Marilyn, the bull is Hereford/Simmental and we have one mocha colored calf and one chocolate, all the others are dark red with white faces and more Hereford looking. I only have two purebred cows, the rest are mutts 🙂
Not one speck of white on this one! And we’re ready to crash. Jane cast herself after he was born and we are all feeling the strain this morning after the pulling, tugging and high anxiety 😦 I had a beer and went to bed!
Just catching up after dropping one son and family off at the airport and collecting another son and family and what happens while I’m gone! I nearly miss the news. Congratulations on a lovely looking little chap.
HFS, yes and she sounds like an elk when she bawls, so the mmming noise is welcome compared to the squeeek. Her mom could wake the dead though with her foghorn so I think the squee is okay.
Kerry, he is a doll, and it looks like she is clear, it was obvious last year before freshening that she had mastitis. I’ll know more after the colostrum clears though. But at this point she’s looking good.
I take it, it wasn’t a very easy delivery?? What time were you guys up to deliver and how long did it take? Do you think she would of had trouble having baby by herself if you hadn’t been around?
Chris, it went pretty well, and was very short, 20 minutes from second water bag ’til he was all the way out, but she chose a bad spot to lie down for the final push and got herself stuck against a wall. I think though if we hadn’t been there she might have chosen a better spot and been fine. I think she wanted to go away from us, and I am getting better at walking away…I should have this time.
So cute! Thanks for letting us know the breeding. I thought there might be Durham in there somewhere. So glad things went well. The first pic, “”Hello World!”
That’s the cutest thing, how they are obliviously ok and “gramma” was so concerned. Love it! Guess he is a “he”, what a beauty! And Jane is such a lady. Yes, I just said that!
Liv
I know what you mean about learning to walk away and let them do what they know how to do. I’ve been trying to get a mamma sheep to nurse both babies. (an unexpected and late delivery last week). I’ve come to think that my showing up to help out is just interupting. As soon as I arrive Mamma thinks its feeding time for her and walks away from feeding babies. ooops!
Congrats on another beautiful baby for you! It almost makes me want to get a house cow….but not quite.
What do you do with the calf and the momma and milking? I’ve been contemplating pulling the calf off my jersey and bottle feeding him in a calf dome, but curious what you do?
Congrats Bruce! I keep the calf and cow separated after the second or third day and let the calf nurse after I have the milk I want for the house. So for me that means handling and lead/tie training the calf right away, and having a separate place to put the calf. I tether a lot or use small barnyard areas that aren’t in use during the summer, calves need access to grass right away. Basically the calf is my relief milker, by three months into the lactation I could skip the milking myself and just put the calf on to milk the cow. It just depends on where you want to spend your time, milking/bottle feeding or training a calf to have manners. I don’t like bottle calves myself (no flight zone), but that may just be me. If you bottle feed, key points are warm milk (body temperature), 2 gallons a day of whole milk, and correct nursing posture so the milk goes to the correct stomach. When I have bottle fed, I quickly switch from the 1/2 gallon bottles to 8 quart buckets like this: http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/p-188-miller-cp8-8qt-calf-pail-with-nipple.aspx
Just do whatever is easiest for your operation. I like separating because then I don’t have letdown issues with the cow, since she is trained to letdown for me and not the calf. A friend of mine is trying to machine milk and then let the calf on and she is finding that she has a hard time knowing how much to leave for the calf since the cow lets down so well for the machine. If I milked by machine I think I would bottle feed…
"Whole cultures have risen and fallen because they couldn't figure out how to make all the area like the good spot, and instead made all the good spots like the bad ones." Joel Salatin, Salad Bar Beef
awwwww….dickie is so cute! congrats gramma!
Now that is one cute baby!
Congratulations! He’s beautiful
wonderful news!
What a perfect calf. Congratulations to the three of you!
And look what a proud mama Jane is. He is adorable! Good job Jane! Such a sweet girl.
Woot!
Ohhh… he’s gorgeous. Hooray for Jane & Dickie! Nice supervisory work, Gramma… now, get some rest 🙂
OMG EEeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!
He’s beautiful! It’s such fun to see momma love so tenderly expressed. Congratulations, Gramma!
I’m curious, what breed did you cross her with to get that color calf? I noticed one of your beefies has a solid calf too.
Marilyn, the bull is Hereford/Simmental and we have one mocha colored calf and one chocolate, all the others are dark red with white faces and more Hereford looking. I only have two purebred cows, the rest are mutts 🙂
Nice looking calf 🙂
What a beautiful boy! What breed was his Papa again?
Hereford/Simmental cross. Nice calves…
OMG!! He is gorgeous! Is he completely brown all over? You don’t see that everyday, do you?? He’s soooo cute! How are both mamas doing??
Not one speck of white on this one! And we’re ready to crash. Jane cast herself after he was born and we are all feeling the strain this morning after the pulling, tugging and high anxiety 😦 I had a beer and went to bed!
Congratulation to the beautiful mama and proud grandma. What a lovely family!
That’s a sweet baby and a good momma :-).
Gorgeous!!
Just catching up after dropping one son and family off at the airport and collecting another son and family and what happens while I’m gone! I nearly miss the news. Congratulations on a lovely looking little chap.
I’m not surprised Jane cast – look at the size of that chap’s head! That’s a fine-looking bull in the making. Glad all is well now. Take it easy.
Yeah, and if they can find a predicament, like a corner or wall they seem to be magnetized to that spot 😦
I love the noises cows make with their new calves. I can almost hear it in the pictures.
HFS, yes and she sounds like an elk when she bawls, so the mmming noise is welcome compared to the squeeek. Her mom could wake the dead though with her foghorn so I think the squee is okay.
Ooo, what a beauty! And such a sweet name. Glad Jane’s alright, I’ve been watching this space intently.
Yay! I’ve been waiting to find out how Jane came out–Dickie looks adorable! How long before you know if Jane’s going to have mastitis again?
Kerry, he is a doll, and it looks like she is clear, it was obvious last year before freshening that she had mastitis. I’ll know more after the colostrum clears though. But at this point she’s looking good.
I take it, it wasn’t a very easy delivery?? What time were you guys up to deliver and how long did it take? Do you think she would of had trouble having baby by herself if you hadn’t been around?
Chris, it went pretty well, and was very short, 20 minutes from second water bag ’til he was all the way out, but she chose a bad spot to lie down for the final push and got herself stuck against a wall. I think though if we hadn’t been there she might have chosen a better spot and been fine. I think she wanted to go away from us, and I am getting better at walking away…I should have this time.
Congratulations! What a cutie!
Dickie is so adorable. Congratulations to Jane and you.
So cute! Thanks for letting us know the breeding. I thought there might be Durham in there somewhere. So glad things went well. The first pic, “”Hello World!”
adorable little guy!
Well, it’s hard to walk away mama! 🙂 He’s a beauty though!! I wish I could see him in person…does she let you touch him or does he?
Chris, yeah she’s VERY tolerant, and he is a wild thing not even 24 hours old yet and already he is in the hooscow, pun intended 🙂
Gorgeous baby! Just gorgeous! I like the red ones.
What a beautiful color he is! Will he stay that color?
Adorable – Dickie looks like he belongs here on my farm, widow’s peak and all 🙂
Congratulations!
PS: Where’s Blake now?
Being harangued by the other cows, she’s learning the ropes, so to speak.
Isn’t that funny? He does look like and AMD, we’ll see though as he grows, I’m thinking he’ll be lanky like mama.
I’ve been told AMDs and the old type Guernseys are very closely related, phenotypically if that’s a real word….
That’s the cutest thing, how they are obliviously ok and “gramma” was so concerned. Love it! Guess he is a “he”, what a beauty! And Jane is such a lady. Yes, I just said that!
Liv
Lovely baby. What is his eventual fate? Beef or bull?
boeuf
Thanks everyone!
yeah! congrats!! Sending love and best wishes for everything to continue to go well. 🙂
I know what you mean about learning to walk away and let them do what they know how to do. I’ve been trying to get a mamma sheep to nurse both babies. (an unexpected and late delivery last week). I’ve come to think that my showing up to help out is just interupting. As soon as I arrive Mamma thinks its feeding time for her and walks away from feeding babies. ooops!
Congrats on another beautiful baby for you! It almost makes me want to get a house cow….but not quite.
That is one of the most beautiful calfs I have ever seen. I have seen cute but not usually beautiful. Congratulations on your new arrival.
What do you do with the calf and the momma and milking? I’ve been contemplating pulling the calf off my jersey and bottle feeding him in a calf dome, but curious what you do?
Congrats Bruce! I keep the calf and cow separated after the second or third day and let the calf nurse after I have the milk I want for the house. So for me that means handling and lead/tie training the calf right away, and having a separate place to put the calf. I tether a lot or use small barnyard areas that aren’t in use during the summer, calves need access to grass right away. Basically the calf is my relief milker, by three months into the lactation I could skip the milking myself and just put the calf on to milk the cow. It just depends on where you want to spend your time, milking/bottle feeding or training a calf to have manners. I don’t like bottle calves myself (no flight zone), but that may just be me. If you bottle feed, key points are warm milk (body temperature), 2 gallons a day of whole milk, and correct nursing posture so the milk goes to the correct stomach. When I have bottle fed, I quickly switch from the 1/2 gallon bottles to 8 quart buckets like this:
http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/p-188-miller-cp8-8qt-calf-pail-with-nipple.aspx
Just do whatever is easiest for your operation. I like separating because then I don’t have letdown issues with the cow, since she is trained to letdown for me and not the calf. A friend of mine is trying to machine milk and then let the calf on and she is finding that she has a hard time knowing how much to leave for the calf since the cow lets down so well for the machine. If I milked by machine I think I would bottle feed…
Congratulations! 🙂 Just beautiful, and love the pictures!
Congratulations! He’s beautiful
Forest Cattle