It's That Time of Year Again...

Summer and show season that is. I'm both excited and dreading it this year. I'm not taking many to Fonda. Three at most. And yes family I am sticking with that number!

So far there is the oldest of my Jersey calves from this year, Snickers. She's growthy and sweet, but my cows growthy is other farms puny so who knows? I like her though, she is really correct.

Snickers at a couple days old

Then there is Mandolin Rain. Who will show as a dry cow this year as we had some difficulties getting her settled last summer, she went cystic darned cow. But it allowed me to get her bred to Roylane Jordan, unfortunately for a late October calf but ah well.

Mandy (photo by Mom many moons ago at Altamont)

Finally there is Mandy's Blitz daughter. Blitz still has to come through calving. She is due, also to Roy, the week the family is at camp. Yikes. I am on my own. Whimper. Help! Hopefully her calf will be easy for her to birth. However, at the moment, the baby is seeming to be quite large. Could just be that it is my backside that is getting bumped through Mommy's tummy as I milk both her and her mother. I have to dry Blitz off in a week and I am not sure HOW I am going to be successful. She's still making over 40 lbs. With barely more than a handful of grain. She is getting less than my other dry cows. Which really scares me!

Blitz as a Junior calf at Altamont (again by Mom) Blitz just turned three so that tells you how old this pic is!

Time Marches On

From August 2006, to August 2008. Maqua-Kil Blitz Mendocino. Daughter to Frieland Z Mandolin Rain. She is sired by Fustead Emory Blitz, out of an Ocean-View Zenith-TW ET daughter.

Not Much...

To report.

Things here have been totally average. Aside from Dad blowing up the engine on our big tractor, there really hasn't been a whole lot going on. I did go to the college and give my final report on my internship. Got my grade, all that was available was a "S" for satisfactory, or a "U" for unsatisfactory. Suffice to say I got my "S"...and hopefully since I am not a total graduate at some point the darn college will send me my diploma...yeah it took them almost a year last time!

We are starting to get to where we will be having calves coming again. Next animal up is 203, Cider, due the 19th. She's a heifer of dad's. She's bred to Citation R Maple. We have a couple bred to him, a couple to Straight-Pine Elevation Pete, and a few others bred to the shorthorn we sold back in January, Promise.

The next heifers after her are Hollywood Kiss (one of my girls) and Bonneville (Alans). They're also due to R Maple. Both on the 22nd of December. I'm really hoping Hollywood has a girl. She is one of the sweetest critters in the batch right now. I doubt she will be a quiet milker though. Her mother is always crazy. And her aunt is just plain NUTS! She jumped all over Alan last night, and that is just the latest of her human punching bag incidences.

There are a few cows thrown into the mix, such as my semi-retired show cow Spruce. She is bred to a red Holstein bull named Kingdom. I'm hoping for a heifer, red or not doesn't matter so much as I don't think there is any red in Spruce. She is due on Christmas so I am hoping for a healthy bouncy present.

After her is my 3 year old Jersey Hooter. She is bred to a Jersey bull named Duce. I know nothing about him. I just know that she had been EEDing on my every time I bred her to CGar. And since he was rather costly, and I was sick of her dumping the calf, we bred her to Duce which we had in the tank for the real small Holsteins that we weren't running with Promise.

And then there is Salt Lake...She is bred to just bred to O-C-E-C Lindy Fred...She was very nearly sold because she kept attacking me...Instead we just dried her off a little early. I have to admit I am kind of glad we kept her, because we are going to REALLY need the milk.

There are a couple of other heifers due next month. Dixie, my very best show cow, has a grand daughter Dixon, a red carrier, due on the fourth to Pete. I should have bred her to R Maple. Then I would have had a chance for a red calf. Oh well. If she comes through well and there are no problems there is next year.

That is all for now. I am going to take my camera to the barn tonight if I can remember it. And snap some Come Monday and Trent pictures. Those babies are so darned cute! And growing pretty well I think.

Til Then...


Happy Holidays!

Fair Scenes

Alan and Frieland Kingdom Asaki-Red

Me and Asaki Intermediate Heifer Calf, Holstein

Me and Maqua-Kil Blitz Neon Moon Summer Yearling, Holstein

Class Discussion between family

Me and Maqua-Kil Blitz Mendocino Junior Two Year Old Holstein

More Fair Scenes

Me and Becky's Senior Three Year Old, Holstein, Frieland Ex Spec Lemonade

All three above photos, me with Frieland Z Mandolin Rain, Five Year Old Holstein

Me and Maqua-Kil Mecca Hazel, Junior Two Year Old, Jersey, 1st Place and Best Udder for class this photo from the Senior Champion line up

Still More Pictures

Me and Hazel

One of my favorite people's niece on my graduation calf Frieland E November. Intermediate calf Holstein

Me and Moon

Update on Neon Moon

Some days I am in the mood to fool with the calves in the winter. They are few and far between. It is cold gray and dull most days, making me just want to curl up and nap. Today however it is bright and sunny, fairly warm given that it is February, and I had the urge.

So I went out and fed corn meal and soy to the top producers that get it top dressed on their feeds. And haltered ole Neon Moon. Who is actually going to be 8 months old the first. Whoo hoo for her.

I led her a couple weeks ago, but dang it she is getting big! And by big I mean her head is already above my shoulder when I get her walking! Fortunately, except for today (she is in heat and wanting a boyfriend) she is a gentle giant. She loves to go out and walk around the barn. Granted there are times when she would obviously rather go at a dead run. It was a bit interesting leading her today I have to admit. Though after a few minutes she settled down and walked nice and slow and easy. Thank God for quiet cows.

I am debating going back out after a fresh cup of coffee and a piece of my Momma's apple crisp to lead Asaki and November for a while. They are both little babies and shouldn't give me too much trouble (yeah right their cows).

A new One

We have another new one. Old 116 dropped a mammoth bull calf this morning. They both seem to be doing okay though it took her quite a while to have him. She was low on calcium, and he was a bit twisted. His one leg was pulled further back than it should have been and his head was twisted. Dad gave her a bottle of cal-nate and I turned the baby so he was straight. Then she had him no problem. Granted she dropped him standing up so I had to catch him while Dad held him to the side slightly so he wouldn't hit his head on anything. Ahh and now the craziness of calving starts. Fun fun fun.

A New Name

First off a big thank you to everyone who put in names for the "Name the Calf" contest. I cannot express how much I appreciate them all. And they are great names. Believe me we are keeping a running list here of all the names that don't come out of the hat for future use.

Secondly, we picked a name from the hat this morning. And a big congrats to Andy Drish on his suggestion of "Sage" which was the first drawn. Now Andy can officially say he has named a calf...but I'm not sure how many people actually want to be able to do that. We're gonna be getting both of the calves registered soon, and I am looking forward to hopefully be able to show at least one of them next summer.

Crazy Couple of Days: And a "Name That Darn Calf"

It's been a crazy week here. Becky and I had Monday and Tuesday off extra from school for fall break. Alan got last Friday and this Monday off. Loads of work was done by all. And Wednesday afternoon, my crazy, mean, snake of a cow Soir dropped her calf...in the very bottom of the ravine in the cow pasture. No one could get her or the calf out. She started attacking the banks the second Dad started down (which his going down was a bad plan anyways what with his broken shoulder and all). So we left her and baby out there figuring she is a smart enough cow, she'd get the two of them up and out. Which she did.

However, that didn't mean the two of them got into the barn. She wouldn't come down, and Dad couldn't get her Thursday morning, what with it is blacker than black out when we start up. And Thursday night was the Montgomery County Farm Bureau Annual Meeting. I was taking Brandon to that with us so I had to go back to school during milking to get him, so I didn't go out at all. Total side note, but I was elected to the board of directors for our county. I am so excited.

But anyhow. This morning she didn't come down either. And as Brandon spent the night, I had to get him back over to school. So I left her on pasture. Then tonight who should walk into the barn but good ole Soir (I'm being sarcastic about the 'good')...yet no baby. So as Becky Dad and I were the only ones in the barn, Beck and I headed up to see if we could find it. After about 20 minutes with no luck, we went back down cause we did have to milk. Only to discover that Soir baby cousin and my darling two year old show heifer, Spruce, was also missing. Spruce was due the 20th of this month. Panic mode time, as neither of us had seen her up there and she was WAY ready to calve. So Becky and Alan went back up to find both the cow, her possible calf, and hopefully Soir's little bipper.

Which they did. Both calves are girls. I am so thrilled. Counting the calf I bought this spring that makes six heifers for me in over a year. The one calf (Spruce's) is by a calving ease sire, as with first timers it is best to err on the side of caution. I'm gonna call her 'Syracuse'. We love their basket ball team, and I think it really fits her.

The other one I haven't decided on a name. Which is were all you come in. Anyone who wants to put a "S" name in for consideration can do so. If she's dried up enough in the morning I'll snag some pictures of both of them. That way everybody can see what they look like and pick from there. So put in the names. I need the help. I've got three different 'S' families, and they are all real prolific breeders, so there are a WHOLE LOT of them!!

She's Driving Me Crazy...

My big black cow Soir Noir that is. She was due the fourth. So far she hasn't bagged up at all, and is showing no signs of wanting to have her calf. She's also totally insane, has been since she was a calf herself. So, as I haven't got a death wish, I am somewhat hesitant to force her into the barn and try and do an exam on her. On top of that, with Dad hurt and out of commision for a while, I don't think it would be such a plan to get myself mangled and banged up too. (Plus I am going out with the family, and Brandon, for dinner Thursday, I'd rather not be in traction). I figure she's a big old girl. She'll calve when she calves, probably with a monster bull, and knowing her she'll be fine.

Her baby cousin Spruce on the other hand is being a sweet girl. She's due the 19th and is all bagged up and looking great. Unlike Soir, she is a darling. All I have to do to check on her is walk out into the barnyard while they heifers are down while we milk morning and night. She comes right up looking for pets, hugs and ear scratches. The biggest problem is getting her to NOT follow me into the barn, as we don't yet have a stall completely ready for her (gotta get on that quick). I gotta say I am looking forward to her baby. She is bred to Ocean-View Marsh Swain. He's a young sire we have quite a few calves out of already. They aren't show stock, but most of them are good sturdy looking commercial style calves, and we should have some luck getting milkers out of them. Only time will tell.

On another note, with Dad out of the line-up, I've been doing all our AI'ing on the cows. What a joy that has been. The day before he got hurt, I started an Ov-Sync protocol on my two Zenith daughters, Mandy and Chicago. Thankfully Chic is nice and small. Mandy on the other hand is my monster, as my sister says "freak", cow. That one that is as tall as me that I show every year. I was darned if I was going to stop the regimine. So I bred them myself. Oh the fun that was. But they are both on service now. Mandy to Cousteau, and Chic to Kenyon. Will be interesting to see if the animals I am breeding are settling at all.

Oh, and anybody up for a pig roast? Cause I may kill Daddy dearests pigs, as they are driving me to drink, and I don't drink...

Mandy is ALWAYS looking for more to eat

Less Than a Month to Go

There is very little real time left until it is truck in day for the Altamont fair, August 13th to be exact. As of today I will be washing, clipping, leading, and pampering all my, as my family calls them, show brats. Even though I am only taking four, I have a few others to get ready, as it is always a good plan to have one or two more available in case of emergency. So I will also prep up Foolish and Junie at the least. Today Mandy and Lemonade, my two milkers for this years fair, are getting their baths and first body clips if time and weather allow (we are supposed to get really stormed on later, and I don't know about you, but I don't like washing cows in lightning storms). Mandy, Lemonade, and Blitz are also all getting stuffed with beet pulp and all the hay they can eat when they are in the barn (I need to pull Blink, the baby of this years string, out of the pen so she can be too). The feed should act to drop their bellies, called "bellying down", so they show a good deep springy rib.

Mandy at the 2006 show.

I am most looking forward to seeing what Blink looks like without the hair. Being a September heifer she is carrying a lot of her baby fuzz still. It will be interesting to see how much different a clip job makes her look. With Foolish and Junie I don't have too much to do, being as they are a Jr. 2 yr old and a 3 yr old dry cow respectively. I really don't want to take Junie, as she is due the 9th of September, which is just a bit too close to the show for my comfort, though I did take her last year.

Lemmie this spring.

For the most part it is just busy work with the majority of the animals. Blink is the only one to really need a lot of work, but it is nothing too bad, as she is a sweet heart. I also have to finish doing up the registration papers for all the calves from this year. I have a lot of the applications filled out, I just have to draw all the Holsteins. Jerseys are just so much easier, as all you have to do is tattoo them and fill in an on line form. If only all of life could be so simple. Then again, we'd all probably get really really bored.

Lemmie at the 2006 show.

I am also debating taking Blitz and Blink to Fonda for that show. But school starts the 27th of August. And truck in for the show is, you guessed it, the 27th, with the fair running to the following Monday. I have 21 credit hours worth of classes. I don't know if I can handle a week away to show a pair of heifers. And I am not sure the stress is really worth it this year, as I will be completely done with school in May (for which I am just so glad, I am totally sick of school, have been since I started in fall of 2004), which will mean that next fall I won't have classes and exams and grade point averages to worry over. Ah well, I'll let you know what I decide.

Blitz last summer.

On a side note, everybody should take a look at the calender of events for Altamont. It is totally pathetic what they are bringing in. You would think someday they would listen to us and bring the truck pull and rodeo, both of which packed the grounds, back to the fair as entertainment. But no, instead they bring in more music, and demo derbies, Yee haw, at least the derbies are really fun.

Update On Mandy and Her Baby

I just realized that I never put on this blog that Mandy had indeed calved. About two am on July first actually. She dropped a big beautiful heifer calf whom I named Neon Moon. Head over to Buckin Junction because I did put some pictures of her up over there. Mandy and Moon are both doing well, with Mandy making loads of milk, and Moon growing bigger every day...which somewhat concerns me, Moon's growing that is. I don't want her growing so fast she hurts herself.

Show Time

With summer time truly here, it is time to start getting the show string ready for Altamont. The entry book is already available, but I am waiting to do mine until I know how Mandy will fare calving. She still hasn't dropped her baby, and is now overdue. Other than that Lemonade is looking pretty great, Blitz is growing nicely, and Blink, my senior heifer, is stretching up and out. With only four or five going, my summer is going to be pretty relaxing. I'll see about getting some up to date photos of the girls. It looks like this year we are only going to be taking Holsteins, as the Jersey calves are both too young, and the three cows aren't worth the entries this year.

And So It Begins...

...The terrifying waiting game until Mandy calves that is. She is due the 29th, and as one of my old teacher's from my middle school career would say, I'm as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. This is, after all, my darling, much beloved cow. And she is out in the milking herd, with a cow that is a calf stealer, and would love the opportunity to kill anything that goes near a baby...which would include me if I had to take care of the new mom and baby.

So I have been trying to figure out a way to deal with this little issue that won't involve keeping my poor, mammoth, too big for her stall cow in the barn locked up. At this point it is looking like we will run Sequioa (who if I haven't mentioned before is being held at the moment on a bedded pack type of pen as a result of her injuring her leg, and us being unable to heal her up), up into the old pasture with another old cow who busted her ankle a while back, and clean the pen out, and stick Mandy in there when she starts getting real close. Alan has even agreed to clean out the pen with the skid steer, put down a nice big layer of sand, and then I'll cover it with sawdust and some of the straw we have left over from this winter.

At present it seems like a plan to the majority of the family. Becky is in the, 'so long as she has another speckly heifer' catagory, Dad and Mom say 'whatever', Alan thinks i am over reacting, as she is a big cow, and I am in the stressed out, don't care what the calf is so long as the cow comes through okay group. Rationally I know she should be okay, but she had trouble last year and the year before. First calving was a monster bull calf who came breach, and then last year Blitzie was stuck and both momma and baby got real stressed out. I think I have the right to worry. I'll let everyone know how everything goes, and whether or not I have a nervous breakdown before she actually has the calf.

Frieland Zander Foolish

Hmmm. Should I be concerned that you are watching me?

Nahh. Guess I'll go back to eating.

Frieland Z Mandolin Rain

Anyone who has known me for a while, knows that I am cow breeding crazy. I get extremely excited every time a new stud proof or AI stud book comes out. Quite a few years back, a bull named Regancrest Elton Durham came out. An Emprise Bell Elton son, out of Snow N Denises Dellia, he made long lean ink black dairy heifers, with mile long legs. I wanted to use him...very very badly. However, he only had a milk proof of about 200 lbs at his best. He was strictly a type bull. And Dad said 'no'. I begged. I pleaded. "Just one cow. Please. I really want to breed him to Dixie and put some leg under the calf." Finally Dad relented. Then, about two weeks after that, geneticists discovered or proved, which ever you want to consider it, Complex Vertebral Malfomation (CVM) in the Holstein breed. And naturally, Durham was a positive carrier. Which was not a good thing. Put him in the one strike to many catagory. And so I was no longer going to be able to use him. I was not pleased. Then Mom pointed out that at SOME point a CVM negative Durham son had to be proved out.

So I put Ivor, our semen rep at the time, on the look out. I wanted a really well bred bull, out of a cow family with some milk, and a bunch of type. He came back a while later with a bull he thought was gonna be just what I was looking for. His name, Ocean-View Zenith. Obviously a Durham son, and out of the Excellent scored Ocean-View Mandel Zandra, with the next dam back an Ocean-View Sexation daughter, that the Nunes family had bought. I liked him. Pedigree was outstanding, his dam was simply gorgeous, and I am a HUGE fan of both Mandel and Sexation. So, as I was only about 15 at the time, Dad bought me the whole rack of semen on him that Ivor had.

As luck would have it, Bingo, one of my mediocre cows came into heat the next day. Being me, I had Dad put a unit of the Zenith semen right into her. Lucky for me, she settled right down, and carried the calf. Nine months later on November 2 of 2002, while Bingo was out on the hill with the other dry cows and a couple of heifers and a big steer, Mom noticed a mammoth black thing running along with them. For a few minutes she was tricked into thinking it was one of the steers...until she noticed it was a new born calf. Just based on size we figured it was probably a bull. We brought Momma and baby down, and checked to see if it really was a male...Surprise of surprises it was a heifer.

Since she was bit muddy we moved her into the barn, and as she was MY baby, I cleaned her up, bedded her down in a huge pile of straw, and fed her.

Then came the hard part.

Picking a name.

I felt this was obviously going to be an amazing animal. Call it gut instinct or whatever you like. She just looked, at at most a day old, like a winner. And none of us could come up with a good enough name.

Then, about a week later, after much debate, Mom and I happened to be in Price Chopper getting groceries, when over the speakers came the old Bruce Hornsby song, Mandolin Rain. Mom jumped and said that's it, Mandolin Rain, name her Mandolin Rain. I loved it. Frieland Z Mandolin Rain. Mandy for short. It was so catchy, and would definitely be unique.


And so Mandolin Rain she became. And just like Durham's own daughters, she grew like an absolute weed. There was not enough food in the world to fill that heifer (there still is not enough food to fill the cow for that matter). Granted Mom didn't really think she was that big. But when a November calf is bigger than a March yearling...well...its hard to call that animal 'small'.

As a result, I worked my butt of getting her ready for the show. She was going. She was led, brushed, clipped, and just basically pampered as if she were a fancy French Poodle.

Finally August rolled around. And to the Altamont Fair we went. With the smallest show string I have taken since I started showing at 6. But Mandy was there. The judge absolutely loved her. He thought she was a September calf. When I corrected him his jaw about hit the ground. Though she was the only heifer in her class, and she won, I would have been happy with that. I had a friend of mine take her back in for Junior Champion, as two of my other heifers had to go back as well, and one was in heat and being a total idiot. The judge lined us all up and went down through slapping rumps to signal which ones he wanted pulled back out...and my own jaw almost hit the ground when he moved Mandy out...And I proceeded to nearly fall on my head when he pulled her out again as one of his top two... Then when he named her Junior Champion I was shocked beyond belief.

She went back the next year as well. And was easily the biggest heifer at the show under two. Again another judge thought she was a September born heifer. And again was shocked to learn she was two months younger. He asked me if I had any intention of taking her out to state, and was a bit disappointed to learn that after that show she was done until the next August. I wasn't quite as surprised that year when she was named Junior Champ again, as the judge had given a pretty good indication with his body language that he planned to put her there.

Unfortunately she has not shown nearly as well as a mature cow. She's got way too much leg for her body, and while her udder is decent, it's not spectacular. Provided I can get her through calving safely next month, she should show as a Four Year Old this year. As of right now she has had two calves. The first one a cross bred bull. And the second my lovely Blitzie, who will also be going to the fair this summer if all goes according to plan.

Look for Mandy and the rest of the 'Show Girls' at the Altamont, and possibly the Fonda Fairs!

Frieland Z Mandolin Rain- Picture

Mandy at this past summer's fair.

Frieland Z Chicago

Aren't I just so precious? If you just come a little closer I would be happy to let you rub my ears and throat, while I lick your jeans.