The Heifers 2015
A couple weeks ago Harland brought the heifers down from the farm to our place and put them into the pasture near the house. Heifers are 2 year old girls who have never had a calf. He brings the new ones, about a dozen of them, down to our place every year a few weeks before calving starts and they stay near us until everyone goes to the summer pasture in early May. That’s right folks, calving season is drawing near. The official due date for all our cows and heifers is March 9, but some may go before that. Most of the them will be born in March, 2 or 3 a day, and will continue until about mid April. We keep the heifers close during calving as this is their first calf and are more likely to have problems than the older cows.
I’ve not paid a visit to the heifers since Harland brought them down because the weather’s been so nasty and cold lately. But last night after I got home from work, I walked up to get a look at them. They’re not used to me so they were nervous and they ran away from the haybale where they were eating, but one by one they came back.
Dolly the Wondercow wasn’t nervous though and barely even noticed I was there.
Dolly has been with us for about 5 years now. She’s half holstein (milk cow) half angus (beef cow), was raised as a bottle calf and is very nearly tame. We keep her with the heifers each year as a sort of den mother, a calming influence to settle the teenagers. One of the heifers this year is her own daughter, Blaze.
Here’s Blaze as a baby back in 2013:
Blaze was a goofy looking kid, but has matured into a pretty little heifer.
Soon, I’ll have more pics and video of Blaze and the rest of the heifers when they begin having their calves, which should start next week.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
It’s hard to believe it’s that time again for you. I hope all goes well!
Thanks Alica! Is there a particular time of year you guys calve?
We calve year round here. Being a dairy, that way we have a continual influx of fresh cows and more consistent milk production year round!
You poor thing…I’m sorry. 😉
Yeah…it’s not so bad really, because we have a pretty small herd. We have between 40-50 calves per year, and only keep the heifers. The bulls stick around for just a few days before going to market, so the calf feeding is manageable. Our biggest problem is housing for all of them!
Hi Suzanne! I hope the calving goes really well this year with NO problems! And NO wild mamas, either!! 🙂 Watching the heifers and Dolly eating that hay…I couldn’t help thinking I’m thankful we don’t have to eat that stuff! Have a great day!
Oh thank you Jeanne!