Restock Dates: Please see our Farm Blog where we post our weekly newsletter for the latest updates

Meet Our Replacement Heifers

written by

Ben Simmons

posted on

July 15, 2022

Last weekend Beth gave an informative update on the status of our hens and egg production. Hope you were able to read it.

Today, I want to show you a few pictures of our replacement heifers. Maybe I should start by telling you what a replacement heifer is.

A replacement heifer is a young female yearling that is typically 15-24 months old that has not had a calf. The objective is to select the best of the best females from our herd and retain them to be future mama cows. Not just any female will do!

Heifers1.jpg

This is a picture of several of the heifers we kept from our herd.

Heifers2.jpg

The heifer "out front" is from our farm. The three orange tag heifers were purchased. They are smaller because they are also 6 months younger.

Bull.jpg

We also purchased this Registered Red Angus bull (tag 114) to breed each of our replacement heifers.

So, some details about the bull & heifers we purchased.

First, one of the best Red Angus forage based ranches is 5L in Montana. We tried several years to pickup both replacement heifers & bulls, but the price (including transportation) put them out of our reach.

So this year we looked to Les in Alabama who has used 5L bulls exclusively for the past 25 years to improve his cow herd. I first meet Les about 5 years ago at his farm. It was the time when he was preparing to attend the annual 5L Spring Bull Sale. By preparing, I mean he was studying the sale catalog of some 400 or so bulls. Studying all the data - looking for bulls with qualities to improve his herd. There is no telling how many hours he spent "selecting" the bulls he intended to be the high bidder on...and he usually was.

This makes us feel very good about the replacements we purchased and look forward to the improvement they bring to our Grass-Finished Beef.

And our new bull - well his Sire is a top 5L bull. This is the second time I have purchased from Ron (and the third bull) and have been pleased with them all.

As you can see, we are moving towards 5L quality Red Angus. We agree with their motto "Bred For Balance" vs. placing emphasis on the latest fad traits. And, they are raised on forage and not grain.

Can't wait to see those first calves in February 2023!!!

Maybe you have been looking for premium ALL NATURAL GOODNESS of beef, pork, chicken, and eggs raised on pasture as God intended - without growth hormones, drugs, chemicals, and antibiotics - and raised humanely then you have come to the right farm. Our delivery schedule and product availability is listed below along with order buttons that will take you to our website where you can browse over 90 product choices and place your order from the convenience of your home. It's that simple!

Yes, I want to Place My Order

Ben & I really appreciate your business and thank you for rewarding our hard work with your trust and support. We look forward to seeing you soon.

More from the blog

Cows & Pigs

Brand New Services– About six weeks ago Dixie Electric Power installed a brand new electric line with poles down my road. They replaced the old copper lines with aluminum and the poles are much better quality and taller. I asked the district manager when was the old copper line installed and he said since electric service was available for us… so, maybe since the mid 1940’s? Then, this week our complete road was blacktopped!!! If you have visited our farm you know it was long overdue. For years it has been patched to the point where the patches had patches. Hahaha

Clean and Cold | Adorable Calves

New Calves On Our Farm– Sometime in April we call our vet and schedule a breeding soundness exam for our bulls. This is before we add our bulls to our cow herd May 1st each year. Our oldest bull, affectionately named “Ole Man” by the guys here, was born on our farm the Spring of 2016.

New Pullets | Calves | Job Opening

Pullets arrived March 1st– every 6 months we receive a fresh batch of pullets. This year we were not sure if our late February to early March batch would be available…even though we ordered them last September. However, mostly since we have done business with the same farmer since the Spring of 2017, he prioritized our order and delivered them March 1st. While the price was higher, I was braced for a much higher price. Our pullets are typically 17 weeks old when delivered. They will start laying at about 24 weeks. That means we should start seeing medium eggs by our May delivery dates. YEAH!