New faces

We've rented out our pasture again, as we did a couple of years ago. We now have 7 cows and their 7 calves here. They're not exactly "new" anymore. I took these pics exactly a month ago, but... well... you know I got kinda behind on things. Anyway, here they are:

Oops. I had taken pics of the kittens in the rather dark old hog barn just before I took those pics above... and of course forgot to check my exposure settings. Okay, adjustments made... let's try that again.

Yeah, that's better!

Such shiny, healthy-looking coats!

There are some kinda funny faces in the bunch...

... particularly this one cow below:

She has the oddest patch of white on her face.

The next photo is more recent. The bull just came to join them a week or so ago.

He's kind of a calm, lazy-looking guy. Much better than a holstein bull, who can get mean at times. They're all nice, quiet renters... hardly ever hear a sound out of them.

More moos & mmmmm!

The cows we have now came from out west... Montana, I believe. They'd been out on the open range, so they have been branded. I managed to get a couple shots of brands. This first one, on the shoulder, is pretty simple, a "U" (horseshoe?) above an inverted "U". I wonder what it's called - "Double U"? Ha, I doubt it.

The one below is more interesting. Anybody want to venture a guess or come up with a name for it? I have no idea what it stands for. Maybe "So smiley"? Haha.

The calves are so cute. I've been hoping to get better videos of them running around and kicking up their heels, but they don't cooperate very well. If I happen to see them from up by the house, by the time I get there with the camera, they've quit. One time they were tearing across the cattle yard as fast as they could run... looked like they were practicing for the rodeo. :) Here's the best clip I could get... not quite the rodeo run, but cute, anyway.

Most of them are all black. Not too interesting. But there are a few that stand out from the rest, like this one, known as "Chocolate". :)

There's one with a white face, which you saw here. Then there's this one, which just might be my favorite:

I love its white markings, particularly inside the ears. This one was hungry!

It seemed to be thoroughly enjoying its meal, making quite loud slurping sounds. :) You'll have to turn the volume waaay up to hear it, though:

Sometimes those big black calves can be downright scary!!

"Where'd she go? I wanted to play!"

Finally, new occupants

Remember these new fences? They're finally being put to use! Just last Saturday some of these cows and their calves got moved over to our place. Here's a shot of them in the cattle shed before they were let outside. I think that calf was already looking to make trouble, checking to see if he'd fit under there. ;)

The new fences are now at work, as the cows and calves got let outside yesterday.

They seem to enjoy their new surroundings a lot.

Here are a couple of the few with any white markings on them. They posed quite nicely, don't you think?

More pics and some cute videos to come later.......

New babies and old(er) babies

Remember these cows? They've started having their babies! The first one was born on February 17th, which was kinda cool because it was Grandpa's mom's 91st birthday. :) There have been 3 more born since then. I decided yesterday was a good a day to go over and get some photos of them, since Courtney could go along and see them, too. It was another foggy day, making the lighting in the barns extra dim, so I was extremely glad for my camera classes, because I was able to get some fairly decent photos without even using a flash. No spooky eyes this time - yay!

Here's the first calf we came to. The babies learned quickly that the fresh, dry straw in the stalls makes for a pretty nice bed. Their moms seem a bit reluctant to go into the stalls, though, and prefer lying in the aisles. I suppose it's because they used to be range cows and aren't used to closed-in spaces.

Here's a closer look. This one has a cute white face, making it a "black baldy".

This is Mama looking on.

Grandpa decided to get the little one up so I could hopefully get a closer shot with the camera. Mama wasn't so sure she liked that idea, but she only watched closely.

Here we are... pretty cute, huh?

This is the only one with a white face so far.

Awwww......

Here's a younger black one with its mama:

And another black mother/calf pair:

I even got a little video clip of "lunch time". Look at that tail go! :)

In that same blog post, you saw these guys as babies. Have they ever grown since then!

That barn is looking pretty full now!

I wanted so bad to get a good picture of this red guy, but he wouldn't stand still for anything. So you have what's called a "blurred motion" effect in this pic. :) But at least you get to see his pretty color.

That's the progress so far. There are many more babies to come... like 167 or something like that!

The "new era"

If you remember this post, you know that Grandpa and his brothers quit milking and sold all their dairy cows last August. They didn't retire completely, however. They're still farming, and recently they've acquired some new livestock to take care of. The young ones arrived this week on Wednesday, so since Courtney was here again yesterday after school, she and I went over to see them and take some pictures.

It was somewhat dark in the barns, so photo-taking wasn't the best. Here you can see a lot of eyes!

This next one's a little better (with a little editing help). These are the new "babies"... 150 holstein bull calves. Yep, black and white... just like the ones that used to be born there. If you look closely, you can see a red and white one in there, too. I guess there are a few of those.

Photos turned out much better when the calves came closer!

After visiting there, we went to what used to be the dairy loafing barn. Because it's cold now, everything is closed up for warmth, so it was pretty dark in there, too. More eyes:

This barn has 172 head of bred angus cows which arrived a few weeks ago. They pretty much all look like this:

There are a couple with some white markings. I managed to get a not-very-clear picture of one of them:

These animals take a lot less care and time than dairy cows! It'll be interesting to see how it goes when they begin having their calves in February.

Courtney wasn't too excited about seeing the cows and calves. She enjoyed the dog more.

That's "Scoobie". She's getting pretty old and slow. This chair in the break room is her preferred spot on cold days.

Lucky dog, huh?

End of an era

I mentioned in an earlier post that Grandpa and his two brothers, who have been farming together for... many years... were going to take the first step in retiring. They've been milking cows nearly all their lives, and they finally decided they've milked long enough. Today was their last day. The cows were sold weeks ago, and they were shipped out yesterday and today. Courtney and I went over to the dairy and watched as the last two semi-trucks were loaded. It was a momentous day, and I think there were a lot of mixed emotions. Sadness... gladness... and the whole gamut in between. And pride of a job well done. Giving up dairying is a major change! I doubt that it's completely sunk in yet that it's really over.

Here are some photos and videos of the process of shipping the cows out. Grandpa's in the first pic... anticipating the next truck. What do you think's going through his mind?

The truck was huge.

It was a beautiful day, and quite comfortable for both humans and traveling cows.

Courtney enjoyed watching it all, as did a couple of sisters-in-law, and even Grandpa's 90-year-old mother came out to watch "the end".

Waiting for the trucker to get everything ready:

Our son, Courtney's daddy. I wonder how he was feeling....

Grandpa again... waiting....

Here's some of the loading process (that's the trucker with the prod):

Sometimes they got to moving around in the trailer so much that it rocked back and forth!

These were the last ones. They didn't always cooperate....

This is the last load, pulling away.

The barn looked empty and forlorn.....

There they go, the last load down the driveway.....

A nose here.....

An eye there......

When it was all said and done, the employees joined us for a meal of pizza and chicken on their last day.

And this was Courtney's and my last view, as we drove out of the yard.

Sadness... gladness.... and the beginning of a new era.  There will still be the land to farm, and who knows.... maybe some new cows in the future?  The kind whose calves get to do the milking?  Many decisions ahead yet. Dairying is over, but not farming.