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rachels.haven
Herd Master
Pete today.
rachels.haven's Journal
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rachels.haven
Herd Master
We are dinner with our cow hand friends today. The wife wanted to show off the heifer she was training to take her favorite cow's place (RIP to the processor because she was skittish to anyone but her and was down to 3 quarters). She looks forward to the day she can have her own place and her own jerseys.
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rachels.haven
Herd Master
Dan still likes cows, and the cows like Dan. They were fighting over his through the fence attention in particular...which wasn't great so we went back to the house for desert. Silly teen cows.
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Baymule
Herd Master
Some day Dan will get his cows.
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rachels.haven
Herd Master
#doomed
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Is Dan ld enough for 4-H or Junior Grange? If so, have him raise a veal calf for auction at the local Fair. With your dairy herd it would be economical since you would have the milk. Only expense would be the purchase of the bull calf. Veal auctions at 300 lbs. or 3 months. If you can find one tht is half beef even better, but raising a Holstein bull calf or a Jersey bull calf (from your friends) to 3 months wud be great. Then Dan can sell it and keep the money for buying his eventual heifer or cow.
Since veal calves are not fed hay or grain, only milk, it would grow beautifully and do well at Fair. Vea calves raised on goat milk are fat and sassy and look better than calves raised on formula at auction. It would give him experience with calves.
After he raises a couple veal calves he can upgrade to raising replacement dairy heifers. Same deal with the goat miok, but with the added benefit tht the calf can now eat the leftover goat hay. Goats are so picky they often won't eat the coarse stemmy hay which the calves will be happy eating. He might be able to raise the replacement heifer for show at the Fair and auction sale too. Some Fairs have repacement heifer auctions at the juior auctions.
Since veal calves are not fed hay or grain, only milk, it would grow beautifully and do well at Fair. Vea calves raised on goat milk are fat and sassy and look better than calves raised on formula at auction. It would give him experience with calves.
After he raises a couple veal calves he can upgrade to raising replacement dairy heifers. Same deal with the goat miok, but with the added benefit tht the calf can now eat the leftover goat hay. Goats are so picky they often won't eat the coarse stemmy hay which the calves will be happy eating. He might be able to raise the replacement heifer for show at the Fair and auction sale too. Some Fairs have repacement heifer auctions at the juior auctions.
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rachels.haven
Herd Master
I'm not sure he'd go for that although we're all equipped to raise bottle calves, so I'm tempted.
Today I'm going to try to steal away some time while the littlest is playing to make a phone call to alaska airlines to see if they can fly a buckling that hasn't been born yet from the Spokane airport to the Washington Ronald Reagan, Dulles, or Baltimore airports before I'm allowed to place a reservation. The breeder says she knows she can fly into Boston and Pittsburgh, but I'm not at the point in my life where I (or DH, since it's his kind of state) can drive three hours one way to pick up a buckling from an airport, on time or otherwise. The fact that she's sold bucklings to another breeder in the state (that I don't talk to because she's a tad crazy) and they had to drive to Pittsburg for pickup and that she's having me do it indicate to me it may be pointless.
Getting a Lucky*Star's buck ground transport from Oregon to Maryland is also proving to be fruitless.
It's a give up kind of week.
I'd better learn to AI and have pregnancies go past 37 days or I'm not going to "fix in" any improvements Pete brought in.
Today I'm going to try to steal away some time while the littlest is playing to make a phone call to alaska airlines to see if they can fly a buckling that hasn't been born yet from the Spokane airport to the Washington Ronald Reagan, Dulles, or Baltimore airports before I'm allowed to place a reservation. The breeder says she knows she can fly into Boston and Pittsburgh, but I'm not at the point in my life where I (or DH, since it's his kind of state) can drive three hours one way to pick up a buckling from an airport, on time or otherwise. The fact that she's sold bucklings to another breeder in the state (that I don't talk to because she's a tad crazy) and they had to drive to Pittsburg for pickup and that she's having me do it indicate to me it may be pointless.
Getting a Lucky*Star's buck ground transport from Oregon to Maryland is also proving to be fruitless.
It's a give up kind of week.
I'd better learn to AI and have pregnancies go past 37 days or I'm not going to "fix in" any improvements Pete brought in.
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