Vet Tech Students Try Something New

and that's just what the Veterinary Technician program students from Dakota County Technical College did at Bremer Farms last week!

This is our fifth year of partnering with DCTC and their Vet Tech practical experience. Their goal is to practice some basic procedures on our calves.

We begin each visit with a tour of our milking barn. Some of the students have little or no experience with dairy animals.

After the instructors give directions, it's time to begin. The students practiced restraining the calf. (If you don't try, you will never suceed. ;) As well as physical exams, and heart and lung listening with a stethoscope.

The students then practiced blood draws in the jugular vein, under the skin- subcutaneous injections,

oral dosing using water as pretend medicine, 

and lastly radiograph x-rays.

We are happy to be a part of such important training for the Vet Tech students. Veterinarians and Vet Tech's are all part of the team that keep our animals healthy so that Bremer Farms can continue to produce healthy dairy foods for your family and mine. 

Here's one of the two classes that visited us last week. Shout out to the instructors too! They do a wonderful job of overseeing their students as well as the care and concern for the safety and comfort of our calves.

A Farmers Dozen

Today's book holds special memories because it was given to my son, Farmer Mike when he was born. Cousins Judy and Brian knew the perfect book to gift to Michael. I wish I would have kept track of the number of times Michael requested this book as his bedtime story.

Listen as I read A Farmer's Dozen, then we're off on a field trip with Farmer Sara.

Just like the farm in our story that grew and grew, Bremer Farms animals grow bigger too. Our baby calves go from here...

to here...

to here..

and finally join the milking herd! This whole process takes about two years.

See you tomorrow.

Jose's Farm Adventure

Visiting a dairy farm can be fun, but especially when your mom and dad work there! Jose gets to help mom and dad with their chores. What's his favorite?

After our story, Farmer Sara takes us to see the baby calves on Bremer Farms.

See you tommorrow!

G is for Gestation

Just like humans, a cow must have a baby before producing milk.

It takes 283 days from conception to calf. Humans gestation period is about 280 days. Very similar!

Two to three months before a calf is born we stop milking the mama. This gives her body the opportunity to rest and to put all her efforts into growing a strong and healthy baby.

After, the calf is born she or he is removed from the mom. We are not doing this to be mean; just the opposite. We do this for the protection of the calf. The calf is closely monitored, and receives colostrum (mom's first milk) to get baby's immune system up and running. Also, not all mom's are cut out to be good mothers. It is not uncommon for some cows to ignore their calves.

The newborn calves on Bremer farms are bottle fed twice each day. We can observe how and also how much each calf is drinking. Just like people, a loss of appetite is a sign something isn't quite right.

For the first three months, our calves live in individual pens. They move around freely, we can monitor their health and eating, and they stay warm and dry in the winter, and cool in the shade during the summer. Some farms have outdoor, dome shaped calf hutches for each calf. Our farm has a solar building that houses 30 individual calf pens.

Judging by the kisses Sara is getting, I feel confident our calves are happy and well cared for!

Q Is For QT's

Q is not an easy letter to work with, so I fudged a little. 

Q Is For QT (cutie).

I can't think of anything cuter than a calf. Let me introduce you to a few of Bremer's QT's!

Some are sassy.

Some are curious.

Some love to share.

And some are hams for the camera.

They all live in our "calf hotel."

They are all well cared for, well fed, and well loved!

 

 Pledge #Dairy3ForMe here

TV Comes To Our Farm

 

I'm on television! I'm a star...a dairy star! 

Well, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit.

But I am On TV!

 

This week I was visited by Mary O'Brien, our local Community Education Director. I was the featured guest on her monthly television show "Unity Through Community." Mary is an avid follower of my blog, and her goal was to share a glimpse of dairy farming with her viewers. 

 

We talked about the cows, and milking, and caring for our calves. All this , and a farm tour too! We also spoke about my blog and how it all got started. Why do I spend my free time writing this blog? Take a look and you'll find out. 

Thank you Mary, for visiting Bremer Farms. And thanks for the kind words about my blog being an informative, honest, and open resource for consumers. I consider that a huge compliment! 

Stop by Dairy Makes Sense  for more dairy news and recipes too.

W Is For Wee Ones

It's June dairy Month! The barn doors are open, 

so join me on my daily A to Z journey 

to learn more about dairy. 

  W Is For Wee Ones

Wee ones, as in children, (not Leprechauns),  came to visit Bremer Farms. It is always enjoyable to have visitors and share what it is like to be dairy farmers, but there is nothing more fun than hosting wee visitors, many who have never been on a farm.

Picture first, then cows.

 Our first stop was the cows. As you can see they were a bit shy this morning. Was it the sounds of the children, or the fact that the cows were eating after being milked? I'm thinking it was a combination. They did finally show up.

After touring the milking barn, explaining how cows are milked, and where the milk goes after leaving the cow, and leaving our farm, 

it was off to see the calves.

This is always the favorite stop on the tour. Is it because the kiddos can see eye-to-eye with the calves, or because the calves are so gosh darn cute? 

You decide...

It's always fun to pet a calf...

scratch the itch a calf can't reach...

 

name a calf (Licky)...

or let a calf nibble on your shirt.

And then, of course there are the kittens. No one could resist 

cuddling with a kitty. Ten kittens...

but they all took turns holding the gray one...

a very patient kitten!

After a glass of chocolate milk (to refuel from the exhausting tour) and an ice cream sandwich (just because) it was time for Nanette's wee ones to head off. Thanks for visiting!

This And That Thursday - 8

We're having a baby boom!

The past two weeks we welcomed "Angus" and 15 other calves born on Bremer Farms. It is exciting to watch these healthy new-comers join the herd.

Now that the corn is combined and safely tucked into the storage bins, Farmer John is baling corn stalk bales. So we go from this ...

...to this. He is about half finished baling our 80 acres of stalks. 

You can learn more on a previous barnyard post

 Time To Change The Sheets.

Whether you’re cooking a meal, hosting a party or giving a tangible gift, dairy is a sweet and savory way to celebrate the season. Join Midwest Dairy in celebrating the many ways dairy serves as a gift during the holidays. Enter “The Gift of Dairy” Pinterest contest to win a $250 grocery store gift card to help provide family and friends the gift of dairy. Learn more: http://bit.ly/19k6FKL

This and That Thursday - 7

A little bit of this and a little bit of that- here's what we've been up to. 

Yes, I get it. It is not Thursday. I know that. And yes, I know that I have not posted twice this week, as I usually do. But please forgive me as I update you on my faith, family, friends and farming.

Love and hugs to my mom

You may remember that my dad passed away in September. What I haven't shared with you is that exactly one month prior to my dad's passing, my mom suffered a stroke. She is a tiger and has been fighting fiercely to recover, but this past month an infection slowed her recovery and she is recovering in the hospital (damn diabetes). Please add her to your prayers as she continues her battle.

We are officially half-way finished with our corn harvest. We have 10,000 bushels of corn harvested, and drying in our storage bin. Two things are holding up our completion of the project- We have had three days of rain this week which does now allow combining to continue, and our supplier ran out of propane. Propane is used to fuel our corn drying facility. Without drying the stored corn, it will rot and not be usable to feed our animals. We are not-so-patiently waiting for a delivery.

This photo did not make the cut.

Speaking of patience...we are waiting to see when and who will be visiting our farm from the Show Your Pride contest. Which Minnesota Viking do you think it will be?

Meet Trudy. She is one of six new calves to join Bremer Farms this week, including a set of adorable, healthy twins from one of our favorite cows, Weezy. What a perfect treat for Halloween!

Learn more about farming and our dairy way of life at Dairy Makes Sense

A Lot Of Babies

"Hi again. It's me, Flat Aggie from California. Remember me? You first met me when Jan and John took me to the Midwest Dairy Expo. It's time for me to share another adventure with Miss Sarah's first grade class, and you too. It's colder in Minnesota, than California, so Jan made me a coat and hat to keep me warm while I helped FEED CALVES!"

This is the calf "hotel." Each calf gets it's own room!

"Daughter Sara and Grandma Karen take care of the calves on the family farm. Each calf lives in it's own pen, in a solar building. The word "solar" means the sun provides the heat and the light for the building. The calves are fed every morning and every evening. Each calf has 2 buckets on the front of their pen, one for milk and one for feed. The calves like to drink warm milk. When they are finished, they get lots of fresh water to drink too. The youngest calves get special feed made from corn, oats and molasses. It smells really good! The older calves get feed without molasses, but they must really like it, because they moo a lot until they get fed!"

 I helped Sara feed calves, after she got home from teaching school.

"Sara and Grandma also keep the building clean. They sweep the floor everyday, and give the calves clean straw to lay on. This keeps them clean and comfortable so they stay healthy. And just like people, if a calf does get sick, they get medicine. That's one of Grandma's jobs. The farm also has visits from the veterinarian (animal doctor) to make sure the animals stay healthy. In the last 14 days, 15 calves have been born! That's a lot of babies!"

Grandma Karen and I with a 1-day-old calf.