Frankly, I'm ashamed of myself. How could I not have address this already? Sure, we've talked about naturally breeding the family cow. But how could I have left so open the topic of bringing a bull to the farm for breeding?
That's a pretty big topic, wouldn't ya say? About a 1200? 1300? pound topic actually.
Hero joined the farm this past weekend. His owners drove him over from their farm, about fifty miles away. I must admit, after our experiences with a Jersey bull last summer I was very skeptical to keep another intact male on the farm of any species. Bringing a bull to the farm for breeding was on my “only try again if you've had too many shots of tequila and want to make bad life decisions” list. And yet when Steve led (yes, on a lead rope!) Hero out of the trailer and into the corral, I immediately felt much better.
Hero didn't chase him up a fence.
Or strike him at the knees with a low blow.
Or trample him to death in an attempt to get at his lady friend, Sally.
Instead, he led like a gentlemen – happily taking alfalfa treats from Steve's hand in the process. Animals, you see, are much like children – they must be bribed for good behavior. Kidding! At least about the animal part. Kidding again. I'd never do such a thing as bribe my children with treats. Ever. Especially these. Just so we're clear.
Anyway.
Hero is a Dexter bull – a wonderful dual purpose small breed. Hence his portly and stout nature. I use to date a guy in college who owned a bull named “Stoutness” – seems pretty fitting for ‘ol Hero as well. He's short and to the point but bulky as I'll get out. His head is roughly the size of a small Volkswagon and the ground shakes and trembles when he walks. Still. He's a pretty sweet guy.
Do I trust him? No.
Do I get in the pen with him? H-e-double-hockey-stick no. (I am six months pregnant, remember?)
Rather, milking (usually a lone event) is now a team effort. Stuart goes into the pen to manipulate Sally from her beau and lead her to the gate, where I stand ready to open and shut it quickly behind her. Hero is always just a few paces behind her and frankly, even shutting the gate freaks me out a bit. Thankfully, he's really been a good bull thus far – he hasn't attempted to kill me, which is always a bonus. And as luck would have it, it's a pretty good thing we're tag-teaming it now because since Hero has been here, Sally's milk production has gone even further up! She's now giving us 2.25 gallons per milking. Her udder is so full when she comes in for milking that it's physically straining to milk for the first few minutes and her milk is already let down and practically leaking out. My hands feel like I'm in some sort of ancient torture devise. I whimper. I cry. I beg Stuart to help me. And thus the dual-milking has been born.
Bulls, Hero included, must be respected. In a big, big way. I cannot stress this point enough. Flight paths are always planned out. Eye contact is always kept. Small, confined spaces are avoided. Heads are never scratched. The bull is never challenged, pressed, or manipulated. For the weeks that he's here, Hero is king and will be treated as such. I, for one, would like to see my 28th birthday next week.
Thankfully, Hero will have had about two weeks to get comfortable with us (ahem, Stuart) as his handlers before Sally comes into heat again. That's when the real trauma, I mean show, will begin. A cow in heat is enough to drive a hand milker crazy… but a cow in heat with a bull by her side? Fuh-get-about-it.
Thus far, besides the occasionally licking and spooning, Hero and Sal haven't been too “affectionate” if you get my drift. It's pretty amazing actually – they don't breed just for fun. Unless the cow is in heat (for that short 1-2 day window) there ain't no funky in funky town if you get my drift. No skirts flying. No bow-chicka-bow-bow.
Not until it's business time.
This is the first time that Sally will have been bred naturally. She's only know a straw in her day and I'm hoping that she'll take to the process naturally. Cows are laaaarge animals and frankly, it can get a bit awkward. And it's not that I WANT to watch them during that period… but it's pretty much a requirement to make sure the deed is getting done as need be.
I think I'll video tape it.
Stuart doesn't think I should.
In the name of homesteading and science, I think it makes total sense.
This is, after all, for information purposes.
Regardless of whether I post their romp on my YouTube channel, I hope you'll stick around to hear the update. Breeding should be late next week which means that we'll have another four weeks before we know if she's come into heat again and in need of another breeding cycle.
Never in my life did I think I would make my living blabbering about cow's business time and breeding cycles. Just for the record. And yet here we are.
Hero is the best thing we could have hoped for in breeding our lady. I'm thankful for the provision and for his… manhood. And am praying it works!
And Amen.
I’m still to scared of Claire to even contemplate bringing over a boyfriend for her! I’m thinking straw service all the way! Ya know, kinda like a drive-thru, pull up-insert straw-pay for service-buh-bye-and no doggie bag, but hopefully a bun in the oven! 😉
Putting in my vote for the video, LOL! They sure are a cute couple!!
bow-chicka-bow-bow…Spit coke out my nose
Shaye – if your cow is still giving milk, why does she need to be bred again? Will her milk eventually dry up even if she is being milked regularly? I just assumed that as a mammal, her milk production would mimic a human’s. Since a human mom can nurse for years without having to get pregnant again, how is a cow different? Just curious!
Yep, her production will slow and she’ll dry up eventually. Plus, breeding every year gives their body a three month break from milking which is good for them and allows them to replenish themselves a bit before starting again. And it also gives us a calf each year which we can use for meat or a future milker!
Hi Shaye, love your site and yourbeautiful pictures. I have a question for you, do you feed your cow grain when milking and if so what kind of grain do you feed? We are getting a milk cow this week and i’m getting everything ready for her. So excited we have been wanting one for years!
We do feed her grain. She was trained that way and refuses to go without it now that we have her. She gets straight rolled oats.
Hi Shaye – noticed you were posting about keeping milk in moonshine jugs. We keep ours in these:
http://hambydairysupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=2288&cat=218&page=1
http://hambydairysupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=2348&cat=218&page=1
for making cheese, and these in half gallons for fresh drinking, fridge-sized kid-friendly pouring, and easy washing:
http://www.stanpacusa.com/product/combo-pack/
http://www.stanpacusa.com/product/stans-starter-pack/
and these wire carriers for carrying full bottles from the milk room:
http://www.localamishfarms.com/glass_milk_bottles_for_sale.htm
They are going to have the cutest calf. 🙂
I think so too 😉
I don’t know if this would make you feel any better, but I have grown up breeding and raising beef cattle. I have had experience with a pretty large selection of breeds, etc. I even showed them for years! And there are many things that I know and one of them is YOU DO NOT PUT ANY PART OF YOUR BODY WITHIN A HALF MILE OF A DAIRY BULL. THOSE THINGS BE BLOOD POSSESSED MY SATAN’S MINIONS.
Beef bulls on the other hand, while they can occasionally be jerks, are rarely possessed by satan’s minions. Dairy breeds have the extremes, the sweet cows and touchable calves, where beef has the wary and snotty cows and the watchful bulls. You rarely get the extreme extremes with beef. Just learn to pay attention to his body language! Beef bulls will warn you, they aren’t like dogs where we teach them not to warn. The will huff, whip their tail, snort, stare at you intently with their head high in the air [can mean aggression or curiosity, depends on the rest of the body.], stamp their feet, etc.
Bulls love their necks scratched. With any prey-type animal its best to approach them from the side, as they have “two brains”… “one for each eye”. It’s technically one brain, but not connected in the center like a human brain. So if you approach from the front? Lots of stimulation for the simple minded guy. Approach from the side? Much less intimidating.
I don’t know if this helps any, but have fun with this adventure! We have had the gamut of bulls. From a 2000+ pound guy who pouted if we didn’t let kids slide off his belly, to ones that tried to break out all the time [those quickly got renamed to “hamburger”], to those who would let you clip them while they were lying down, to those who wanted there to be a good distance between you two.
The bull has been so sweet, I wish we could keep him. He’s fantastic. Docile, friendly, minds his manners. I still don’t go in there with him, but we have to get Sally out twice a day and that’s been a good experience. If I get a bull, I’ll probably start with a Dexter bull – preferably one of Hiro’s. He’s fantastic.
Did they do their deed?
Sure did! And no signs of heat again thus far. She should have gone in two days ago and is usually very consistent (3 weeks to the day). We’ll test her in a few more weeks!
Well? Is she settled?
NOOOO!!!! 🙁 He’s coming back in a few weeks to readdress the matter. We learned two things since this: 1) She needs to be on free choice minerals to make sure she’s got what she needs to be bred back and 2) She needs to be tied up when she’s in heat because he’s short and she’s never stood for a natural breeding – it’s better and safer for everyone this way.
Hi Shaye,
I just discovered you on YouTube. Where have I been? Lol
Not sure how old this post is, but I loved it.
Your story of natural breeding reminds me of hearing a story of my grandparents in S. UT about 90 years ago. In their small town of St. George, there was a man who had a bull, who trundled him around town to visit neighboring cows. He was led on a rope attached to a ring in his nose. The bull’s visit to whomever’s cow would be called “freshening up”. The owner of the bull happened to have a large family, 12 kids. One day the guy was passing by with his bull, within view of my grandmother sitting on her porch, who remarked “There go 2 souls who have but one purpose.” 😉