Updates

So, it has been a while since I last posted, for which I apologize.  I was sick for three miserable weeks :(

We now have water spigots and power hookups right next to the cow's pen.  We also got new self-watering containers.  They are metal, which you'd think would be a bad thing this time of year, but here's the the thing... we also got tape heaters.  Basically you plug in the tape (looks like two wires connected together covered in rubber) and then wind it around whatever you need to heat.  We used this successfully for the pigs, which have a nipple system that requires constant water, so we are going to use this method for the cows and the horse as well.  We will have the heating tape wind around the water spigot post, along the side of the hose, and around the self watering containers, so the water will never freeze.

While we were working on getting water lines to everyone, the cows got a new stall mate.  My horse Paige.  Unfortunately that did not work out on a long term basis, so the moment the ditches got covered, I put Paige back out in the big pasture.  The horse and cows get along great (though I had to guard the cows' buckets during feeding time because Paige kept trying to sample their food instead of eating her own) but while the cows pick one corner of the stall to pee and poop, the horse pooped EVERYWHERE.  To add to the chaos of the poop problem, the chickens come in during the day and scratch around looking for bugs and worms hiding in the straw, and the combination left the poor cows with nowhere to lay down :(  I picked their stall as best I could and laid down a ton of fresh straw, so they got a warm place to lay again.

During this period of time when the ground is constantly frozen, and there is frost all over, I have been leaving the cows in their stall.  Because the stall is so large, they have plenty of room to move around, and I've seen them play together in there.  It is nice to look in and see them laying so contentedly, chewing their cud, just being.  You know they're happy when they look at you with their big deer eyes and chew away at their cud :)  They are still getting grain while the weather is so cold, as well as extra hay, but I plan to cut down quite a bit when the weather warms up, especially as we get closer to the time that they will be able to be bred. 

These breed of cows have their first heat around 9 months.  They're 5 months now, so that means they could potentially be old enough to breed in about 4 months.  However, Susan and I would like them to get a little more physically mature so that they will have a much better chance of holding the pregnancy while remaining healthy themselves.  The older the better.  So we have determined (with the help of our resident milk cow farmer) that a good age to breed them will be about 13 months.  So we will probably start getting reading in about 8 months, which will be about August of 2014.  Cows gestate for around 9 1/2 months (similar to humans), so that means they will be delivering their babies come the following May or June. 

We have talked about breeding our girls to our neighbor's meat cow.  Dairy cows, on average, are quite a bit bigger than meat cows, and my neighbor's cows are about two thirds the size of  a Jersey (which are a smaller type dairy cow).  For a first pregnancy, this means that the baby will be fairly small, ensuring an easier delivery.  Plus, since we don't plan to add to the herd right away, we will be able to butcher the new calves after a year and put meat in our freezers.  A yearling cow will feed a small family for a year, with consistent meat additions to the menu.  So this is a huge plus as well.