Both Pearl and Maeby went dry while we were off attending to other things—for different reasons. Pearl was in year two of lactating and was ready to have some time off and get bred, and Maeby perfected the art of not letting her milk down, except for her calf, which became a real problem when we sold her calf! So she essentially withheld her milk until she dried herself off. Rotten cow!
ED was not happy at all about the prospect of a winter with no milk (or cream, or butter—though I do have a pretty nice stash of cheese). So she bought these two beauties: Joann and Madge.
So Pearl and Maeby are off at the neighbor’s getting bred, and we’re back in the milk!
October 4, 2012 at 2:50 pm
They are so pretty!
How far are you from Hot Springs or should I ask how difficult it is to get to the farm, because I might invest in a Moopon or two for Isobel and Jesse.
You have my best thoughts, Sharon
October 4, 2012 at 9:52 pm
We are twenty easy minutes from Hot Springs, and would love to have Isobel and Jesse come out for a visit!
October 4, 2012 at 4:52 pm
What an ingenous way to finance the cows. Your daughter is a genius 🙂
October 4, 2012 at 9:53 pm
We think so, too, but we try not to tell her—at least not too often!
October 6, 2012 at 8:37 pm
I have to agree with Nancy, ED’s a genius!
October 6, 2012 at 10:54 pm
Hey! You published a book! I just downloaded it to my kindle, and can’t wait to read it!
October 5, 2012 at 5:05 am
Great idea!
October 5, 2012 at 9:11 am
ED = Entrepenurial Daughter.
The cows are georgeous with facial markings that accentuate their already great big eyes. If I lived close by, I would buy some coupons. Or…if ED has any ideas for mail-order sales (of cheese), please let me know.
God bless you all. : )
October 6, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Oy vey! Maeby’s sister is also very bad to hold-up for the calf. (We let him have the hardest-to-reach quarter, then we milk the other three.) He’s getting bully enough to be a pita, so he’s going to freezer-camp soon. The cow better not even think about drying-off on us when he goes!
She’s already bred back to the same Angus AE… Hopefully she’ll do a heifer calf this time so we can breed ’em both to the unrelated bull we’re raising.
So ED wants a THIRD milker? Ye gads. One spoilt bovine princess is about all I can stand here. But looking at nine months without real milk would be horrifying. I’ve been mostly living on the stuff for 23 weeks now. Have lost around 70# and blood pressure is way down in that time. I figure for the three months Maudie is *supposed* to be dried-off, I’ll have to switch to an “organic” beef regimen.
October 6, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Wow!! That’s really inspiring! I loved my milk fast in the spring—now that we’re back in the milk, I might just do it again!
We’re actually up to four cows, but two are dry, so we’re only milking two at this time. Next summer, however… Fortunately I would rather make cheese than just about anything else!
October 6, 2012 at 10:39 pm
I misread the post… (Danged wonky eye!) Didn’t realize that she’d already *succeeded* in getting *two* new cows. WOW!
One of these days I might get cheese figured out myself. I keep doing the same recipe, and it comes out different every time.
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