CALVING

We have two new calves as of July 5, bringing our total count to 6. Myj had an all-black boy calf which I am calling Solomillo, and Way Cute had a girl with a little white swoosh above her eyes that looks just like two little teats.  Can we call her “Udderly Divine?”  It would be a good continuation of the Way Cute theme.  This is Way Cute’s first calf, which Barbara has been waiting on for years now, and Barbara will be happy to know that Way Cute is a great mama — her calf has been right with her every time I see them.

Alex and I banded Myj’s calf on the 7th. It took us a little longer than expected because first the cows were late showing up at the drinker, and then when they did, the calf wasn’t with them so we had to go locate him. What with one thing and another, it took us a couple hours to get the calf in the corral with Myj on the other side of the fence, but once there, he was easier than some of the others to band because his testicles were fully descended. I sure have appreciated Alex’s competency at animal handling this summer.

Miss Fluniper and Dalwhinney look like they are next in the summer calf train….

KONCHITA

Konchita has always had one extra-large teat, and with milk coming into her udder it became ridiculously large — too large by far to fit into Stu’s mouth, and so it wasn’t getting milked. Alex and I worked hard one day to get her into the squeeze at El Potrero and milk the overly-swollen teat out completely. It looked like the calf was able to get on it then, but it has been swelling up again every couple days, so I have milked it out four times since then. The milk looked a little “off” the first two times, but completely normal since, so I don’t think there is any infection.  She is better about walking into the chute and squeeze because she knows there is a bucket of hay at the end of the line. Though today she and Stu tried to go through together, which did not work so well, and ultimately resulted in me putting her in the squeeze backwards as a last resort. Long story…

THE HALF-STEER

So it turns out that Myj’s steer from last year is only a half-steer.  One testicle was missed when he was banded at birth and has developed since then, so he is likely partly fertile. This means I can no longer keep him with the two girl yearlings, which is a shame because the four yearlings get along fabulously.

I was also concerned about how this might affect the quality and marketability of the meat, but as I was doing research I found an article on an experiment with “half-castration” by removing only one testicle as a way to get the greater weight gain of an uncastrated animal without the lack of tenderness and different taste. I was thinking of getting him castrated surgically by the vet, but at this age that’s a fairly major procedure, with some risk. So for now I am going to think of him as an experiment and see how he does with the rest of the herd. We moved “Wingnut”, as we have been affectionately calling him, and his male companion down to Masons with the rest of the herd to keep him away from the female calves. On arrival, the bull was definitely showing him his place at the outskirts of the herd, or maybe in the nursery, but that seems to have calmed down. We will see if they get along well enough for Wingnut to thrive.

WATER

We are sure hoping for some rain soon to help the grass along in the pastures. Lisa has been doing all of the irrigation at El Potrero, and Alex at Masons. Both of them are doing an excellent job — we wouldn’t have grass without their efforts! I am so grateful for all the help.

Otherwise, we have been hauling hay, fixing leaks, pulling weeds, mowing the fields, digging mesquite, keeping the equipment running, cleaning the barn, and enjoying learning about the animals. Never a dull moment!

p.s. I just got back from Masons.  No new calves yet. I have been thinking that surely Fluniper was just about to have her calf for days now, but her udder just keeps getting bigger…

The clouds are a deep black to the east of the pastures with thunder rumbling out constantly from them. I have been thinking that surely it will rain for days now, but the clouds just keep getting bigger…