Family Cow Chronicles Vol 1

It never occurred to me that keeping a cow so close to the city would be challenging in the ways it has been.  Not that she is a challenge herself, or that we dont have enough space for her, its just that it is extremely difficult to find the services we need for her close by.  And transporting a cow is not the same as making a quick trip to the vet with a goat.  Not the same at all.  Very few people keep a family cow these days so even just finding someone experienced to talk to was difficult, although I now have a small handful of wonderful people who have been so generous and knowledgeable, having patience with my unending questions.

I have been learning ALOT about cows lately.  Like how they bellow their heads off when they are coming into heat (every 21 days).  Yes, our beautiful Ginger, who was bred in February to a strapping Jersey bull, went back into heat!  We have learned that it is not uncommon for this to happen when a heifer is bred so young.  All in all, it was best for Ginger to grow a little more before we bred her again and best for us because we could breed her to a mini jersey bull, which is what we wanted.  So, with alot of research, I found a very

knowledgeable artificial insemination technician who came up from Hollister to breed her last week.  Artificial insemination is a whole world of information...where to purchase the semen, whether to breed on the natural heat or do a fixed AI, these are all things we have been discussing and feeling rather like cow nerds.  But oh, its all so fascinating.

hoof trimming at the Cotati Large Animal Hospital

Meanwhile, before we bred Ginger we took the opportunity to get her all ship shape with vaccines, a little hoof trim, and the not so little procedure of removing her horns.   The horn removal was traumatic for her and a hard, emotional decision to make.  But since Im the one who is working with her on a daily basis and her horns were only going to get bigger, I opted to have them removed.  She was already beginning to push up against my legs and those horns hurt! The first day or so after the procedure she was not quite herself, but its been several weeks and she is almost all healed up.

Getting Ginger in the stanchion

The artificial insemination was quick and went smoothly.  We ended up using semen from here.  Bob Honey is the sire.  Supposedly he passed away years ago but his semen lives on in a liquid nitrogen tank. Ginger was bred on her natural heat so we will wait 21 days and if she does not go back into heat then we can safely assume shes pregnant. If she does go back into heat we will do a fixed AI, which is where the technician inserts something called a CIDR.  After seven days the CIDR is removed and then 54 hours later the cow is inseminated. Most people who practice fixed AI do so to synchronize estrus in their herd, causing the whole herd to go into heat at the same time, making insemination easier for the farmer. 

AI technician inserting the semen

Like I said, we are learning so much and falling deeper in love with Ginger every day.  Stay tuned for more Family Cow Chronicles to come.  

PS.  A special book given to me...Caring For Cows, by Valerie Porter.  (Specifically about holistic and organic animal husbandry.)

Photo By Lori Eanes

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Ram wrangling

I learnt a very valuable lesson in how to free a ram from a fence today.

1. Wear gloves or use a towel their horns really hurt your hands. 
2. Get on the other side of the fence to the ram, even though he is a placid boy, hes not happy stuck in a fence and will body slam you, and he weighs a LOT. 

Thankfully he ran away as soon as he was free. I got him some food to make it up to him. Now to try and get whatever is imbedded into my hand out.

 

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Family Cow Chronicles Volume 2

Our little Ginger is settling down and has become the sweet young thing I dreamed she would be.  (Now we are really praying she is a fertile young thing too!)  Unfortunately, the artificial insemination we did back in June did not take, so in July, Ginger had a nice month long vacation up in Hopland where she was bred to a beautiful black Dexter bull named Meatball.  

It has been almost four months since breeding and Ginger has not gone back into heat.  Our odds are looking pretty good.  She has completely mellowed out, no more bellowing, she comes when we call her, she is generally a pleasure to be around (unless you are a goat, in which she will steal your food).  It would be ideal to get her a preg check so we can have a definitive answer -however, once again, living so far from the large animal vet makes it difficult, and transporting her is such a hassle, not to mention stressful for her.  We will most likely just let nature take its course, waiting for April to see what happens. 

Now there are a few big tasks under way to get us organized and ready for a potential calf and an abundance of milk.  We have almost finished designing a simple milking parlor.   Ive been reading up on the Weston A. Price Foundation website which has tons of information on raw milk and the legalities of herd shares.  There is also an exciting workshop coming up that we are planning on attending.  The Principles of Raw Milk Production Workshop with Tim Wightman, will cover; balancing soils, forages and rations and the relation to herd health and milk safety, warning signs of failing soil, forage and herd health, proper milking practices and milk handling, animal behavior, animal scoring, basic herd principles and human interaction, milk culture, quality and pathogen testing and how to interpret them.  There are five different locations where the workshops will take place across California and Oregon.  

I have to say that having Ginger is personally my favorite part of living on our farm.  I have really bonded with her.  There is no way to explain how much I love her earthy smell or how beautiful and soft her fur is, how she uncannily resembles a lion lying out on the hillside in the sun, or how cool it is to have an endless supply of cow patties for the compost pile.  Even though it would have been soooo much easier to have bought a cow in milk, Im happy to have her and grateful to get this opportunity to raise her up and for us to get to know each other.  She really is part of our family now.

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The family photo shoot that rocked

Hugest thanks to Nikki at Virtual Memories Photography. Super happy with the photos and the service you get for your money is exceptional (definitely not a paid ad I really am super happy) Here are some of my favorite pics (you try picking from 155 or 310 if you include b/w photos)

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Our Family Cow

Meet Ginger, our lovely new Jersey girl.  She has been with us for a little over a week and it is safe to say we are all quite taken with her.  Ginger is a yearling heifer (Im learning all the cow lingo) and a dream come true for me.  She is pregnant and due in October.  Although sweet and gentle she is not yet halter broken, which means we have some work to do with her to get her tame enough to walk with us where we want her to go.  But so far she is making fast progress.  I remember back in my vegan days saying to someone that I would never drink cows milk unless I had my own cow.  Well, here we are.  Somehow, all of a sudden, our little farm feels complete.   

In all the excitement, I am trying not to be naive about how much work she may be.  We are phasing out our rabbit operation, selling some of the goats (after kidding of course), and generally trying to get things in tip top shape around here.  The main concern has been pasture management, getting rid of the poison hemlock, cutting down some foxtails, making plans to sow some good nutritious cover crops for her.  But for now, each day we are busy trying to get her used to us and with all the hustle, she seems to be settling in just fine.

Reaching out to some knowledgeable friends has been helpful in getting down the basics like, how much alfalfa to supplement with, what are the important vaccinations, which trimester to add grain to her diet, etc. 

Besides the fact that Im dreaming of milk (butter and cheese too!), it is so fascinating to get acquainted with her, learn her personality and establish what I hope will be a very long friendship (dare I say love affair?).  And did I mention she really loves oranges? 

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