“Giving up on your goal because of one setback is like slashing your other three tires because you got a flat.”

One of the thrills, and some of the hardest months, of owning cattle is calving season. Most ranchers, depending on the size of their herd, will have calves in the fall and then again in the spring. A cow’s gestation period is approximately 9 months. These are all things I have learned since moving to the country.

For the past three years, we – and by we I mean mostly Tom – have helped care for the J Bar J Limousin herd on our property. But, last year we dove into the world of raising our own cattle when we purchased two first-calf heifers. Both successfully calved bulls last fall. Though we were excited, when you’re building a herd, 100% bulls is not what you want out of calving season.

To keep the momentum going, we chose a bull and planned for our next round of fall calves. However, we found out just recently that neither were bred. So our hopes for new little ones in the fall are gone.

For those that are counting, that’s two minor setbacks in our first year owning our own and starting our breeding program. But, we’re not giving up.

Our next step is to look at more bull options and change our fall breeding program to a spring calving season. And now is the perfect time to start so we can expect new little ones about this time next year. Another positive is we have a third heifer, Hermione, who we raised as a bottle calf in 2020. When we planned for the fall calves, she was not quite big enough to be bred. But, she should be ready for the Spring schedule. So, instead of just two new little ones, we can possibly expect three.

Here’s hoping for three healthy heifers in spring 2023 – which will double our herd and kick off our continued growth. Visit Meet The Herd to learn the names and the faces of our motely crew.