8.28.22
Last Sunday as Darrell and I sat on the front porch, me with my second cup of tea of the morning and Darrell with coffee, it suddenly hit me just how old my number one milk cow Lass is. I had just received the results of the milk pregnancy checks for Lass and Heidi from the lab in Portland, and both girls were in the “retest” category. In other words, their hormone levels in their milk samples were between “open” – as in not bred – and “pregnant”. I had an idea Lass may not be pregnant but was sincerely hoping Heidi was.
Lass had already been put out to retire in the pasture a few months ago but had come back into milk when her supposedly weaned year-old calf was turned out in the field with the rest of the beef cows… read my Phenomenal Cow story for the full details! Thus, I pulled Lass out of the beef cow herd and put her back down with Heidi in the milk cow paddock. Now Heidi had been covered by our Hereford bull Henry and so I assumed she had settled with calf. The pregnancy milk test results had me wondering. In a fortnight I will send in fresh samples and that should tell me definitively if the girls are bred or not. If the hormone levels in their samples have risen, they are bred. If they have decreased, they are open.
As I sat there contemplating this turn of events, the thought of going without fresh milk was on my mind. If Heidi came up open, she would have to go visit Henry for a while but since it has already been seven months since she calved, I knew she would soon start to drop in milk production as unlike her mum, Lass, who is already in her 16th month of lactation, Heidi is not one to go much past 10 months in milk! As I thought about it, I realized that Lass, who will be 14 in January, may never breed back again, and that is quite fine. She deserves to retire and live out her life in the pasture. Then it dawned on me that Heidi will be 10 years old in December! She is getting up there in age too! Explaining my dilemma to Darrell, he promptly said what my mind was thinking, “Well, I guess you should start looking for another milk cow!”
That afternoon I decided to have a peek on Craigslist to see if by chance any milk cows were for sale that caught my eye. The very first listing I pulled up was for three milk cows, Jersey Holstein crosses, and the first picture showed a lovely black cow with a beautiful udder. Now Holsteins are not my favourite cows. My first milk cow, 30 odd years ago, was a Holstein I called Mandy. She was a good cow but lacking in the cream department and a great one for getting out of just about any fence, in other words she was a tad obnoxious! After having her for a while we sold her, and I went to Jerseys and love those little cows. However, 10 years ago I got Lass, a Brown Swiss Jersey cross and she was carrying Heidi who is ¾ Jersey and ¼ Brown Swiss. I love this cross and was hoping I could come upon a cow like them but did not hold my breath. So, my first thought when seeing this black cow and her two companions was “Drat, Holsteins!”
I called the owners and left a message. Later that night the gentleman who had placed the advertisement, called me back. He told me all about the girls, answering my many questions and after chatting with Darrell, we made the decision to at least go and look at the cows as they were just over in Mitchell, a mere 60 miles away.
Next day after chores were done, we jumped in our little truck and headed off to Mitchell. Upon meeting the owners, we made our way to the corral where the three milk cows were munching away on their morning hay. Immediately, my impression of the big black cow was just as it had been when I saw her picture in the listing. She caught my eye. Walking up to her she turned her head and looked at me but did not move a muscle when I spoke to her and ran a hand down her back. Our girls Lass and Heidi would not have let a stranger do such a thing to them as they are definitely one person cows! Darrell and I were impressed, yes, I liked her.
There was only one problem. I am a once-a-day milker and so keep my cow’s calf on their side while they are in milk. This girl did not have a calf on her as the folks needed all the milk their cows gave. They, like the majority of milk cow owners do, pull the calf off the cow when the calf is about 5 days old, and the cow’s milk had cleared of all colostrum. This cow had never had a calf grafted onto her and we would definitely need a calf as she was used to being milked twice a day and gave an average of 5 gallons per milking. As it happened, one of their other milk cows had recently calved and they still had the baby. Lori and Robert offered to give us the calf if we took the cow. I guess it also helped that the folks knew about us from a mutual friend so knew their girl was going to a good home. To top it all off, they offered to deliver Blackie and the calf to us. It was a deal!
Blackie and Belle – as I named the calf – were delivered as promised the very next day. Once the pair of them were settled in their pen, I spent some time getting acquainted with my new girl. Lass and Heidi were very curious about the newcomer, but it would be a few days before the girls were all turned out together. Belle was pretty hungry by this time, and I was able to easily guide her over to Blackie’s side. Standing between the cow and the eager to nurse calf, by letting Belle suck on my fingers, I was able to steer her towards Blackie’s udder. Since Blackie at first thought it was me pulling on her teat, she stood still. Then realizing it was a calf, she started to move away. Patting her and telling her what a good girl she was, the cow once again stood still. Pretty soon, with the calf nursing happily away, I was able to step back and watch. A couple of times Blackie walked off a short way with Belle quickly following, trying valiantly to find the source of the milk again. Then, after putting a little grain in a tub in front of Blackie, the cow stood stock still as I once again guided Belle to a teat.
Within less than an hour, Blackie had accepted Belle nursing on her without me standing close by to supervise. I left the pair of them for the night, feeling certain the cow would at least not stomp the calf into the ground! The following morning, I went down to milk all the girls and work with Blackie to accustom her to going in and out of the milk parlour, being willing to hand milk her in her pen if need be. I was thrilled to see Belle nursing away! Leaving Blackie until last, I milked Heidi and Lass then once they were in with their own calves, I opened the gate for Blackie. She willingly followed the bucket of grain I held in my hand and after a few tries, followed me into the milk house. In and out, in and out we went until finally she walked in, put her head in the stanchion and stood there munching away.
Here we are, less than a week later, 5 days later to be exact, and Blackie trots into the milk house each morning without problem. Belle has definitely become her calf and she is a grand mum. This time last week I really had no thoughts about getting another milk cow, but I guess Fate had other ideas. Blackie has settled down into my milking routine with ease. For now, Belle is by her side all day long and yesterday, the pair of them were turned out into the big paddock with Lass and Heidi without issue. It will still take a few days for Blackie to figure out her place in the milk line, right now Heidi is boss cow so gets to come in for milking first. Lass and Blackie are still figuring out who is next, but that is okay.
My milking buckets are brimming and that means major cheesemaking is on the horizon. Hmmm… maybe tomorrow is a good day for a Gouda … or maybe, I should start planning my next book that people are anxiously anticipating… tentative title: “So, You Think You Want a Milk Cow!”…