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Post by willowgirl on Jul 24, 2015 13:55:57 GMT
11 days to go! (Due Aug. 4)
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Post by mamahen on Jul 24, 2015 23:13:53 GMT
Looking good!
There's a statue at an old dairy near me that has a giant cow statue that looks just like your little lady!!
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 25, 2015 4:34:15 GMT
Yeah, she does look rather statuesque there, doesn't she? lol
Starting to make a bag, but I think we have a ways to go yet ... I *think*!
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Post by Awnry Abe on Jul 27, 2015 2:06:07 GMT
She is speechless..
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 27, 2015 12:16:58 GMT
She is such a pretty girl! I am very much looking forward to that calf arriving!
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 27, 2015 12:35:59 GMT
She is bred to a Jersey, so I'm hoping for a pretty spotted calf!
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 28, 2015 12:51:50 GMT
I hope you get one! I love a nice little spotted calf:-)
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Post by katievt on Jul 28, 2015 16:14:48 GMT
Spotted calves are nice, but I'm partial to little Jerseys... There's something about their delicate appearance.
Most calves are cute, though not my sister's Red Angus/Jersey cross. Black Angus cute as all get-out, Jersey baby so pretty, but that cross is funky.
Are you hoping for a heifer?
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 28, 2015 19:15:28 GMT
Either one will be fine. If it's a bull, we'll steer it and keep it for a pet. Numb pointed out that maybe a steer would be better, as a heifer might be prone to Marianne's fits of estrogenic madness ... (she's a bit rowdy when she's in heat). I have been busy contemplating baby names. I'm leaning toward Felicity if it's a heifer, and Micah for a bull.
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Post by aoconnor on Jul 29, 2015 12:23:14 GMT
Great names:-) How's she doing today?
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 29, 2015 12:55:06 GMT
Looks good, not much different from yesterday. Six days out now ... I don't think she is gonna pop anytime soon. I'm hoping she'll calve over the weekend, so I'll have some time to enjoy the baby ... my work schedule this week and next is pretty brutal!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2015 14:05:31 GMT
Spotted calves are nice, but I'm partial to little Jerseys... There's something about their delicate appearance. Most calves are cute, though not my sister's Red Angus/Jersey cross. Black Angus cute as all get-out, Jersey baby so pretty, but that cross is funky. Are you hoping for a heifer? Are you calling my poor dumb little Carly UGLY???
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Jul 30, 2015 0:07:28 GMT
I think we need pics so we can have a judging contest, lol! Keeping a close eye on this thread, willowgirl, and hoping for an easy birth of a beautiful heifer calf, with or without spots.
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 30, 2015 2:40:57 GMT
Nothing new to report! I brought home hay tonight, and she was clearly hungry (having polished off her bale for the day already) so I gave her a second one (not that she isn't ankle-deep in clovery grass that she could eat if she had a mind to). lol
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Jul 30, 2015 2:50:00 GMT
Lol, willowgirl, when I die, I want to come back as one of your cows!
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 30, 2015 12:14:46 GMT
They are pampered girls! Marianne has her own fan and radio (after Numb read in Hoard's Dairyman that cows that listen to music make more milk). If she gets any manure on herself, Numb pours water on her and scrubs it off with a brush. Then she gets patted down with fly powder (a must as her tail has been docked, so she can't swish the flies). We are basically cow servants around here!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2015 21:34:56 GMT
I think we need pics so we can have a judging contest, lol! Keeping a close eye on this thread, willowgirl, and hoping for an easy birth of a beautiful heifer calf, with or without spots. Yes, you be the judge(s)! I personally think the Jersey and full Angus are cuter, but I don't think the Jersey/Angus is ugly. Carmen, the Jersey Cricket, the Angus Carly, the "Jengus" Carmen and Carly are this year's calves out of our 2 Jersey cows. Cricket we bought at a week old for really cheap ($125). She was blind and the farm didn't have the time to nurse along a blind calf. She was otherwise healthy so we brought her home thinking that worst case, she'd be good eating. On a hunch, I started her on antibiotics and a week later she was as good as new! She quickly figured out how to snitch off the 2 momma cows and so we didn't even have to bottle feed for long.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Jul 30, 2015 23:02:52 GMT
Well, personally, I think Carly is cuter than Cricket.
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Post by shellymay on Jul 31, 2015 0:22:45 GMT
I like Cricket, but I am bias as I know the story on that one the others are great as well tho Who cant help but love all babies
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Post by willowgirl on Jul 31, 2015 3:11:56 GMT
They all look good to me!
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Post by Awnry Abe on Aug 1, 2015 3:43:01 GMT
Carly has those nice dairy-cow 'brows.
Cricket is beefier.
But I'll take Carmen
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Post by jupiter on Aug 1, 2015 12:36:50 GMT
I think all three are beautiful,but I'm a sucker for cows! (:
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 1, 2015 22:56:33 GMT
Well, today I bought what I HOPE will be our last gallon of storebought milk for awhile!
I was really hoping she'd freshen over the weekend, so I'd have time to enjoy the new baby before I go back to work on Monday, but nothin' happening so far.
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Aug 2, 2015 3:52:22 GMT
Dang, when I saw you had posted I was hoping it was a birth announcement!
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 2, 2015 12:08:50 GMT
Nope, and this one isn't either! ROFL Lying quietly in her shed this morning, chewing her cud. Numb got up I-don't-know-how-many-times in the night to check on her. We're going bonkers here.
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Post by shellymay on Aug 2, 2015 12:50:38 GMT
Darn, I was so hoping she would go for you all this weekend, Well as long as you get a happy healthy calf I guess waiting will be so worth it
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Post by willowgirl on Aug 3, 2015 2:06:11 GMT
Well, bad news. She went into labor early this afternoon. When the first hoof appeared, I knew we were in trouble -- it was a rear hoof, it was sideways, and there was only one of them! I called my boss and he dropped everything and came running with the calf puller. He worked on her for a long time, and finally got the calf out, but it didn't make it. It was a heifer, too. Looked just like Marianne. Marianne seems pretty gobsmacked by the whole ordeal. She hasn't cleaned yet, and will probably experience a retained placenta. But, looking on the bright side, she is up on her feet, and eating and drinking. Hopefully she will pull through ... I feel so terrible for putting her through this. It's not like we really needed a calf, and milk is only $4 a gallon at the store. We just had so much fun milking her through her last lactation, and I wanted her to finally have a calf that she would be able to keep forever. (Christine and her daughter Lil are thick as thieves. Where one goes, the other follows!) Oh well, what's done is done, I guess. The icing on the cake was that my little cat Juliet (who is less than a year old, and we didn't even know was pregnant!) went into labor the same time as Marianne and delivered two kittens! Now, is that crazy or what? I think she wanted us to have a consolation prize. She and her babes are doing fine.
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Post by Awnry Abe on Aug 3, 2015 2:23:57 GMT
Well, the kittens will have milk, at least.
You didn't put Marianne through anything. She was made for this. Not all calves, or cows, or babies, or moms, make it through delivery.
Enjoy Marianne's milk. I hope next year yields a healthy calf for her sake.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 3, 2015 3:13:57 GMT
Aw, well Im so sorry to hear all of this. What a sad end, but I am glad Marianne is going to be ok, and that the kitties will at least benefit from some fresh milk.
I totally understand about wanting to throw a heifer calf to be with mom for a lifetime. It was SO hard when we had our cows here and had to wean the calves. Ours were just pulled out and taken to another ranch for growing more before the sales. We had to hear and see the mommas bellow and bellow, search and bellow. It was heart breaking! I swear I am not going to be in the state when we sell off our beef calves next year and our cows stay here! Too stressful!!
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Post by manygoatsnmore on Aug 3, 2015 3:29:14 GMT
Oh, willowgirl, I'm so sorry to hear this. I hate to lose a baby. At least Marianne is okay, or will be soon. You can't blame yourself, Willow. These things just happen. When calves aren't positioned right, the odds just aren't in their favor. You and your boss did what you could, and sometimes, there just isn't anything you can do to save them. Congrats on the consolation kittens...I hope they will help take your mind off of things. And enjoy that milk.
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