Monthly Archives: July 2012

by | July 26, 2012

Leaving a Legacy

I have been doing a lot of studying about finding your passion and discovering values.  While I will not go into all of it at the moment, I will take a look at leaving a legacy.

Legacy:

leg·a·cy  From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/legacy

 [leg-uh-see]  Show IPA noun, pluralleg·a·cies.

1.  Law . a gift of property, especially personal property, as money, by will; a bequest.
2. anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor: the legacy of ancient Rome.
3. an applicant to or student at a school that was attended by his or her parent.
4. Obsolete . the office, function, or commission of a legate.
For the purposes here, I will use definition #2 above.  I choose to think about a legacy as simply how others will remember you.  It is what people will say about you when you retire, when you move from one area to another, from job to job and at your funeral.  I have had this topic on my mind today in light of one of our employees retiring and some recent current events.
Penn State Nittany Lions head coach Joe Patern...

 Joe Paterno . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Let’s look at the situation that happened at Penn State University and their football program.  First let me say that the things that transpired are nothing short of barbaric.  It is a shame to see that children get abused and that people turned their heads.  I am not going to get into details or opinions at this time.  What I want to focus on is the thought of legacy as it pertains to one person in the story, the let Joe Paterno.
Joe Paterno has reigned as the head football coach at Penn State for many decades.  Up until 1 week ago, he held the spot at the pinnacle of college football as the coach with the most division 1 (FBS or BCS or whatever it is now) wins.  He was  ahead of everybody.  Not only did he achieve great success in terms of wins, but he was known as a humble man, great role model, and mentor.  At the time of his passing in late 2012, he still lived in the same house that he and his wife had purchased 60 years ago, though his salary cold have easily justified a house many times bigger and greater.  Throughout the years he has donated a lot of money back to the university, even giving over a million dollars for a library to be built.  Not only that, but he served to mentor student athletes through a critical time period of their lives, helping many to achieve their ultimate dram of playing in the Nation Football League and many others to successfully navigate the waters of a large university to successfully earn a degree and begin a career.  Though all of this, there never seemed to be stories or rumors of cheating, nor recruiting violations that are so rampant in College Football today.
Enter the story of Jerry Sandusky.  No matter JoPa‘s role in the scandal, whether he knew or not, his image is tarnished forever.  Gone are the thoughts of Joe Paterno (except with the faithful PSU fans, alumni, students, and former players) and here are the thoughts that he knew.  The thoughts that he may have turned the other cheek.  Regardless of the facts and truth, Joe Paterno will always be known going forward as the all-powerful football coach, under whose tenure many boys were sexually abused, raped, and molested.  He had no role in the actual activity, yet he is judged under the guise that he was in charge.  He must have known is the thought.
My point is not to focus on this horrendous story and its details, nor do I want to pass judgement.  My main thought is to see that a life lived can be ruined in the end.  I have no doubt in my mind that Joe Paterno, the man, was great in all that he did for Penn State and the many men that he mentored and molded.  What I do know is that 59 years of being held on a pedestal came crashing down and his legacy will forever be tarnished.  (Crashing down is in this sense as the statue that was erected of Joe Paterno on the Penn State campus was removed last week under tarps and secrecy).  How much better could his legacy have been had he spoken up? (assuming that he knew about the monster on his coaching staff)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - JANUARY 22: Candles, many ...

Statue of Joe Paterno:. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

So that got me to thinking (or at least continued and focused my thinking a bit)…..what is my legacy going to be?  What will people say about me when I leave my job?  What will people say about me when I move from this current area?  What will people say about me when I die?  In fact, what do people say about me now?  What is my legacy?
I encourage you to think about your legacy and then focus on changing that legacy for the better or finishing your current good legacy strong!  I have some thinking and evaluating to do to look within my and choose my legacy!
Until Next Time!
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by | July 24, 2012

Getting Closer

So we are getting close to the first point in time that we may have had success breeding these Red Poll Cows.  This Friday will mark the 21 day point from when the first cow was possibly in heat.  We will need to chalk their tails and then monitor for signs of heat.  Once again, these include jumping, standing to be ridden, bellowing, clear vaginal discharge and increased walking/ pacing.  We are of course hoping that all three cows “caught,” or became pregnant.  We would be thrilled with two out of three.

Monday of next week marks the 21 day point from when they were bred.  We will monitor the cows for signs of heat through the weekend and into the following week.  Ideally we will ultrasound them on day 28, but that day may not be possible.  I will begin to palpate for pregnancy at 35 days and again at day 42.  This should very easily confirm pregnancy, though 35 day palpation is somewhat difficult to accomplish.

Though we had to abandon the thought of zero hormones, we were able to get by so far on one simple injection.  The advantages of this protocol were several.  First of all, we were able to breed all three cows at the same time.  This allows them to be monitored, ultrasounded and palpated all at the same time.  Secondly, this will help to tighten up our calving season.  We should very well know the breeding dates, which makes the due dates known as well.  (though cows vary in their length of gestation).  Third, we are able to move them around to the fields and pastures that are farther away from the barn for the weeks in between breeding and rechecking them.  This helps us to use more pasture.  Since we do not have to monitor for heat cycles, we do not need the cows to be close up to the barn and observation area.

Well, that is it for now.  Until Next Time!

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by | July 22, 2012

Sustainability in Third World Countries?

Is sustainability achievable in third world countries?  I am not certain the answer at the moment, but the thought crossed my mind this morning during a church service.

So to start, let’s evaluate why that would be of benefit?  Well first off, I will focus on Haiti.  We recently sent a team from our church to Haiti to serve the children there.  Then we packed 2400 one pound bags of food to send down.  Each bag will feed 6 people for one meal.  There are some statistics that may be relevant here:

1)  Population 9,993,000

2)  45,000 deaths under the age of 5

3)  80% of Haitians live on less that $2 per day, 60% on less than $1 per day

4)  It is the third hungriest country in the world

5)  The average Haitian eats one meal a day, which also means that many do not eat at all

6)  The region is heavily deforested and the soil is very low in fertility.

There are a lot of reasons to develop a sustainable lifestyle for Haitians.  There are many orphans that are either poorly treated slaves or basically homeless.  The poverty level is so low that there is little recourse for food, other than to buy it at the local market.  Many people eat dirt pies, which contain a large amount of internal parasites.  These parasites could easily be treated for about 2 cents per treatment.

Now imagine a group of people who can grow their own food and even preserve their own seeds.  This would involve a lot of work building up the soil.  Composting techniques and rotational planting would aide in building the soil structure and nutrients.  The Haitians would need to be taught how to plant, cultivate, harvest and preserve their harvest.    Discipline and security would be vitally important as the temptation to eat every bit of food rather than to eat the seeds.  The security would be required to protect the harvest.

In third world countries, the problem is often times the government.  The government typically has a lot of money and even accepts poverty support from other countries.  This support is used by the government, rather than given to the people that need it the most.  Third world countries often times have a caste system as well.  Creating a sustainable environment, or lifestyle, would possibly circumvent this government suppression of the people.

Well, sorry for the jumbled post, but I have at least been thinking along these lines today.  Who knows what will come of it!

Until Next Time!

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by | July 15, 2012

Plantain

Plantain may be one image

of the most readily available plants in the midwest, yet its benefits are not very well known.  It (along with jewel weed) is a great remedy for the instant burning and swelling the accompanies a close encounter with stinging nettles.  Plantain salve can also help with insect bites and bee stings. 

All that is needed is a few leaves of the plantain plant and a way to place it into solution (usually by chewing).  This salve or paste is then applied to the stinging, burning, or irritated spot.  The soothing relief is almost immediate.

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by | July 14, 2012

Thirsting for rain

The ground is absolutely ravished and thirsting for rain.  Here’s hoping that today provides some much needed plant watering!

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by | July 10, 2012

Breeding protocol for Beef Cattle

Here is the protocol that we used for breeding these cows during this breeding season.  The first step in any process is heat detection.  If heats can not be observed, a timed breeding protocol has to be used.  Oddly enough, the conception rate is 0% on cows that do not get bred in the first place.  (i.e. no semen = no babies)

So what does a heat look like in cattle?  First of all cows will have a bloody discharge about 24 to 12 hours prior to being ready to breed, then a clear discharge takes over.  The most reliable, or at least easiest, method of heat detection relies upon monitoring from a distance.  The cows should be watched for a half hour or so twice a day.  The cow that is getting ready to breed will tend to jump on the back end of other cows, simulating that which a bull would normally do.  THe cow that gets jumped will either immediately walk away or stand to allow that other cow to ride.  If she stands there, that cow is in heat and the other cow may simply be responding to her hormones and jumping.  Te cow that stands to allow riding behavior is termed in “standing heat.:”  This cow should be bred immediately.  The jumping cow should be monitored, but she may be coming in as well.

Now on to what we did:  The three cows were monitored for a day or two and one was possibly jumping the others.  The day after that (due to needing to get safe facilities in place) all three cows were locked in and palpated.  At that time, we determined that one cow had an ovulation depression.  This means that we missed her.  The other two cows had corpus leteums.  These cows were givin Lutalyse (prostaglandin F2 alpha).   This knocks the CL our of the way to allow heat to kick in.

The next day one cow had a mucous discharge.  This is likely due to the lutalyse and not a sign of true heat.  The next day, two of the three cows were jumping one another and in standing heat.  In comes the semen and both were bred.  The conception rate will traditionally be better than 50% when standing heat is observed.  Time will tell as we need to watch them for heat in 21 days.  If no heat is noted, they will get palpated at 35 and 42 days.

 

Until Next time!

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by | July 9, 2012

Red Poll Beef Cattle Breeding Night

Tonight was an exciting night here at Heritage Breeds Farm.  We bred all three of our foundation cows tonight.  The headlock project got completed last week, so we were able to palpate the cows on Friday. One cow was possible jumping the others (showing heat) that day, but we were not able to breed her that day.  All three got palpated on Saturday.  Two of the three were at a good stage to give them Lutalyse (prostaglandin F2 alpha) at that time.  The third cow seemed to be just coming out of heat, but too late to breed her.

After giving Lutalyse, cows will typically show heat in 48 to 72 hours.  This evening, two of the three cows were jumping on the others trying to “ride.”  This is typically a sign of heat.  Some people prefer to breed right away, others to wait about 12 hours to observe for true standing heat.  This is where the cow gets jumped but the other cows and will stand there for the other to mount her.  We elected to breed tonight, as it was better timing and worked out much better than trying to scramble in the morning.

We bred the two that were in heat and check the third.  Sure enough, she had a very good mucous discharge and very good tone, so we bred her as well.

Though we were hoping to go completely hormone free, we had to compromise in order to catch the girls in heat.  At some point, the economics of missing their heat cycles outweighed the slight risk that these hormones pose.  We figured that the calves are not getting the hormones and that the cows were only getting a small amount.  Maybe someday we will go to bull breeding, which will eliminate the need for heat detection.

So the next step will be to observe the cows for heat in 21 days.  We will actually watch them for heat in 18 days, since that sill time up with the possible first heat cycle that was shown at the end of last week.

If not heats are observed, hopefully that means that the cows are pregnant.  That is not a guarantee, though.  At 35 days they will get palpated for early pregnancy check, then confirmed at 42 to 50 days.  WE are considering fetal sexing at day 120 to both confirm pregnancy and satisfy our curiosity.

Any questions and comments are very encouraged and welcomed.

Until Next time

 

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by | July 8, 2012

It’s Like Heat Wave

For those of us in the Midwest portion of the US, it has been a heat wave of late.  4 days of solid heat alerts.  The grass is very brown, dry and brittle.  It slightly hurts to walk across the grass in bare feet, as the grass is basically like dried evergreen needles.  Luckily for us at Heritage Breeds Farm. there is nearly always a breeze.  This serves to at least keep it somewhat cool in most areas.

English: Night photo of tumbleweeds.

English: Night photo of tumbleweeds. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The humidity seems to be the worst part of it.  A simple task such as weeding produces beads of sweat in a minute or two.  It seems as though the animals are coping well though.  Our cattle tend to hole up in the barn until mid-afternoon, at which point they head for the shade of the few trees in our pasture.  They head down to the lower part and lay down, simply resting and batting at the flies.

Heritage Breed Cattle

Heritage Breed Cattle (Photo credit: sfgamchick)

 

The chickens seem to be taking the heat a bit harder than the cows.  They are almost panting as they walk around.  Their only relief seems to come from the dirt baths that they seem to constantly be taking.  I guess it is good for weed control, but their baths sure make a mess.

 

I am in search of an organic means of fly control and repellent for the cattle.  I am thinking about Citronella in some form or another.  I also wondered about Diatomaceous earth, though the girls don’t seem to care much for the taste.  Perhaps the heat wave will keep the fly population down.

 

Well, stay cool out there.  They are at least predicting a bit of a break from the upper 90s through the next week.  Now if we could get some rain!

 

Until Next time!

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by | July 4, 2012

Heritage Breeds : Araucana Chickens (The Easter Eggers)

Ameraucana chickens (AKA Araucanas or Easter Egger Chickens) are a heritage breed of chicken that are unique in many ways.  First of all to clear the air a bit, “easter egger chickens” are not a true breed, but rather a combination of breeds that tend to lay eggs of various colors.  This is important to note because Araucana and Ameraucana chickens are breeds, which are recognized by the American Poultry Association(APA).

An immature Easter Egger pullet.

 

Araucanas are recognized as a dual purpose breed.  They grow at a moderate rate as far as meat production.  They tend to lay blue and green eggs, which is what is their most distinctive trait.  Another unique trait that the Araucanas possess is the tufts behind their ears.  This makes them easy to recognize from a distance.  Furthermore, the breed is rumpless.  This means that they have no tail and lack a tailbone altogether.

Araucanas are one of the only breeds to lay bl...

Araucanas are one of the only breeds to lay blue or green eggs, and can be recognized by their lack of tail and distinctive ear tufts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Due to several factors, Araucana chickens are difficult to reproduce.  This is often due to traits associated with the rumpless genes.  Oftentimes the chicks can die in their eggs at 18-21 days of incubation.  The breeding of a rumpless rooster to a rumpless hen can result in severe shortening of the backbone.  This leads to either culling from the gene pool or the inability to breed back altogether.

The Aruacana breed does remain a popular one, due to the special tinting of their eggs.  They tend to lay green eggs, but colors can vary from green to blue to even a pink color.  A lot of chicken fanciers like to raise them simply for the fun of walking out to discover a rainbow array of eggs.

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by | July 3, 2012

Research and Grants

A Santa Cruz sheep at the Roger Williams Park ...

A Santa Cruz sheep at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Providence, RI (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am currently looking into the possibilities of grants to help preserve rare breeds of livestock and poultry. I have been contacted about a herd of 37 Santa Cruz sheep, which are the rarest of rare domesticated sheep. I have also been trying to locate a source of Beltsville White Turkeys to begin a flock of some of the rarest turkeys. I also have plans to order Barred Holland Chickens and possibly San Clemente Island Goats.

Please let me know of any opportunities that may be available.

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