Quick Update

I have been very very sick these past three days with the flu.  Fun fact.  You still have to get out there and milk the cow when you are sick.  Buttercup won't let Husband or Eldest Daughter milk her.  This is probably due to the fact that I've been the only one milking her so far.  One very experienced dairy man said "You can make a cow do whatever you want, as long as you do it over and over again."

Cows are creatures of habit.  They don't like change, so they sometimes will resist a new person milking them.  So I have to go sit in a drafty cold barn and milk that cow!  This is one of the drawbacks of animals.  No matter how you feel you still have to take care of them.  You should certainly take this into account before you get milk animals because so much depends on their milking schedule.  You cant delay by hours if you have been sick all night.  Oh well, at least we are getting milk we can use now.  And really she's a great cow.  She holds still and lets me milk her and my hands didn't hurt at all today.  But then again that might be the codeine cough syrup the doctor prescribed me helping ;)  I'll try to post some more but I've been so sick I can barely read.

This mornings milk.  About 1 1/2 gallon

Here are some of our eggs from the chickens.  They are laying about 6-8 per day now.

Buttercup and Fawn: Update

I wanted to update everyone on how Buttercup, Fawn, and milking is going.

Buttercup is doing well and is a great mama, if maybe a little too concerned about her calf all the time.  Fawn is already running and frisking all over the place and is so darn cute!  Whenever he takes off running Buttercup lets out an unhappy mooooo and runs after him, which is hilarious.  Then when she catches up to him she gives him a lick and a moo as if to say "kid your going to poke your eye out doing that!"

Milking has definitely been an adventure!  I thought I had it down since I had milked goats before but a cow is ALLOT different.  First off you have to squeeze harder to get the milk out.  Ouch!  Also you must milk much much longer to empty her bag.  So here's how it went so far.

First milking:  My hands felt like they were involved in some sort of ingenious torture and buttercup kept moving because her baby  moved around.  It took an hour of milking to get her close to empty and the milk had muck in it from her moving so much.  At least she didn't kick.

Second milking:  This time we put fawn on a lead to keep him near mom.  But the place we put him was too close so that when he laid down he was right under her which is dangerous because she might step on him.  I got about 3/4 of a gallon of straight colostrum, and although my hands did a little better they were swollen and sore all night.

Third milking:  We have fixed the stanchion better this time but fawn kept moving and that made buttercup move because she is very protective of him.  It took me 45 min to milk her out with lots of stopping and starting.  3/4 of a gallon again.

Fourth Milking:  My hands are getting better but this time buttercup was highly irritated for some reason.  Fawn is slowly learning to walk on the rope but still pulls.  It took another 45 min to milk her out and was very frustrating with all the stopping and starting.  But really for how long that is she is pretty patient.  She doesn't kick, just moves her feet around.


Now we are getting it down to a science.  Eldest daughter keeps Fawn up by moms head so she can see him and he is finally settling down to the idea. We give her a little sweet grain and pure alfalfa so she isn't board.  This milking went really well  my hands are getting stronger and don't tire so fast.  Buttercup hardly moved at all and it took me about 30 min to milk her out.  So far we are getting 2 and 1/2 gallons per day plus she's nursing a really really big calf.  So you figure he's getting at least another 1/2 gallon or more per day.  We will be able to start using the milk from her in two days, right now it's mostly colostrum (Yuck!).  I froze a good amount of it for calf emergencies and am now giving the rest to the chickens and rabbits.  Waste not want not!

Oh and I've lost 2 pounds since I started milking!  Maybe I could turn this into a diet and write a book.  I'll title it  The Milk Cow Diet Plan.  Loose weight and give your family healthy food!

We Have A Calf!

This morning I woke up at four am and couldn't get back to sleep.  I just knew that cow was calving without me!  So I headed out to the barn and lo and behold when I walked in what did I see?  A brand new wet baby calf sitting there with his mama licking him!  And yes I said he.  It looks like we will have a beef to butcher this fall. 

all tuckerd out

He is so tall he has a hard time getting the teats

Buttercup is already an excellent mother. She is attentive and gentle with her baby and he is up and nursing just fine.  I had checked her last night around 9:00pm but there was no sings of imminent labor.  Note to self.  Buttercup doesn't show many signs!

This calf is huge! My grandma came over and exclaimed at his size.  Her father was a rancher in the blue mountains and always kept milk cows and she often helped with the calving and care of the cows.  I'm so thankful everything went well and no one died.  I milked her out after I got the baby nursing well and she stood like a rock.  Long may it last.

Buttercup cleaning baby.  Ahh mom that feels good!

This calf is already tame.  He came right up to our children when we brought them out to see him and let them pet him all over.  Mama allowed this gentle attention and only stuck close by her baby and let out low mooos ever so often.

What a lovely calf.  He is full bred jersey.  The kids are so in love with him and so am I.

Signs of impending Labor: Buttercup Update

Over the last few days Buttercup has bagged up beyond belief!  And I thought she was big before.  This is her second "freshen" so she's not as huge as a third or fourth calver but still!  Her bag is now rock hard and her teats are full but not yet shiny.

Two days ago the farmer who lets us use his barn and pasture came in while we were feeding and caring for her and told us we should have a calf within a few days (he raised cattle for 20 years so he would know) with the way Buttercups bag and vagina was looking.  And he did say the word vagina with absolutely no embarrassment at all. We could have been discussing the weather, not the business end of a cow.   It's funny how conversations like that are totally normal for me  But that's the way it is when you raise livestock.  You come to be on very intimate terms with all aspects of an animals body and functions.  Especially reproduction.

Just yesterday Eldest daughter and I were discussing the finer points on rabbit reproduction (we just bred all her females) and how the males seem to be incredibly stupid when it comes to their main purpose.  The females, however, are patiently resigned to it and wait for them to figure out what they need to do. I'll post some picks of her rabbits soon.  They are so pretty.

Well, we will keep our fingers crossed in the hopes that it is tonight for calving.  Buttercups ligaments on the sides are loosening up which signals labor within 10 hours.  We've been praying everything will go smoothly and we won't have to call the vet in.

Nothin Yet! Buttercup Update

Well I've been watching our milk cow like a hawk these past two weeks praying that she will go the beginning of this month and not the end.  We have some very encouraging signs but no calf yet.

I took these pics two days ago, now her udder is even bigger

As of right now she has the following signs:

yellow mucus
in the last two days her teats have begun to bag up even more and are now tight
the wrinkles at the back of her bag are almost gone
swollen vulva
slab sided
the ligaments at her tail are like jelly
she's holding her tail to the side

I watcher her for about a half an hour this morning but didn't see any obvious signs of contractions.  I think within the next two days we'll have a calf though!  I'm going to check on her around 11.00 today and see if any progress has been made.

Pics of Buttercup

I finally got my camera to work so here are some nice pics of Buttercup and Eldest daughter.  Buttercup is still a little skittish, but follows us around and inspects everything we do.  She is pretty tame with me and lets me feel her legs and udders while she is eating, which will be very good when she starts milking.

Buttercup the milk cow has arrived!!!

We now are the official owners of a purebred jersey milk cow!  And she is as sweet as she is beautiful.  At around 7:45 she arrived at the barn, came right out on the lead and walked right into her stall.  She was curious about her new home and spent the first half hour walking around checking out the fence.  We tempted her with a little sweet grain and she came right over to allow the kids to pet her and love her.  As soon as we left Princess in Waiting said "Mama I miss Buttercup."  Awwww!

Here she is happily eating hay in her manger.  She is shaved on the side because the previous owners kept her shaved for milking.  She's dry right now so she can build up her reserves for the new calf.  More pics to come but of course my camera died after just one shot!

She is due to freshen in about 2 weeks to a month.  She was bred and then re bred so we don't have an exact due date but we had her tested and know shes pregnant.  I cant wait to see the new baby.  Jersey calves are so sweet with those big eyes.  We already half the calf sold to someone if its a heifer.

Daisy the Cow... Dreams can come true!

We went to view a jersey milk cow yesterday and I have to say I think I'm in love.  This is a great little jersey.  She's 3 years old, due to freshen next month with a purebred jersey calf.  She is halter trained and followed my daughter and I like a well trained dog when we led her around the paddock.  For meeting new people she was incredibly calm and wasn't even scared of the kids.  She is used to hand milking and has good attachments.  On her first freshen she was giving about 4 gallons a day without grain.  I am so excited!  We put a deposit down on her and should have her within two weeks if everything works out.  I can't wait to start getting milk/butter/cream/cheese/yogurt from her.

Sorry about the picture, it was a cell phone pic.



The kids had a blast at this guys farm.  He has a very nice operation and has 7 children of his own so he didn't mind my kids at all.  As soon as they got out two of his boys ran out of the house to play and show the kids around.  Even Viking boy was good as he resolutely followed their chickens around trying to catch one.  The chickens being hip to this kind of game kept just ahead of him.  The older kids all ran out to a little forest the guy has next to his house and had a grand time playing.  Sigh... wish we lived in a place like that!

For ten years I have wanted a milk cow.  I can't believe it might actually happen.  Eldest Daughter wants to rename her Buttercup.  What do you think?  I should do a poll.  How many for Daisy, how many for Buttercup?