Thursday, March 30, 2017

Stewie, Rowdy, Bronko, Dillon, and McQueen


Hubby named Glory's bull calf Stewart (after Jimmy), but we call him Stewie. Coincidentally, Stewie has Jimmy Stewart's bushy eyebrows. Hubby' favorite Stewart movie is The Rare Breed; mine is Harvey. 


Joy thinks that the sun rises and sets around Rowdy, her beloved first calf. Hubby named him after the Clint Eastwood character, Rowdy Yates, in Rawhide. Rowdy is doing his best to live up to his name.


Bronko is Liza's burly little fellow, named after Bronko Nagurski, a champion wrestler and football player from the 1930s and 1940s. 



Dillon is unquestionably the biggest (length, height, and weight) calf born on this outfit. His mama, Mayzie, isn't big at all, but, fortunately, she produces a lot of milk!


Winky's little dynamo is McQueen, named after one of Hubby's favorite actors, Steve McQueen. When Hubby was tagging McQueen the calf, the latter attempted his own version of The Great Escape. McQueen didn't get away, but when the dust settled, his tag was on backwards. 




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"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state that I finally won out over it." ~Elwood P. Dowd, played by Jimmy Stewart, in Harvey

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Clover, Maverick, and Bronson

WARNING: High levels of adorability present in this post. Beware of impulsive decisions, such as quitting your career, selling your home, and buying a farm so you can raise cattle.  


Clover

Maverick 

Bronson




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"God's love is not drawn out by our lovableness, but wells up, like an artesian spring, from the depths of His nature." ~Alexander MacLaren






Thursday, March 23, 2017

Junior, Magnolia, and Festus

Peaches had her first calf, a handsome little guy that Hubby named Hickock, Jr., after his daddy, Hickock. We call him Junior. Peaches is a first-time mama, but one would think that she graduated with honors from Mother Cow College.






Meet Magnolia, Marigold's not-so-little, lively, lovely, and extroverted heifer. Fortunately, Marigold is an outstanding mother. It's not easy to keep tabs on Magnolia. 





   


Flame, who long ago earned her super-mama credentials and happens to be Peaches' mama, gave us another adorable little bull calf called Festus.






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"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it." ~From the television show, The Golden Girls

Monday, March 20, 2017

Little Red Report

I almost forgot that I promised an update on Panda and Little Red (see Little Red). 

The bonding process crept along for a few days. Then other cows started parading their newborns around, hovering over them and mooing to them in that particular bass-tone that new mama cows use. Panda watched and listened for a while. She walked up to Little Red--we got to see this--and began licking the top of her head, showing the world that she had an adorable calf too. 

That evening, we realized that Little Red no longer needed anyone to make sure she nursed safely. Panda had already seen to Red's supper. Since then, we haven't had to do anything but watch Panda love her little heifer.


Clockwise from top left: Tex and Little Red run and play together every evening; Panda bathes Red numerous times a day; Little Red and her brothers and sisters are already trying to eat hay.
  

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"God's greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more that ascend the hill of Calvary." ~Max Lucado

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Big Jake, Simon, and Little Ikey

By the way, Hubby's the one who names the bull calves, and I name the heifers. We both have veto power, however. So far, the young gentlemen outnumber the little ladies 2:1. 

Anyway, Princess blessed us with yet another big bull calf: Big Jake. (Hubby's a John Wayne fan.) This guy has the longest legs yet, which have yet to completely unfurl.




Hubby christened Penelope's boisterous new calf Simon, after Simon Peter.





Bubbles' had Little Ikey, who named himself because he so resembles his papa.





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"I think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." ~George Washington Carver

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Walter, Hub, and Daffodil

I'm way behind on calf pictures, so, without further ado:


Wings had Walter...




Cupcake had Hub...




...and Dazzle had Daffodil!




There's more cuteness to come--as soon as certain little fellows stand still long enough to get their picture!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head
And whispered to her neighbor,
"Winter is dead."
              ~A.A. Milne

Monday, March 13, 2017

Jasmine

Daisy Mae's new beauty reminds us of Jasmine, the Arab princess in Secondhand Lions. Daisy Mae has never seen the movie, of course, but she knows that her baby is a princess. So far, Daisy hasn't let Jasmine associate with the other calves, or them with her.





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"Sometimes it's the princess who kills the dragon and saves the prince." ~Samuel E. Lowe




Saturday, March 11, 2017

Little Red

After Panda lost her calf (see The Robbed), Hubby milked Panda in hopes that we'd soon find an orphan calf that needed a mama. Ten days later, Hubby found a sad little Red Angus heifer at the sale barn.  




When they met for the first time, we restrained Panda for the Little Red's safety. Panda is easy-going, but it's not natural for cows to adopt another cow's baby.



It took a while for Little Red to stop looking for her real mama, but Hubby and hunger convinced her to try Panda's milk.




The next day, Panda kept an eye on Little Red but didn't really want her close. Sugar and the dogs, however, adopted Little Red right away. (They check on her almost as often as we do.)




We must have let Little Red drink too much of the new milk because Little Red got scours. Electrolytes, probiotics, and prayers worked wonders, though. Her digestive system functioned perfectly today.




After breakfast and playtime, Little Red found a cozy spot to nap.




I was amazed when Panda went over to Little Red and licked her--something that mama cows do to show affection and spiffy up their calves. Panda soon walked away, but it was a start!




Another breakthrough this evening: Panda, albeit reluctantly, allowed Little Red to nurse out in the corral. 




I'll keep you posted on the bonding process!


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"Grace is always a surprise. You think it's not going to happen, and it does." ~Stormie Omartian

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Tex

Sparkle's calf won the door prize! Our first 2017 baby is a sweet, stout, fun-loving little bull named Texas, aka Tex. 








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"The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
The Lord is good to all,
And His tender mercies are over all His works." ~Psalm 145:8

Friday, March 3, 2017

The Robbed

Last weekend, our sweet Panda went into labor weeks before she was due, and the poor little guy died only two or three minutes after birth. Our vet told us that the calf had a congenital heart defect which is always fatal. 

Don't cry, I told myself. Death is a part of life. Everyone who lives on a farm or ranch knows that. It was only a baby cow, after all. Babies all over the world are suffering from war, famine, terror, abuse, trafficking, racism, disease. Their mamas' hearts are breaking every day.

Thank heaven for Kleenex.

Anyway, we're looking for an orphaned calf in need of Panda. While we're waiting, Hubby has been milking her. I'm praying that Panda gets to adopt, but in the meantime, I may try making some butter.






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"The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief." ~William Shakespeare, Othello