new life

As we are busily working to get the big herd of cows home, still having pressure to get our cows on the milk truck, all the work to be done, the days getting shorter, the work getting heavier, the need of hay, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
We have new life. It takes a moment or several to see and observe the miracle of life. I love watching! It's been 40 years since cows have been on the property and 40 years since a new birth on the farm as well. We were so excited! Plus they were Jersey calves being born. We were hopeful for heifers. We had spent a lot of money on getting these girls artificially inseminated. We had not wanted a bull where we were and AI was what we used. Not always the cheap route to take either.

 BIRTH PICTURES BELOW!

So on a beautiful, sunny, warm day in  August Daffodil had a healthy bull.We all watched as she gave life and took care of it. It's simply amazing.

The other girls come over to see whats going on.We didn't keep him for long. A few days and he was gone to another farm.

Then on another beautiful, sunny, warm, day in September Goldie had her first calf, a bull. It was actually on a Sunday afternoon. She worked hard to have him too. She is by far our most gentle cow. Real sweet. And she stayed sweet.

 This calf was up and sucking so fast after being born! I've never seen one so fast! Goldie was such a great mama too. She showed him off and didn't show any aggression towards us. Only the cats, when they came too close. We kept him for a few days and he as gone too, another farm.

So even in the midst of business we still got to watch calves being born. Happy, healthy, mamas and calves. We were thankful for.
Enjoy the day y'all!

love is

My youngest with her calf. Goldie. This little heifer is such a doll. Sweet as the day is long. Still not sure how my baby got so big.

how cute are they?!

Some cuties wanna say "hi"

Lady Slipper "Lady" on the left. Fancy A Flutter "Fancy" on the right.

the princesses

Well the little heifers, or the babies as I call them turned out to be a couple of princesses after all.
We got a good down pour and then steady rain for a while with some thunder storms the other afternoon. My husband and I went for a walk later in the evening after chores and supper. But before we left I threw some hay in to the babies. Their pasture is low on grass and are moving them in the morning. And off we went on our walk. I really enjoy walking with my husband. We chat about our days if we spent it apart, or we talk about things on our minds. Or sometimes we are just quiet and enjoy being together. Well once we got home we walked into the driveway and saw...

the babies decided to lay down IN their hay instead of the wet ground!! Little buggers! Guess they decided dry hay was better then wet ground. Smart I'd say.

Have a great day y'all 

lights, glorious lights

 Well I know I told you that we, and when I say we, I really mean my wonderful, talented husband, put lights in the barns this fall. I just stood there and was the silent, err not so silent chatter box,  go-for this and go-for that girl. I know nothing about electricity. Other then flipping the switch to turn it on and off. LOL. Here are the big milking girls in their barn. Yes we milk 3 by hand. And yes the barn is small. But for now it works, we and the cows are happy. And see. Lights! There are 2 lights in this barn. So here is the proof. We now have been milking in the lights! Before we used headlights. Which work great better then a flashlight on the floor. But then he decided to put in lights to make life a little brighter in the winter. Come February it's always a delight when the days get longer and brighter.

And here are is the other barn with the younger stalk and horses. There are 3 lights in this barn! And the lights were on. I'm standing in the corner of the barn by the door. They were all too busy eating to pay any attention to me.
Have a great day ya'll!

cows and heifers oh my

 We decided to out Callie and Goldie with Suzie and Bulls Eye. We had been rotating the pasture time for them. Then decided that it was time to put them together. They had to play some push and shove to set down who was who in the pasture. Thankfully that never lasts to long and they settled down to eat. Suzie had to realize there was enough hay to go around for all and let the younger girls eat from the hay bin.

Suzie is getting better about sharing the hay with them. She is just pushing her weight around a bit, trying to be the boss of them I guess and throwing her size around, maybe. So far they all get along, and move when she tells them too. But here are Callie and Goldie, on the right side of the picture, getting some hay out of the hay bin.
Have I mentioned how thankful we are for that thing?! It's been wonderful. Our sweet hay, (sweet hay is wrapped hay. It's cut one day and baled and wrapped the next, so it's a little fermented, if you were wondering what that was. Up here we call it sweet hay).  The round bales are a 3x4, kinda an odd size, but that is what the guy has for a baler, one fits in the hay bin and they chow down on it.
Life is good.
 See?!  No snow. Warmer temperatures. Mild winter. I love it!
Have a great day ya'll!!

best buddies

I turned the two girls loose in the barn the other day so they could be free. I was going to be gone and it was a chilly day. I figured the two could snuggle together and keep each other warm. Well I took a peek out to see them before I left and ran to the house and grabbed the camera. This is what I found when I went to check on them.
Goldie is the one facing me. Callie has her back to me.

Isn't that the sweetest?! Babies all snuggled up together?!
 Don't be alarmed by the red spots on Callie's back. When we went to pick her up we had to put her in a crate of sorts to keep her safe and secure in the back of the truck. Well, when my husband built the box it was a little short and she rubbed her back on it when she moved around. She was taller then we had anticipated her being. The spots are all but healed up now.
Have a great day ya'll!!

part 2 calla lily

Well the day after we had agreed to buy Goldie and sent out a down payment on her to the owner to show we were wanting her we got a phone call. This call was from the owner of the farm where we bought our first cow! They have an amazing herd of Jerseys. We had called them, but they didn't have any heifers. But they had a few more cows that were due in a month or so, and if they had a heifer they would sell they would call and let us know. Well, turns out they did have a heifer. Oh my!This farm is very particular about who they will sell cows/calves to, these cows are their family. I can appreciate that. We were particular who we sold our bull calves too as well. So after chatting with the farmers and then we chatted we decided to buy this calf. We are building our herd and want to keep a good line of Jerseys. We told our youngest only that we were getting a heifer in November and to keep it a secret. She did well to keep it too.
So on the day we went to get our newest little calf I was excited. She's my calf. I picked out her name, one that I had picked out a long time ago and was waiting my turn to name one. Calla Lily. Now I'm not the most sentimental person, but I do love lilies, and I had them in my wedding bouquet. So there you have it. I do have a little sentiment in me. lol.

So here she is, Callie. And we found out that her father is the same father that we bred one of our cows to! So we can make sure we don't breed her to him in the future.
Have a great day ya'll

part 1 goldenrod

OK. So about the remodel job on the horse barn.
We had 3 bull calves this year. Ya. 3. So we decided to keep the Jersey Red Angus cross for our freezer and we sold the two other calves. That we were happy about.
As we have been blessed with heifer calves we have given them to our kiddos. They take on the responsibility of it. Well this year our cow Maggie had a bull calf, and if it had been a heifer it was to go to our youngest daughter. Well she was in tears when I told her it was a bull. So after getting her calmed down and all she was ok with it. We told her that maybe next year she would get her calf. Maggie is still healthy and all to have more calves. Well my husband and I talked and decided that we would see about buying her a heifer calf. But we didn't tell her in case it didn't work out. Well look we did. All over! We called every Jersey cow farmer we could think of. Turns out a lot of farmers we spoke with had mostly bull calves and what heifers they did have they didn't want to sell. Can't say I blame em either. We thought we had exhausted every avenue. So we resigned ourselves to not finding one. But our daughter had no idea, so she wasn't disappointed. Then one evening my husband found some Jersey cows for sale online. Upon further looking he found a 5 month old Jersey heifer in another state. So we investigated about her. Turns out the man had to move and was selling everything. So we decided to take a chance and buy her.
Well the night the calf was to come, our youngest still had no idea we had bought her. The man brought the calf to the door and we brought our daughter out. She was speechless, and looked at her daddy. I was crouched down nearby holding the camera and got a picture of her as she wrapped her little arms around her fathers neck when she realized that the calf was hers! We got the calf settled in the barn for the night, it was well past 8pm when she arrived to her new home.
 She had her name for her calf all picked out as soon as she knew Maggie had settled last year. Goldenrod, in keeping with the flower names for the cows.

"Goldie"

 Here is Goldie out on the lawn enjoying the sun. She is a real sweetheart and a nice addition to the farm. And our daughter just loves her!
Part 2 is coming tomorrow.
Have a great day ya'll! 

year of the bull

Yup. That's right. We had our third and final bull calf born yesterday afternoon. Maggie surprised me with it. Now  knew she was due, but I really didn't think she would go yesterday. It's baby number 6 for her, but she just didn't look like she was going to go. But thinking about it I think her due date was yesterday.

My husband and son were away for the whole day, and I was home with the girls. We weeded one of the gardens and staked up tomatoes. Then I went to clean the horse barn, while the girls played in the kiddy pool. The reason I mention my husband being gone is due to Maggie's attitude when she has a calf. She is VERY protective and gets mean for about 3 days, then chills out. Throwing her head and pawing the ground. She has tossed her head at my husband and pushed him aside in a not so friendly way in the past after calving. She's a wonderful easy milker and mother. So I guess we take the good with the bad. She's just doing her job, as we have let the moms raise the calves for now.
I had come out of the horse barn and had things to put away. I looked up in the field and saw Maggie and said "son on a gun. She just had that calf!" I dropped whatever I was carrying and trotted up to where Maggie was. Sure enough there was the calf. I still have no idea what was carrying and where I dropped them. The girls called and asked if they could come up. They did.

He was almost dried off. It was such a warm beautiful day yesterday. It was also Suzie's first birthday too! (Last years calf)
We stood and watched for a while.  Then I called my husband to let him know. He said let her be for the afternoon, and milk her later in the evening. Then I called my brother and father in law and asked if they would come over after work to help me get Maggie and calf in the barn. I needed some help in case something went wrong, and I got hurt.

Well much to my surprise Maggie was totally fine. She did paw the ground when we walked up to her pen, but then she just walked nice as you please to the barn. She chowed down her grain while I milked her out. Then my BIL helped me give her some calcium to help prevent milk fever, and she never tossed her head. She just was like OK. I could hardly believe it. She was a totally different cow! I wondered when she would act out, and kept my guard up, but she was fine. I was so very thankful.  Later that evening when my husband called to see how things went I couldn't stop gushing about how good she was for us! He was pleased to hear that! Almost as pleased as I was to tell him.

Here he is this morning. See his tongue? He was a hungry little bugger. The pail that I milked in was almost full. We don't save the colostrum milk. That is why it's in the dirty plastic pail.
Well as far as the cows we currently have, we are done with our calving season. 3 bulls in one year. I'm thankful for the healthy calves and mamas. I am lookin forward to breeding them again, and hopefully getting some more heifers next spring and summer!
Have a great day ya'll!

20 days

 I woke about 3am. As per usual the past few weeks. And various other times throughout the night.We've been keeping an eye on Daffy since her due date being the 21 of May.
This being her first calf we wanted to be sure to be home in case she ran into trouble. She has had some signs, her udders getting bigger and her vulva swelling. But nothing unusual for a cow about to gives birth. We just would watch her. She was happy. Eating, pooping, peeing. No problem. The days ticked by.
5 days over due.
10 days over due.
14 days over due. We call the vet. They say to keep watch on her and wait a few more days. Don't worry. We call some other dairy farmers in the area. They say don't worry about her. We think, weird, she is not having this calf. She's gonna be pregnant forever! So we wait. And pray. She is still fine. Still happy and not in any distress.
17 days over due. Still fine. Her udders are getting bigger. Her vulva is getting more swollen. She still looks huge, so the calf has not moved up into the birth canal. We have been staying closer to home. Me usually always home, and if we both are gone it's only for a short time. We wait. I don't get much sleep. I'm up checking on her in the field. My husband is up checking on her.
18 days over due...more phone calls. More being told she is fine. Don't worry. It's not usual for a cow to be this over due?! Is it?! We give her one of those big calcium pills. Her udders are bigger. Her vulva is even more swollen.
3am June 10. 20 days over due. I get up and head out. I can't find her in the pasture. I run back in and wake up my husband. He put her in the barn, and forgot to tell me. I go back out and check her out. She is standing, she has some discharge. No big deal. But as of yesterday I figured it had to be soon. The calf had moved because she wasn't as wide. Her teats were swollen. I told my husband "I bet she goes tonight" while we were doing chores.
I get back in bed. I lay there awake. We hear soft mooing. (Our house and that barn she was in are close by). My husband gets up and heads out. I wait. He taps on the window and says to go get our oldest daughter. This is her cow. I wake her gently and ask her if she wants to watch Daffy become a mommy. A sleepy smile comes over her face and she quickly joins us outside. We watch. And wait.

I didn't get many pics of the delivery. It was dark in the barn and I didn't want to disturbed her hard work she had to do. We had her in the barn because of the outside temps last night, and the possibility of rain. We didn't want the calf to catch a chill.

25 minutes later she had delivered her first calf all on her own. A bull calf. She was up and licking him off. Mooing softly at him. We were so relieved. She was doing fine. The calf is alive and she is doing her job. And she didn't need any help from us on her first delivery, like her sister Dandie did on her first calf last year.

 He was up sucking, and mama was still cleaning him off. She drank some water and licked him dry and he had a good first meal!

 A beautiful sun rise on this glorious morning. What a beautiful day to be born. We left the barn and went into the house to let Daffy and baby rest and get better acquainted.

Outside in the pasture together. See her tongue licking his face? Her first milking done and now to rest and bond the rest of the day. At least until we figure out what to do with him.
As far as her first milking going? Well she was OK. She kicked the pail and danced around and mooed the whole time. Her calf was there with her. She was a bit nervous, but she knows us and trusts us. She can only get better from here on out!
Have a great day ya'll

suzie

says hello!

Today they are out in the pasture enjoying the sunny weather and fresh green grass! Everyone is doing well. Maggie has not come down with milk fever and I think she's going to pass by it this time. I think the calcium pills must have helped. I'm relieved too.
All is well and quiet on the farm today. We are getting ready for our haying season. The weather should be nice for a good 5-6 days in a row!!! That is a lot for us this year. So hopefully we can get our first crop in. The fields are finally ready!
Have a great Monday all!

bitter sweet

Mama and son resting Saturday the 23. I took this picture and it was a bitter sweet moment for me. All of us really. We knew going into this birth, that if it was a bull calf then he would have to go. We couldn't use him for breeding, or have a "pet" and not for meat either. He was my son's calf and he decided that the sooner he went the better. My husband made calls and found someone that wanted him. So late Saturday morning he took this little charge and took him to a new farm with goats, bunnies, cows, and such.  The girls got all teary and didn't want him to go. We told them we didn't have a choice, and he had to go. Such is life on a farm and we can't keep him. My boy was gone for the day and when he got home my husband told him about it and he seemed ok with it. Dandie can have more and maybe next time she'll give us a heifer. That made him feel better.
Dandie went outside. She looked around and mooed a little. When they came back in the barn both cows mooed and looked around. I think they were a little confused. I felt bad. But all in all she seemed to take this ok too. The calf never nursed off her, so I don't know if that helped with her not being too attached to him. Not really sure. I try not to humanize it too much because it kills me. Being a mom and all I get all sad and melancholy when I think of taking the babies away.
As for the questions I got in the comments: Yes it was a bull calf.
Yes Dandie is a calm cow. She doesn't get too upset at things. Right from the get go with the calf she was calm with us being close to her, and him. We shall see how that goes with more babies as they come.
Yes Dandies tits are small. It's hard to milk her. We have to "strip" the teat rather then the regular squeeze. She prefers to have us start milking the front quarters first, then the back. Weird I know, but she stands better when we do it that way.
Have a great day ya'll!

first milking

Here is my husband milking Dandie for the first time...
I'm actually tailing her while snapping this photo. I'm super talented like that you know. For those of you who don't know what tailing is, it's when you hold the cows tail straight up in the air. It puts pressure on the spine and makes it uncomfortable for the cow to wanna kick. Yes even though Dandie has been with us for her whole life and handled daily, and touched everywhere, she still did some kicking and dancing. We hand milk still. I know way like olden days. But I actually love to milk by hand. Again, I'm weird, and when we go to milkers I will miss hand milking. But all in all Dandie didn't do too bad at all. She's a calm cow anyways and she didn't get too bothered at this milking...

Here he is the next morning 3-21-14. It's a little blurry because my camera was on the wrong setting. My bad. But still, he's super cute. Looks like his mama. Pale brown, and not real red like Daffy was.

We feel like in a way we've come full circle on the farm. The first heifer cow that was born here, has now had her first calf.