Monthly Archives: April 2022

3rd calf 2022

Even though this morning was chilly and crisp, the sunshine toward mid-day made it a perfect day to welcome Ruby’s calf.❤️ Uno had been early with Mary Kate by 7 days, but Ruby’s been overdue by 4 days, lol.🤷🏻‍♀️

We noticed yesterday that Ruby was looking close, so we brought her into the barnyard thinking she’d have her calf before the end of the day. WRONG.🤦🏻‍♀️ You can see in the next 3 pics that her tail was doing a lot of twitching, she held it out a bit, and she was doing a lot of turning and licking…all signs that a calf should be appearing soon! Granny & Tilly were just on the other side of the fence…😆

Since there was still no calf this morning when we came over to milk, Mike opened the gate so Ruby could be with Granny & Tilly. He thought maybe she wanted to be able to get out further and be a little more secluded. Ruby went directly to the low area that makes it hard to see her.🙄 And Tilly was SO INTRIGUED!!😂

I had to run to Carrollton for a bit, and on my way back, Mike txted that he thought Ruby was finally getting ready to have her calf! I pulled in by the oil well road and walked toward the middle of Eisengard on the outside of the fence. Tilly spotted me and came to greet me. Then she led me toward Ruby, lol.🥰

I had to really zoom in to see Ruby’s calf…🧐

…but Mike headed out from the barn and was inside the fence for a much better view. He was kind enough to take a pic for me before he checked to see if it was a boy or a girl.👍🏼

It’s a boy!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Meet Jake! (Think John Wayne movie – Big Jake.🤠) This is Ruby’s 4th calf for us. <Click here to read about when Ruby was born.> <And click here to read about her calf from last year.> We bred Ruby to a Hereford bull in hopes that she’d have a boy, so we were super excited that this was the case!✝️🙌🏼

Next you’ll see Granny and Tilly practicing their sleuth-like skills as they nudge closer and closer to the action, lol.🤣

We decided to give Ruby some time to get Jake all cleaned up and fed, so Mike and I headed home for coffee break.☕️😍 Then we came back over to make sure everybody was doing ok. Tilly was EXHAUSTED!!😆😴

Jake got right up and was a good sport about his photoshoot.📷

Here he is questioning Granny’s curiosity…🙃

And feeling comforted with his mama’s protection…🙂

Notice Tilly trying to sneak in from behind for an extra meal…🤫🥛

But her mama set her straight, and I think Jake was relieved, lol.👍🏼

We decided to leave Ruby and Jake together for tonight. We’ll separate them tomorrow morning before milking.👍🏼

When I came back over to feed Mary Kate her afternoon feeding, Granny & Ruby had both their babies with them by the water tank. It was another good time to snap a couple more pictures.😏

What a full day! Thank You, Lord, for another calf on the ground.✝️🙌🏼

New tally is 2 girls, and 1 boy. Lord willing, 2 more to go!🙏🏼

2nd calf 2022

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Wow. Praise the Lord He had us move our dairy girls out to pasture YESTERDAY!🙌🏼 Because TODAY, Mike found this little one out in the field – all cleaned up and fed.❤️

We kinda thought Uno had some signs yesterday that she was close to calving, BUT her due date wasn’t until 5-1, so we figured we still had a few more days to go… According to OUR calculations, Ruby should have calved before Uno – on Monday (tomorrow). But the Lord had other plans. Uno’s calf has arrived first!👍🏼

Granny and Tilly were content doing their own thing and watching from the sidelines. It was such a beautiful morning!☀️

This is Uno’s 7th calf for us.❤️ [Click here to read about her calf from last year.] [Click here to read about when Uno was born here.]

It’s a girl!❤️ We AI’d our herd again last year, and chose to use milking shorthorn semen for Uno. She has been a good milker for us, so we were prayerful she’d have a girl… Lord willing, she will be one of our future dairy girls. HOORAY!💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

Meet “Mary Kate.” (Think John Wayne movie – The Quiet Man)🤠 She was very laid back and calm for Mike to get the halter on her.👍🏼

Uno wasn’t very helpful in walking her calf down. She stayed in the back while others crowded around Mike and Mary Kate.😬

Eventually, we got Uno where we wanted her, and the 4 of us continued toward the barn. You can see Granny and Tilly up ahead in the barnyard…🐮

Once we got inside the barnyard, Mike got Uno into the barn and I waited with Mary Kate. She had a full tummy, so was content to rest and take in the scenery. When Mike returned, we got her into the barn.👍🏼

After milking Uno, she was quite happy to join her friends out in the field. The morning was perfect to welcome in our second calf of the season, and we were still able to make it to Sunday School and Church.✝️🙌🏼

3 more to arrive. Tally so far: 2 girls, 0 boys.🐮🐮🙏🏼

Robin rescue, cows on pasture, and a rock wall

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What a fun week! Figured it would be a good time to post some updates before the last 4 calves arrive.🐮🐮🐮🐮

I got to help Mike rescue a robin earlier this week!😮 I know – shocking, coming from this scaredy-cat farmerchick, lol.🙈 [Click here to read about Mike’s hawk rescue back in 2011.]

So I had been hearing commotion in the bushes in front of our house, but just assumed it was normal nest-building sounds…😳

As I folded my 3rd load of laundry and STILL heard a ruckus, I decided to stand on the couch and look out the window… A robin had some string caught around its foot and a branch. Ugh.😨🤨

Here it is hanging upside down on the branch…🤦🏻‍♀️

I called Mike and he came home from down the road to get it out. He cut the branch, but couldn’t untie the string while holding it…which meant I’d have to assist…😬😳

The string was SO tight, that I actually had to use my sewing seam ripper to strategically snip it off in sections…🥴🧐

Thank You, Lord, for a tendered-hearted, fearless, farmer-husband who knows how to gently encourage his wife who’s terrified of flapping wings to disengage knotted strings without cutting the bird’s tiny leg…😅✝️🙌🏼

The robin flew away just fine once Mike released it.💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

This morning was our window to move the dairy girls out of Mordor and into Rohan. They couldn’t have cooperated any better!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

They saw us coming and were waiting at the gate.👍🏼

We wanted the 4 dairy mamas and the 2 heifers that we’ll be breeding in July to be in this group. I had to go in and encourage Ruby to hurry up and join the group.🙄

The beef herd will have to wait until tomorrow or Monday before getting out to grazing. They’ll enjoy that for sure, and we definitely appreciated that they didn’t cause any drama during today’s move for the dairy group.❤️🙌🏼

Here are the dairy girls walking to their pasture.🌾

You may notice a new structure up ahead… It’s from the boys’ old treehouse. The tree was taken down this spring, so we decided to use the steps as a way to go over the fence where there’s no close gate. (An idea we’ve talked about implementing for YEARS!) This will be a wonderful addition… A shortcut/timesaver, a fun place for watching sunsets, aaaand a good lookout to spot those pesky groundhogs, lol…🔫😉

Made it!👍🏼

If you zoom in on this next one, you can faintly see Granny & Tilly down in Eisengard. We’re going to keep them separate from this group of 6 for now. Putting all 8 of them together would most likely include a lot of pushing and shoving as they re-introduce themselves to Granny…and who knows what they’d think of Tilly, lol.😬 We don’t want to chance any of them going through the single wired fence around that area in Rohan. So for now, they can all see one another, but they’re in separate areas.👍🏼

And lastly – Mike had some helpers today to build a sandstone wall by the silo. Preparing for a small wedding here next month for Paul and Annie.😍🤵🏻‍♂️👰‍♀️