I got to see my new cow!

[Deleted]

Rich and I drove down to Philip (south of us about 100 miles) and saw our new cow today. I took pictures, but we've been gone all day and I'm beat, so I'm going to fix dinner and crash for the evening. I'll put some pictures up tomorrow.

Anyway, she's just the most gorgeous thing. Her coloring is amazing - the most deep dark mahogany/black brindle with this bright white face. ;D The guy we're getting her from says he's pretty sure she's bred, but he'll know for sure on the 11th, which is her next heat if she's not bred. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have a calf the first of September.

We also might be able to get her earlier than I thought. We won't have the money all together until April, but the guy said if he could fit her in the trailer with the sheep he's taking to the auction in March, he'll bring her up here for us. He takes a bunch of lambs to the Faith auction every spring apparently. So she might (I hope!) be coming home to us in March sometime.

Off to the couch with me now. You guys have a great day and I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

~Lannie

[Kathy]

I can't wait to see her-that coloring sounds gorgeous!

It would be nice if you could get her in March; more time to bond before she freshens.

Enjoy your evening of relaxation; we'll be looking forward to pics tomorrow! ;D

[Deleted]

OK, here she is. These are the ones I took, and Rich has a few more that might be better - I'll post those later, if so.

I wish the light had been better. These shots don't really show the vivid coloring the way it really looks, but it'll give you a hint anyway.







The guy standing next to her in the first two pictures is the bull. He's also a pretty nice looking guy. I think Rich has a picture of that bull's latest calf, which the guy said ours should look like, so I'll try and post a picture of the new little heifer later, too.

Isn't she just the prettiest cow in the whole world? LOL! She's so small, though. I'm used to the neighbor's Brown Swiss and Holstein, and these Jerseys are itty-bitty like dogs! LOL! Well, not really, but I was expecting big cows and these are compact economy models! I think it's nice, though, because I'd rather have a nice modest sized cow to milk than that huge monster over at the neighbor's! Plus the feed bill should be a lot less. ;D

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Oh she is pretty!! That is an unusual pattern-I like unique coloring & patterns in critters!

That white is so bright next to that dark mahogany! ;D

I love that bull-he looks a lot like one of my Jerseys did colorwise.

I bet that calf will be so darn cute! Now if it turns out to be a little heifer-you will be on the way to a dairy herd!

No wonder you're anxious to get this girl home-she's a beauty.

Does she have a name or will you be giving her one?

[Deleted]

The only Jerseys I'd ever seen before were all fawn colored, so this roany gray/black coloring is pretty neat looking. Rich took a picture of the other little calf and he's supposed to be sending it to me (if he ever gets around to it) so I can post that one, too. That's what our girl's first calf should look like.

She doesn't have a name yet, which is unfortunate, because Rich wants to call her either Asaki or Abunga (get it? Cow-Asaki or Cow-Abunga?). Sigh... I'd like a bit nicer name, but I guess it doesn't matter because I can call her anything I like when we're in private! I'm not going to pick a name until after I get to know her though. So I can pick one that fits her personality. Her mom's name is Sparkle.

Yes, if her first calf is a heifer, we're going to keep her because she'll be a 3/4 Jersey. But I'm only going to have one cow milking at a time. If I decide I want to breed the new heifer (if that's what it turns out to be), then it will be during a year when her momma is dry. No way can I use the milk from two cows! LOL! The guy we're buying her from seems to think she'll give a minimum of 5 gallons a day, and probably more like 7 or 8 gallons. Sparkle (our cow's momma) gives 10 to 11 gallons a day, and the bull that ours is bred to comes from a 10-gallon-a-day momma, so if she does have a heifer, she'll be a potentially high milker, too. I just don't know what I'm going to do with that much milk. Guess I'll have to get a bunch o' pigs, eh?

I also thought Jerseys only gave like 2 to 4 gallons a day, what's with all this 10 and 11 gallon a day foofarah? That's like a Holstein, for crying out loud.

I'm really hoping the first calf we get is a heifer. Nels (the guy who owns her now) is building a winter-hardy Jersey herd by crossing to beef breeds and larger, meatier Jerseys. You can see in the pictures how fat and sassy this heifer is, and they're on slim pickings right now. What they're eating in those pictures is wheat straw. There's hardly anything left in the pastures. So that's about as bad as they could look. Anyway, his plans were originally to keep this Jersey/Hereford cross and keep trying for a heifer so he'd have a 3/4 Jersey 1/4 Hereford to use as a foundation cow to breed back to purebred Jersey bulls. Then the offspring would be 7/8 Jersey and registerable, but with good sturdy blood in them. So I feel kind of like I'm stealing his thunder, and was thinking maybe we should offer him her first calf back if she's a heifer, but the heck with that! He can start over! I don't have any way to breed mine back to a Jersey later. My two choices are Hereford or Angus, so if that first calf is a heifer, she's MINE! LOL! If it's a bull, oh, well, I guess we'll eat him!

~Lannie

[bbird]

See I did have a brain spasm on this thread, because I thought I posted here! lol

That's as bad as the jersey can look?! Holy cow, my mental picture of a jersey is naturally thin with hips showing. Along with those colors which I have never seen on a jersey before......well Lannie, you have a most pretty little gal there!

Okay, am I reading this right that you will know by the 11th if she is bred (sorry I don't know how often cows go into heat) so it's past that now.....is she going to be a momma?

How exciting for you! I hope you journal this adventure of yours so we can read it. I've never had cows of any kind myself and find it fascinating and one of those things I would like to say someday about, lol.

[bergere]

Lannie, she is very adorable!!! Such a pretty color too!
Wish your cattle person was closer to here...would want to buy a couple of steers off him.

[Deleted]

Deb, you're right about the Jerseys. Ours is only half Jersey, the other half is Hereford (beefer). Also, because of the harsh winters here, Nels is trying to breed stockier, meatier Jerseys, that don't have to be coddled inside a barn all winter. The ones you're thinking of are the same ones I was initially interested in (read that as "cheap") that are available down in the Southern states. They won't overwinter up here. So we end up paying a little more, but I'm confident of having a cow that can take whatever kind of weather we have. This one's never seen the inside of a barn. Should be interesting getting her used to coming in our barn to be milked once she freshens.

But anyway, that comment about "as bad as she could look" meant that she's not getting real high-quality hay this winter because of the bad summer (he didn't get much put up so he's trying to conserve) and so far, all the cows have been subsisting on wheat straw. I think they're all in pretty good shape, considering. Once we get her, she'll be on horse-quality grass hay with some alfalfa, not that she seems to need it, but I'd like her nutrition to be good while she's pregnant.

She should be bred, but I hadn't got around to calling Nels yet to see if she had a heat on the 11th. They go into heat every 21 days, by the way. If she didn't take on the first breeding, I'm sure she settled on the last heat. Either way, he'll check her before we bring her home to make sure she's pregnant. Since she's been with two bulls 24/7, I'm pretty sure she's pregnant.

~Lannie

[bbird]

Yeah, I would bet the odds of her being pregnant are high, lol. How neat!! It really does make sense to cross those breeds. You are going to have so much fun when you get them.