Nov. 30, 2007
Flossie in Love -- aka My First Post!
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Sunday morning the air was crisp and clear as I stepped out of the house with my arms loaded with two stainless steel buckets, milk tote, and wash bucket filled with warm, soapy water. Eddie, my husband, was already in the barn feeding the cow, horses, calf, chickens, and the one-eyed barn cat, Prissy. The birds weren't exactly singing that morning, but the cow sure was. She lets the countryside know when she's coming in heat! She hadn't had a noticeable heat since the calf was born, four months ago, so we knew this was important. Cows only have an eight hour window in which they can conceive. Timing is VERY important! As soon as we got home from church, Eddie let her out of the gate, and we followed her around the house, down a steep, wooded hill, around the pond, up another steep hill, through the fence, across a long field, across a stream, through a gate, across the road, through the neighbor's yard, through another gate, and into the proper cow field containing her once-a-year-love, the local humongous black Angus bull. I left them alone. Early Monday morning, we drove the 'burb over to the neighbor's and Flossie was apart from the heard of cows and calves and mooing that she wanted to come home. We opened the gate, she walked out without having to coax her at all, and I followed her all the way home. Eddie drove home. Flossie only stopped a few times to nibble the green grass on the way. We cleaned her up and fed her and milked after we got back to the barn -- business as usual. I sure am glad Eddie installed that homing device in her head ... naw, God did that!! It is sooooo neat!! Flossie did the same thing last year, but I must have forgotten how easy the whole ordeal was, because I sure wasn't looking forward to it this year! She'll have a nine-month gestation, and I'm hoping for a heifer this time. The last two were steer calves (one already in the freezer), surely we'll get a girl next!! Then I can follow two cows to the neighbor's each year ... We'd only milk the Jersey. I've heard half Jersey-half Angus don't give much milk. Jen |