Thursday, June 4, 2015

The annual well-baby visit...

Yesterday the calves had their well-baby check ups!



We had lots of helpful hands, including my cousin's son, Jake.  He was the lucky winner of the "hold the tail" job.  He also had to push the calves into the head-gate and then out of it when the shots were finished.


 The calves were counted,
vaccinated for pink eye and given a dewormer,
 and implanted with a growth hormone to boost production performance.  After spending all of about a minute and a half in the chute, they were sent on their way, back out to the nice green grass and shady trees!












In today's media, there is so much bad information about growth implants, but here are some FACTS:
  • a 3 ounce serving of non-implanted beef contains 1.3 nanograms of estrogen
  • a 3 ounce serving of implanted beef contains 1.85 nanograms of estrogen
  • a 3 ounce serving of peas contains 341 nanograms of estrogen,
and it was explained to me (by our nutritionist from Dekalb Feeds) that a nanogram is equivalent to 1 blade of grass on a football field. For more information, click here to read more from the University of Nebraska.

The cows also got to take a turn in the chute, too, receiving a new fly tag and a splash of de-louser.  These will keep them SO much more comfortable this summer!  You know what they say, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"!

My job was to stay out of the way and take farm-girl selfies!




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