The Fat Cows

It hasn't rained since September 11 and even on that day, it only rained 3/10ths of an inch.  It's dry.  I water the garden every single day.  The rain barrels that I sequester rainwater from are all dry and have been dry for several weeks.  The grass in the yard is dead or dying.  The pasture, up to this point has held up nicely, but when I walked in the pasture today, the bermuda and bahai grass is thirsting for some rain.

There is a chance on Thursday and Friday of this week for precipitation.  We are watching that very closely and praying for Showers of Blessing.  With the grass in the pasture on its way out and the onset of cooler temps of winter coming, we begin to think of the cows.  How will they fare through the winter?  We do give them a little sweet feed and alfalfa, but mostly they're on grass throughout the spring and summer.

For the fall and winter, we've put up 75 bales of premium bermuda hay in the hay loft.  We actually still have four bales of last year's hay that we're giving them each day.  We also purchase round bales of hay that we roll out and allow the cows (and goats) to eat free choice on.  We've found that one round bale will last about a week.  We have an inventory of nine round bales covered in tarps and ready to roll out when needed.  The cows have some grass to clean up in the pasture.  In the next few weeks they'll eat that all up.

It's important that the cows are in good condition going into the winter, and I have to say that this year, the cows are well fit, perhaps in the best condition they've ever been in at this point.  I really couldn't tell you what the difference is.  Here's Rosie.  Rosie is 15 years and 8 months old!  That's OLD for a Jersey cow.  She just went into heat last week.  We put her with the bull and witnessed her in standing heat.  We think he bred her, but we'll check in a few weeks to see if she goes back into heat.  We have the date on the calendar.  The bull is still young and he's short.  We don't know if he was able to reach.  Only time will tell, but it sure would be nice to get another calf out of Rosie.  She's been such a good girl.

And here's Elsie.  I don't have a way to show perspective, but this heifer is huge.  She's big and fat!  And she is rambunctious.  She runs around like her tail's on fire.  It's actually dangerous to be around her.  You have to keep your head on a swivel.  She did not get bred last year.  The vet found a cyst on her ovary and took care of it.  We are trying to have Nicky the bull breed her this year.

We put them together and hopefully it took.  We've been watching for her to come back in heat, but so far nothing.  Hopefully, that means she's carrying a calf.  That's good for a number of reasons.  First, we need calves and we need more milk as we're about to dry up LuLu.  Second, if she calves, we're hoping that will mellow her out and she'll stop being crazy.  Finally, if she isn't able to get pregnant, she's going to go into our freezer.  I hate to be so harsh, but we just can't have an animal unable to calve or give milk continue to just eat grass.  Elsie, you're on the clock!

LuLu, on the other hand is a little skinny (I don't have a current photo of her), but she's been in milk for over a year and a half.  It's about time to dry her up and allow her to build up again.  We put her together with Nicky when she came in heat and we'll see if she comes back in heat.  It sure would be nice to have 3 spring calves!