Dave's Cow Collection

Posted on Thursday 31 May 2007 at 10:53

On Saturday, Dave is bringing home another bull calf, a Holstein, for a beef animal. He called me after looking at the animal on the way to work: "They've also got some heifers for sale...."

"What do you want them for?"

"To breed them, to get more calves," he says, as if it's obvious.

I clear my throat emphatically, imagining the last of our savings account draining away as Dave the Not-Rancher builds his - or should I say "my"? - herd. "Let's not get carried away, here."

"Well, I'm getting the bull calf, anyway."

I hope the critter's well-behaved, because y'all know my rule about ornery beef: Serve immediately.

We've had trouble thinking of things to do with all the milk. This morning when we came in from the barn, we had 10 gallons in the house. My mom came by and got 3 gallons to feed to their orphaned lambs down at the sheep farm. I made a gallon's worth of cheese (just curds, really, but the kids like it). Yesterday, I made yogurt. It's probably time to make ice cream again. I have 2 litres of cream sitting in the fridge as well, so I guess it's butter time.

We have a routine pretty well established: We go out with whichever kid is the appointed barn helper. The kid ropes Stew, who is in the pen while Cow Patty's outside. The kids leads/hauls Stew around the corner so Cow Patty will see him and go into the pen to get to him. Once he's tied, I open the back door of the barn and holler, "Where's my cow?"

Cow Patty comes galumphing along, if she's not already waiting at the door. I say, "Here, cow," and go into the barn. She follows along behind, no prompting needed.

Once she's in the pen, Stew gets moved over by the head gate, so he's in front of her while she's being milked. We brush the manure off the cow and give her udder a wash. My fearless barn helper lures Cow Patty into the head gate with a handful of chop. I tie her tail while she's trying to reach the chop pail the kid is holding just out of reach. I sit down with the milk pail, and my barn helper dumps chop all over the cow's head while she starts wolfing it down like a greedy pig.

Cow Patty is really quite decent. She leads with a hand on the halter, and will eventually start walking even if she doesn't want to - though I have to pull with my full weight, which is not insubstantial. She has tried to pull a dancing cow routine on me a couple of times when she's tired of milking, but responds constructively to a sharp word or a wee clonk on the side.

The cutest part is the kids. They love leading Stew around. He's gotten pretty good at following, too. Especially if the kids smell at all like the milk they've just fed him. We give him his share by pail at the end of the milking; then the kids lead him the long way through the barn and outside. They goof around with him out there while I lead Cow Patty along the same route, then out her door to the pasture.

I love watching my rather small-framed 7-year-old handle that calf. She bosses him with complete confidence. If he won't follow, she throws the rope over her shoulder, digs her boots in, and hauls on him till he moves. If he slips his neck lead, she's right on him, getting that loop back around him before he even knows what's up. she has no fear of pail-feeding him, even though he can be somewhat obstreperous. I was watching her maneuver around Stew to give Patty the chop this evening, and she's definitely got her method figured out.

And, unlike Spazzerific, she cannot be accused of leading Stew down "the wrong path." 

Hey, we're still here

Posted by jackiebridgen on Friday 1 June 2007 at 01:57 - Link

Though it looks like our box scheme may not be, for long :(
OK your cow thing sounds wild! I've been away from blogland and missed the part where you decided to go dairy! Must catch up sometime. In the meantime, sounds like you are doing a great job there, with the cheese and the yoghurt and the cream .....
One question (and it's bringing me soooo down at the moment, which is kinda why I'm awol on the blog front) how do you do it all? Grow veggies, educate four children, milk cows, keep house liveable in .... how do you DO it? Think I'm on the edge of giving up as many things as possible!

Untitled Comment

Posted by a1health on Thursday 7 June 2007 at 01:18 - Link

Raw milk is awesome! Sounds like you're getting enough to keep you busy. It is illegal in Georgia, but we found a way to get it by people putting labels saying for pets.
Blessings,
~Farrah