Lewis Farms

This weekend we headed to Spruce Grove to Lewis Farms to look at their 2011 Bull Sale offering. We are looking for a new bull and with their sale happening next weekend, it was the perfect time to go check the bulls out since we cannot make the sale.

I always love going to Lewis Farms for a variety of reasons. It was out families home for 7 years, and the first 4 years of my life while mom and dad managed the farm. It is also a place that has so much history and stories. I would venture out to say that it is the most successful Simmental operation still in existence. I also love going to Lewis's because of the people. Crystal had the opportunity to make this video for them last year. I think it really shows what the farm is all about.

Back to this weekend though. All of the bulls are housed at the Bull Farm which is about 5 minutes away from the main farm. While our family was at Lewis's we lived at the Bull Farm, so I have some pretty fun memories of that place.

As you drive into the farm, you are greeted with the bull runs, followed but the big pens. This is where the bulls are kept and fed from weaning until sale time. The pens are large enough to hold a nice size group of bulls. They are sorted into Reds, Blacks, Fullbloods, and Angus.

One thing that I think is really neat about their large pens are the feed bunks. They appear to be the same as any bunk that you would feed with. But when you look closer, they are all actually individual head stalls. They have the ability to be kept open at all times, or close all at once. Dad said these were always great when they used to halter break all the bulls int he 80's.

When the bulls came to eat, he would flick the head gates shut and lock the bulls in. From there he could get close to the bulls, and get them quiet before getting them into the barn to put halters on. I have never seen another place with a set-up like this. It is a pretty slick set-up, and super practical at the same time.