just french toast and bacon. Off calving season I have biscuits and maybe fruit or eggs with a little breakfast meat of one sort or another, or a big bowl of cornbread and milk and a piece of fruit.

But right now I eat a lot because I need it. Manhandling cattle will take the fight out of you when you have to help a straining mother along, and do it again and again all day for almost 24 hours. Jose' leads one shift and I boss the other and we switch, day-on day-off.

But now I am free! The last bovine broad dropped this morning right before breakfast. I'll pay off the extra hands tomorrow. We'll have one last breakfast together and I'll pass out the checks after we eat. Now back to a more normal life.

-Don

[Windmill Boy]

... in response to Re: Does bypass surgery season come righ..., posted by The Walker on Apr 8, 2002

Don

How  many  heads  was  your  heard before?  and  how  many  new  additions  did  you add to  it?   is  it  around  50 /50%  male  to female?  Do all  of  the  cows  go  into heat / get  impregnated at  once  and  give  birth  at  approximately  the  same  time?  Do  your  bulls  do  the  Job willingly  or  do  you have  to  fight  with them  to  do  their  studly  duties.  and  finally  what  is  the  gestation  period?

Windmill boy

[The Walker]

... in response to For  us  City  Slickers ....., posted by Windmill Boy on Apr 9, 2002

I have 150 head of cows and two bulls. The main bull (Vicky's pet) and a younger bull. Almost all the cows had at least one calf, there were a few twins. Herd now numbers 296, temporarily.

Breeding is done naturally here. No artificial insemination. Cows have their first calves at the age of two and their gestation period is 9 months (280 days for this breed). Usually calving season is from January to April, but we time the breeding to get them all to come March/April, with a few blasted exceptions. The mothers nurse their calves on pasture through to the fall. The calves are weaned from September to November, when they weigh approximately 250-350 kg (500-700 lbs.) at about 7 months of age. After weaning, calves usually go to a feedlot where diet is silage, some grain, and hay for a month to get them a good start, then on to pasture. But our pasture feed is supplemented with hay, silage and some grain as these are breeding cattle and very valuable.

Calves grow at a rate of over 1 kg (2 pounds) per day until they reach a weight of 500-600 kgs (1000-1200 lbs.) at an approximate age of 14-18 months when they are ready for slaughter if they are beef cattle. Breeding cattle aren't fed as intensely as beef cattle and do not grow as fast. Mine are breeding cattle. The males are evaluated for potential as bulls. If found wanting they are castrated (turned into steers) and sold as beef feeder cattle. The females are almost all destined for lives as mothers. Most of the males become steers. Normally the birth ratio is about 1:1 male to female. However, my main bull tends to throw more females, a desireable trait in this case. But the young bulls if they pan out are very valuable. A really good bull calf can go for $10,000.

The breeding bulls do their work quite well and seem to enjoy it, why not? We limit their access to the cows until we want breeding to occur by keeping them separate. No need to goad them to do their duty. The bulls are kept separate from each other even after breeding season as the main bull is rather dominant and I don't want accidents. The very few young bulls are kept in a bachelor herd and away from the cows as well to prevent accidental inbreeding.

I don't use antibiotics indiscriminently either, so even my meat steers are considered to be "organic". No antibiotics in feed or anything, no growth hormones, both of which I consider dishonest and dangerous.

I do not keep my meat cattle on feed myself or slaughter any of my own for meat, for personal reasons. I sell steers and buy from other people for meat. I also sell most of the female calves when they mature and buy new breeding cows as needed to prevent bloodline problems, since I am a smaller provider. I do grow some crops, mostly for feed for the cattle or for our own, human consumption. I am expanding my herd but slowly. In a few years I will probably have 300 head of breeders, but that is about all I can support without going to feedlots and I prefer free-ranging cattle. It seems more natural to me and I think it reduces the need for hormones and antibiotics in the feed.

-The Walker

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: For  us  City  Slickers ....., posted by The Walker on Apr 10, 2002

Wow Don!

150 cows and only two bulls! Do you have any openings? ;o)))
I only throw males...so far. ;o)))

Dave "Old Bull" H.

[The Walker]

... in response to What a life!, posted by Dave H on Apr 11, 2002

Actually I was lucky. I really need another bull before I increase the herd. But they are bloody expensive. I may have to "rent a bull" next season if I can't afford a good one. I may do a swap with another bull calf owner.

Ideally, I like to have one bull per 50 cows at the max. But my main bull is a real performer and he sure doesn't owe me any money. I think it is because Vicky feeds him leftover breakfast pancakes and such. When he's past his abilities I think he'll retire to pasture. Besides, Vicky would shoot me if I sold him. He's her overgrown puppy. And he may throw a few calves even in his old age. But that is quite some time off.

-The Walker

[SteveB]

... in response to Re: Does bypass surgery season come righ..., posted by The Walker on Apr 8, 2002

My mother use to make milk toast for us when we had to wait out in the cold weather for school bus.  She made it with a milk gravey, hard-boiled eggs, and pieces of buttered toast,,,,,all mixed together,,,yummy,,I still make it,,,,,,thanks for the memory,,,steveb

[Windmill Boy]

... in response to Calving almost over, posted by The Walker on Apr 8, 2002

Don

You  are  a lucky  man!

As a  chef  I  must  admit  that  we  are  the  most  critical though.

sometimes  I  go  into  the  employee  cafeteria  and  I  just  look  at  some  of  the  food in  the  steam table with  a look  of  total  disbelief  that  they  are  trying  to  serve that  pig slop,  and  I  make  a  Bee line  towards  the  Cereal  dispensers.

I  have  been  eating  a lot  of  Cocoa  Krisipes  and  Apple Jacks  lately  at  work.  and  I  have  also corrupted  my 19  year  old mexican Coworker  in  teaching  him  the  Joys  of  a  Good  bowl  of  Lucky Charms.  The  funny  thing  is  that  I really  didn't  grow  up  with  these  brands.   So  Childhood  regression --- I  doubt  it.

Today  I  worked  an  earlier  Sunday  Shift  than I  normally  do  and   I  had  to  try  a  plate  of  Scrambled  eggs  mixed  with  tortilla  chips  to  remind  myself  just  how  gross  they  are.  (I  call  them chilly  willies).  Being  from  the  East  coast  I  am  familiar  with  fritatadas  and  my  mexican  coworkers  insist  that  this gross  egg/tortilla combination  is  not  part  of  their  native  cuisine  either.   so  who  knows  where  it  comes  from.

Sometimes  our  food  really  is  horrendeous.  They will  serve  this  stuff  called  Salsa  Verde  but  I  call  it  Bone  stew  because  there  is  more  bone  chunks  in  it  than meat  but  the  mexicans  love  the  stuff  I guess.  Our  soups  that they give  us in  the  cafeteria  are  the  worst  too.  whoever  the soup chef in  the  morning is  who  makes  the  soups  should  be  reeducated.  Especially  since I  was a  soup chef  prior  to  my   baking  reincarnation.  I  hope  they  don't  serve  the  guests  what  we  get.   Sometimes  the  soup  looks  like  they  scraped  it  off  of  the  tire  tracks  of  a  tractor and added  water.  They  usually  taste  like  a  salt  lick  too.  Today the  soup  was  boiling  in  the  kettle  like  a  geyser  and  at  least  I  had  fun  trying to  remember  what  national  park  old  faithfull  is in --- Yellowstone  I  think.

I  usually  skip  breakfast  and  will have  my  breakfast at  1:30  when I  come  in  but  it  is  normally  dinner styled  cuisine.  But  every  once  in  a  while  on  my  day  off  I will  get  the  urge  to  get  a  real  old  fashioned  Farmers  style  breakfast  like you  mentioned  sans  the  lumpia  and  breakfast  burritoes.  My  favorite  Joint  is  the  Cajun Kitchen  where  they  through  in  the Chorizo  and  Andouille now  and then.  I  do  them  once  every  2 -  3  months  though.

But  otherwise  when  all  else  fails  or  is unpalatable  at  work  I  say  bring  on  the  cocoa  puffs  and  apple  Jacks!

Windmill Boy

[Willy]

... in response to Cocoa Krispies & Apple Jacks rule!, posted by Windmill Boy on Apr 8, 2002

nt

[The Walker]

... in response to Cocoa Krispies & Apple Jacks rule!, posted by Windmill Boy on Apr 8, 2002

Yeah, calving season requires a big breakfast, but otherwise I eat lighter. I never was into cereal, but I do love conrbread and milk in a bowl instead of cereal.

In France, I used to have a chocolate croissant and coffee every morning with fruit and a little cheese. I still like a croissant with chicken or tuna salad for lunch. I admit I buy the croissants already made as they are a bear to make at home and take quite some time, as you know, what with folding the dough and letting it rest between foldings. Once in a while I get a hair up my behind and make them from scratch but not too often. Usually with a souffle' guarmonge' (spelling?). Vicky knows nothing of croissants and leaves them to me.

Maria's breakfast burritos are pretty good. Eggs, cheese and breakfast meat crumbled up in them maybe with some fried potatoes too. Vicky's breakfast lumpia are just as good. Either one with some sausage gravy or maple syrup over them is great.

I agree, Mexicans have a funny sense of breakfast. I never heard of that egg and tortilla thing for breakfast, either. Probably about as Mexican as Taco Bell. UGH.

-Don

[BrianN]

... in response to Calving almost over, posted by The Walker on Apr 8, 2002

just another positive thought to add to your VERY positive and happy life.  Sounds like you've got the best of all worlds in Vi.

my best wishes to you both.