perks

The perks of being a mom and living in the country where there is an abundance of them.

I love the bunches of dandelions that my kiddos bring me on a daily basis. They look forward to when they are big enough,  and can pick me some. They come in the house with their hands behind their back with a big smile and have me guess what side I want.
I never lack for fresh flowers in the house this time of year. But mostly I love the hands that bring them to me!

our weekend with the baby

Well we have settled back into the life of a dairy. Milking twice a day. It's nice. I have yet to milk Maggie at this time. I know my time is coming soon, but my husband has been doing the milking. I'm OK with that. Like I said there will be plenty of time for me to get my turn! I'm looking forward to it!

Miking Maggie for the first time this freshening 

 We are letting Daffodil stay right with Maggie and eat whenever she wants to. There is still some colostrum in the milk, and we think it's better for her mama to raise her, and we just gentle her and get her used to people. It worked well with Dandie, so we'll go this way again. We'll probably wean her at 6-8 weeks or so.
 Daffodil is wonderful. She keeps mama and big sister on their toes with her antics. She goes out in the pasture, sticks her tail straight up in the air and runs! Then stops, and lets them catch up to her, then takes off again. It's quite funny to watch. She'll try her hand at a leap in the air, and fall over. She is still working on her landing!

Our herd.

On Sunday morning when my husband went out to milk he fed Maggie, and she didn't eat her grain. He felt her ears, and they were cold. He knew that was some signs of milk fever. We've been keeping an eye on her for this. He called a nearby farmer and he said he would come right over and help give her some calcium (that is what they need when they have milk fever). When they get milk fever it's after they calve. She was just at the beginning of it. Another sign is they can't stand up, their muscles won't let them. This is when it's farther along. They can die from this if not treated. The kiddos and I headed off to church. I was reluctant to go, but did. I knew she was in good hands, and would be in contact with him. She was given the medicine, it takes about 2 hours to work, so he stayed home to keep an eye on her. She did come out of it. She was outside laying in the sun with her girls when I got home. I asked how she was and he said fine. Sunday night she ate some of her grain, before Daffodil decided to sleep in it, and her ears were warm again. We were
pleased with that. This morning she ate her grain, her ears are warm, and she is now outside eating with her girls. Another lesson in dairying life for me. A whole new lesson. I'm thankful it turned out well and that this was caught early and the end result ended well too. Very thankful for the help that came too, with no hesitation on his part, he helped when we needed it.

Sunday morning snuggle time with mama!

Have a great day all!

12:04pm

Well Maggie's due date has come and gone. It was Tuesday the 14th. Nope, no calf. But with the last two she has had with us she has been 9 and 10 days late. So... we wait.
We had thought she was going to go early due to the fact that her udders swelled up so. So we have been watching her and staying close to home. Well, I'm usually always home, but you get the picture. We even checked on her in the middle of the night a few nights. No calf. Not to mention she wouldn't come in the barn. Not even for me!! She always comes in for me. Stubborn cow. I would have felt better having her outside and calving in the field. More room and I didn't have to worry about anything happening to the calf outside.
So today I was doing school with the kiddos when  looked out the window and checked on Maggie. She was way up in the pasture, and it looked like she was dancing. I grabbed the binoculars to get a closer look. She was dancing. I know that sounds weird but that is the only way I can think to get a picture in your head. She was moving slowly in a circle, her hips slightly swaying and her back legs moving slowly around the front. Her head was low to the ground and then she would stop and take a few bite of lush green grass. Then sway her hips and back legs would move again. I stood in the window watching. The kiddos were watching me wondering what was going on. I smiled and grabbed the phone. I told the kiddos that "I think Maggie is gonna have a baby today." They cheered. I called my husband. He's been working out of town. I told him what was going on, and he said to keep him posted. I hung up and tried to get the kiddos back to school, but we were all too busy wondering about Maggie. We went outside and stood quietly watching with the binoculars. Each one taking turns and chattering excitedly as Maggie would lay down, and stand back up and dance around again. We came back in the house and got lunch ready, and peeking out the window. Not really wanting to eat, but getting it out anyways. We looked out the window and Maggie was laying down with her butt in the direction we could not see. Bummer. Then as she stood up and turned out came the baby as she stood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!!! The kiddos saw it!!!!!!!!!!!! How excited we all were!!! I called my husband again and told him she had just had the calf!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at the clock. 12:04pm. We gave her about 10 minutes and then we walked up the path to see her. We kept our distance because she gets real upset and pushy and will try to knock you over. We saw such a beautiful, wet, red looking calf laying in the grass soaking up some love from her mama. It shook it's little head and tried to stand up. Fell over and tried again. It laid there and rested. Mama Maggie mooed her special moo to her baby and licked the baby's  face. She pawed the ground, and kept her eye on us. Reluctantly we walked back to the house. I didn't get a look at the hind end of the baby. I still didn't know what it was. But I was happy to see it getting loved and dried off, and trying to get up. I knew they both needed some time. A few folks driving by stopped to see the new little calf too.
Within the hour it was up and nursing like a champ. I was pleased. And relieved. Still I did not know what the sex was...and dying to know!
Maggie delivered the afterbirth and my oldest daughter saw that. She thought it was gross. So I explained it to her, and then it wasn't so gross. Well Maggie decided to eat the afterbirth. I know that can cause them to choke and was worried about it. I didn't dare go out in the field alone, even with a stick. My father in law came over and we drove his jeep out in the field and I had a stick and a bucket. Well by the time he got here and up there Maggie had eaten all the afterbirth. We sat in the jeep and watched her for maybe 20-30 minutes. Not really sure what was going to happen. I do know she has eaten it before with her first one she had with us. But as we were sitting in the pasture watching the miracle of life and motherhood it stood up and wanted to eat...I held my breath and hoped it would turn and give me a nice shot of it's butt...it did!!!

We are pleased to announce we have a new little heifer calf!! Her name is Daffodil aka Daffy. Our oldest daughter named her. A fitting name for a spring baby. She is also the full sister to Dandie!!

Isn't she the sweetest thing????????!!!!!!!!!!! She say "hellooooo"
Her and mama are fine so far. We'll be keeping an eye on them and making sure they both stay fine. They are in the barn for the night. Maggie is all milked. My husband said it was nice to be milking again.

I didn't have the camera, my husband took it with him, so I had to wait until he got home from work to get any pictures of her. She is super cute.
We feel blessed and are very thankful.
Have a great night all!

update

Here's Maggie. She's big, and cranky too.
 Things are getting green around here finally too. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We were able to put the cows out in their bigger pasture the other day too. They have been enjoying the warmer days and the lush green grass!
Have a great day all!

good quote

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on it's ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing that it is stupid."
Albert Einstein