Just like a little over a month ago, Grandma found a new calf when she went on a walk after dinner – when we were ready to walk out the door for church activities last evening, lol…

Caramel had a girl! {Click here to see her calf from last year.} The boys named her Ahsoka.. after Anakin’s Jedi Padawan in the Clone Wars…😉 Mike stayed home to check things out, and I drove the boys to youth group. We turned our adult class into a “field trip”, and I brought my friend Penny home with me. I assumed Mike would need help bringing down the new calf, but when we pulled in, we saw this in the field by the barn:
 

So we took Penny over to meet the other calves… They were excited to come see us and put on a pretty cute “show” for her.😏

  

  

         

It was a beautiful evening and a blessing to end it in prayer together.❤️

So how did Mike get baby and mama down to the barn on his own? Well – let’s just say he had some herding angels helping him.😇 All the dairy girls were riled up because of the new  addition, so poor Ahsoka didn’t know which one was her mama. She travelled in and out of the fence as she avoided getting accidentally stepped on in all the confusion. By the time Mike got back up to the field with the halter & baby buggy, she was ready for a rest. He secured her in the wagon, and she had a safe trip down to the field by the barn all by herself. Then Mike headed back up to bring down Caramel. He figured he’d have to bring the whole herd down and then filter out Caramel in the barnyard; but when he got to the pasture, most of the girls had calmed down and gone back to grazing. That made it a little easier for Mike to lead Caramel out of the field without any others.👍 

Here are the pics he managed to take in the process:   

  

  

Ahsoka had a good night with her mama, and this morning, the boys brought Ahsoka to the barn. Other than a brief rest, she made the trip without any issues.😊

   

  

  

Only one more calf to go for this year – almost done – yeah!!☺️

Count now is 3 girls and 5 boys.👍

This past Sunday we made our first batch of butter for 2015.👍

 

  

Here are some past butter/cream separator posts:

 https://robertsfarm2004.wordpress.com/2013/04/11/comparing-butter-2013/

https://robertsfarm2004.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/mmmmm-fresh-butter/

https://robertsfarm2004.wordpress.com/2012/04/25/homemade-cottage-cheese/ 

And then today, our herds are back out on pasture!! Woohoo… Rotational grazing will now begin for this season. Yeah!!😉

Here is a quick pic of our dairy herd:

  

And here is one of the yearlings (last spring’s calves):

  

No one is posing for any pics, lol – noses are to the ground! Mmmmm…😉

Found ScotchTape with her calf this morning!👍

It’s a boy – and his name is Vader. She had him near where she had her calf last year, but at least he was not on the wrong side of the fence, lol. (Click here to read about that.)

  

We brought them down pretty quick because we didn’t want to chance her moving to the back end of the field. Vader walked all the way down with his mama.👍 

 

  

Michael drove the empty baby cart. (Can you tell he’s getting tired of me taking all these pictures, lol?)😏

 

 Vader had a brief stubborn moment and decided he was done walking. We are pretty sure he is the largest calf yet, so Mike tried pretty hard to convince him to walk the last stretch so he wouldn’t need carried…😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He briefly met Gungi as we brought him out of the barn so Vader could have his spot. 

Then we brought OreoCookie’s calf over to our place with Gungi…  

 

 

 

And THIS is why the boys bring the calves on trips. Mike and I are not sprinters, lol…😁 

 

 

Mission successful.👍 

 And then we finally got around to milking and feeding babies…👍  

Lord willing, final two calves are left to come later next week. Count now is 5 boys, 2 girls.😊 

When we went up to do a calf check before milking this morning, OreoCookie was off by herself. So we milked and then headed back up to check things out. And found this:

  

It’s a boy! {Click here to see her calf from last year.} The Sarver family will be naming him, so I’ll update this post when I hear what it is…😊

We wanted to give Cookie a chance to clean him up more and feed him, so we headed back home to eat breakfast and then move Padme to join the other calves at our house.👍

Padme was a pretty hesitant walker. Took her awhile to make the trip, but she finally made it.

  

  

Her welcoming committee had full tummies from their morning milk, so they were not the most welcoming, lol…😏

 

  

Paul helped them out with some introductions…😉

 

 

  

 Got back up to get Cookie and her calf, and noticed he hadn’t eaten.😁 Sooo, we brought them down, milked AGAIN, and had plenty to feed her calf.😊

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  This pic makes me laugh… If you zoom in on Mike’s face, you can see him preparing to carry another heavy calf… This new guy rivals yesterday’s Gungi, and we are old and tired, lol.

 Ahhh – but in swoops the next generation! Michael to the rescue!!👏😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This pic shows Cookie’s calf from 2012 – Sarge – in the front left of the baby mobile. Maybe next year she’ll have her first calf!👍 

 

 

  

 

 

 Blake introduced himself.😻

 

 

 

 

Not sure, but I think Gungi is photobombing this pic, lol…😜 

 

 

  

Went up to do a calf check after a pretty heavy downpour and found that Gluey had her calf, AND it was on the wrong side of the fence…😡😁

  

The fence electric was off, so Mike pushed her calf back under the fence…  

It’s a girl! Her name is Padme. (Kinda funny – just like how the movies were released…Leia first, and then Padme!) 

{Click here to see Gluey’s calf from last year.}

 

Now we needed to make a decision. Leave calf with mama for the night or just bring them down to the barn now…?

After observing them for awhile, we decided to bring them down to the barn, milk Gluey, and feed Padme. Gluey was a muddy mess, seemed to like staying close to the fence, and with more rain in the forecast, we thought it best not to wait until tomorrow.

 

We were really thankful the boys’ baseball was cancelled for tonight! It was nice having them here to help.👍

  

  

Paul & I walked behind Gluey, and Michael drove the baby cart… 

   

 

 Gluey got a good scrub down…😉 

 And she milked plenty of colostrum for Padme.👍 

Plus we got a special show from her half-brother, Han, as he danced around in excitement, lol…😜 

 

   

New tally: 2 boys, 2 girls…😊 

Found Tangerine and her calf this morning when we went up to check the girls.😊

 

It’s a boy! His name is Han (Can you tell there is a Star Wars theme going on so far?😉) 

{Click here to see Tangerine’s calf from last year.}

Before we could bring them down to the barn, we moved Chewy & Leia over to our barnyard. They were excited to be out of the barn!

 

Chewy was a bit stubborn at first…😏

 

   

 

  

Meeting last year’s calves on the other side of the fence…😊

 

Chewy and Leia getting better acquainted…😊 

Friends!❤️ 

  

Then we headed back up to bring down Han and Tangerine.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Han walked for a little bit, but then he wanted a ride…😉 

 

 The boys followed Tangerine down to the barn, and I drove Mike in the baby cart…😏