Sorting Buffalo Calves

Yesterday's weather was warm and breezy-not bad for February. We spent the afternoon sorting the calves off the herd and running the cows through the chute for their annual checkup. We want to have this done before the cows starting having their babies in April.

This is one of those annual jobs I dread because the bison are wild and unpredictable. The herd knows the routine but of course doesn't like it. The calves haven't a clue and just want to be with mom. So it can be a dangerous job for both them and us because they move so quick.

I called them into the work facility pens for treats, which I had been doing for several days so they automatically go in to find them. But yesterday I didn't get the gate closed right away and the cows all tore out, knowing I was trying to catch them. After another hour and a half, they went back and we started our sorting.

Sweethearts

When "sweetheart" is used as a noun, it means:

1. One who is loved.
2. Used as a familiar term of endearment.
3. Informal
a. A person regarded as generous or lovable.
b. Something cherished for its excellent qualities.

A sweetheart can be your spouse or special friend, or your mailman that brings the mail to your door when the sidewalks are icy.

A sweetheart can be your son's teacher that takes the extra time to be sure he understands the day's lesson, or a person from the past that you smile fondly about when thinking of them.

For many of us, pets are our sweethearts- be they cats, dogs, canaries or even a bison bull named Bandit. (He was over two ton in weight, but always calm and respectful of his herd and us.)

Mile High Buffalo

We spent last Saturday at the National Western Stock Show. This sixteen-day event started in 1906 and features livestock shows and sales, horse events, rodeos, and commercial exhibits.

The first time I went to the Stock Show was in 1960 when I was almost six years old. Mom and us kids got on the train in Lindsborg and rode out to meet Dad. He helped his uncle bring Hereford cattle to the show during the 1950-1960s.

It had been a number of years since we made the trip to the Stock Show, so I looked forward to it.

The finale of the bison conference was the Gold Trophy Show and Sale that was held at the Stock Show. We didn't buy any bison, but might look at calves next year for a future breeding bull.

Frozen Water Tank

Last week I talked about the nice weather we've been having... and at the moment it's 5 degrees and it's snowing. I'm sure my newletter readers up north would think that is warm compared to what they are enduring today, while readers in Florida are wearing shorts and enjoying warm sun!

I drove over to the work pens an hour ago when I saw the cows were walking in for water. Sure enough the little drinking cup in the top of the water tank had ice in it because it had been overnight since they were last in for water. It only takes me one "knock and flip out the chunk of ice" with a screw driver while it's more work for them to have to lick it out, so I got out into the cold to help them out.

Buffalo Enjoy Warm Weather too

While it was nice today I wandered outside and I took some photos of the buffalo calves. Remember my story of Blind Danny and the buffalo "brother" that lead him around? (We had a blind calf that survived his first year with the help of another calf.)
Well bull brother #703 is now taking care of the three new calves. If you don't know "buffalo body language" you wouldn't realize what's going on between them, but we can see it.

While I was taking photos, the four of them moved together- #703 in front, and the three little ones behind peeking around him. #703 is a happy camper protecting and teaching again.

A New Year

Today I'm cleaning up from having company and thinking about my goals for 2009. I want to get back to writing again. Realistically I don't have blocks of time for my next book series while running the Bison Farm, but I can work in blogs and articles about my favorite subjects- buffalo and the prairie.

I cruised websites about blogging while watching TV and then looked at my latest photos that I had downloaded from my camera- to see what I could add to the next newsletter.

My mind went immediately from the noise of the TV, clothes washer, and clicking of my keyboard...to the silence of a windy hill we had visited while my sister was here. On top of my late uncle's pasture is an old abandoned cemetery that was started in the 1870s.

I walked through the scattered rows of stones looking and taking photos of these past sorrowful events. The wind fluttered the overgrown weeds and trees around the silent tombstones. Many young wives and children were laid to rest, never getting to live out their lives as their families had hoped. Now there are just elaborate stones left in a pasture.

It made me think of what I've done in the past, and what potential I have for my future. I have the new year of 2009 ahead of me. What shall I see, do, and experience? Watch to see what I do with it!

It's a wrap for Au Pair, Kansas

The "Au Pair, Kansas" movie film crew finished their scenes with the actors here last Friday before the snow hit. (And the cows were happy to wrap it up too.)

One young actor in this movie, Spencer Daniels, (who also plays the young Brad Pitt character in the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" which opens Christmas Day) wasn't so sure he wanted to get close to the fence when he was supposed to open their gate (but it was just a pretend motion of opening it).

Cow Colorado did a stomp and snort, which sent everybody back away from the fence line in a hurry. I told the crew to wrap it up quick because the buffalo were done with their scenes...

Touch of Winter Weather

Tuesday morning arrived with snow creating a ground blizzard, and giving the new calves their first coating of snow. It made me wish I could brush off their snowy faces and backs and give them a warm hug, but you can't do that with buffalo.

Long johns were our topic of discussion inside the Visitors Center because the packing room didn't feel much warmer than the walk-in freezer with the north wind hitting our hilltop location.

Seems like we were just wearing short-sleeved shirts a short time ago, and now into many layers to keep warm. Winter has arrived and the buffalo's fur coat looks a lot warmer than my long johns...

Full Freezer

Our last weekend was spent packing coolers for a special order that went out on Monday. It was a big company project we've been working and it was so satisfying to know we did a good job for the customer. I'm sure their clients will be impressed with our Kansas bison steaks!

Now we're getting ready for next Monday's shipping. I hope you'll place your order today so it's on the truck next week!

Weather wise we're cold and windy here in Kansas- perfect weather for shipping meat coolers!

Lights-Camera-Action-Esther!

A movie is being filmed in the area, and one of the settings is at our bison farm. The film crew was here at 7:15 am last Friday (when it was a very cold 15 degrees) to shoot footage of the bison, both in the pasture and moving from one paddock to another. It took a while for the herd to be comfortable with the camera and strange people, but they just ignored them both after a while.

For one scene the herd needed to move and the producer said "Action" and Esther (leading the herd) practically pranced down the alley into a another paddock, just like she understood what she was supposed to do.

Over the next few weeks the cast will be coming in and shooting more scenes too, but Friday was just scenes of the buffalo roaming and doing what buffalo do...

My New Camera

I've dropped my camera - by accident- so many times (pasture and elsewhere) that the battery latch wouldn't hold anymore and I had to hold the camera "just so" to make it work.

With over 8,000 photos taken with my little Olympus, it was time to retire it. I ordered a bright fuchsia colored Olympus camera (better to find in the tall grass) and got it yesterday by UPS.

Now I can really zoom in on things! The first picture is taken just stepping out onto the porch, and the second is zooming in on the buffalo herd. I'm going to have lots of fun with this new camera. Look for better videos in the future too.

A Sad Decision

One of the "lows" of working with livestock is that some decisions must be made that are tough to make and follow through on. Yesterday afternoon I heard the rumble of Dyllan's car and wondered why he was coming in after school. Then I got a lump in my throat. Not only was Verne and Dyllan loading meat bulls to go to processing, but Little Danny was going with them.

To fill in my newer readers to my weekly diary, Little Danny was a blind calf born in June of 2007. He never left his mother's side to run and play with the other calves. Then we watched him run into fence lines, posts, and anything else that was in his way. Danny couldn't see.

For almost a week during one of the hottest days of that summer, the herd, including his mother, shunned him and wouldn't answer his frantic call of "Where are you?". They knew he was a liability to the herd. But by a miracle he survived, mostly because one of the other bull calves started answering back to Danny and become his "guide". He followed the herd by sound from then on.

During the winter he seemed to learn how many steps it took to come down the alley and make the turn to get to the water tank. You could almost watch him count them off.

When the vet came to do the ear tags for the calves last March, Danny followed the group into the pen and the vet got a good look at his eyes. They were brown and looked okay, but had severe cataracts in them.

Verne didn't have the heart to have the vet put him down, so Danny went to the summer pasture with the other bulls calves. One of his eyes turned white and went totally blind since June, but he got along okay since it's a big open pasture with no posts to run into.

But the bulls were moved back to our main pasture this last Saturday. What to do with Danny now? He was a little stunted dwarf compared to his brothers, and would never grow due to his lack of nuturtion his first year. And Danny was a danger to us, others, the herd (and fences) due to the fact he couldn't see what or where he was going while running.

So, while Danny was in the pen with the bulls, he was loaded up with the meat bulls and took his final ride in the trailer yesterday.

That was a "low" for me, but we gave him the best year we could, and a decision had to be made and followed though...

Turning the field over to the Buffalo

We start taking down signs, etc tomorrow, but visitors are still welcome to walk though the maze at half price this weekend. Just no more rides on the zip line, nor into the pasture to see the buffalo...

They've closed their pasture gate for the season!

After a bumper crop of pumpkins and vines- the pumpkin field is almost empty except for a few rejected leftovers. Of course that's the goal of this farm operation, which is to sell the whole crop. But it looks so bare now...

Frost hit here the other night so the Sudan Grass (which the maze field was planted in) has "freeze dried", or lost it's moisture.

As soon as we can clean out all the signs in the maze, and the activities in the field, it's ready for the buffalo to move in and take over the field.

They are eyeing those few remaining pumpkins.... (Watch the video link of the buffalo eating the pumpkins!)

Last Weekend Harrah

The weather looks great for our last maze weekend. The cool weather makes people think of fall and the last of the pumpkins will be picked for porch displays. We haven't had a freeze yet, so the maze is still green and pumpkins are still firm.

I'm guessing that 70 percent of our pumpkins have been sold out of the field, which is what we want to see by the end of the season. We'll sell another10-15 percent this final weekend. After all, the farmer's goal is to sell his/her crop. The buffalo are hoping there are a few pumpkins left for them though!

Thousands of people have taken the Prairie Tram ride out into the pasture to see the buffalo. I usually give the weekday tours for school field trips, and Dyllan and Verne do the weekend tours.

I'm amazed at how big the calves have gotten, and that's a main topic on the tram when people see the calves butt the mom's udder for milk. I'm sure the buffalo moms are about ready to say "That's enough, you're weaned from me!"

Calm, Cool and Sunny

After a busy weekend, Patty and I actually enjoyed two days of rain and solitude in our "pasture office". Of course that meant rescheduling school field trips, but better to postpone a week than cancel, or fight the mud.

Today the sun was out and we hosted two groups on opposite ends of life- a preschool, and an senior day care group- many that were in wheel chairs. We enjoyed both groups, and hope their time on the farm brought them all moments of fun, and lasting memories.

The weather turned absolutely gorgeous today, and the forecast is that this great weather will stay with us through Sunday.

If you don't have your home or business decorated with pumpkins yet, this is the weekend to get them. Whether it's at our farm, or in your own state. Get out and enjoy a local farmer's pumpkin patch and bring home some color!

Pumpkins-in-Wating

The light was just right this morning to take photos of the pumpkin field with the Visitors Center behind it.

As the weather gets cooler, more people head out to the farm to pick pumpkins. We're always amazed at how many pumpkins are hauled out of the field on the little wagons. It might be just two to five pumpkins per family, but at the end of the day, it does leave bare spots in the field.

The colors of fall is spectacular with the fruits of the field, the vines, and the various grasses and weeds in the pastures and fields as they mature and turn brown.

Fall is my favorite "season" color!

The school kids have been having a blast on their field trips to the Bison Farm.

They start with the Prairie Tram ride to see the buffalo, then the indoor "show and tell" program on how the Native Americans used the bison for their food, shelter, and clothing.

Next the kids shoot the pumpkin slingshot, have a sack lunch in our picnic area, and then the real fun begins! They explores all the different types of mazes, pump the water pumps for the duck race, and pick out their perfect pumpkin to take home,- all while running full blast in fresh country air!

Buffalo Pedicure

Cow Esther was ankle deep in mud this morning when I checked the water tank this morning. Freda had just gotten a drink and was rubbing and sloshing the water out of the tank, and I guess Esther thought it was time for a pedicure.

The calves are growing. Camille’s calf San Diego has finally turned brown now, so she blends in with the rest of the calves. Because they are used to me, they will sometimes wander closer to the fence, always sniffing the air, and me!

Putting On Coats

Our weather changed drastically Tuesday with the dropping temperatures and rain. The high yesterday was 61 degrees, with a stiff north wind. I reached into the closet for a jacket to wear anytime I was going outside. We'd welcome 61 degrees in the spring, but after our 90 plus degree heat we had last week, it feels cold.
So, maybe the buffalo are smart by starting their winter coat early.
We're also seeing other signs of winter approaching; the deer are more visible in the evening, the Snow-on-the-mountain milkweed is blooming, and we're seeing geese flying in formations in the sky.
And Takoda is just about done with his breeding season. Here's a cute photo of Takoda courting Freda. Her look just says "Whatever..."

Turning Towards the Sun

The local fields of sunflowers are starting to bloom. They turn their yellow heads with the sun until the seed sets. There are more sunflowers grown in Western Kansas and in drier climates, but we have a few farmers that grow it locally to rotate with their wheat ground.

Because sunflowers have a large tap root, it breaks through the hard pan that can form with grain crops. In other words it "fluffs up" the soil.

These seeds will be harvested when the stalks dry down this fall and they will be crushed for sunflower oil. The kind of sunflower seeds we eat, are called a confectionary variety and are different than the oil variety.