Chubby Milk Cows

Chubby Milk Cows

 If you remember, sometime last year I posted that our two girls, Belle and Bessie, were several months pregnant with calves and were due sometime in November. 

Above is Belle several weeks from dropping her calf. I honestly don't know how she even walked...she looked utterly miserable.

The sire, Boromir, a Simmental bull.

Belle calved Nov. 6th to a beautiful heifer.

We stumbled upon her licking off her newborn calf in the pasture.

We have a tradition of naming all of our milk cows and their offspring, with 'B' names.

I've always wanted a milk cow named Beatrice. And now I have one! 

The future little milker, Beatrice. 

Little sis' is just outside the camera, Belle is looking very suspiciously at her. ;)

"You touch my baby; I kill you!" < Pretty sure that's what she was thinking.  

Have I ever mentioned our Jersey's natural tendencies to spontaneously kidnap other cow's babies?? Well now I have. Apparently, just one baby at once isn't enough; you must have 4,959... 

Bessie...we were almost certain she was carrying twins. It looked like she swallowed a barrel...or several.

 Beatrice decided she wanted a snack from aunt Bessie....our cows are nuts.

The girls eating a snack. 

 Beatrice and Cassia sharing an overnight pen together so I can milk their mothers.

Ugh...poor darling Bessie is about to pop!

I can't remember the exact date Bessie calved, but it was towards the end of November, several weeks after Belle.

Surprisingly, her calf was much smaller than Belle's. Despite her being much larger in the tummy, and having a bull calf. 

Little sis' and I argued over what to name him; we still haven't completely agreed. Sooo...depending on which family member you ask, his name is either Barnabas (Carolina's suggestion), or Barnaby (my suggestion).

And Beatrice is sometimes called Brazil, by my mother, due to the white mark on her forehead that resembles Brazil in shape.

Dodge photobombing....

My work load has definitely increased since both of the girls calved. Both girls gave 1 1/2 gallons every morning for the first few weeks, then dropped down to 1 gallon or a little over each milking.

  

We are drowning in milk. I may just have to build a boat.

Needless to say we have been making lots of pudding, bread, yogurt and anything that has milk in it. We sell the excess milk and give it to the dogs and cats. Everyone is very happy about this ordeal, except my arms. My arms hurt and ache, they also feel like a rock. Who needs a gym when you have milk cows, eh?

Beatrice (left), Barnaby (right).

Look at the difference in their coloring! Barnaby definitely got the darker red coloring of his dad, whereas Beatrice got the more Jersey coloring. 

In several years, Beatrice will be joining the milk cow ranks and as for Barnaby...he will either end up in the freezer, or will be used for breeding. Hopefully the latter. :)

Blessings - 

~ Aspen