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Shots in the Dark

3/27/2016

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If you happened past my in-law’s at 9pm last Friday and saw lots of lights and strange happenings in the pasture – no, we weren’t invaded by aliens – Dallas, NP and I were vaccinating the heifers.

Why at 9pm?

Because, NP and I both have off farm jobs and by the time the work day was done and all other essential items were crossed off the list, that was the time that we had left!
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Vaccinations are a key part (but not the only part) to preventing illness and we take it very seriously. We work with our veterinarian to determine which vaccines we need to give our critters (cows, horse, and dogs!) as well as when and how to give them.
​Being a vet for Brun Ko Farm is probably hard work due to my curious nature and need to know! I have to give Dr. Jodie a shout out for being so patient and thorough in answering my questions! 
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NP and Dallas set up our makeshift working chute while I picked up pizza for a late supper!
​So, most recently, at 9pm on a rainy night, NP and Dallas set up a working chute and we vaccinated the heifers that are due to calve in May with a  vaccine called Scour Bos. I won’t get into all the nitty gritty of it, but buying vaccines can feel kind of like buying cereal in a grocery store – a handful of companies all manufacture similar but slightly different products. Scour Bos is one of several vaccines that is given to a pregnant cow but that actually benefits the calf en utero. You see, mothers have this fantastic ability to provide immunity to their offspring. They do this in utero via the placenta where antibodies pass from mother to babe and also after the calf is born via the antibodies they provide in their colostrum, or first milk. Read more about colostrum here.
On this particular night, we were giving a vaccine that will protect the (unborn) calves against several different causes of scours, aka diarrhea.

Other things we vaccinate for at Brun Ko Farm include blackleg & some common bovine respiratory viruses. Different farms and different parts of the country face different challenges – meaning each farmer has to work with his or her vet to develop a vaccination schedule that is best for their unique situation.
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We also replaced Jersey's weaner (nose ring) that night. Yes, her name is Jersey. Which is ironic because she is the only bovine we have that is not full blooded Jersey!
A little known fact is that vaccines have withdrawal times just like antibiotics or other drugs. A withdrawal time is a minimum amount of time that must pass after a drug is given and before the animal goes to slaughter. One reason this probably doesn’t come up in discussion much is that vaccines are generally given early in life and at specific, scheduled time points – none of which are anywhere near slaughter age.  I will write more about withdrawal times in the future.

In addition to deciding which vaccines are best for our herd, we also have to make sure that we are giving them in an appropriate manner so that the vaccine has the best chance of doing its job and also to ensure that we aren’t compromising the quality of meat in the future.

Morris Veterinary Center PSC does a good job of further explaining how vaccines work and also the protocols that farmers follow to ensure that they are administering the vaccines properly. You find that info at http://www.morrisvetcenter.com/morrisvet/Livestock/Bovine-Vaccinations.asp

**Thank you Dallas for the pictures!!**

With that, thanks for reading and as always,
​
Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm
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Green!

3/15/2016

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​We are finally seeing some green!  NP and I are trying our hand at starting seeds this year and it is oh so nice to be seeing green in March!

So, since this is our 1st go at starting our veggies indoors, we’re sure to learn a lot along the way!

**Warning**
Our system is NOT fancy. But, it does incorporate values that are important to us here at Brun Ko Farm like sustainability, efficiency, and frugality (frugality is a word-I looked it up!). 
​We are growing our seeds in a little green house in front of the only ‘old’ window left in the house. The house was built in 1902(ish) and we have slowly replaced all of the windows except one. Unfortunately, all of our new windows filter out many of the sun’s rays and plants don’t seem to grow very well in front of them! To help combat our shortage of unfiltered sunlight, we have enlisted the help of grow lights. Grow lights are lights that produce the specific wavelengths of light that plants need to grow. To prevent overly tall, gangly seedlings, we will need to keep the grow lights within 2-4 inches of the seedlings. More sophisticated systems have the grow lights hanging from chains and they can be adjusted up and down as the seedlings grow. Our system is rather crude and I am simply stacking boxes under the trays of seedlings to reach the proper placement! If it works well, we will devise a better system next year. :)
Greenhouse in front of the only 'old' window left!
See how I've stacked boxes to get the plants closer to the light? We're changing that!
Just starting to pop through!
I covered the pots with plastic wrap to help keep them moist during the germination stage.
See how these seedlings are so spindly? We need to add some more grow lights!
Newspaper pots that we made this winter!
PictureMaking the newspaper pots went quickly once we developed a rhythm!
​ We planted the seeds in newspaper pots and homemade potting soil. Remember all that compost the cows graciously provide us with? Well, it came in handy for this project! I have the pots nestled in miscellaneous Rubbermaid containers, including some drawers from Rubbermaid dressers! The potting soil was a no-brainer since we had all of the components sitting around. We used compost, perlite, and peat moss this year. Next year, I want to substitute coconut coir for the peat moss as the coconut coir is a by-product of the coconut industry and as such is a renewable resource whereas the jury is out about peat moss.

Remember, that I said one of the things we value is efficiency? It could be argued that making newspaper pots is not efficient because it takes a lot of time. But really, it didn’t take that much time once I got a rhythm down. Also, we made them over the winter while tending the woodstove so it didn’t feel like wasted time. We were tending the stove (getting warm!) and creating a useful product and recycling all at the same time! Also, it will save time and stress on the plant when we can transplant them directly into the ground this Spring without disturbing the roots when we take them out of plastic trays. And then there’s the $$ it saves …. :)

Our first ‘lesson’ so far was dealing with white mold growing in the seedlings. To help keep the seeds damp for germination, I covered the containers with plastic wrap to help hold in moisture. Once the seedlings all poked through the soil, I removed the plastic wrap to find white mold growing in addition to the seedlings! Air circulation seems to be the answer to this problem though and the mold has fizzled out since I removed the plastic wrap cover.

Currently, we have broccoli, a variety of peppers and pansies poking through. I couldn’t resist starting some flowers while we were at it! :)
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And I bet ya thought this was going to be about green beer ;) Happy Saint Patty’s Day all!!

Enjoy!
Brun Ko Farm

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What is that thing?!

3/7/2016

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What is that thing in her nose?!
 
This is one of the most common questions we get from visitors at Brun Ko Farm. And I have to admit, our heifers look pretty ‘punk-rock’.

As much fun as it is to tell visitors that those nose rings are a part of the heifers’ personal style, reality is a little less enchanting. Those nose rings (called Edming weaners or suckers) actually prevent the heifers from sucking on each other’s developing udders.

Why don’t all heifers have weaners? Because not all heifers develop this bad habit.

Why did ours? Well, my theory is that in large part, it’s because some of them were raised in a group pen as calves. Sucking on things is a very natural thing for calves to do. When their bottle is empty, they turn to other objects. Gates, bottle holders, buckets, fingers, and if available fellow animals.
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Generally, the habit goes away as they transition onto solid food only. Now, I really can’t explain why group raised calves seem to hold on to the habit except that they must get some sort of satisfaction from sucking on each other that they don’t get from inanimate objects. In fact one heifer can actually induce lactation or a ‘pseudo-lactation’ in the heifer that they are sucking on. So in essence, the heifer doing the sucking is eventually rewarded with ‘milk’ from the udder of the heifer they are sucking on.
PictureHere I am pointing to one of the bumps I mentioned - these weaners obviously aren't very strong (and probably not very effective!) as all the other bumps wore off!
___And this ‘pseudo-lactation’ is why the sucking behavior is a problem in the first place. Heifers that get sucked on, often suffer damage to their udder, which affects true lactation later in life. They can also develop mastitis (an infection of the udder) and I have even seen heifers die due to this behavior and the infections and problems that it can cause. This is one reason why I feel very strongly about raising our bottle calves in individual hutches. You can read my post about calf accomodations here.

Because of these rather doom and gloom side effects, we do anything and everything we can to stop the sucking behavior. These temporary orange plastic weaners are actually our first step. Let’s use 57 and 58 (two of our heifers) as an example.  Let’s say that 58 has been sucking on 57’s udder. The first time (and every time) that 58 tries to suck after we give her this orange weaner, 57 should feel uncomfortable because of the bumps and spikes and kick 58 away.  So basically, as long as 58 has this weaner in, she shouldn’t be able to suck on any of the others. The theory is that while these weaners won’t stay in forever, they will stay in long enough to break the habit.


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The weaners come in two parts. This shows what they look like assembled. The u shaped bar is the part that goes in the heifer's nose. You then bend the prongs of the bar back to hold it in place.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case with our critters. We even tried separating the worst perpetrator of the bunch for a couple of months. 58 lived with the horse for a while. And Rusty (the horse) doesn’t take much misbehaving so our theory was that not only was she separated from her cohorts but that he would put her in her place should she try out the habit on him.

Well, that didn’t work either. So we use these rather harsh looking metal Edming weaners. They are a more permanent solution and have more 'poke' to them, eliciting a stronger response. 

The first time that you put one in you do have to pierce their nose in order to do it. However it heals much like any other piercing and if you have to replace it down the road (which we will be doing this weekend :/ ) it’s not much different than changing out a pair of ear rings. Except for the restraining a 700 – 800lbs animal to do it! Normally, we would put them in a stanchion much like we do when milking them and it is very low stress for the animal and the handler both. Unfortunately, they are currently in a pasture with no access to a headlock so we are going to have to get creative with gates. IF we have an extra set of hands to run a camera I will share pictures with you next week!

Until then,
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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