And the Cold Sets In...

So remember how I said I got a sunburn last week at Rocky Show, well the weather has definitely took a turn for the "worst"!!  By that I mean COLD and rainy!  It started raining here late Friday night and continued to rain all day Saturday; along with the rain came a cold front.  It is now Sunday here in Rockhampton and guess what the weather is like...beautiful, warm, and the sun is out!  I'm starting feel more like I am in Louisiana because of the mood swings the weather is throwing out!

Anyway, the cold weather hasn't stopped Kenrol from conducting business as usual.  Before the rain came, it was time to AI on Thursday.  At 9 p.m. sharp, Wendy, Vicki (a helpx exchange girl from the UK), and myself bundled up and headed to the "top yards" to AI.  Lets just say that I was VERY happy to get back inside the warm house after that was through!

Early Friday, cattle from the north were brought to be dipped for ticks before being sent to the feed yards.  This was a very neat experience for me since I had never seen cattle dipped in a "plunge dipper" before.  Later Friday, another load of cattle were brought in to be dipped as well. Since it started raining while in the process of unloading, we will have to wait until tomorrow or Tuesday to dip them.

I will have better pictures of the dip by Tuesday but here are a few for the time being...

Freezing!

So excited to AI!

Cattle waiting to be dipped

Plunge dip

So, so, so dirty after the dip...Every cow, calf, or bull that passed through the dip managed to sling mud on me while I opened the gates!

Rocky Show

First of all, I would like to correct myself on an earlier blog, this show was the Rockhampton "Rocky" Show (open and junior) not the Junior Beef Show.  Anyway, the show was great!  It was a long week, but all in all a success, and I even managed to get a sunburn...in winter.  I was also able to participate in the junior judging contest and won third place and my first Australian money!  By the way, their money is alot cooler than the States, they have purple, green, and blue bills!

Besides junior judging, I can proudly say that I have showed in another country!  I had the great opportunity to travel to the Rocky Show with the Cole's of Kenrol Brahman Stud, to work and help show a few of their cattle. Everyone was very welcoming and friendly, I got the chance to meet Brahman breeders from all over Australia as well as other beef breeders.

Here are a few shots from the show...

Motherly love

Clean butts!

No time for a sit down lunch!

I had to borrow a hat for the show ring all day!

Overseas mum! Great lady who has helped me out so much!

Cutie pie Alexandria and Data, she thought he should be wearing a hat too!

From now on, I will be known as "Louisiana" among the Aussie show barns or sheds, a big thank you to everyone who made this week a blast for me!

Beef Breeding Services

Before going to the Rocky Show, I got the chance to go to the Queensland Beef Breeding Services, or in other words..."the Australian Genex".  Very cool, I went with Wendy Cole to drop off a semen tank and ended up taking a tour of the facility!  

Here are the similarities...

Like us, they use large nitrogen tanks to store semen for customers and research,etc.  However, the tanks pictured here are the ONLY large tanks they have.  These tanks are quite a bit smaller than the tanks we use at the Baton Rouge Genex, but we do have a few small ones in distribution. 

Wonder where the rest of it is stored....

They use a "working pot" or "holding tank" to work in.

And obviously a nitrogen tank.

Here are the differences...

Ahh, here is where they store all of the other semen!  Two sheds full of semen tanks lined neatly in alphabetical order by customer or farm name.  I learned that it is much cheaper for the customer to leave their semen tank at the facility and only to pick it up when they need it and bring it back when finished.  Can you imagine filling ALL of these tanks with a hose?  Yikes..

Instead of using a funnel and bucket to quick fill the tanks, they use a nitrogen diffuser.  Much faster and very easy to use.

 I thought this was a cool, funny looking tank. 

 The cool part it that it is only for horse semen.

What you will not find here: CANES!  Who would have thought?  Instead of "caning" the semen, they use small goblets.

Busy, busy!

Good Morning Everyone!

Well it's been a crazy few days here at Kenrol, but I'm loving every minute!  Along with everyday work, we have been preparing for the "Rocky Junior Beef" show which will be held in Rockhampton later this week.  Tomorrow, we will bring the cattle to the show grounds and start preparing for the show which will be Tuesday-Thursday of this week.  I am really looking forward to this next week becuase it will give me the chance to meet the junior members and see how they do things.  This should be interesting because they do things a bit differently down under!  For instance, all bulls AND females have to have a nose ring with a nose strap to show.  Bulls nose rings have to be permanet but the females can be temporary.  Another thing, they do not "loin" the backs of their cattle (this will be something I have to get used to).  Something else that I found interesting is that instead of showing in a covered arena or collesium, they show OUTSIDE in an uncovered arena, and get this...in lab coats!  How's that for a dress code?  Very neat, they show in these "dusters" to look uniform and proffessional.  Needless to say I'm pretty pumped about the upcoming week, though its going to be a long one!  Check back in a few days for a report on the show, I will not have internet access at the show grounds and will be pretty busy.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday!


Sites around the farm....

Me feeding "Data", one of my favorite bulls! 

No trucks here, only the "Ute"!

Instead of "cow birds", they have cockatoos!

This is what wakes me up every morning...

 Peek-a-boo!

 

These guys are never where they are supposed to be...

Gus! This is what he does all day..when he's not eating of course!

Kenrol Brahman Stud

My first stop, Kenrol Brhaman Stud home of Ken and Wendy Cole.  After unpacking and I settled in, we took a tour of their 1,000 acre ranch.  After lunch, I was able to help around the ranch.  We pinned and sorted females to be used today for embryo work, sorted and selected which calves would be taken to the sale or kept, and also fed up.  I had a blast, and was able to experience my first Outback sunset!  All in all a great day, and good news is...NO jet lag!  I was able to sleep in today so that helped alot!  Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

My shadow on the four-wheeler or as they call them...bikes.  They use these to round up cattle and to do all of the ranch work necessary, fun times!

Sunset over the paddocks...learning a new word everday :)

Be on the lookout for more photos!

Arial Images of Australia

Safe and sound!  Here are some pictures of the plane rides over! (The pictures do not do the beauty of this place justice, it is absolutely gorgeous!)

Sunrise over the ocean :)

The runway in Brisbane

 The only Kangaroo I've seen was on my plane! Haha

River in Rockhampton