Post by Deleted on Sept 11, 2008 15:42:13 GMT -5
And now, for the continuing adventures of Lannie, who always has to try to do things the hard way first. 
I got my stuff together, bucket of hot water with vinegar and a dash of soap, clean towels, a bag to put the dirty ones in, the scrupulously clean stainless steel milking bucket, with another cloth carefully tied over the top to keep stuff out, and the camera. I put hay and pellets in Bandit's stanchion feeder, then got her leadrope and Cricket's little baby halter and we went to bring them into the barn.
Bandit walked with me with no hesitation whatsoever, like "It's about TIME you came to give me my candy!" and just left Cricket in the pen. Cricket was looking around like, "Hey, where did everybody go?" so I told Rich to see if he could get the baby halter on her and lead her, while I continued into the barn with Bandit. I got her in her stanchion and she started eating, then Rich showed up carrying Cricket because it was easier than trying to get the halter on. So OK, whatever works. He put Cricket in the little calf pen in front of Bandit.
Meanwhile, I had brought my little chair and was washing Bandit's udder and she was standing perfectly still. Then Cricket mooed. Oh, what I forgot to say was that when Rich built the stanchion originally, the head-lock was too big and Bandit could just turn her head and pull out of it, so he made a bigger piece that would hold the slanty bar (what the heck is that thing called, anyway) in place and hold her securely. But then she got fatter. When I tried to lock it in place the other day, no way would it fit. I told Rich he needed to cut about an inch and a half off the wood block to allow for her now-full-grown neck to fit in there. Which of course he forgot to do, and I forgot to remind him.
So now Bandit's standing in her stanchion with no restraint whatsoever. When Cricket mooed, she immediately backed out and I was nimble enough to grab the bucket and get myself out of the way in time. Whew. But she was NOT going back in the stanchion, not once she remembered she had a BABY! LOL! It's like she totally forgot temporarily when she thought she was getting candy! She's such a chowhound. (This "candy" by the way, is alfalfa pellets. Bandit LOVES them and will do just about anything to get some!)
I still had the end of her leadrope and she was really fussing, so I told Rich that we should just take them back to the pen and work on the stanchion and try later. Just then we heard what sounded like a stampede. But it was only the two hosehead horses running like a bear was after them with their tails up in the air. They wanted to see the new baby! I managed to hang on to Bandit and Rich got them away from the front of the barn, when I said, "Um, did you close the gate to Bandit's pen?" And he said, "No, I kind of had my hands full of wiggly calf at the time!" So naturally, both horses were in the pen. Argh. Rich carried Cricket a little way and Bandit was leading LIKE A DREAM (and I cannot stress this enough - she behaved herself so well), when Cricket managed to slip out of Rich's grip. She's almost too heavy for him to carry already. But that was OK, because she was following her mom. So we continued.
We got around the corner of the chicken coop, and sure enough, there were Wind and Aiesha prancing around in the cow pen, so I told Rich to go shoosh them out so we could get Bandit and Cricket back in there, but they didn't WANT to leave, so they ran around in circles for a few minutes and Cricket (who was standing there loose now) started hopping up and down, "Oh, BOY! BIG people! We can go RUNNING together!"
The two hoseheads (I mean horses) finally ran out of the pen and across the corral, headed out to the south end of the pasture, and Cricket was right behind them. Bandit wanted to be right behind Cricket, of course, and I had my hands full trying to control her. I had the rope around my butt and everything, but I finally lost that battle and she was loose. I hollered at Rich (who was hotfooting it after Cricket), "BANDIT'S COMIN!" to warn him in case Bandit decided to run over him or something.
By the time I got around the corner of the garden and could see where everyone had gone, the horses were down by the road fence, Cricket was just catching up with them, Bandit was a little ways behind, trailing her lead rope, and Rich was bringing up the rear. The horses, having completed their mission of destruction, wandered off and totally ignored the rest of us then.
We got the baby halter on Cricket and I grabbed Bandit's lead and we started back to the corral and the pen. Cricket promptly fell over and refused to move. I turned to Rich and said, "THIS is the thing that's going to finally, once and for all, teach me patience." He just giggled. Cricket finally got up and I started leading Bandit and we went about 10 steps when Cricket pulled back on the lead and realized she was still "attached" and fell over again. OMG. She fell over FIFTY times on that walk back to the pen. Rich tried carrying her again, but his back was giving out and he couldn't, so we just took a step and waited. Took a step and waited. Finally Cricket decided this wasn't so bad and started trotting, so Bandit and I picked up our pace to keep up.
Now, I also want to say here that even though Bandit was in terrible distress when her baby was loose and running after the horses, and I was stupid enough to get between her and Cricket several times, she let me. She seems to be perfectly fine with either Rich or me handling Cricket. So hormones or not, she's at least still respecting us, or at least figures we aren't out to hurt her baby.
Anyway, so we were almost back to the gate to the pen (which was still open), when Cricket threw herself to the ground again. Maybe she wasn't ready to go back in. Maybe she wanted to go play with those big horses again. Who knows? But she refused to get up. Rich finally had to pick her up and carry her the last 5 feet. Whew!
We took a breather and Bandit mooed and licked Cricket for a little while, then I went to the barn and got Bandit's hay and candy, and the milking bucket, and decided I'd have to milk her right there in the pen. But every time Cricket hopped away, Bandit yanked Rich around trying to follow her, so I decided to restrain CRICKET instead of Bandit. So I went over where she was standing and put the baby halter back on her and she promptly fell down. Well, whatEVER, at least she wasn't moving anymore! LOL! So Rich brought Bandit's hay over there and put it next to Cricket, and Bandit started eating while I started milking. I was on one knee (no chair) and it was extremely uncomfortable (and risky I thought since she wasn't tied up or anything), but she just stood there and let me milk her.
Before anybody gets too excited, I was only able to get about a cup of milk out of her, but I got some out of all four teats (two of which were already slobbery - that Cricket is QUICK! LOL!) and she let down for me. It was coming out really good and I finally got it to hit the bucket instead of running down my arms! Zing! Zing! Zing! What a great sound! But kneeling the way I was, and leaning over, but still prepared to move at a moment's notice, was very painful, so once I decided that she was going to let me do this, and not even lift a foot, much less try to kick me, I stopped.
We'll go out again this evening and see if we can do a little better. She did so well this afternoon that I think maybe if I just tie her to the corner post in the pen, I'll feel comfortable enough to bring the chair and sit and actually try to do a more complete job of this.
So all in all, it went well, aside from a little bit of excitement right at the beginning. I still don't know what to do with the horses, but I think in a day or two when they've gotten used to seeing Cricket, they'll be fine and we can go back to the stanchion in the barn and try again.
Sorry, no pictures of any of this. I was too busy! LOL!
~Lannie
I got my stuff together, bucket of hot water with vinegar and a dash of soap, clean towels, a bag to put the dirty ones in, the scrupulously clean stainless steel milking bucket, with another cloth carefully tied over the top to keep stuff out, and the camera. I put hay and pellets in Bandit's stanchion feeder, then got her leadrope and Cricket's little baby halter and we went to bring them into the barn.
Bandit walked with me with no hesitation whatsoever, like "It's about TIME you came to give me my candy!" and just left Cricket in the pen. Cricket was looking around like, "Hey, where did everybody go?" so I told Rich to see if he could get the baby halter on her and lead her, while I continued into the barn with Bandit. I got her in her stanchion and she started eating, then Rich showed up carrying Cricket because it was easier than trying to get the halter on. So OK, whatever works. He put Cricket in the little calf pen in front of Bandit.
Meanwhile, I had brought my little chair and was washing Bandit's udder and she was standing perfectly still. Then Cricket mooed. Oh, what I forgot to say was that when Rich built the stanchion originally, the head-lock was too big and Bandit could just turn her head and pull out of it, so he made a bigger piece that would hold the slanty bar (what the heck is that thing called, anyway) in place and hold her securely. But then she got fatter. When I tried to lock it in place the other day, no way would it fit. I told Rich he needed to cut about an inch and a half off the wood block to allow for her now-full-grown neck to fit in there. Which of course he forgot to do, and I forgot to remind him.
So now Bandit's standing in her stanchion with no restraint whatsoever. When Cricket mooed, she immediately backed out and I was nimble enough to grab the bucket and get myself out of the way in time. Whew. But she was NOT going back in the stanchion, not once she remembered she had a BABY! LOL! It's like she totally forgot temporarily when she thought she was getting candy! She's such a chowhound. (This "candy" by the way, is alfalfa pellets. Bandit LOVES them and will do just about anything to get some!)
I still had the end of her leadrope and she was really fussing, so I told Rich that we should just take them back to the pen and work on the stanchion and try later. Just then we heard what sounded like a stampede. But it was only the two hosehead horses running like a bear was after them with their tails up in the air. They wanted to see the new baby! I managed to hang on to Bandit and Rich got them away from the front of the barn, when I said, "Um, did you close the gate to Bandit's pen?" And he said, "No, I kind of had my hands full of wiggly calf at the time!" So naturally, both horses were in the pen. Argh. Rich carried Cricket a little way and Bandit was leading LIKE A DREAM (and I cannot stress this enough - she behaved herself so well), when Cricket managed to slip out of Rich's grip. She's almost too heavy for him to carry already. But that was OK, because she was following her mom. So we continued.
We got around the corner of the chicken coop, and sure enough, there were Wind and Aiesha prancing around in the cow pen, so I told Rich to go shoosh them out so we could get Bandit and Cricket back in there, but they didn't WANT to leave, so they ran around in circles for a few minutes and Cricket (who was standing there loose now) started hopping up and down, "Oh, BOY! BIG people! We can go RUNNING together!"
The two hoseheads (I mean horses) finally ran out of the pen and across the corral, headed out to the south end of the pasture, and Cricket was right behind them. Bandit wanted to be right behind Cricket, of course, and I had my hands full trying to control her. I had the rope around my butt and everything, but I finally lost that battle and she was loose. I hollered at Rich (who was hotfooting it after Cricket), "BANDIT'S COMIN!" to warn him in case Bandit decided to run over him or something.
By the time I got around the corner of the garden and could see where everyone had gone, the horses were down by the road fence, Cricket was just catching up with them, Bandit was a little ways behind, trailing her lead rope, and Rich was bringing up the rear. The horses, having completed their mission of destruction, wandered off and totally ignored the rest of us then.
We got the baby halter on Cricket and I grabbed Bandit's lead and we started back to the corral and the pen. Cricket promptly fell over and refused to move. I turned to Rich and said, "THIS is the thing that's going to finally, once and for all, teach me patience." He just giggled. Cricket finally got up and I started leading Bandit and we went about 10 steps when Cricket pulled back on the lead and realized she was still "attached" and fell over again. OMG. She fell over FIFTY times on that walk back to the pen. Rich tried carrying her again, but his back was giving out and he couldn't, so we just took a step and waited. Took a step and waited. Finally Cricket decided this wasn't so bad and started trotting, so Bandit and I picked up our pace to keep up.
Now, I also want to say here that even though Bandit was in terrible distress when her baby was loose and running after the horses, and I was stupid enough to get between her and Cricket several times, she let me. She seems to be perfectly fine with either Rich or me handling Cricket. So hormones or not, she's at least still respecting us, or at least figures we aren't out to hurt her baby.
Anyway, so we were almost back to the gate to the pen (which was still open), when Cricket threw herself to the ground again. Maybe she wasn't ready to go back in. Maybe she wanted to go play with those big horses again. Who knows? But she refused to get up. Rich finally had to pick her up and carry her the last 5 feet. Whew!
We took a breather and Bandit mooed and licked Cricket for a little while, then I went to the barn and got Bandit's hay and candy, and the milking bucket, and decided I'd have to milk her right there in the pen. But every time Cricket hopped away, Bandit yanked Rich around trying to follow her, so I decided to restrain CRICKET instead of Bandit. So I went over where she was standing and put the baby halter back on her and she promptly fell down. Well, whatEVER, at least she wasn't moving anymore! LOL! So Rich brought Bandit's hay over there and put it next to Cricket, and Bandit started eating while I started milking. I was on one knee (no chair) and it was extremely uncomfortable (and risky I thought since she wasn't tied up or anything), but she just stood there and let me milk her.
Before anybody gets too excited, I was only able to get about a cup of milk out of her, but I got some out of all four teats (two of which were already slobbery - that Cricket is QUICK! LOL!) and she let down for me. It was coming out really good and I finally got it to hit the bucket instead of running down my arms! Zing! Zing! Zing! What a great sound! But kneeling the way I was, and leaning over, but still prepared to move at a moment's notice, was very painful, so once I decided that she was going to let me do this, and not even lift a foot, much less try to kick me, I stopped.
We'll go out again this evening and see if we can do a little better. She did so well this afternoon that I think maybe if I just tie her to the corner post in the pen, I'll feel comfortable enough to bring the chair and sit and actually try to do a more complete job of this.
So all in all, it went well, aside from a little bit of excitement right at the beginning. I still don't know what to do with the horses, but I think in a day or two when they've gotten used to seeing Cricket, they'll be fine and we can go back to the stanchion in the barn and try again.
Sorry, no pictures of any of this. I was too busy! LOL!
~Lannie
I MISS my Rosie!!!! She is a great cow too! I sold her when we moved to a friend of mine. Bandit is absolutely beautiful..and so is Cricket! I really like brindley(my turn for funny words 
animals! I always pick animals that are brindle, calico, or spotted! After I'd milked Rosie for a while....she would walk right into the barn when I called her! Kinda like giant Labrador retrievers!
). OK, I mean colostromy! It tastes OK, but it could be better. And hardly any cream, just a thin layer on top. I have to work on tricking her to give me the cream.