The Fair Starts Early

This weekend we began preparations for the County Fair. The Fair doesn't happen until around the second week of July, but a lot has to happen between now and then. On Saturday we took one of our 3 calves (Ribeye) that we've had for the last year and sold him. Poor Ribeye - no one seemed to be sad that he was gone. That left us 2 calves - Sir Loin, who is Levi's calf that he will show as a market steer this year, and Kelsey who is Caleb's calf that he will show as a spring yearling heifer this year.

Sunday was the market steer weigh-in for the fair, so we had to take Sir Loin to get weighed in. We waited for about an hour in a long line of cattle trailers for our turn. Fortunately it was a pretty nice day and the boys played around in the back of the truck. We were pretty pleased that Sir Loin weighed in at 652 pounds. However, he has to weigh around 1000 pounds the day that the fair starts. So, he has to gain about 3 pounds a day from now until the fair. Levi and Daddy shortened the calves' pen so they won't have to walk very far and can keep the weight on better. If Sir Loin places high enough in the fair, Levi can "sell" him at an auction at the end of the fair. The catch is - Levi gets the money from the auction and he still gets to keep Sir Loin. Its a pretty good deal for him, and its good advertising for the winning bidder.

We will probably get Clay a bottle calf to show for the fair, but we're trying to wait until I can walk again. Bottle feeding is a major time investment and is also associated with a lot of big messes in the utility room and the kitchen when mixing the milk. This summer is going to be pretty exciting for Clay because it will be the first one where he actually gets to participate in things instead of being an unwilling bystander. He'll have his calf to take care of and he will get to play teeball this year. He'll be pretty busy, but I'm sure he'll love every minute!