my new cud chewing beauty queen

[Nyboy]

Butter

 

[so lucky]

Congratulations, Cane! Great job by you and the new mama!

 

[digitS']

I always treated them as "my food." That led to a rather pampered existence.

Very young in life, I realized that there was a difference between "beasts" and humans. Put 50 of them in a corral and throw in the feed. Anyone would understand what I mean.

They have curiosity and some playfulness. And, appetite, seek comfort/security, and they assert themselves to maintain their place in a hierarchy. We have responsibility and compassion.

I don't know how "pampered" our milk was. It took a fair amount of strength, says this one-time 8 year old. A dish towel pulled tight over the top of a two and half gallon milk pail and the milk went straight into wide-mouth gallon jars.

Steve

 

[canesisters]

'The AIR is stuck to my chin!!"

 

[thistlebloom]

That's funny!
Boy, he's growing fast!

 

[seedcorn]

He does look happy. Has to be thinking that April can't get here fast enough.

 

[catjac1975]

My INTENTION is to either send this calf off for beef (if its a boy) or sell it (if it's a girl). I don't have pasture space to keep one JUST because of attachment. Since Eva is 1/2beef (angus) and 1/2dairy (jersey) this calf will be 3/4 beef (angus bull)
Once I've gone through a season of having an actual producing milk cow, I can decide if I want to breed her next time to a dairy bull and hope for a 3/4 dairy heifer to keep - or give up the whole milking thing and just let her raise up a beef calf or two each year.

At least... that's my plan....

So you are milking 2X a day or is it going to the calf? What a commitment. My husband wanted a goat many years ago. We had it a few years-it loved to get loose. He wanted to breed her to get milk. I know who would have ended up milking her once the novelty wore off.

 

[canesisters]

It's working out really well.
Eva & Carter come into the barn about 4:00 in the afternoon. He goes to his stall, she to hers. He's happy to flop on the straw bed and sleep. She gets a snack of alfalfa pellets as a reward for coming in quickly.
Then about 6 or so, I go out to give her her dinner and milk. It takes about 30-45 mins start to finish to do the milking along with all the evening stall chores. Depending on when Carter last nursed, I get anywhere from a quart to a gallon.
When I'm done, I open the gates between them and they are together in the whole end of the barn for the night.
In the AM Eva gets breakfast and then they are out for the day.
I only milk once a day. And if something comes up and I'm not able, Carter is keeping up with her production well enough that I can skip a milking or two without risking mastitis or anything.
As a matter of fact, it won't be long before I'll have to start separating them for several hours if I want to get any at all.

 

[canesisters]

Carter's first snow day.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1492229104128131&id=100000231687012

 

[Smart Red]

Thank you. I love hearing about Eva and Carter.