Raising Cattle

A few years back, Tyler and I decided to raise a small herd of beef cattle. We already had chickens and pork products, and people were starting to ask about beef options. We started “shopping” for heifers, and ended up driving to a farm about two hours North in response to a Craigslist advertisement. After about forty-five minutes of meeting the farmer, the herd, and asking a million questions, a deal was struck. The next week, we had four Hereford heifers delivered to the farm and we were officially cattle farmers.

About a year later, when the heifers had reached breeding age and size, we found a bull to join the herd. Sure enough, 9 months later (yes - the same gestation period as humans), all four of our heifers gave birth to their first calves and became COWS. Having previously bred goats, kidding season was always our favorite, and calving season was no different. We did have the amazing opportunity to catch a few live births, which is both the most terrifying and awe-inspiring part of breeding animals.

Raising cattle - and any livestock for that matter - comes with its many challenges. Owning livestock is not always exciting, fun, and cute. As you can imagine, a large portion consists of daily feeding and watering, fixing fences, and mucking out pastures and sheds in all weather conditions. Unfortunately, there is also a small portion that consists of dealing with unexpected illnesses or disease, and unavoidably, death. One of our biggest regrets in raising cattle was losing a cow that got stuck in the mud, who ultimately died. The cow left an orphan calf that we ended up bottle feeding for a few months until she was strong enough to return to the herd. “Little Orphan Annie,” as we refer to her, is doing great, but not having her mother’s milk at an crucial developmental age means she will always be a little runt.

In January of 2024 we will be sending two calves to the butcher for processing. We often get comments from people that say they could “never raise animals and then kill them”, or something to that effect. In response, I say that when you raise animals knowing the end goal, you’ve already prepared yourself mentally for the time of separation. I don’t think this makes livestock farmers cold-hearted (I believe we are far from it!), but rather more in tune with an awareness that if meat is to be consumed, living creatures must be sacrificed. While it will certainly be difficult to “let go” of the calves, considering the amount of time they have been with us, we find solace in knowing they had the best life at Colden Springs Farm. We are proud to raise livestock in the manner that we do, and know they are humanely treated while under our care.

Did I ever think we would raise 600 meat chickens, 100 egg-laying chickens, 25 hogs, and a herd of cattle in a single year? NO. But then again, I never thought we would be farming in this capacity either. I don’t know what the future holds for us or for this land, but for now we will appreciate the time we have and value the important work that we do.