I care for them just as good as you do

Putting my animals' needs before my own. 

Remember that AWFUL story about the animal abuse at the E6 Cattle, a dairy in Texas? I was disgusted with the disrespect and lack of care shown to those calves. The story was broke by a Mercy For Animals uncover investigator. I was also appalled that their uncover agent could stand there and not help those animals. I have the same about of respect for that person as the persons committing the abuse - NONE.

Mercy For Animals decided to give a six month update on four of the calves that they rescued, and placed on their farm sanctuary. I am appreciative of them for helping these animals and nurturing them back to health.

They make two statements in the article:

"...with round the clock attention, love and veterinary care, all four calves are now healthy, strong and enjoying the good life."


"While the recovery of these beautiful calves inspires hope, there are still many animals suffering at the hands of the meat, dairy and egg industries today. Luckily, each of us can help prevent the needless cruelty and violence these animals endure by making the switch to a healthy and compassionate vegan diet."

Simmental cows
at my family's farm
in Alberta, Canada

Now I would like to provide a statement. 


My family, fiancé's and I give our animals all the attention they need - no it's not around the clock, but at 3 o'clock in the morning my cows are sleeping and don't need anything, so we are in bed, that's unless they decide 3 o'clock is a great time to calf. Then out of bed we climb. 


Our calves and cows' health is our number priority. We consult with both veterinarians and nutritionists to ensure that we have a proper health and nutrition plan set up for our animals. I really do love our cattle. The Boy and I had a calf get really sick and die this fall. We saw his symptoms early on, had a vet come out to do a check up and treated him with the prescribed medicines, but he still died. It broke both the Boy and I's heart to lose him. Our animals are part of our family. 


However, in saying all this I am still going to eat meat. You eating meat has nothing to go with the level of care given or not given to animals. And because we have lots of choices you can either go to Wal-mart and purchase your beef or you can go to a local farmer and purchase you beef. Both equally suitable options, you make the choice. 


Don't let groups like MFA, HSUS and PETA fool you. I do everything in my power to ensure that my animals are care of, and that other people in the farming and ranching industry are doing the same. 

Fat and happy Hereford cows at JJB Cattle Co

Welcome to the Cattle Hair Salon

Do you need a wash or a trim? 

The cattle that my family and that the Boy and I are purebred cattle (this means that they have registration papers just like a purebred dog would). We also show our cattle and this helps us market our cattle and genetics.

This fall my family will be showing quite a few animals, and my dad has been working hard on getting them in show shape. This means brushing, washing and even giving them hair cuts (we call this clipping).

So today, I would like to present you with the steps of washing cows.

First, you need to tie your cow's head up high. This will help restrict their movement. 

Next, you take a garden hose with a nozzle on it and wet down the entire animal. After this step I take a soap specially formulated for cattle and put that all over their body. 

Then I take a scrub brush and work in the soap. Cattle usually really like being washed because of the scrubbing. It is like an all over massage. 

And as you can see washing cattle gets the cattle really clean, but you get really dirty. At least diamonds are really durable. 

Once I've scrubbed and rinsed all the soap out of the animal, then it is time to brush. I use two types of brushes to brush all the hair in one direction, usually forward and up at an angle. 

 You can see I've brushed the top part forward. All the hair must be brush forward in the same direction. Part of the grooming process is to accentuate the good parts of the animal and hides the flaws. 

And finally we use a giant hair dryer called a blower to dry the animal's hair. If you follow me on Snap Chat (Crystal Cattle) you'll see lots of snap and video from the "beauty parlor."