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On August 29th was the Dexter Field Day 2015, the day was held at Wedgetail Ridge Dexter Stud by Christine and Graham McCauley in Bullsbrook Perth, Western Australia. After weeks of preparations and organising the day had finally come! Russell and I put out the signs to direct people to the Field Day only to have put them facing the wrong direction. Luckily Christine’s daughter Emma had swapped two around for us, an early morning blunder before any of us had a coffee. Christine and Graham had set their shed up with chairs, whiteboards and tables full of snacks and drinks; it all looked wonderful and was easy to access. At quarter to nine people started arriving parking out the front and coming down to meet Albert Tan, Libby Day and Danielle Berkhout who were doing registration and name tags. Then directed down to the shed everyone was talking amongst themselves until the lecturers had arrived. Karosel Equestrian Halter’s had come down for the day to show us how she makes her halters and of course straight away she got business with everyone marvelling over the bright and colourful colours. Jack Nixon our first lecturer arrived and shortly after setting up he began his talk on Biosecurity and Agriculture Management. The shed was full and everyone was intently listening, he began talking about the basics of the NLIS tag, like the two types the NLIS ear tagging device and the bolus device. The NLIS ear tagging device is pierced into the ear and is visible. The Bolus device is tablets that are inserted down the throat and into the stomach were it stays. Jack also explained the Dexter approved identifier which is any of two of the next three; Ear tattoo, approved brand or NLIS device. Any of the two can be used on our Dexter breed to ensure that the animal is meeting the terms and conditions of the Ag department. Jack explains a lot of topics with great details stating that within two days the Ag department can isolate any outbreak of disease with the information they have on the database. Everyone was really intrigued with many saying that they learnt the most through the day from Jack Nixon. Murray Williams said that “I learnt a lot about the workings of how the system actually works After Jack Nixon finished his lecture, Chris and Russell Cleghorn headed down to Christine’s cattle yards to set up for their animal husbandry demonstration. All the visitors made it down to the yards whilst Russell got the calves separated from the mothers. Chris began with explaining about dehorning “Using the debudder is quicker and gets the pain over and done with quickly, it also ensures that all the horn bud is removed”. He demonstrated on the three calves how to get the whole bud out quickly and without stressing the calf. “The one thing about horns is that the cattle that have them, know how to use them. So it is better to remove them whilst calves otherwise there will be too much stress put on the older cattle.” When they dehorning was finished we sprayed it with anti-septic certigine, and ensured people that the horn blood will bleed a little and its nothing to worry about. We ear tagged the calves with NLIS device ear tag, following up on Jack Nixon’s speech. The ear tag should go towards the back of the ear on the ridge in the middle. If an animal that wasn’t born on your property loses the white NLIS tag, you are to replace it with an orange NLIS tag. As saying that we re-tagged Billabong Daphne with an orange NLIS device ear tag, she was a great older cow demonstration as she was easy to keep calm because she loves her food! At the end we gave all the little calves a 5 in 1 vaccination which was the easiest task, you pinch a little bit of skin on their neck and jab the needle in and squeeze. After we finished the demonstrations Chris Cleghorn explained the uses of other tools he had. Like bigger dehorning gear, castration, ear tagging and nose ring methods. Everyone loved the demonstrations because they had hands on experience and who doesn’t love seeing little calves! Just as we finished up the rain came and pummelled down for the next 30 minutes, Russell and I got our two junior bulls out of the trailer and tied them up in the yards ready for Quentin Hooper’s show prep demonstration. The rain kept coming so it was a good time to serve lunch, Christine and her daughter Alex made a magnificent variety of beef from slow cooked pulled beef to roast beef and of course sausages. It was all perfectly cooked and tasted divine! Of course all the meat was Dexter meat with the topside and brisket donated by Christine and Graham McCauley and the sausages donated by Chris and Russel Cleghorn. Over the lunch break everyone was making halter orders and chatting away, we sold a fair amount of raffle tickets over the lunch break but once the rain stopped Murray Williams started his Lecture on cattle structure. Murray Williams had a couple of cattle skeletons set up, along with pictures and diagrams of cattle and started talking about the pelvic structure. ”The animal is built around the pelvis”, he explained as he moved the pelvis on the skeleton and showed us the correct way it should sit to ensure safe birthing and good body structure. When looking at cattle you would want; Bones in proportion, length in pelvis, width in pelvis and depth in pelvis. “Skin, fat and meat are the most functional thing on an animal’s body, but the function of muscle is to move bone so it follows that different bone structure will produce a different muscle pattern– Murray Williams He explained that when animals are skin and bones that is when you learn the most about them because you can see their bones structure and the way they move around. In the head of the cattle you would want length, 3/8 of the head above the eyes and 5/8 of the head under the eyes. Murray explained everything is great details and used images and diagrams to show what he meant. Murray said he would prefer big ears and nostrils, width of muzzle, good jaw to get food in and a little squareness in the jaw. Murray went through every part of a cow and every part of the bull explaining the good qualities, how you can improve things and how they all function correctly. When explaining the udder he said that to get good suspension underneath the udder the thurl should be more forward. You need good teats for the calf to get their mouth around, no bigger than a finger. Murray started explaining about the bull’s testicles saying that the testicles should be slightly tipped back, with a decent sized epididymis. Semen is produced in the testicles but matured and stored in the epididymis. “No good having a lot of money if you don’t have a bank to put it in”, Murray quoted. “Females should be feminine and Males should be Masculine” – Murray Williams To wrap things up Murray went over everything he said and said that for good structure your animal needs to walk smoothly and freely and that to keep udders correct use a bull whose rudimentary teats are wide apart and on the underline (not the scrotum) and preferably from a cow that has a good udder or if his father’s mother has a good udder as well. " By the end of Murray’s Lecture the rained had calmed, after a couple of questions we all headed outside on the turf and began Quentin Hooper’s demonstration on Show Etiquette. Russell and I grabbed our two junior bulls and our foot canes and tried our best to stand them up correctly. Quentin started with explaining the basics of standing your animal up naturally without stretching the head to far forwards. The three important things in the show ring to remember are; you’re animal, the judge and the crowd around you. Make sure you know your animal and how the animal will react. At show or any other events there will always be children, balloons popping and loud noises coming from every direction. Whilst in the ring ensure the safety of your animal before keeping an eagle eye on the judge. Also remember that nervousness follows through the handler to the handler. When presenting your animals try to put your animal on the highest point of the ring that allows elevation of the animals. When pulling your animal to stand up, allow natural positioning rather than trying to push and pull them into position. Remember also give your animal a scratch to calm down and relax while standing. Always remember to keep space for the animals and other competitors, allow enough room between you and the person in front and the person behind. Good karma in the show ring is being considerate of your fellow exhibitors. Quentin went on to explain holding the lead rope and nose ropes, saying that the nose clip is an emergency break not the controller. There are two types of rope holds the right hand hold which is all ropes in the leading hand whilst standing the animal up and double hand hold which is ropes in both hands whilst walking. Choose the hold you’re most comfortable with and know your animal’s reaction to that hold. When showing a cow and calf, the handler leading the calf should always remember to not block the calf from the judge or the cow. If the cow is stressed or not walking, pull the calf into the cow’s sight to calm her down and make the experience in the ring smoother. Whilst Quentin was explaining everything myself and Russell were doing laps of the “ring” and standing our animals up the way he wanted. Until my young bull Maurice decided it was time for a nap. Down he went and curled up in the sun, luckily this was fortunate as Quentin explained what to do when this happens in the ring. “There showed always be a steward in the ring who will come up and help the animal up or in any other circumstances the judge will come up and give the animal a little nudge until his up and walking again.” To end the talk Quentin told everyone a couple of extra tips like always walking smoothly with your animal so not to distract the judge away from the animal or distract the animal itself. When in the ring make sure you smile as it will make you, the judge and also the crowd all happy to be there showing cattle. He also quoted “that there are no losers in the show ring unless you act like it”! Up next was Russell Cleghorn doing a halter making demonstration, we sold 7 –10 halters and Russell began teaching everyone how to create one. After one or two mistakes and help from other members everyone had a brand new halter to test out on their cattle at home! Shortly after we began the Raffle Draw, Christine was handing out Prizes and Graham reading out tickets. The winners were: Quentin Hooper – Bunnings Voucher Murray Williams – White Towel Set Stephen Ellis – Karosel Equestrian free halter Rachel Ellis – Hamper Emma Lewis – Dexter Meat (donated by Glenwarlock Dexter’s) Megan Feddema – Halter and wine Annex Littleton – Hamper and halter Brett Lunns – Champagne Glasses Colin Howell – Beanie and dental hygiene kit The day ended on a big high and everyone was happy and satisfied with the day. As everyone was leaving I asked a few questions for feedback with couple Megan and Nick saying they learnt everything new and the day was extremely informative and now have a good run down on how to start our own Dexter farm. Rachel Eliss said they learnt absolutely loads and Jack Nixon was very helpful as we have bought two new cows and calves for our property. They agreed that they would come 100% next year for another great day! Matthew and Deborah Lunn of Gidgegannup Little Acres said they learnt an efficient way of dehorning and that making halter was a great difficult but fun task. Matthew was very interested in becoming a member of DCAI. Brett McGuiness and Annie Hayes have a cow and calf already and found the de-horning demonstration great; also seeing a crush in action was a great learning experience! They explained that the NLIS information was most informative and that they would definitely come again! Murray Williams said that he would be happy to come again to lecture but even happier to come down to visit! He said it was a good refresher by Russell Cleghorn on halter making. We would like to thank all the lecturers for coming down and giving everyone great knowledge and learning experiences. Everyone learnt something new and I myself learnt many things that I've always been curious about. We hope you had an amazing day as well! Also most of all a great big thankyou to Christine and Graham McCauley for throwing a great field day, the set up of the shed and yards was brilliant and the whole day went so smoothly with all of your fantastic help! A big thank you to your daughters Alex and Emma for cooking such amazing food and helping with setting up! You were all such fantastic hosts! Lastly a big thank you to everyone who came down for the day without you guys the day wouldn't have been such a great success! It was great seeing some familiar faces plus some new faces and we hope to see you all again next year for another great Dexter Field Day! On the 24th of May at 6:30am Glenwarlock Dexter Stud starting getting their cattle ready for the Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day. The previous day Chris Cleghorn had gotten the young bulls up ready for weighing. once finished we put the bulls and two limo cross steers back into their paddockwith receiving excellent weighing results, we kept Krom + Maurice as they were coming on the Small Farm Field Day Journey. Russell and Myself got up the cow and heifer paddocks, as we had the cow paddock up and we decided to dehorn the young calves. Dehorning three out of four calves, we sent the rest of the cows down back to their paddock with a bucket of feed. Chris got Hottie and her calf haltered, brushed and ready to settle down to a demanded bucket of pellets and hay. Of course the hay got thrown out onto the floor and the pellets were first priority! All five heifers were coming on the Small Farm Field Day Journey, as two of the heifers needed some more halter practice, taking them to the field day really helps improve their confidence around other people. So back to 6:30am on Sunday morning, I dragged myself out of my nice warm bed and packed all our advertising brochures, pamphlets, flyers and cards into a bag and headed down to the cattle yards, were Chris and Russell were already getting the cattle set up. Russell and myself took all the cattle for a drink and a stretch of their legs, some needing more persuading to drink and others drinking almost the whole trough! We let them have another bucket of pellets and hay, as all three of us packed the back of the ute. We packed tables, chairs, combs, feed and buckets, and our DGWA signs/ glenwarlock signs. Now its down to the fun part playing tetris loading the cattle onto the trailers. Up first was of course Hottie and her Little boy Latavious, next the two young bulls, plus a heifer two finish the front row, down the side was three heifers, and at the back was the last heifer Ketsia. It hit 7:30am and it was time for us to hit the road and head of to the Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day, Chittering Downs Dexter Stud followed closely behind us. A short journey from UpperSwan We travelled along Great Northern Highway onto Ried Highway then followed Toodjay Road Until we finally came across the field day, easy and quick entry we were unloading the cattle off the trailer at 8 O'clock. Chittering Down's (Albert Tan, Libby Day and Danielle Berkhout) had taken down young Andre the Miracle calf along with two black heifers. Whilst we were all setting up our bays and tables, Stoneybrooke (Colin and Jill Howell) showed up with a cow jackie and heifer named Kuddles. So we had a really good set up for the Small Farm Field day, all we had to do now was put up our banners and start luring in the interested on goers! At 10:30am the Spokesman of the Gidgegannup Small Farm Field Day came around and it was time for a speech on Dexter's. Russell Cleghorn did the talk, he definitely pulled in a crowd that was very interested and stayed back after his speech to ask more questions or to grab some flyers and brochures. Russell spoke about dexter characteristics, colours, height, temperament and the use of them on a small farm. After his speech every one was busy chatting away to passing on goers about the breed, we had a lot of very enthusiastic and excited people who were very keen on buying some dexter's and attending our field day. By 1 o'clock all our promotional information was gone! We kept writing out the field day information on the back of cards so we could keep getting the promotion out there as much as possible. All of the members were always on their feet talking, laughing and answering every question possible. We had a kids trail that the Dexters were apart of, so little young one's came through and had to check if the calf was a girl or a boy, and the two breeds of cattle that had attended the small farm field day! Lots of kids came up and gave our cow Billabong Hottie and her calf Latavious a scratch and some even had a go at milking her. At 1:30pm the spokesman came around again because it was our time to do another speech, this time Chris Cleghorn took the reigns and presented a great speech about Detxers. He had people asking loads of questions, plus a big crowd listening and hanging back to meet everyone's Dexters. The whole day was a fantastic success! We handed out all of our promotional products and received a lot of positive feed back. At 3 o'clock everyone started packing away slowly and by 3:45pm everyone was on their way heading home for another year! Written by Chelsea Kelley Edited by Russell Cleghorn A ROUGH START TO LIFE - The story of Chittering Downs Andre’s birth. - by Elizabeth Day On a chilly spring night in October last year, our young red heifer, Josette, went into labour. It was confirmed just two weeks earlier that she was pregnant, something we suspected but were hoping wasn’t true. And the reason we were hoping this was because an imminent birth meant she was serviced accidentally at six months of age, just before we purchased her. Josette, our sweetest and most gentle heifer, was now just 15 months old and was giving birth a year prematurely. She lost her innocence far too early. I checked her on Monday evening. She appeared to be bagging up, but being so young her tiny udder was nowhere near mature so I couldn’t be sure. We did not stay at the farm that night as I was working the next day. I would check her on Tuesday evening. Annoyingly, I woke at home early on Tuesday morning and realised I had left some paperwork at the farm, that I needed that day. That meant I needed to return to the farm before starting work at 8am - a total of a 100km round trip. How fortuitous this turned out to be. I arrived at the farm at 7am, dashed into the house to get my paperwork, then on dashing back into the car, made a U turn to have a quick look at Josette. There I saw her lying down in the paddock clearly exhausted. Just visible from her birth canal were the two black front legs and the most swollen tongue I have ever seen dangling from the mouth of what I assumed was a dead calf. (see Fig 1.) The head had not emerged, just the nostrils and this massive tongue which was soiled with equal amounts of dirt and faeces from Josette. For a few seconds I had to gather my thoughts. This was clearly an emergency. Josette had ceased straining and the black calf legs were icy cold. We were in danger of losing our sweet heifer, if I didn’t think fast. Firstly I needed to change out of my good clothes, ring work to cancel my morning patients, and message my guru mentor, Mike, with a photo of Josette’s current situation. Although I had delivered Ebere’s calf a few months earlier which was presenting in a breech position, I instinctively knew this was more urgent. No time for errors, or we would be burying two animals. I tied Josette to the nearest tree - walking her to the crush would take too long. A message reply from Mike agreed the calf must be dead. Now I just had to get the thing out to save Mama. Firstly, I decided to get that offensive tongue back in the mouth, not really sure why, but it just belonged back in there as opposed to protruding grossly. Then I eased the face out from the vaginal muscles. Miraculously, the little calf blinked weakly. It was alive! Although the umbilical cord would have been broken hours earlier, thereby cutting off oxygen supply from the mother’s blood circulation, the fact that the nostrils were exposed to the air had saved him. He would have been breathing in the crisp night air to keep him alive. So now I was to pull with all the strength I had. This was the most difficult extraction I had ever done. Mama’s muscles had tightened and constricted. Poor Josette must have been in labour for many hours, and her relaxed, moist birth canal was no longer relaxed or moist. I made little progress pulling over the next minute, so I texted Mike saying I couldn’t get it out. “Yes you can” was the reply I received. Right!, I thought. If he says I can, then I will. I was glad he had confidence in me. After what must have been a few more minutes, but seemed like ages, I had the calf out as far as its hips. (Fig 2). I had pulled so hard I had forced Josette off balance and she had fallen onto her side, still tied to the tree. I gathered my strength over a few seconds break, then pulled again. Now the whole calf came, and a little black bull was born - alive, but not wonderfully well. At this point my neighbours ran over, having been phoned by Albert (from work) to come and help. After untying Josette, we rubbed the freezing little calf with towels to warm him up. Normally mama would lick the calf at this stage to stimulate circulation and start the bonding process, but Josette was not hanging around. She was so traumatised she was having nothing to do with this “foreign body” that had caused all that pain, and walked away. So we decided to put Josette and the calf in the yard, and see if Mother Nature would take over with the bonding and first suckling. The sun now helped warm the little bull, but Josette stood in one corner, as if to sulk, not at all interested. Slowly the bull lifted his head and looked around, then instinctively as all calves do, attempted to find his legs to stand. My neighbours and I sat on the wall a few metres away and watched. But sadly, his front legs were “not working”. He could not stand. We waited almost an hour, willing him to get up, but it was eventually apparent that from his knees down, the front legs were either paralysed or lacking in muscle tone due to the blood circulation having been restricted for any number of hours when he was stuck and constricted by the birth canal. Dehydration of the calf was now on my mind, because if he could not stand, he could not suckle from Josette. The next priority was now to milk colostrum from mama and spoon it in to the calf’s mouth (Figs 3 & 4). He welcomed the warm creamy liquid enthusiastically. Then we rubbed and massaged the fore legs for as long as we could. By now it was lunch time, and my neighbours left. Josette delivered the afterbirth and lay down to rest. By the evening, the calf, who was now called Andre, christened by our handler Danielle (because he shared his birthday with her Dad), could still not stand. It was suggested we try splinting his front legs to force the fetlocks to hold the hooves forward, so he could stand. Otherwise the hooves just flopped limply. I tried pop-sticks! Not surprisingly they did not work. The next day, on Wednesday afternoon, I bought the biggest plastic box I could see in Bunnings and placed straw bedding in it. I also bought some powdered milk from The Farm Shop. Thursday was a work day for me and I could not cancel more patients. I could see this crippled little calf would be coming to work with me. He was weak and dehydrated. Milking Josette was time consuming and I had used all the collected colostrum we had in the freezer. On Thursday morning, before work, Albert and I tested his ability to stand while we supported his weight. We were relieved that his front hooves were now more stable and could hold his weight without buckling. Cosy in his box in the boot of my new car (Fig 5), off I drove to work with Andre. Albert and I decided this was a temporary solution, and if he could not stand unsupported by the weekend, we would euthanase him. I fed him well in the morning, he slept well and woke at lunch time. He took another decent feed, and slept again. By the end of the work day, he had turned the corner. He had passed his first bowel motion, urinated, and moo’d! He had gained enough strength to stand and take his own weight. A little more help, and he was walking and doing those joyful little jumps that new calves do. I reconnected Andre with his Mama who had been in the yard recuperating. This reunion was not as joyful. Josette was not at all interested in this calf and immediately head-butted him through the rails and out of the yard. Andre’s start to life was still rather tenuous. The solution was to place Josette in the crush, and hold her back leg back with a rope so she could not kick off her baby. (Fig 6) A combination of this and powdered bottle milk continued for three more days and by Sunday mama and baby were united. Josette accepted her baby, and became the best Mum she could be, given she was still virtually a baby herself. We supplemented Mum’s milk for four months, and today Andre is a healthy seven month old steer, with the only reminder of his traumatic start beings the two white patches of hair on his fore legs where they had been “tourniqueted” for several hours causing loss of blood supply. Andre and Josette are very special to us, and give us much satisfaction and enjoyment. He is one very spoilt young steer who will remain a pet and part of the family. Plus information on the Dexter Field day!From the moment I saw the Cows that were going to be mine, I was in love, well I thought I was, the ‘really’ part comes later in the story – keep reading! I suppose, in reality, it was not love it was excitement, wonder, and amazement that we had actually got to this point of really buying a cow. To be honest I’m not totally sure what or how it all happened but we suddenly found ourselves in a position where we had talked, over a few glasses of wine of course, about getting some stock to keep the grass down on our newly acquired acreage. There was a process here that seemed to move like that of a snowball and as the momentum grew so did our excitement. We had to get a PIC (Property Identification Code) which allowed us to keep stock on our land - filled out application to the ag dept, simple really quite the same as getting a brand registration, easy done. To start with I felt like the forms were in a foreign language and was worried that I might get it all wrong and mess up the whole process, well we didn’t – we found ourselves with all the right paperwork in no time at all, so off we went shopping. Felt a bit like a child going to look for their first bike, the wonder of it all just bubbling up inside, gives you shivers doesn’t it! Well there we were looking straight at this beautiful cow - she just walked slowly towards the fence, straight to us, and actually stared right at us, this was immediately taken as a sign this cow wanted to be with us! I think I giggled all the way home, we weren’t just buying two cows but they would be pregnant too! It was a truly amazing feeling, trust me that first bike never felt like this! Their names were Fifi and Fanny but to make it easier for the grandchildren going to school and telling everyone their Nanna had a cow called Fanny, we changed their names to Daisy and Buttercup, original hey!! The next part of the story was so dreadful…………..waiting for them to arrive was horrendous, it was worse than being told that you would have to wait another 4 weeks for that first ever bike you had just tried and chosen and always dreamed of! Daisy and Buttercup were to come in calf so we had to wait for the deed to be done, we didn’t really have to wait very long at all as, believe it or not, the cows cycle about every 19 to 21 days for about 24 hours so not long before the job was done and the day loomed. We picked up four cattle/horse panels plus a gate from the local stockyard supplier just so that we would have a smaller area to put them in should we ever need to. My thoughts were to feed them in here then they would always come to that spot. I’m so glad no-one was watching us trying to assemble these things, remember the first time you ever put a tent up together, anyway after what seemed like hours we very cleverly managed to put them together into a sort of circle, very proud and exhausted from one of our first achievements, but… they were ‘inside out’, how you ask, well the gate opened inwards so if you were in there and wanted to get out and a cow was in front of the gate you were stuck!! So yes we had to take them all down and start again, meanwhile, I had also decided to put them in a different place which meant carrying them over not such flat ground, at this point I guess I was probably testing the relationship somewhat – FYI, we are still married!! I will skip about 9 months here (that’s how long they are pregnant) to the really falling in love bit – my girls as they are fondly referred to – were becoming quite rounded. We were only in the building planning stage at this point. There was plenty of feed on the ground so I really didn’t ‘need’ to travel every day to check on them, but I was definitely struggling to stay away, the rising price of fuel had been mentioned a couple of times!! It was a day I told myself not to go, but the local plumber rang me to let me know the plans were ready – I was in the car before the call had finished, no, this is not the point I fell in love though it was very close for the plumber, had he been near me I would have probably kissed him! Beaming from ear to ear at the thought of seeing my girls again, every song on the radio was one you could sing loudly and very badly too, of course. There is a point on my journey where you go up a hill which really seems to lift your spirits and make you breathe deeper and feel exhilarated and then the tree lined road with the sun coming through would make my eyes well up. I can’t remember getting the plans, don’t know if I even spoke to the plumber or even got out of the car all I could think of was doing a ‘quick drive by’ whilst I was in the area. Fifi was laying down in what looked like a very awkward position, my hands were shaking as I fumbled with the gate that seemed to take forever to open, this was it, she was going to give birth right in front of me - what unfolded next was not only a text book birth but was one of the most exciting, wonderful and amazing moments in my life, second only to the coming into the world of my own beautiful daughters. The moment that gorgeous little red calf was born was the very moment I really well and truly fell in love with a cow! Her name is Jaffa, she is my pride and joy and is expecting her own calf later this year, I absolutely love her to pieces, and she got a 2nd at the Royal Show – but that is another story! Meanwhile we will be hosting a Dexter Field Day at our Wedgetail Ridge Dexter Stud in Bullsbrook.
Watch some animal husbandry in action. Listen to talks from experienced people in the cattle world and learn more about how these wonderful creatures actually work. Dexter’s are our preferred choice of cattle as Hobby Farmer’s. We are not intimidated by their size and they offer us both meat and milk. Our grandchildren quite happily hand feed them even the little 2 yr old. We only have three cows which are all in calf and hopefully will be on the ground by the Field Day for you to see which includes Jaffa. Come along and see where our meat was grown, how it was looked after and see what it tastes like (this is not compulsory)!! If you are looking for something to put on your acreage that will offer you a return…. If you think you may just want a house cow to mosey around your property but not sure about how to go about it….. Or if you would just like to come along to have a look and a listen…….. Then please come along and join us on Saturday 29th August 2015 at the Wedgetail Ridge Dexter Field Day. $10.00 will get you something to eat and a cool drink and a chance to win a door prize. More information will posted closer to the event... Check out our Facebook page at Dexter group of western australia and website Please RSVP if you would be interested in coming along so we can cater for numbers and we will send you a mud map: [email protected] Christine and Graham McCauley are the owners of Wedgetail Ridge Dexter Stud located in Bullsbrook, they run three + cattle on there farm and also have Alpacas, Sheep and Chickens. Plus to gorgeous labradors! They have tried the home killing experience and also Christine cures her own hides! There are many amazing things you could learn for Christine! - Chelsea Kelley Why we have Dexters and the home killing experience.SETTING THE SCENE – WHY WE HAVE DEXTERS. We had just purchased this beautiful 5.8acre property in Bullsbrook, fantastic views, great dam and lots of untouched green grass, a few glasses of wine in the evening would see us brimming with ideas for our future new home and ‘Life in Retirement’. As we neared the summer months the grass turned brown and the words ‘fire breaks, slashing, fuel on the ground’ got us wondering what an earth we should, and how would we deal with this, “put some stock on it” was the most popular answer! Off I trotted with some friends to the Royal Show – my first time without the children, it was bliss. Discovered that goats would probably find their way up, over or under the not so good fences and the same with sheep who would also need some attention with shearing etc. but then found these small lovely Dexter cattle that I could look down on as opposed to the other way round, good temperament and they would also pretty much be able to look after themselves. We found the Dexter members extremely helpful, accommodating and very supportive - the next thing was two beautiful cows just in calf munching away at the grass – mission accomplished! THE DECISION TO SLAUGHTER You’re 90% of the way there if you have decided to slaughter your animals for food – we had made that decision from the beginning to do this, but would deal with it when the time came!!. Again over a few glasses of wine in the evening, we would discuss how lovely it would be to have our own meat, to know what the animal had eaten, how it had been treated and knowing it was truly free range, and how we cringed seeing the way some animals are treated and then not knowing if that was what was on your plate! Our two cows turned into four, (I was there when one calf was born it was amazing – but that’s another story) and somewhere along the way we acquired another cow in calf so we ended up with six. Our house was all finished and we had moved in it was just wonderful being able to wake up in the morning and watch the cows, wander down and feed them and talk to them, they do know what you are saying and will nod in agreement most of the time, and give you a nice slurpy lick to say thankyou. The squeals of delight we get from the grandchildren are priceless as they hand feed them, also clearly shows they are not intimidated by their size or demeanour. OK, decision time had come, this was after all our plan, the greediest and bossiest lost her immunity. THE HOME KILLING EXPERIENCE We had by this stage already taken two to the slaughter house but then the opportunity arose to experience the slaughtering at home. Our friends were horrified at the thought, we were all for it - not having to transport our dearly loved animal to the slaughter house and then to leave them there all alone overnight, saying goodbye and thank you for being a part of our lives and telling them you love them half a dozen times before walking away, and being very quiet all the way home hoping that they will be ok without you – stupid I know, but that’s how we felt. Anyway, biggest part of the home kill was digging the hole for the unwanted bits, which we secretly really enjoyed as we got to play on the little mini Kubota BX25 backhoe-loader, never had a Tonka Toy as a kid – got a real one now!! We had to decide where ‘it’ was going to take place – we didn’t want the other cows to be able to see, or the sheep or the alpacas and for that matter the chickens too, so planned to feed them at opposite sides of the paddocks with feed strategically placed so they would be facing the other way. We also needed a tree to hoist the carcass up for the butcher to be able to work easily, and to have running water available. I was also concerned about where all the blood was going as I didn’t want that to be in a place where any of the other animals would be, I am imagining a river of blood at this point! Realistically you are looking at about 55ml per kilo, which when you consider it doesn’t all rush out at once is not really that much. The best place was actually just outside of what I call the ‘holding pen’ (small paddock with another pen inside to tie the cows up to when needed). The young steer “Johnny Boy” was already there quite happy munching away on some hay. A vehicle turns up at the agreed time towing a small cool room, we did the meet and greet business, he seemed like a really nice man and the atmosphere was light and jovial, I felt very happy and relaxed as he didn’t look or act like the grim reaper or an axeman – your mind can conjure up all sorts of things! We located a place for the cool room on the veranda side of our shed which had shade and power. Whilst we are still chatting he gets his tools all ready, the hoist and rope are ready to go then he opens his gun case, that’s my cue to get Johnny Boy into place, I have a tub of feed ready, Johnny is already at the gate looking at everybody and the tub of course, clearly there is nothing to make him suspect what is going to happen next, no smells or clanking of chains to make him wary, no death march music playing in the background – yes these things do play through your mind like in the movies - I open the gate and he just saunters up to the tub and bang! That’s it, done, no fuss, no pain, no stress. I suppose I felt a bit like ‘oh is that it’! Not even any wailing from the other animals who were completely oblivious to the whole thing all quite happily eating (facing the other way of course). The butcher was straight onto it, slit the throat, and no, we were not standing ankle deep in red stuff. There was of course the twitching, but realistically no different to any other animals, chickens or fish etc – they all do it! Rope on and hoisted up with the help of the Kubota once again, love that machine! He very carefully skinned the carcass for me (this is yet another story) I have been curing my own hides, have to admit not very good at it but I have three hides on my floor that I fondly rub my toes on - even when the freezer is empty they are still with us! Anyway, it is fantastic to see what happens and the butcher works like a machine – I have to add here that you don’t have to watch if you don’t want to and I am really glad that we only have Dexters and nothing bigger! The hide is off, the insides are all out and the extremities are all gone, hide in the shed, bone for the dog and bits in the hole, quartered by the chain saw and then hung in the cool room, this stays with us for about a week then he comes back and chops the meat up as required. We have a friend who cries when she sees a truck load of sheep or cows going off to market, and who thought she could never eat our meat, but now ponders on the life of the animals whose meat she sees in the shops and happily joins us on a regular basis for a meal – meat of course! Our 8 year old granddaughter asked me “Why is that cow in that paddock Nanna?” I reply “His time is up” a few weeks later “Nanna you know that cow that was in that paddock, is that this one on my plate?” I reply “Yes dear” “OK, thankyou Nanna he’s yummy”!......... I rest my case. - Christine McCauley Visit Wedgetail's photo album on facebook by "Clicking Here" Contact Christine or Graham by - Email: [email protected] On the 18th of October at 5:30am or earlier everyone was getting prepared for the Kelmscott Breed Show, it started with getting all the cattle supplies ready ( Feed, buckets, clipping chute, brushes, combs, blower, leather halters and show canes). Then next was getting all the cattle onto the trailers/trucks, one by one all the cattle were loaded and ready to go. We (Glenwarlock) got to the Kelmscott show around 7:30 - 8 am and when we arrived Billabong was already here waiting to unload. All the cattle were tied up in there pens and a bucket of feed was chucked in front of them to make them happy and to fill there bellies. Everyone slowly arrived and by 8:30 the Dexter group of Western Australia were settled in and sorting out there neck cards and looking at the catalogue. Before we new it everyone was dressed in the showing out fits, white shirt, green vest and blue jeans. The first class was bull calfs under 9 months and the last class was exhibitors group. The results of the winnings were: Bull calf under 9 months: 1st Chittering Downs Keikilani, 2nd Chittering Downs Kayne Heifer calf under 9 months: 1st Billabong Kazam, 2nd Glenwarlock Kiki, 3rd Glenwarlock Khalessi Champion Calf: Billabong Kazam Reserve Champion Calf: Chittering Downs Keikilani Junior Bull 9-15 months: 1st Glenwarlock Jimeoin Junior Bull 15-21 months: 1st Billabong Jason Junior Champion Bull: Billabong Jason Reserve Champion Bull: Glenwarlock Jimeoin Junior Heifer 13-17 months: 1st Billabong Jewel, 2nd Billabong jovotto, 3rd Glenwarlock Jewel Junior Heifer 17-21 months: 1st Billabong Jillaroo Junior Champion Heifer: Billabong Jewel Reserve Champion Heifer: Billabong Jillaroo Senior Female 21-33 months: 1st Billabong Hayley, 2nd Chittering Downs Honey Suckle Myfawny, 3rd Smalltime Halfpenny Senior Female 33-60 months: 1st Billabong Faizah, 2nd Glenwarlock Gigi Senior Female over 60 months: 1st Billabong Dudette, 2nd Billabong Ebere (exhibited by Chittering Downs), 3rd Damalock Destiny (exhibited by Rise view) Senior Champion Female: Billabong Faizah Reserve Champion Female: Billabong Dudette Grand Champion Female: Billabong Faizah Supreme Dexter: Billabong Faizah Progeny: 1st Billabong Zwazoo, 2nd Glendale Flame Dam and Daughter: 1st Damalock Destiny and Rise View Jessamine Exhibitors class: 1st Billabong Stud, 2nd Glenwarlock Stud Congratulations to Billabong Dexter Stud for Supreme Dexter and all the other awards you did a wonderful job with presenting and handling, also a congratulations to the other studs for competing and picking up awards for your wonderful cattle. Also there was a handlers junior class and adult class, half a dozen Kelmscott students were in the junior handlers judging class. A top three were pulled out the groups the results were: Junior Handlers: Kelly Manning, Alex Cabassi, Kelmscott Student Adult Handlers: Russell Cleghorn, Danielle Berkhout, Chelsea Kelley Champion Handler: 1st Russell Cleghorn, 2nd Danielle Berkhout, 3rd Kelly Manning At 3pm the DGWA group had a meeting and arranged the next AGM 13 of December 2014 being held at Glenwarlock Dexter Stud. By 3:30pm everyone was packing up hoping to miss the big storm cloud heading our way, cattle were re loaded, buckets, feed, chutes, brushes, halters were packed in back of cars and everyone was heading home after a successful day. Thank you to Billabong for staying back and cleaning up after everyone and thank you to Mick for the wonderful burgers for lunch. On Thursday the 25th of September everyone was packing there cars/trucks with cattle supplies and of course the cattle. Russell and myself were pretty excited, that the whole day seemed to drag on but once it hit time to halter up all the cattle and pack the Ute we were getting pretty tired. We got to the Royal Show around 3:30 pm and Billabong and Wedge tail Ridge Dexter Stud were already set up in there bays, our cattle (Glenwarlock) came around 5 O'clock. We quickly got them sorted into there bays and gave them all buckets of feed to settle in with. By 6 pm we were all pretty tired and ready for a good nights sleep, we headed to our dorms and crashed for the night. On Friday the 26th it was a 4:30 am start, cleaning out the cattle pens efficiently, giving all the bulls, cows, heifers and calves a big drink plus a bucket of feed to settle them down for the morning. After we finished the morning clean it was of to the kitchen to battle to make breakfast, a yummy bacon and egg sandwich was made and finally a sit down was deserved. The show wasn't open yet so the day was filled with washing cattle, starting with the two heifers ending with the calves, all the cattle were finished being washed,blown,combed and clipped by lunch time. We helped out some other studs and started decorating our lane, green fairy lights with orange and green streamers, pictures were stapled every where and Dexter information bags were hung up. On Saturday the 27th it was SHOWDAY another 4:30 am start except this time our lane was a little more intense, the day started with mucking out and another huge drink and a big feed for every animal. Breakfast was made a little faster and then we all were about to get started when we found out that the horses have to move to our judging ring, so we were pushed back an hour and were behind two other breeds (Square meters and Miniature Herefords). At 9 O'clock we started spot cleaning the heifers giving them a good blow down to get the sawdust out of the coats and a good spray and comb, next was the cows and calves getting prepped, everyone was dressed in the showing clothes by 10 and then the judging began, first on was a young heifer class - Billabong Jewel won and Christine's heifer 2nd, Glenwarlock Jewel 3rd ; Older heifer class Billabong Josette, Albert & Libby's 1st and Billabong Jovotto 2nd, Billabong Jillaroo 3rd. The Champion heifer was Billabong Jewel and coming reserve champion was Billabong Josette shown by Chittering Downs. The next class was First Calvers - Billabong Hayley 1st and Chittering Downs Honey Suckle 2nd, Billabong Hottie 3rd shown by Glenwarlock. Older cows were up next with - Billabong Faizah 1st, Billabong Dudette 2nd and Glenwarlock Felicity 3rd. The Champion Cow was Billabong Faizah and Billabong Dudette came Reserve Champion. The next class was Junior bulls, there suppose to be three classes but there was only one entry in each so Glenwarlock Jimoin 1st, Billabong Jason 1st and Glenwarlock Jobba 1st. For champion class: Billabong Jason Champion Junior Bull and Glenwarlock Jimoin Reserve junior champion. Senior bulls was up next but Glenwarlock Emile was the only entry so he pulled up 1st and Senior bull champion, then The Champion Dexter bull was won by Billabong Jason. Billabong Jason also won Interbreed champion bull, also Billabong Faizah won interbreed champion cow and took out the Supreme Dexter Cow Award. Congratulations to Billabong Dexter Stud for all there amazing efforts and awards and congratulations for all the other studs for putting in such a wonderful effort. The next 7 Days of the show was simply talking to on goers and promoting the Dexter breed, sweeping out the lanes, doing poo duty and helping out other studs and cattle breeds. We went through over 50+ bags of our Dexter information packs and talked to a lot of interested future buyers. There was still 4:30 am starts every morning to muck out there pens and to water the cattle but sometimes there was a slight cheeky sleep in. Thank you to the RAS for always giving such a wonderful show and congratulations to other breeds and studs for making this show such a wonderful year. Christine Macaulay who runs Wedge-tail Ridge Dexter Stud got some amazing pictures last year of her cow Glenwarlock Fifi giving birth to Wedge-tail Ridge Jaffa. She was born at the end of last year and is now a gorgeous little heifer. 2.29pm & 2.30pm: Fifi laying down, but not in the usual way and rolling on her back in not a very comfortable looking position, I could see a discharge as she was having contractions then as she was pushing what looked just like a balloon slowly appeared and I immediately got even more excited as I thought it contained the calf, but it was the water sac and promptly burst, Fifi immediately jumped up to see if there is anything there, I felt like there should have been something too! 2.39pm: She lays down again and it looks like more of the sac appears and I can see something else this time – the tip of a white hoof – as she stands up the stuff in the sac falls to the ground and looks like jelly and the hoof disappears and she gets up. Moves around a little then the hoof appears again with a contraction and then disappears again, 3.11pm: After a few more pushes the feet come a little further out and it’s almost as if the calf is flexing her toes, this is a high point for me as I know the little one is alive! As she stands up again the feet slowly disappear again! This goes on for about 20 mins, gets up and walks around with two feet sticking out, I felt very uncomfortable for her. Then as she lays down again a nose now appears with the feet. 3.14pm: Within the next 2-3 mins the calf comes a little further each time. 3.15pm: Fifi turns to look at what is happening I’m sure as amazed as I am at this point. She lets out a loud moo stands up and turns round quickly and as she does the rest of the calf falls to the ground, Fifi immediately starts to lick her new baby. 3.28pm: Within the next 10-15 mins the calf is on its very wobbly feet, it looks like the calf knows it needs to feed but spends a few a couple of minutes at the wrong end searching. 3.32pm: The calf hits the spot. It was a cold and wet afternoon and I had to resist the temptation to wrap the calf in a towel and give it a good rub. This was Fifi’s first calf and she has just turned 3 years On the 23rd of August 2014 Albert Tan and Libby Day held a field day at there chittering farm. Russell, Chris and myself got there around 8:30 to help set up and to get our heifer ready for the prize draw. We got of her of the trailer and tied her up along with two bull calfs, a young heifer and two cows. People started arriving and by the first hour over 100 raffle tickets were sold. Libby started introductions and we started with Beth Green talking to us about NLS ear tags and cattle identification, it was such an interesting topic to listen about I personally learnt a lot and so did a lot of other people. Russell then introduced Geoff Dawe who was talking about Animals Husbandry, he started talking to us about dehorning and showing us different types of techniques like the gas/heat dehorner, the more hands on tool which pulls and scoops the horn out. The next thing he showed us was a testicle remover, there was two ways, a rubber ring for calves and younglings and then a much larger ring which is for bulls and older cattle. We next went down to the cattle chute where a cow called Ebere was in there ready to milk, Geoff Dawe next explained the quality meat cuts, fat measuring and the basics of clipping. Mary did demonstration on how to milk and test to see if the cow is cycling (to help the artificial insemination). Next we went over to the crush and watched Geoff ear tag Binti plus two calves and use a dehorning paste on the calves as well. When using the paste the calves have to be away from there parents for 6 hours. It was lunch by then everyone enjoyed a hotdog with some salad, Russell and myself went around tried selling more raffle tickets. We managed to sell another 150 tickets which was fantastic, everyone was determined to win the little heifer Jynx. After lunch Jean Witcombe spoke to everyone about artificial insemination and showed us a demonstration at the end of the day. After Jean finished her talk Mary Ipkendanz gave a presentation about milk and the benefits of drinking raw milk freshly milked from a cow. She also mentioned about making cheese and butter. Every lecturers presentation where very interesting and everyone learnt something new in each 4 talks. After all the lecturers it was time for the raffle, the first prize was the heifer Jynx who was won by Beth Green who was excited about the news. The next prize was a lifetimes supply of toothpaste which was won by Jean Witcombe, 2 dexter travel mugs who were one by Collin Howel and Myself. Another prize was 3 halters won by Cameron Sept and two others. Albert auctioned of the dexter sign and the highest bidder was Paul Robinson. By the end of the day everyone was pretty tired but the day was so successful and everyone had a brilliant time and learnt so much. Thankyou to Albert and Libby for putting your time and effort into holding the field day. Thankyou to Russell and Chris cleghorn for donating the young heifer for the raffle prize. Thankyou to the lecturers for coming out and giving well prepared speeches and demonstrations. Also a big thankyou to everyone for coming and buying raffle tickets. |
AuthorChelsea and Russell Cleghorn. Archives
September 2015
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