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Meet Our Herd: Iys

2/26/2016

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PictureIys's favorite place to be is outside! Especially on cool spring and autumn days!
Dogs are an important part of many farmer’s lives. Iys dog (pronounced: Ice) has been a loyal companion to NP for 13+ years. She predates Brun Ko Farm by more than a decade! They have been companions through a broken hip (Iys’s), dog training school and lots of life’s little challenges.
​
Iys is intelligent, loyal, lovable and very tolerant but one thing she is NOT is a cattle dog. When NP first brought Abby and his first bottle calves home, he had visions of training Iys to help ‘work’ the  calves. However, Iys was not interested and was in fact even scared of them – skirting cow pens whenever possible. Which was probably wise because Abby isn’t terribly friendly towards dogs – chasing them whenever she gets the chance!

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Which is scarier: Abby? or Thunder? Evidently, thunder!
Besides cows, Iys also has a long standing fear of thunder.  One night during chores we learned which fear was stronger! That particular day had been stormy looking but it didn’t really start thundering and raining until we were down in the barn so like usual, Iys was in the barn with us. That particular night, I had the pleasure of milking Abby and all of a sudden I heard a big ka-boom! And before I could even tell what was happening, Iys was huddled underneath Abby and as close to me as she could get! Turns out Abby was the lesser of the two evils!
PictureNow that's service!
Now a days, Iys dog has earned a new name: Old Dog. Used affectionately of course! She spends her days mostly sleeping but she still insists on going down to do chores even though she still doesn’t much care for the cows. Except to eat their poo. That seems to be a delicacy. Don’t ask me – she often times leaves her food sit but if there is a good pile of calf poo nearby – she’s all over that.

Another thing that we are learning about in Iys’s old age is doggy Alzheimers. It’s a real thing, I swear. Although, Iys can usually get halfway to the barn before she starts to look lost – the location of the backyard seems to move daily in her mind. Most days we have to guide her in after she misses the corner 3 or 4 times. In addition to her mind, her body is also starting to give way. Her food dish tends to get away from her in her attempts to eat and her legs sometimes give way causing her to have to sit or even lay down to eat. NP  does a good job of keeping her bowl pushed up close enough to her that she can finish her meal. However, on this particular day, she got so frustrated she gave up and laid down in a huff. NP took pity and delivered the food bowl directly to her choice of bed for the day.

Old age seems to be kind of a crappy deal even for dogs. But there is one benefit to the deal -

Table scraps.

Iys and Piper don’t generally get table scraps. Mostly because they don’t need them, but also because the giving of table scraps can result in bad habits like begging and table surfing. Iys, however, is long past the days of developing such habits and has had trouble keeping weight on. The weight loss is in part due to her tendency to skips meals. So to tempt her to eat every meal and to help maintain weight, select table scraps have made their way onto her menu. Eggs are her favorite and she will eat almost anything to get to the egg at the bottom of her bowl! Eggs are probably also the most common treat that she gets as I often have a bit of egg wash or lonely egg yolks left over after baking. If a bit of it dries to the side of her bowl she will lick and push her bowl around for hours trying to get every last bit! She’s kind of like a kid with a lollipop.

All in all, Iys is doing pretty darn good for her age and we feel pretty lucky to still have her around. She isn’t the most affectionate dog on the farm but she tolerates our petting and hugging and she is a great source of amusement and comfort. We are enjoying the time we have left with her, however long that may be!

**We know many of you have loyal companions as well. We would love to hear about them in the comments section!**
 
Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm

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From the Mouths of Babes

2/18/2016

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Over the past few months, we have had some fun groups visit us here at Brun Ko Farm. I always enjoy seeing our farm through the eyes of others. Visitors also tend to raise some really good (and sometimes challenging) questions.  

This past weekend a very sharp 11 year old girl asked me: “Where are the boy cows on the farm?” 
 
 
I should have known that this was a trap. Because, on hearing that we don’t have any ‘boy cows’ on the farm (besides bottle calves), the next question was: “So, how do you get the cows pregnant?”  

 11 year old girl. 

 Unwavering.  

How do you get the cows pregnant? 

Now, after several college level animal reproduction classes and 4 years or so of breeding dairy cows for a living, I know this answer inside and out.  

Until an unfamiliar 11 year old girl asks.   

What’s appropriate for an 11 year old? What does she already know? What do her parents think she should know? If I’m honest, that last one is really the kicker.  I don’t want any trouble! 
​

Luckily, this time around, the girl’s grandma jumped in with a couple of comments that let me know this girl had at least a little background in the topic and I was clear to openly discuss. But it got me thinking – how am I going to handle this in the future? How do I remain honest (because no, the stork doesn’t bring babies!)  and yet not make any parents shudder and run away with hands covering child’s ears?  Beyond just researching age appropriate material and language (that’s the easy part) – how do I gauge in 30 seconds or less the parents’ comfort level!  I have yet to figure all of this out but in the mean time I thought I might as well turn it into a blog post.


**Please note: this is written with adults in mind – there is nothing graphic but if anatomically correct terminology bothers you … re-join us next week :) 


So how do we get cows pregnant without a bull? We use artificial insemination of course! Why use A.I.? Because bulls are DANGEROUS! Especially Jersey bulls. Jersey cows are fairly docile and curious but the bulls are some of the meanest around.  Another reason for using A.I. is to increase genetic diversity in your herd. Instead of using 1 or 2 bulls to breed the whole herd you can use as many different bulls as you like and switch up the lineup from year to year.
PictureNot my cows!! I borrowed this picture from DairyNZ but you get the idea. A cow being ridden, as is happening in this picture, is the gold star in terms of signs of heat. http://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/reproduction/heat-detection/
With that said, A.I.  is a lot of work! To start with, somebody (specially trained handlers) somewhere (bull studs) has to collect and freeze the semen from the bulls.  Once this is done, the semen is shipped to people like me who pick out bulls based on an array of stats and pictures listed baseball card style but in a catalog. Once the little straws of semen arrive, they are stored in a liquid nitrogen tank until the cow is ready to be bred. We call this being ‘in heat’.  Basically being ‘in heat’ means she is in the part of her cycle where she is about to ovulate (release an egg). This is also the time when she is most receptive to being bred whether by the bull or by an A.I. technician. Catching them ‘in heat’ is usually the hardest part of A.I. breeding. There are some very obvious visual signs like when other cows jump on their rump much like a bull would do or when they have a significant change in their behavior or a temporary drop in milk production. Some cows show ALL of these signs. However, some cows only show one of these signs ONE time each heat cycle so if you aren’t watching at exactly the right time, you miss it. And some cows don’t show ANY signs at all! ​

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The semen is stored in liquid nitrogen tanks like this one.
Ok, so you’ve found a cow in heat. NOW what? Well, now you warm up the straw filled with semen in a warm water bath and then load it into your AI gun. Gun?! That sounds scary right?? It’s not.  An AI gun is just a thin metal rod that is small enough to fit through the cervix of the cow without causing harm.  ​I should also mention that the rod is covered with a disposable plastic sheath that has a rounded tip. This for sanitation - the plastic sheath is changed in between every cow - no exceptions.  It is also covers any sharp edges to protect the cow!
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The blue end that I am pointing to is the end that goes in the cow - to deposit the semen you press the plunger on the other end.
PictureLoooong pink glove (aka breeder's sleeve)!
Now that you are prepared to breed the cow, the important thing is to keep the loaded gun warm and to work quickly – once the straw is warm you have 10 minutes max to get the job done. 
Up until now we’ve stayed pretty clean but that’s all about to end. Now it’s time to pull on that looong pink glove and gently insert your lubed (yes lubed – we’re not jerks!) hand into the cow’s rectum. I know that all sounds very mean but a cow’s rectum/intestine are rather large and easily accommodates a human arm – maybe not a sumo wrestler arm – you do have to be realistic. But why do this in the first place?? Because the intestinal walls are thin enough that we can feel the cow’s reproductive organs through them. This allows trained breeders to quickly and safely guide the AI gun through the vagina and cervix and juuuust inside the uterus where the semen is then deposited. And that’s it! Now all that’s left is to gently remove the gun from the cow, return her to the herd and clean up!  ​

**This is by no means a tutorial for breeding cows – if you want to learn this task please work with a knowledgeable, experienced, technician and/or take a class!** 

And on that note .. 
​

Enjoy! 
​
Brun Ko Farm
 

P.S. Special thanks to that 11 year old girl! Never stop asking questions!!
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Meet Our Herd: 26160

2/7/2016

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26160, affectionately known as AJ, has a unique position in our herd. AJ is Abby's 2nd calf, and the first calf born at Brun Ko Farm! As such, she has always been just a tad (read: a lot) spoiled. NP makes it a point to ‘make friends’ with all of the critters on the farm but AJ is by far the most receptive to his attempts.  She’ll push through the crowd every time, to get front and center at the gate where NP is handing out ear scratches.


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AJ (26160) enjoying a sunny corner of the barn.
​AJ is approaching 2 years old and is pregnant with her first calf! She joined the ranks of the other heifers a month or so ago when she was confirmed pregnant and received her ear tags! Now, most calves are given ear tags when they are born. This is important for quick and easy identification. However, AJ being the only one on the place with no tags, a fair bit younger than the rest of the herd, and having her own particular attitude, we weren’t too worried about losing track of her! And we still really aren’t but after Lily (AJ’s half sister) was born, we decided it was about time that AJ graduate and get ‘ear rings’ like the rest of the girls ;).
AJ as a baby!
Hangin' with the 'big girls'. AJ is the one sandwiched in the middle :)
Close up!
AJ last fall - can you see a bit of her attitude??
​​AJ currently lives in the same pen with Abby and 54. She might have the humans at Brun Ko wrapped around her finger but she tends to be at the bottom of the totem pole when grouped with the rest of the heifers so we put her in the pen with the more bunk space and less competition at meal time! In fact, Abby and 54 are fed in the stanchions, so AJ has only herself to blame if she doesn’t get her fair share of the grain.

Enjoy!
​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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