10.15.23
They say a watched pot never boils. How true that occasionally is! When you want something good to happen and are waiting anxiously for it, time seems to slow down to a crawl yet on the other hand, when something unpleasant is expected, time passes at a gallop! Right now, I am wanting something good to happen so of course time is dragging its heels something fierce!
What is this good thing I am waiting for you ask? Well, it is the passing of 21 days. That seems a tad odd you might be thinking. Why on earth would one be wishing away time? The reason is due to a milk cow, Heidi to be exact. 14 days ago today, our young bull Yoda was courting Heidi and between now and 21 days I am anxiously watching the pair of them to see – fingers crossed! – if the courting was successful and Heidi is bred. If she does not come back into season, on day 28 I can draw a milk sample from her, send it off to the lab in Portland to be tested to confirm if she is successfully in calf or not.
Our old girl Lass, Heidi’s mum, is in retirement. After being a stellar milk cow for us for years and years, she finally succumbed to barrenness and that is quite fine with us. As an outstanding milker she now deserves to live out her life in the fields with the beef cows. Right now, however, she is in the lower paddock acting as a companion for Heidi. As soon as we know Heidi is with calf, Yoda will be moved back into the big field with the beef cow herd and Lass will remain with Heidi. Milk cows, well any cow or animal actually, like companions. Of course, I saw Yoda courting Lass a week after he was courting Heidi so it would be just my luck that Lass decides to give us one more calf… I would not complain!
So here I am, counting the days until I can get confirmation if Heidi is pregnant or not. Since I really want her in calf, the waiting seems interminable! I tell you; milk cows can be a right pain in the bottom sometimes but my goodness, their bounty of milk is well worth it! Every now and then the thought crosses my mind that maybe I should give up milking. I could find a good home for Heidi and her calf, forego the morning ritual of putting my milker together, filling my wash bottle and with milker in hand, heading off to milk no matter the weather. Then my mind thinks back to the past few months before Heidi had her calf. We were having to resort to buying “shop milk” as Heidi was dry in preparation for calving, Lass was open, and we lost the Blackie cow of which we had high hopes of being our second milker. However, just thinking about that commercially bottled white stuff makes me immediately change my mind on selling my milk cow!
Even on the darkest and gloomiest of mornings, like this morning, there is something rewarding about heading off to the milk parlour, knowing soon you will return to the house with a bucket full of warm, creamy milk. It is a special time of day. Usually, dawn is just breaking, and you get to witness the glorious sunrise of a new day. At this time of year, it is so peaceful. Everything is just waking up. The chickens, still fluffed from roosting, leave their henhouse and stroll around their coop before heading to the water tub for a drink. As I approach the gate to the milkhouse I must watch where I am stepping as 11 fluffy little chicks come swarming out of the grain bin shed, peeping and chirping, knowing I will throw down a handful of corn for them. Their mum, a feisty little black hen, follows, clucking away while she keeps a watchful eye on her brood. Once Heidi is let into the milking stall, her udder washed and the milker’s teat cups attached, I stand at the open door and look out over the cow paddock. The background sound of Heidi munching her grain and the rhythmical ticking away of the milker do not disturb the peaceful scene in front of me, rather they add to it.
Having a milk cow can either be a blessing or a bane. For me, it is a blessing. Thankfully I have a system down that allows me the luxury of foregoing the morning milking routine if for some reason we need to be away from home for a day or so. As soon as I can after my cows have calved, I transition them to once a day milking. We allow the calf to run with mum all day, separating them in the evening so the next morning, mum’s full udder is ready for me to take the milk – although there is still enough left in there for the calf to have a good breakfast! On those rare days when I might be feeling under the weather or my pager goes off in the wee hours of the morning, the cow and calf are turned in together and the calf has the delight of having a full udder of milk all to itself. For over 30 years this system has worked well for us. We have happy, healthy milk cows, delicious creamy milk, homemade cheese and butter. No, I do not think I am ready to forego milking chores right now.
For all those folks out there, who have ever thought or dreamed of owning a milk cow, there really is nothing more rewarding. Are there frustrations? Oh, yes indeed! Is it always easy and idyllic? Absolutely not! There are challenges, disappointments, and yes heartaches along the way, even with those of us who have had milk cows for years and years. Just when you think you have seen it all you discover these animals have a new wrinkle to throw out at you. So many of you may have read or heard that getting a milk cow is like wearing a ball and chain. Your life will be tied inexorably to your milk cow what with twice a day milking, a rigorous schedule that by gosh and by golly you cannot deviate from for fear of ruining your cow. The worries of milk fever, mastitis, acetonemia and more. That can be awfully daunting! Yet it does not and should not be so.
In today’s rather topsy turvey world, there seem to be more and more people, young people, thinking about where their food comes from. Folks are looking back to years gone by when instead of just having a fancy landscaped garden out back behind one’s house, a plot was set aside for growing veggies. Summer’s fruit was harvested from the trees and put up in jars to be enjoyed in the middle of winter. Thanksgiving dinner was a special time, a true time of thankfulness when one’s plate was heaped with goodness… potatoes and carrots harvested from your garden, maybe a turkey that was home raised and pumpkin pie made from scratch and of course that accompanying glass of creamy milk to wash it all down with.
Some of us are fortunate enough to be living the dream, but it has come with a lot of hard work and dedication. Family and friends wonder why we do it, why we work so hard at a time in our life when many others are slowing down. Why is Darrell out there cutting wood for our winter’s heat when we could just get a pellet stove or use electricity? We tell them it is a life we have chosen and a life we enjoy. Have we slowed down? Oh, indeed we have. In the mornings we take the time to sit on the front porch and enjoy that third of fourth cup of tea and coffee. We no longer feel the need to dash about. We savour each day and feel grateful for it. Carpe diem my friends… oops! Time to go milk!
