Raccoon Grand



Grand and Res Champion



Our clubs achievement day was held on Saturday June 11 at the Westlock Ag barn with Orville Smitt our judge. I did very well, with five out six of my heifers winning their classes and then my summer yearling Skycrest Wildman Raccoon getting grand champion and Honorable mention with my March yearling Skycrest Mr. Sam Kiwi, I was also 1st Sr. showman. Also Casey Morey for getting Reserve Champion with her Sr. yearling. But before achievement day that previous week I was busy clipping and washing and leading my calves.For those of you that don't know what clipping is, its like a hair cut for cattle but just leaving a strip on the top of the backs (kinda like a mohawk) to make the heifers more dairyer and give them more angularity. On Saturday morning I got up early to leave so when we got to Westlock I had lots of time to spot wash and do tops before the show started. So I think all the hard work to get my heifers ready for achievement day had paid off. 



Kiwi Hon. Mention



Getting heifers ready with my cousins

Healthy Cows are Happy Cows!

Keeping cows and calves healthy is an important part of farming. With healthy animals the more milk, bigger the heifers and less stress on the farmer. Keeping cows healthy isn't just about giving them a shot of medicine. Health comes from a proper nutrition, vaccinations, and having a good clean dry and well ventilated housing. One way to tell is an animal is sick is to take her temperature, respiration rate and heart rate. Respiration rate refers how many times the animal takes a breath every minute. The ideal the ideal range for a heifer or cow for temperature, respiration rate and heart is:

A happy farmer and a happy calf!

Temperature: 38.6 C

Respiration rate: 30 breaths per minute
Heart: 50 beats per minute

So keeping cows, heifers, calves healthy will show on how they eat, how much milk they give, how much they grow, and if they have healthy calves when calving. Health is an important part and can't be forgotten about.

Leduc Dairy Congress



Getting Grand and Reserve at the Jr. show in Leduc





Well the past couple of days I have been down in Leduc attending the Dairy Congress Show. It consisted of a sale, Jr. show, judging school and the open show. As I am 17 I am still young enough to precipitate in the Jr. shows, Logan Chalack was the judge to the Jr. show in Leduc. I have four animals entered and all four of my calves won their class and then my winter yearling was grand and my senior calf was reserve. I also won in my showmanship category. The next day was the judging school and sale, I helped with leading animals in the judging school. The judging school is a workshop for the o judges that are officials or the up and coming judges. Friday was the open show which consisted of the heifers and cows, our heifers and cows did well in the show. Our farms results were:





All four of my heifers were pulled out for champion in the Jr. show!



2nd Dec calf Willswikk Duplex Doofus
3rd Sr. calf Skycrest Damion Nosejob
1st Sum yrl Skycrest Wildman Raccoon
1st Int yrl Skycrest Sanchez Abracadabra
Jr. Champ B&W and Supreme Jr. Champ Skycrest Sanchez Abracdabra
4th Jr. 3 yr old Skycrest Lou Lipsmacker
3rd Sr. 3 yr old Skycrest Damion Doodle
3rd 5 yr old Skycrest Mr Sam Tabasco

With this show done now, I have achievmentday coming quicky so I am busy getting heifers clipped and trained for that.

May Marathon

Well its been a busy month for me. With the Leduc Dairy Congress show, Achievement day coming up, as well as helping with seeding . With the show coming up I have put the show heifers on a diet so they can dairy off, I have also been busy washing them every second day so that they can grow nice hair for my brother Chad to clip.With the show heifers being on a diet it means that they are  put on straw and I give them some beet pulp and just a couple slabs of hay sprinkled on top of the straw once a day. As I have said I have been washing them also, washing them keeps the dirt and oils out of the hair and with dirt and grease out of the hair, the hair will grow thick and will get longer. Dad has also been making me go roll some fields after he has seeded them.This is where I pull a giant roller on the seeded fields to push down the rocks that have been missed from picking.We do this because then when it comes to combining we don't have to worry about running  a rock through the combine and cause serious damage. But with seeding done now and no more rough fields to roll that is one less job that is out of my way. I also have our 4-H clubs achievement day coming up after the show in Leduc, so I have been fine tuning some of my 4-H calves and getting them ready for the achievement day. My December calf, September calf and my Junior yearling will be attending the show in Leduc coming in the first week of June. I have taken my Sept. calf to two shows in spring and she has done very well. My Sept calf's name is Nosejob, she has placed 2nd in Calgary, 3rd in Saskatoon and was 1st and Honorable Mention in the Jr show in Saskatoon.I am excited for the rest  of the year with my 4-H calves!So check it out June 3 at Leduc for the 25th Anniversary Dairy Congress.



Nosejob and me at Saskatoon Show



Pedicure Day

Well today was hoof trimming day at Skycrest for the milking cows, dry cows and bred heifers. Two times a year our hoof trimmer comes out to the farm. He uses a hand held grinder and a hydraulic shoot in which he can trim 90 head of cattle a day at our farm. Here is a video of a person trimming hoofs, so you can see how they do it.  

Types of Housing

There is many different types of housing for milk cows. The Types of barns could be free stall, tie stall and pack. Free stall is when the cows can walk around to the feed bunks and water and also there is stalls that they can lay in, they also have to walk up to where they get milked. A tie stall is when the cows are tied in the stall and they just stand of lay there, they don't have to go anywhere for their food or water. The food gets put in front the cows and they have water bowls in between the cows also the milkers come to the cows. So the cows get milked in their stall, they don't have to move to go get milked, food or water.A disadvantage to a tie stall barn is that the cows don't get enough exercise as the other barns. A pack is a barn with a pack of straw and there is no stalls for the cows, they have to walk to their food, water and where the cows get milked.
Some advantages of a free stall:
-a lower amount of labour for each cow
-the cows get adequate amount of exercise

Advantages of a tie-stall barn:
-more time is spent with each cow
-the animals get individual attention
-easier to treat the cows cause to can see if they eat or not

Advantages of a pack barn:
-lower amount to labour
-cows get adequate amount of exercis




This is our farms tie stall barn.



Grand Champion

1st 4yr old and Grand Champion - Wendon Goldwyn Allie

Congratulations to Wendon Holsteins, a 2X master breeder herd, on breeding the grand champion cow Wendon Goldwyn Allie at the National Convention Show in Halifax. Allie has been shown this spring at B.C. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and now Nova Scotia. She has won grand 3 of these five shows. This is a huge accomplishment for this cow to be show from coast to coast.