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<blockquote data-quote="Allannaa" data-source="post: 1310501" data-attributes="member: 24870"><p>Wow, thanks so much for all the good, practical, and FAST advice! And thanks for the vids; I loved watching them (once they buffered and loaded.) Mega seems a lot like the red cow from my kid-hood -- tame as a dog and twice as sweet-tempered. She also looks like the red cow from my childhood, except the red cow wasn't polled, and one of her horns was kind of turned outward, like a cartoon cow. The vid of the nursing calf reminds me of one of our barn cats. He would go up to the red cow (usually getting in the way of whoever was milking) and head-butt her bag, then lap at the stream she released when he did that.</p><p></p><p>Rafter S said, </p><p>So obvious! I should have thought of it myself! I'm so accustomed to scheduling errands, shopping, VA appointments (our VA is awesome about getting you in when you want / need to come in, and they understand that some people may have weather-dependant schedules, and so on) and everything else for late in the day. It never occurred to me, I could, you know, reverse that and do my Alla-stuff early so I can do my Cow-stuff later instead of at oh-dark-thirty. An obvious thing, but it took someone else to point it out. Thank you!</p><p></p><p>Nesikep said, </p><p>I wasn't worried about teat size; I have fairly average hands. I wasn't worried about temperment; I figure with enough sweets, any animal can be conned... er tamed. I've never had an animal -- from the quarter horses my uncle bred, to the red cow and the meat-herd to the neighbors' sheep, including a ram even he hated to deal with, from dogs to cats, from hamsters to sugar-gliders, that I couldn't handle any way I chose, even when the animal was ill or injured. (I'm lucky that way -- I think making animals love me is my ONLY real talent.) </p><p></p><p>But I never even thought about bull size relative to heifer size for breeding! If you hadn't mentioned that, I would have tumbled into one of those "Ah, dangit" type of pitfalls I mentioned as wanting to avoid. (Or had to go the AI route... oh, good grief noooo.)</p><p></p><p>As far as the calf taking care of whatever we don't need, I thought I remembered that was the case with the red cow, but I also remembered farmers near us taking the calves and bottle-feeding from the gazillions of gallons produced by their commercial milkers -- and bottle-feeding is also something I don't ever want to get into, for various reasons. But what you folks seem to be telling me is that I don't need to worry about that -- I can just let Ma Nature and the cow herself handle feeding the calf.</p><p></p><p>Nesikep also said </p><p>That's also something I didn't even realize. I know when I was a kid, we butchered a calf every year, but now that I think back, it may have been that we butchered the red cow's calf every other year, and a random cull-calf during the alternates. I didn't even think about taste quality. The only thing that was in my mind was KC strip is $9 a pound, and even I get tired of venison (let alone sitting on my behind every morning for 2 weeks in November in weather that ranges from "Why am I doing this??" to "I shoulda worn my swimsuit"). Don't get me wrong -- the KC strip available at our local grocery store is WORTH the price; local Missouri beef is tasty stuff. But it adds up for a pair of carnivorous old ladies, you know? So I'm very glad Nesikep mentioned that the meat would be better if I wait longer to butcher.</p><p></p><p>That does lead to another question though -- Am I right in thinking I can have a calf on the teat -- still milk daily, if I "rest" the cow without milking through November/December -- breed her in January -- and still milk her even when she's in-calf so long as she's not also nursing the prior breeding's calf? (And breed her every 2 years instead of yearly, referencing Nesikep's comment about flavor of meat.)</p><p></p><p>I have wondered a bit about buying hay, and the costs associated with it. In this part of Mizzourah, things can range from pricey to really pricey. For instance, even in non-drought years (and we had a big nasty drought a few years back) the straw I use for the bantams' house is $7 a bale -- for STRAW, not "eating hay"! So I shudder to think what it might cost if I have to feed hay even for as little as a month. We'd go from "break even, gain a little" by not buying commercially processed milk products to "Alla, you are crazier than a june-bug and spending more money than a kid in a vid game store", it seems to me.</p><p></p><p>I'll definitely check the FB group that was mentioned, and I'll check again with the Extension Center guys. Maybe if I can get one to actually come out here and LOOK at my stuff, I'll get answers that will apply to me, and not to a commercial venture. But I'll be honest -- I got more advice, clearer and easier to understand advice, from you folks in two days, than I have from anyone else in the last five years! </p><p></p><p>So thank you all again!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Allannaa, post: 1310501, member: 24870"] Wow, thanks so much for all the good, practical, and FAST advice! And thanks for the vids; I loved watching them (once they buffered and loaded.) Mega seems a lot like the red cow from my kid-hood -- tame as a dog and twice as sweet-tempered. She also looks like the red cow from my childhood, except the red cow wasn't polled, and one of her horns was kind of turned outward, like a cartoon cow. The vid of the nursing calf reminds me of one of our barn cats. He would go up to the red cow (usually getting in the way of whoever was milking) and head-butt her bag, then lap at the stream she released when he did that. Rafter S said, So obvious! I should have thought of it myself! I'm so accustomed to scheduling errands, shopping, VA appointments (our VA is awesome about getting you in when you want / need to come in, and they understand that some people may have weather-dependant schedules, and so on) and everything else for late in the day. It never occurred to me, I could, you know, reverse that and do my Alla-stuff early so I can do my Cow-stuff later instead of at oh-dark-thirty. An obvious thing, but it took someone else to point it out. Thank you! Nesikep said, I wasn't worried about teat size; I have fairly average hands. I wasn't worried about temperment; I figure with enough sweets, any animal can be conned... er tamed. I've never had an animal -- from the quarter horses my uncle bred, to the red cow and the meat-herd to the neighbors' sheep, including a ram even he hated to deal with, from dogs to cats, from hamsters to sugar-gliders, that I couldn't handle any way I chose, even when the animal was ill or injured. (I'm lucky that way -- I think making animals love me is my ONLY real talent.) But I never even thought about bull size relative to heifer size for breeding! If you hadn't mentioned that, I would have tumbled into one of those "Ah, dangit" type of pitfalls I mentioned as wanting to avoid. (Or had to go the AI route... oh, good grief noooo.) As far as the calf taking care of whatever we don't need, I thought I remembered that was the case with the red cow, but I also remembered farmers near us taking the calves and bottle-feeding from the gazillions of gallons produced by their commercial milkers -- and bottle-feeding is also something I don't ever want to get into, for various reasons. But what you folks seem to be telling me is that I don't need to worry about that -- I can just let Ma Nature and the cow herself handle feeding the calf. Nesikep also said That's also something I didn't even realize. I know when I was a kid, we butchered a calf every year, but now that I think back, it may have been that we butchered the red cow's calf every other year, and a random cull-calf during the alternates. I didn't even think about taste quality. The only thing that was in my mind was KC strip is $9 a pound, and even I get tired of venison (let alone sitting on my behind every morning for 2 weeks in November in weather that ranges from "Why am I doing this??" to "I shoulda worn my swimsuit"). Don't get me wrong -- the KC strip available at our local grocery store is WORTH the price; local Missouri beef is tasty stuff. But it adds up for a pair of carnivorous old ladies, you know? So I'm very glad Nesikep mentioned that the meat would be better if I wait longer to butcher. That does lead to another question though -- Am I right in thinking I can have a calf on the teat -- still milk daily, if I "rest" the cow without milking through November/December -- breed her in January -- and still milk her even when she's in-calf so long as she's not also nursing the prior breeding's calf? (And breed her every 2 years instead of yearly, referencing Nesikep's comment about flavor of meat.) I have wondered a bit about buying hay, and the costs associated with it. In this part of Mizzourah, things can range from pricey to really pricey. For instance, even in non-drought years (and we had a big nasty drought a few years back) the straw I use for the bantams' house is $7 a bale -- for STRAW, not "eating hay"! So I shudder to think what it might cost if I have to feed hay even for as little as a month. We'd go from "break even, gain a little" by not buying commercially processed milk products to "Alla, you are crazier than a june-bug and spending more money than a kid in a vid game store", it seems to me. I'll definitely check the FB group that was mentioned, and I'll check again with the Extension Center guys. Maybe if I can get one to actually come out here and LOOK at my stuff, I'll get answers that will apply to me, and not to a commercial venture. But I'll be honest -- I got more advice, clearer and easier to understand advice, from you folks in two days, than I have from anyone else in the last five years! So thank you all again! [/QUOTE]
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