Winter Predators at Falster Farm -- December 2010

Its cold outside as the earth breathes in winter air, drawing fresh nourishment from the stars for another year of growth, invigorating the roots and underworld organisms; short daylight hours provide much needed rest for all living things. At this restful time of year we animal husbandry men must be more vigilant to the increased needs and opportunities for the creatures of the night.

More night time affords more hours to roam and find domestic prey that is resting this time of year. Some of the vermin and varmints we deal with here in East Texas are: wild hog, feral, dropped-off house cats, wild dog, raccoon, opossum, skunk, rat, bob cat, owl, and the most organized of them all - the coyote.

Our population of these vermin seems to be on the rise and demands on this farmer now require me to be on watch several nights per week to protect the cattle, goats, chickens, and of course our barn cat – “Col. Gustav Hoffman”. One of our previous interns constructed a concealed shooting blind over/above the chicken roost room and I can lay down up there and wait for the raccoon (or other) to enter the barn and make his kill. There is room enough for in my ‘blind’ me to enjoy a glass of wine with cheese as well as smoke a cigar while I await the nocturnal visitor(.s)

I have killed numerous coons, skunks and opossums from that little perch. I find Nancy’s dad’s old single shot .410 shotgun with #4 shells very effective on these would-be chicken killers. Seems my killing of them doesn’t communicate to their family; as, more of them always arrive in a short time and will till the weather warms up and other sources of prey become plentiful again in the wild.

Depicted in the photo above is a coyote that I dispatched 14 DEC 10. She (the coyote) is well fed and very beautiful. She was one of three attempting to stress our ducks (on the pond) to shore for a kill about 04:00. That same night in the adjacent paddock a calf was delivered, and there very likely would have been trouble if the coyote had not been pre-occupied warting (aggravating) those ducks.

This time of year we have a few calves being born and these coyotes get excited by the whiffs of afterbirth on the winter wind. So each morning I walk the pastures and look for a new birth – hopefully before the buzzards find it. But most times the calf is born in a draw or clump of bushes or trees as the mama wants to protect it from the creatures we are discussing. What I am blessed to see is the little bugger darting out to play on its new found legs and enjoying the first hours of new life.

I’m asked about predator incursions into our herds and flock: this has been a bad year for that. We have a mountain lion that makes this place a part of his/her 5 year circle, and it killed a $5,000 bred heifer and later carried off 2 goats without a trace – it’s a big one.

How to deal with each of the predators is based on being able to recognize the death scene signs to determine the course of action that will lead to termination of future deaths of our stock.

Each creature has a favorite way to kill and a way to handle what it’s killed. I know these things from the presence of my dad and grandpa in my life. As a child I watched how they garnered facts from the death scene of an animal and drew a conclusion from those facts. Based on their prognosis they would and I still do develop an action plan to return vengeance on that particular varmint and return security to the farm animals.

---- Next time I get a chance I'll discuss Each Varmint Has A Killing Method:

1st Fall 2010 Birth of Pure Bred Mini Hereford

http://www.falsterfarm.com/

1st fall 2010 Pure Bred Mini Hereford Born

In the providence of the creator the weather is cooling down and the earth's focus is shifting from upward growth to downward growth. It is time for those gestation cycles of our early spring breedings to bear fruit (282 days.) So it is depicted here; in this short clip of the birth of a fine, lusting for life, pure bred miniature Hereford bull calf. As I mentioned in a previous posting, the design of this farm is to have a one man operation, and; that includes a birthing area that is convenient for observation. To the South of my study is the orchard. 6 days ago Nancy observed the signs of this miniature mama cow's forthcoming delivery: swelling of the area across the tail head, the flesh looking flaccid, and then the udder starting to "bag up." So, due to the fact that she is a special cow I moved her in from the rest of the herd (of about 80 head) for pre-natal observation.
KNF LILLY FAYE is special because she is the 1^st cow to be purchased and placed into the Falster Farm Mini Cow/Calf Investment Program. Mr. Matt Spenser of Southern California is the proud owner of this young mama cow, and this is his long awaited first calf. We await Matt's pleasure in the naming of this youngster and hopefully he will develop as his ½ brother KNF SIR TRISTAN has: Miniature Polled Hereford docile and steady with excellent top line conformation – low line.

KNF SIR TRISTAN (Polled) P43026559.   This is our 1st Mini Bull calf that is polled instead of horned: Calved 4/18/2009. This young miniature herd sire prospect is the son of KNF GENERAL STAN WAITE x KNF LILLIE FAYE. At our Spring Round up 2010 he was 14 months old, standing 31" tall and weighing 440#'s. And what a beauty he is. His testicles are perfectly matched and Tristan exhibits excellent drive. He is friendly and easy to be around. Seen here just getting up for a stretch after a midday nap.

If you are looking to add the POLLED GENE to your mini cattle herd, you should give this young bull a close looking over. He is for Sale as a mini herd sire prospect for $5,500, guaranteed to breed. Follow the links above to get a better view and full description of the relations.
Congratulations to Mr. Matt Spenser.

Rainy Day in Texas

When we receive visitors at Falster Farm they are often curious about how I have the operation of this farm/ranch set up. I point out first of all that it is important to me to have it so that one man can pretty much move all the animals to where they should go during the certain appointed seasons.

This post is pointing out that our home is positioned in the middle of the property with the breding pastures to the South and West and the calving pasture to the North side of the house. With this in mind one can easily imagine how lovely it is to get up in the morning and walk from one end of the Front Porch observing and cataloging the breeding activity of the Herd Sires to the South and West and check to see which dropped a calve last night!

This morning I observed KNF CIBOLO tending POR ROXIE SPICEWOOD to the South while in the North, RD MISS KATY (an Investment Program Cow) is completing the ejection of after-birth of her bull calf  KING GEORGE III two days ago. What an interesting morning, and I haven't even left the front porch yet!

Hope you day is going as well -- KEF

Here is a view to the North West showing the calving yard or pasture.

1st Live Cover of 2010 Accomplished

We have a number of customers that bring their cows and heifers to us for Live Cover, that is to say, stud service. In early NOV 2009, three cows arrived to be sequestered with KNF CIBOLO. Typically what our procedure requires is a breeding of exposure of 60 - 90 days. These days are days of observation by a ranch hand - usually Falster - looking for the bull to pay attention to the cow or heifer - called Tending. Cibolo is very affectionate in his mating approach, often wooing to her as she goes into estrous.

In times past we had to guess she was bred if she didn't cycle some 21 days or so after the Tending days. The owner then will wait 90 days and then “palpate” her to see if she was “settled.” This act of palpation is a physical manipulation of the ovarian cavity, entered through the rectum. While not frequently, sometimes the procedure can cause the short breed embryo to abort.

But within the last few years a new non invasive procedure – a simple blood test – has been developed by a company called BioTracking the maker of BioPRYN, a blood pregnancy test for cattle, elk, sheep, goat, bison, and deer. This is our preferred procedure these last months, and we have been delighted with the ease and effectiveness of it; particularly on our smaller sizes of cattle.

We use D’s Diagnostic Services in Cumby, Texas. She is prompt, pays close attention to details, and cost effective.

Reporting what people do, not what they say they will do.

Small cattle make big impression


Karl Falster and his wife Nancy own Falster Farm and Cattle, where they raise organic Miniature and standard Herefords, seven miles South of Winnsboro, in Wood County...Falster said the Miniature Herefords has been successful because they can be profitable, while still requiring less maintenance than a modern, or standard-sized, cow...

Found this artice at Agricultural Economic News Blog by Kalpa