It wasn't long after my last post that calving season came to a fairly abrupt end. On January 12, 14, and 18, my remaining pregnant ladies each delivered. Gender ended up one heifer and three bulls. All are healthy and each was delivered unassisted. I was able to catch one at the right time and supervise. Since I had three heifers born in July and early August, the total for the 12-month period is four girls and three boys. I'm happy with that.
Not long after my last post in which I mentioned that I have realized I need to reduce my herd, I got a call from a gentleman I met at my local feed store. We chatted for about five minuets, and he made a note of my name and phone number. That was almost a year ago. Long story shortened, he and his wife wanted to start a herd for their small property and purchased three cows and two heifers. One of the cows is one of my ladies that gave me the heifer in January and she'll take her along. I'll be breeding them before they leave.
This leaves me with six females ready to breed and two 6-month old heifers for possible replacements, perhaps for sale. This reduction will reduce my stocking rate significantly. I think this will give me a bigger cushion for low-rain months and allow some baling of the excess if it arrives. We'll see.
Also, I received a few calls on the sale heifers I have posted in the classifides on the Miniature Hereford Breeder Association website asking for videos. I just posted my first in the ad today. Still a learning curve involved but its not as hard as I thought. I purchased a film editing software called Movavi. It was only $40 (on sale) and is considered a beginner, basic level program. It is that. Simple, quick and quite intuitive. As a first effort I used a clip I shot one afternoon while placing hay for the new mothers. While they were eating their calves decided on a group-play. Here it is.