Calves in a field of cornstalks. Looks a little barren, doesn’t it?

It’s surprising how well these calves do in a field of cornstalks. When the corn is harvested there is always some corn left in the field and that corn is like candy to these calves.

In addition to the typical corn and barley that is fed to cattle, they will also eat many different types of crop aftermath (also called crop stubble). Here in Idaho, cattle are often seen in potato fields after the harvest. In different regions of the country cattle graze in carrot fields, cabbage fields and cotton fields.

Usually the aftermath is plowed back into the ground, fortunately our neighbor leases his aftermath to us. Our calves enjoy the cornstalks and the field gets a little extra fertilizer!

We supplement these calves with a little bit of hay and silage each day, but their main energy source right now is the corn stalks.

Over the past week, another animal has moved into this field eager for his share of the corn.

Ducks.

Hundreds and hundreds of ducks.

My kids are fascinated with the ducks. As we drive down the road they are amazed at the number of ducks in the field and in the sky. Yesterday, we stopped to talk with a fellow who was pulled off the road right next to this field.

He was a duck hunter.

He was amazed at the number of calves in the field with all of those ducks!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We had a delicious prime rib dinner with pie and cobbler for dessert. Yum! We focused on those people and things in our life for which we are thankful. Bravely, I opted to serve dinner to the kids on our china and real glassware. Amazingly, not one item was broken!

Today, I am mentally gearing up for Christmas. Perusing a few on-line sales. Thinking about gifts for my husband and children. I haven’t solicited their Wish Lists yet, but I am sure those lists will revolve around technology. Handheld gaming devices, remote control vehicles, MP3 players, GPS units, etc.

Not only does technology have a huge impact on my family’s every day life, but it also streamlines the business side of the ranch. We use technology in so many different ways from tracking data in spreadsheets to using a handheld computer for our EID program.

Let’s kick off the holiday shopping season with a fabulous giveaway! Is there a piece of current technology that you can’t imagine living without? Leave a comment with your answer and you will be entered to win:

Are you ready for this?

Yes, an iPad!! I warned you that this was the Best Giveaway Ever.

Leave your comment before noon on Friday, December 2nd.

For the record, I can’t imagine being without my ever-present iPhone. I use it for everything: checking the weather, checking email, tracking grocery lists, entertaining the kids and even making the occasional phone call!

With the arrival of winter last weekend, we had to rearrange our schedule and start trailing the heifers to our winter range. In the fall, after we wean our calves, we start combining smaller groups of cows into larger bunches for the winter. In this bunch we have our replacement heifers and our first-calf heifers. Creating these large groups of cows makes it easier to move them and to care for them throughout the winter.

This group of heifers requires the most care. They will be calving for the first or second time in just a few months, so their nutritional requirements are higher than our other cows. We try to make sure they get a little more TLC, and that includes being the first group of cattle to move to the winter range!

It took all day to trail them from the six inches of snow they were standing in to their new home with only two inches of snow.

The kids are out for Thanksgiving break and are hoping to do some cowboying over the next few days. Boy, are they in luck! The old cows and our group of solid red cows are still waiting to move to the winter range.

I love school breaks, it gives us a chance to put the kids to work!