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Liquid Gold

1/28/2016

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PictureColostrum even looks like liquid gold! The jug on the left holds colostrum while the jug on the right is 'regular' milk. Can you see the difference?
Exactly one time per lactation each of our cows produces colostrum. Or as I like to think of it: Liquid Gold. This designation isn’t due to monetary value, although it does command a pretty penny if you are able and willing to sell it. The real value of colostrum comes when it is in the tummy of a new born calf!
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Colostrum is on my mind because, as many of you know, we just had a new calf and I always have that moment of stress wondering if the mama cow will have enough colostrum for her calf!

PictureAntibodies bind to antigens (e.g. bacteria & viruses) and inactivate/destroy them. Diagram credit: Indiana University: Purdue University Indianapolis
​Colostrum is the very first milk that a cow (or really any mammal) gives after giving birth. Most of the time, colostrum is thicker and yellower in color than ‘normal’ milk. Most importantly, it is a powerhouse of nutrition and immunity. Colostrum has more fat and protein in it than regular milk to help provide the calves with a boost of energy to get started. However, the really important thing is that colostrum contains antibodies (IgG) produced by the mother.  Antibodies are proteins that help fight illness. These antibodies from colostrum are all that a baby calf has to protect itself in the first few weeks of life. They are born with little to no immunity and require several weeks to begin building their own system that is capable of responding to threats on its own.

PictureI sure am glad my humans fed me lots of good colostrum!
So, colostrum is pretty magical stuff. It is absolutely vital to the well being of the newborn calf and tends to have an effect on the long term health of the animal as well.  But, just feeding a calf colostrum isn’t always enough. The right amount has to be fed at the right time! Calves need to get at least a half gallon of colostrum in the first 2 hours of life. We have Jerseys so a half gallon is about all they can handle at one time but larger breeds like Holsteins often get a whole gallon!
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Why the first 2 hours? Because that is when the calves’ bodies are most receptive to the transfer of antibodies. Colostrum is still beneficial up to 12 hours after birth but it becomes less and less effective the older the calf is at the time of feeding. Because of this, we feed a half gallon immediately after birth for optimal effectiveness and another half gallon 10-12 hours later for good measure.

Enjoy!
​Brun Ko Farm

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Insulating Stock Tanks

1/17/2016

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So, I talk about a guy called NP an awful lot. If ya’ll haven’t caught on he’s my husband and I think he’s pretty fantastic! NP worked in lean manufacturing for 6 years and he makes sure that we use our resources as efficiently as possible.  Soo, with no further ado, please enjoy NP’s first ever blog post on insulating stock tanks and how it saves energy and $$.

Insulating Stock Tanks


The moment you have all been waiting for.   A blog post from NP ;) And to top that, it’s a post about insulating stock tanks!  ​
For some brief background: our Rubbermaid stock tanks have in-tank heaters that mount in the drain hole of the stock tank.  While they do shut off when the water temperature gets to 50 degrees, in the dead of winter, it takes all day to warm up 125 gallons of water.  When you have 2 and sometimes 3 stock tanks, an electricity bill can get  pretty darn high.  Spoiler alert- I will be posting more about using my 6 years of LEAN manufacturing experience to talk about other farm wastes and how we combat them.  But let’s get through this first. 
What I used for material.
  • 2x4 boards ripped down the center.
  • 1 ½” Foam board.
  • 2-3 cans of expanding foam.
  • 7/16” chip board. 4 x 8 ft.
  • Screws.
I did not include prices on materials, but estimated total cost was $80 for 2 tanks. It will vary depending on size and design of tank.
The first step was cutting down the boards and building a basic framework for the tank.  We’ll just call the frame boards 2x2.
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The very first tank I did was constructed only out of foam board and glued together using expanding foam.  It worked great for Rusty (the horse), but the heifers sole purpose in life is to teach me to build things stronger and better.  I’m convinced they could lick and chew through an M3 Stuart tank given enough time.  They had reduced a nicely finished foam tank to tiny 1 inch pieces in a matter of 24 hours.  So, plywood should last through winter and with the savings on the electricity bill, I might be able to afford to make a tungsten plated cover next year.?.?  

With that said, the frame does not need to be built ford tough.  Most of the rigidity will come when the chip board is screwed in place.  The next step is cutting the foam pieces to fit the openings of the frame.  Don’t forget to cut a piece for the bottom.  

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​The next step is to cut the chip board for the front and the sides.  I did not cut pieces for the back nor the bottom.  The foam board will be enough to insulate them.  
​Now would also be a good time to cut the floater. This piece is the key to the whole deal.  It needs to be cut big enough to cover as much area as possible and still give the critters a place to drink.  I have seen other styles where a solid lid is placed over the tank with a hole for livestock to stick their head in.  That might work for some folks’ well trained stock, but it would be a disaster here.  With a floating lid the whole piece drops with water level and does not create an air gap.  If your tank tapers down like these do, cut the floater so it will not touch the heater if the water level drops too low.  Nobody likes the smell of melting plastic.
Once all the pieces are cut, use the spray foam to put a bead of foam around the edge of the foam board.  I used a piece of cardboard to smoosh it down.  We are using it for 90% glue and 10% to fill in cracks, smooshing it won’t matter.  Next install the chip board covers.  I used a little more spray foam to glue these together also.  I’m not sure it helps a lot but it made me feel better.  Do the same for the floating lid.  You may have to weigh it down to keep the foam from expanding. Remember glue, not insulation.  

​I cut some pieces to fit in the corners and glued them in as well.  

​The final step is cutting a hole so you can access the heater.  Do that just like a jack-0-lantern.  Angle the cut and don’t make it perfect, cut a notch for the cord and bam, you have a money saving insulated stock tank.  
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I don’t have any down to the penny cost savings on this but I can give you some rough estimates.  Typically before insulation, our electric bill would jump up $80-100 or more a month with one tank.  Now having 2 insulated tanks, the bill is about a $30-40 jump.  That’s twice the tanks for half the $$. I’d say saving even $50 a month is well worth it.
 
It is the second week of January as I write this and we are just now plugging in heaters. Even at that, an hour is long enough to heat the water up and keep it from freezing the rest of the day.  My next goal is to find a timer to alternate heaters on a four hour schedule.  The temps have been down into the single digits and the most ice I have seen is less than a quarter of an inch.  Without the insulation I would have been plugged in weeks ago. 

 If you stuck with me long enough to read this far, I’ll throw in my final tid-bit of advice….for FREE!  Fill your tanks in the morning if possible.  Most of the time our critters don’t drink much at night and fresh water in the morning helps warm up what water had been sitting all night getting even colder and not being drank.  Every little bit helps make life easier and lets us spend time and money where it’s needed most.  Thanks again for reading this and feel free to ask questions.  I like to keep things short and sweet, so if you want further explanation, I will do my best to assist you. 

Enjoy! 
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Farm Fashion - Layering

1/8/2016

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Layering might be a fashion trend that comes and goes but it will never go out of style on the farm! Here, layering is a survival technique! One of my dairy farmer friends was asked by a professor why he always wore so many clothes in the winter. His answer: “I come from a place where once you get cold, you never get warm again!” And he was soo right! I mean, not that you NEVER EVER get warm again but it might not be until Spring … ok, ok maybe just until chores are done.  On some farms that isn’t until the end of the day 5, 6, 7, 8 o’clock at night!  And then the next day you start all over again. So what do you do? You become a pro at LAYERING!

Here is a quick and dirty lesson in Layering 101 so you can stay warm too! 


Base layer –this is critical. Leggings and a long sleeve t-shirt with wool socks make a great base layer. I prefer moisture wicking material but your stand long johns work great too. And be sure to tuck that shirt in! You don’t want the wind finding any cracks in your defense!
See! Tucked in!
Layer #2 is mostly just a hoodie sweatshirt but could include an extra long sleeve t-shirt and sweat pants on REALLY cold days.
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That hood is going to be important!
Layer #3 is where it gets SERIOUS. Insulated coveralls, insulated winter boots, and winter coat are all necessities if you are going to be outside in an Iowa winter for several hours at a time. Coveralls can be tricky, if you're like me you are going to want to make sure and get the kind that are insulated all the way up and not just to the waist!
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Hmmm, the things you learn when you look at pictures of yourself. Maybe the next installment of Farm Fashion will be about patches :)
Accessories! The best winter farmer accessories include a hat, a scarf and layered(!) gloves. See the hood comes in handy as an extra barrier to keep the wind from your ears! Just make sure to put your hood up before putting on your scarf. The scarf holds everything in place AND keeps your neck warm!

The middle picture shows me holding 2 different gloves. The black gloves are really thin and made of silk. They can turn almost any glove into a nice warm winter glove! They are pricey but take good care of them and they will last a long time and they provide versatility and warmth while wearing gloves that still allow you to use your fingers! Use of fingers is always a plus around here :)


On the right, I am modeling an optional layer that I don't like to pull out!  However, the cows don't really care if it's raining. They still want fed so I am grateful that this massive yellow raincoat keeps me dry!
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Me being goofy. But HEY, I'm ready for the weather!
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Now the great thing about layering is that it is flexible. You can adjust the number and weight of your layers based on the expected temperature and weather. Also, in the event that you over dressed you can usually remove part or all of a layer to accommodate! Don’t underestimate the weather though! Most farmers are much too stubborn to go back to the house for additional layers once they are in the barn!

Enjoy! 
Brun Ko Farm
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Weaning Time

1/3/2016

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​Happy New Year! With each new year tends to come a lot of change. We spend time reflecting on the previous year and set resolutions or goals as to how we can better ourselves in the coming year. That’s no different here on the farm. This year we are looking at some rather large changes but today I am going to talk about a change that we dictate but that affects the calves the most. Every 2 months or so, we wean our bottle calves. This is time of great change for them! Not only do we take milk out of their diet, they also move to a different home, and learn to socialize with other calves. 
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​Several factors, including feed intake, age, health status and the weather all play a part in determining when calves get weaned. Although we would never wean a calf that was sick, I would say feed intake is easily the most important factor in deciding when to wean calves.  Why is this? Well, if a calf was sick or otherwise unhealthy, they also would not be eating an adequate amount of feed for us to consider weaning them.
What is that magic level of feed? For Jersey calves, the recommended level of creep feed (a grain mix specially formulated for young calves) intake is 4 lbs. 4 lbs of feed is about 1 large scoop of feed per day. This seems to typically occur right around 6-7 weeks of age.
This scoop holds 4 pounds of creep feed. This is how much we want the calves to be eating each day before we wean them.
We use a creep feed that is18% protein and is specially formulated to meet the calves nutritional needs and be temptingly tasty!
​There are a lot of different methods out there for weaning calves.  We like to use a step down process because we think it helps the calves adjust better.  This means that instead of cutting the calves off of milk cold turkey, we start by taking away just 1 bottle per day. Meaning the calves still get their evening bottle of milk so that they go to bed with a warm full belly. This lasts for 1 week.  We typically see the calves creep feed intake during this week and they also seem to learn what water is! Now, we provide the calves with water from the time that they are 3 or 4 days old and they will splash around in it a bit but very rarely do they drink a significant amount of it until they are 6 or 7 weeks old. And I don’t ever see them empty a bucket in a days time until Week 7, when we start decreasing the amount of milk they get. I speculate that this is because milk has such a high water content that they are able to meet a large portion of their water needs just from their 2 bottles of milk a day. Did I mention that each bottle holds a half gallon of milk?? And that that means, each calf drinks a whole GALLON of milk every day!
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This bottle holds a half gallon of milk! Each calf gets 2 bottles per day until weaning time.
​At the end of week 7, we take away their evening bottle and at this point they are weaned! That is to say, they no longer have any milk in their diet. They are eating only ever increasing amounts of creep feed and water. After another 3 or 4 weeks we will slowly start introducing hay into their diets as well.  However, the changes don’t end there. In order to decrease stress at the time of weaning, we like to leave the calves in their hutches for an extra week if possible. A lot of stressful things occur at this time in the calves lives so it helps them if we can give them time to adjust to each new change.
These boys are officially weaned today.
They will be sold over the next week.
We will start feeding a new group soon.
​After a week of eating only solid feed, we then move the calves out of their individual hutches and move them into a group pen. Although they can see each other and ‘talk’ back and forth when they live in their hutches, this is the first time that they actually interact with each other. AND the first time that they have to compete for food.  Cows are very social animals and each group of cows has a strong hierarchy. Every time a cow is introduced into a new group it has to find its place with in the hierarchy. This is true even in groups of calves. To help combat this, we make sure that the calves have plenty of space at the feed bunk for everybody to eat at the same time.  This helps thwart dominant (bully) calves that try to keep others from eating.  While the hierarchy carries over into resting time and play, it usually isn’t too long before you start to see the calves laying in groups. They don’t like to be caught being toooo friendly though ;) They’ll jump up as soon as they see NP or I coming as if to say “You didn’t see that!”
​Because of all of the other inherent stresses, we try not to do anything ‘extra’ at weaning time. We leave things like dehorning, castration and vaccination for other points in the calves’ lives! And those topics will all be covered in future posts throughout the year so stay tuned!
And since, we are in a new year, some resolutions NP and I have set include:
  • Finding some sort of routine that allows up more sleep – as I am typing this at 11pm, I think I have a lot of work to do on this …!
  • Engaging more with our audience. That’s you! We want to hear your thoughts and answer your questions so feel free to comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brunkofarm. You can also send inquiries and comments via email or our Contact Us page!

Here's to a Happy New Year to you and yours!
Brun Ko Farm
 
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    Emily Paulsen

    Just a woman with a passion for the animals, the land, and feeding people!

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