LEA-White Farms Registered Highland Cattle

We had our first calf last night:  In Vogue had a red bull sired by Rebel.  Up and nursing and healthy, the way things are supposed to be.  He was about 5 days ahead of schedule, but another heifer now living down near Kalamazoo calved a full 14 days before her due date.  Again, up and nursing and healthy;  and born on an 80 degree day in March in Michigan.  That is the truly remarkable thing.

The dogs are no longer in trouble:  it seems that our new electronic radio fence is working very well.  Jem, of course, is too smart for her own good;  she knows not to get near those flags without any formal training.  Hoyt is another story (can't you just tell by looking at him?) He is so anxious to be near Larry that he forgets himself.  Even on the lowest setting, the collar packs a fair sting; he is learning, but he is just not the quick study that Jem is.  I don't think she has ever even felt a tickle from the collar. 

I've been diligently working on the website; trying to get new photos entered of the yearlings and 2 year olds.  In addtion to the heifers for sale, I've decided to add a page or two just for the cattle I am keeping as replacements.  Some of them may come up for sale sometime in the future, when I have to make room for younger animals. but for right now, I thought it was a nice way to introduce the newest "permanent" additions.

The weather has been so mild this winter, it seems like we went from fall to spring.  Of course, March could change all that but we shall see soon enough.  It has proven to be a little bit of a problem with the children.  They have been out squirrel hunting, and have ended up across the road, in the neighbor's barn on more than one occasion.  They wear their remote training devices virtually all the time, but sometimes they are just so quick:  sitting out on the hill, helping Larry in the shop, whatever.  You neglect them for 2 minutes and they are gone, only to be caught trotting back out of the neighbors driveway. 

Now, we don't have a deficiency of acreage: the house sits 300 feet back from the road with a nice little overgrown woods separating us from the road.  These dogs have no business being bored.  So the decision was made to invest in an invisible dog fence (self installed).  The idea is that the collar with that system is activated by the buried wire, not our hand held unit that can only be used if we witness the act.  The pieces parts arrived Friday; hopefully we will have it installed by next weekend, although I am not sure our spring-like weather is going to hold. I hope they are in for a rude awakening. 

We'll see what happens.

Well, we had a successful trip to the National Western this year. We ended up with the top 2 high selling females in the Sale on Saturday, thanks to Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California.  Not only did John Chester bid and win 2 of our sale entries, he also was high bidder on the Grand Champion Bull Twinflower Wesley, from Vermont.  For once, knock on wood and anything else that will prevent a turn of fate, we got out and back without any serious complication with the vehicle.  Had a flat tire on the trailer Sunday afternoon somewhere in mid Iowa; so a brief stop Monday morning in York at a Nebraska Tire Dealer had a couple of new tires on the trailer and the spare reinstated in its place of honor.  Although I miss the size of the Ford dually we used to have, I appreciate the lack of trouble our Chevy 1 ton  has provided.  No clutch to need replacement in North Platte, and no wheels to be rebuilt in Cozad so far.  Some trouble with its fussy fuel filter, but if that keeps the engine from being damaged by bad fuel, I'll take it. Now its back to Michigan, with a renewed winter starting up again.