"Imagine me and you, I do I think about you day and night, it's only right To think about the girl you love and hold her tight So happy together" - The Turtles 1967
We've been talking a lot about the literal birds and the literal bees lately with us hatching out baby chicks and then putting out a swarm trap to catch a wild swarm of honeybees. But today, we'll briefly talk about "the birds and the bees," if you know what I mean.
We have two cows and a heifer that need to get bred. Nick, the Jersey bull, is just the guy to do it. LuLu has been in milk for over a year and a half. It is time to dry her off, but we want to get her, Rosie, and Elsie pregnant. No dice, so far. Elsie had a cyst on her ovary and the vet came and took care of that. But up to this point, she's not been able to get pregnant. We track the days, put the cows in heat with the bull, and... They cycle again the following month.
Rosie had lots of mucus showing. It was her time. We put her in the bull pen with Nick. He began courtship immediately.
Rosie was in standing heat. It's a little embarrassing to photograph and show this, but we are 99% sure that Nick was successful in his endeavors.
We'll keep watching the calendar and for signs and we'll put Elsie and LuLu in the bull pen with Nick as the right time arises. If they keep on coming in heat, we may have to assume that Nick is a defective bull with low sperm count. If so, there's a neighbor down the road five miles or so away with a registered bull. We may have to schedule a 'date night' and bring our three girls down there.
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