The miracle of life

Most people are excited when they can feel a baby kick but let me just say, it is just as exciting to feel a calf kick. We have been working with Buttercup and her baby kicks and it is amazing to feel the tiny hooves. She is getting very close, tonight we noticed that she seemed to be having some practice pushes. She certainly has developed nicely in the udder department in the last couple weeks. I am so excited, I can't hardly stand it. She stands so well for us in the stanchion, I believe she will make a terrific milker. But, I just love the calves with all their cute little features, we would love it to be a heifer. Both Buttercup and Eva have done tremendously with the daily training, I can't wait for little Eva to start milk cow training too :) I love babies (just in case you hadn't noticed, lol).

Yes, I am still alive :)

There really hasn't been much to report, work is good, farm is good - though the ground is VERY wet and it's cold out, and the family is good. :) Buttercup is coming closer to calving I would say about 10 days or so, her udder has really started to come in and she has a string of mucus hanging. She has been a bit more ornery but she loves coming into the stanchion and all of the cows have gotten the routine down :) Blackbird (our Angus) seems to be the object of her abuse however, though I am not sure why. Eva is eating grain and hay from our hands and we will be working on doing the horn paste this weekend. We are thinking of getting some oats and corn planted next month but I need a bean to plant with the corn. Suggestions welcome.

In other news I am pleased to see that AR seems to be doing really well even though he is no longer on medication for ADHD. He has really buckled down and worked hard to do the things he needs to at the time it needs to be done. :) Well that's about all I've got. Stay warm and keep praising. :)

Hay

The previous owner of our property (2 owners ago really) has been our hay guy and that makes him a wealth of information that is yet to be fully tapped. :) DH was chatting with him one day and he mentioned that our big pasture would get about 2 big round bales per acre. This is awesome information as no one else seemed to be able to tell us. Since we do not have the equipment of know how to hay it ourselves we will be hiring it out and getting the square instead of the round as they are easier to manage. Our former garage (can you really even call it that if you don't put cars in it?), will be our new hay shed to keep it from the elements. This will also let us determine when it is cut and keep the quality of the hay higher than maybe available. I found a great how to for those a bit more advanced in their homesteading journey, How to make hay. Enjoy!