Cider Calf

My Aunt Jackie thought "Cider" would be a good name for the brown calf. I keep thinking of her as "Cider" now, so I suppose this name will stick. Maybe "Mulled Cider" to open up more availability for nicknames.
Here she is, soft and sweet in the morning light.
Little Miss Dee is a fantastic first time mom.

Thanksgiving

It's dreary and chilly on Thanksgiving Day, but all the animals are toasty in their straw beds.
Isn't this new heifer calf the cutest baby ever?

Big Happy Cow Family... Sort of

Little Miss Dee had a heifer calf today, surprising us all. Well, we knew she was expecting, but we didn't know when to expect the blessed event.
Here are what I thought were family portraits of daughter, and mom, and dad.
Until Big Dan pointed out that the real father was obviously Jersey Bull Calf, from a relationship consummated before he went to his new home in the freezer. Just ignore that photo of the proud bull. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.
So even better- a half Jersey heifer calf.
We now have six female dairy breeds cows and calves at Providence Farm.
Got Milk?

Felicity!

Penny gave birth on September 17th around dinner time. Unbeknownst to us, the heifer calf must have had a hard birth resulting in the lack of suckling instinct. A day later, we fed a weak, fading calf her first milk. She had missed her initial colostrum, so she got an infection. We took her to the vet's for IV fluids, a tube feeding of mom's milk, antibiotics, banamine (calf Motrin,) and vitamin shots. Since then we've been providing supportive care- tube feeding every meal and continuing meds, to keep her alive till that elusive suckling reflex came back.
This evening, between feedings, I was giving her a cranio-sacral massage and manipulating her spine with my fingers if it felt out of whack. She went into a deep sleep on my lap and I prayed earnestly that God would intervene in this situation.
Becky came to the pen, we got "the calf" as she was still known, up to see, once again, if she would nurse.
Becky asked me to push her rump as she pulled her head toward the udder. I sad, "Let's just see what she does, first." And lo and behold, she walked right up to Penny's udder and started to nurse! Then she gave a few butts for good measure.
She had gone from being a "dummy calf" to being cured in that moment.

Her name is Felicity: noun, 1. the state of being happy, especially in a high degree; bliss.

Romper Room

Danny commented this morning, "The teenagers are hanging out at our clothesline."
We put the two little Dexters in the yard last night to keep the fuzzy-wuzzy baby company. This morning, the teenaged Jerseys were curious about the new kid and spent considerable time chatting over the fence.

The Dexter bull worried me by pushing the baby around lightly, but Dan soon set me straight on that issue: baby bull had been shoving the Dexter for all he was worth in the driveway earlier!

I will give a tutorial on the identity of our young cattle: in the second picture down, Clara and Jersey Bull are in the back. After this gorgeous young bull breeds all the ladies, we'll put him in the freezer.
The Dexters are closer. Heifer is next, followed by Dexter Bull ( I admit we weren't ambitious with naming this year.)

And in the foreground is the new addition, Mr. Fuzzy Wuzzy Ewok, we call him for short.

Becky's Herd of Jerseys

The evening was pretty after a big rain, and the sun was making the cows stand out against the green background, so you get to look at them.

The big mother cow is on our right, the yellowest of them, then Penny, sporting her summer color, then the two calves, but you can only see the bull calf who's in front of the heifer.

Becky's Jersey milk is a wonderful addition to Providence Farm because with it we can make all the dairy items we need. If I get very organized, I'll be able to put up enough milk in jars to last us through the three months that Penny takes a rest. It won't be as healthy as fresh, but it will be a whole lot cheaper than buying milk- and it tastes good.

Peaceful Evening, Finally

I took this photo of Becky's dairy cows while I was enjoying nature in springlike weather for a change.
Penny loves the new cow and her calves.
I wormed all four cows and put them in the yard for extra abundant and delicious grass on the day we got the new ones. Penny's milk production has gone up substantially. I don't know if it's equally because of better grass, worming, or company, or some combination thereof, but I'm glad it's plentiful and tasty!

It was good to smell the planted pines and hear the cows tearing up grass and chewing.
I wish you could all experience it.

Jersey? Sure!

Becky and I just happened to scroll down the Craigslist "farm and garden" ads today, and there just happened to be an ad for a Jersey cow with two calves at her side.

I called the number, I asked the questions, I headed out.

We instantly fell in love with the momma cow, and her son, and the orphaned heifer who nurses from her.

We swiftly paid for them and arranged their transportation home.
By the time we stopped at the feed store to pick up some Cydectin pour-on wormer for cattle and got back to the house, they were pulling into their new home.

If you're used to dealing with Craigslist, you know that the people you meet up with are good old salt-of-the-earth types. I particularly liked these cowboys and completely trusted them.

Imagine my surprise when we opened the trailer and there were absolutely no calves inside!

After my initial gasp of horror and disbelief, the man walked to the back wall and PHEW! opened it up to reveal two fuzzy babies inside a very secret compartment.

Penny is happy to have new friends. I hope to have an update about milking the new cow pretty soon.

Milking at Midnight

Gray Day Hodgepodge

Katie took the camera outside to get some farm pics.

JoJo obliged her for a portrait of a silly pony.

Laura's hens are laying now. Here is a photo by Laura of today's egg collection.

The calf and Tom are best friends.
Tom sleeps curled up on him at night in his hay stall on our front porch, but I can't photograph the adorableness of that because if I move or turn on a light, they jump up and run toward me.
I do have a nice collection of flash lit gray and tan blurs snuffling my lens.

I like Tom Kitten. He climbs trees and eats rodents. He also sleeps cutely on his own pillow next to Becky's head at night. Better yet, he sometimes clumsily falls into the crack between her bed and her wall. His meow for help is surprisingly quiet and feminine for such a hulking, manly kitten.

Random Stuff from Today

The calf wants up on the trampoline.
He's friends with Lily, who doesn't snap at him while he plays roughly with her.
At one week of age, he's running really fast laps around the house.
His owner came to visit him today, bringing calf starter feed, as he's started to nibble at hay and grass.
They'll take him home next weekend.

Tom Kitten is almost 6 months old now. Look at what a big boy he is, hunting up rats and mice for his family.

Calf Photo Shoot

Becky took the calf for a walk up and down the driveway this morning.
Then they bounced together on the trampoline.
Laura captured them for you to enjoy.

Calf Crib

Here's the calf's playpen.
He's on the front porch in a wind-proof corner, with a tarp around three sides and the top. The hay keeps him warm, as do the T-shirt and Becky's windbreaker coat.
Snowflake was in a big hurry to make friends with him.
He downed his second bottle tonight.
After tomorrow morning, if he's still thriving, I'll have no worries about him.
Those first 24 hours, whether dam-raised or bottle-fed, are the toughest.

Bottle Calf

Becky successfully pulled the calf away from Penny and got him on the bottle.
Penny's acting ok with the whole thing. I know she still misses him for now.
He seems to wander back toward his birthplace when we let him on the yard for a potty break, but I don't believe that he has any particular longing for his real mom.
Penny gave about three gallons this evening. Becky brought a gallon and a half up here, and Penny had spilled about the same amount.
Momma would get a little anxious about her son during milking, but Becky would tell her soothingly, "It's ok, Penny." and she would settle right down.
We're not storing any colostrum because we don't have any upcoming babies on the farm. What he doesn't drink, we'll feed to the pigs.
He's taking the bottle like a champ now.
He's been sold to our friends for a beef steer and will leave next week (or the week after.) Becky will have an abundance of milk after he leaves!

Penny's Birth Blog (Finally)

Penny was due in January.
I've spent many hours over the last two weeks down at the barn overnight, in case the calf showed up. The reasons behind my expectations were the show of mucous that she started having in late January and her unbearably tight udder (unbearable for me, but apparently fine for her.)
Becky, who owns the cow and calf, wanted to whisk him away from Penny immediately, before she could lick him, but she was too fast for us! Dan and I didn't have the heart to take him from her after the licking, but Becky did, so he never nursed from Mom, just from the bottle.
We'd been keeping Penny in her stall at night for warmth and easy finding, and letting her graze in the west field all day.
When we got home from church today and she wasn't out in the field, I grabbed the towels from her barn and ran to the woods.
Here is what we found...
I like the second picture of Becky's midwifery because of the trust and friendship that you can see exists between them.
I'd estimate 15 minutes between the first and last pictures.
When I had found her, the tips of his hooves were visible, so a total of about a half hour from my first glimpse of hooves.

He weighed 60 pounds. If she'd had a littler heifer, I think the time would have been much shorter.

In the last photo, Becky isn't pulling, just waiting to receive him.

More Penny

Here's a picture of Penny for you to admire as we rush off to soccer games all day.

Dairy Heaven

We decided to milk Penny tonight to get her used to us (and so we had milk to go with our cookies.)
She put her head in the stanchion and proceeded to munch contentedly while we all took turns milking her.
I had never experienced a Jersey before, but now I don't wonder that they're so popular as family milk cows. What a dream to milk!
She gave a half gallon tonight. She's been giving a gallon and a half once a day. We'll milk her twice a day to keep her production up while she settles in, then switch back to just once.
She's expecting a purebred Jersey calf in January.
We'll milk till November then give her a break till the baby comes.
Seriously, buy a Jersey.

Penny!

Dan and I heard that a friend was selling a Jersey cow in milk.
Penny is that cow.
So we bought her as a present for Becky, who's wanted a Jersey milk cow for a long time.
Penny is two years old and is expecting a Jersey calf in January. She's giving a gallon and a half now, being milked once a day. We can milk her till Thanksgiving before giving her a break before January's blessed event.
I will blog the other half of Becky's surprise tomorrow.