Emmy (Emerald) had her first calf!

And it's a heifer (a girl).  I decided to name her Topaz.  All my female cattle are named after precious gems.  She was born the morning of June 13th.  Here are some pictures.

In the last picture, Topaz's grandma, Ruby, was helping to lick her off.  Ruby seemed to think the calf was hers and tried to get it to nurse on her!  I had to intervene and keep Ruby away from the new pair until the calf got some colostrum.

Emmy and Topaz are doing very well so far.  Emmy is giving almost 4 gallons of milk every day, which is really great for a Jersey x Angus.  Ruby is also giving just over 4 gallons a day right now, so I am swimming in milk right now, with about 8 gallons every day!

Today I made mozzarella, ricotta, and butter.  Tomorrow I will probably make two cheeses and either some ice cream or more butter, or both.  I have to keep up on all this milk or else my fridge might explode.

I have plenty of milk to sell right now, that's for sure!

Getting Ruby Bred and Settled

Sunday, May 11th marked another heat cycle for my cow, Ruby.  I noticed she was in heat and called my AI tech.  He came over in the evening and bred my cow for me.  I sure hope she settles this time.  If she doesn't, I may have to find a bull and see if we can get her settled that way.  I think the other times I had her bred too late in her cycle, even though I was reassured by my AI tech that it wasn't too late.  This time around, I noticed early enough in the day that I was able to get the AI tech to come in the evening.  Previous cycles, I haven't been sure until afternoon, and then my AI tech would come the next day to breed.  It was too late, I think. 

If she conceives this time around, her due date would be February 21, 2015, and we would likely dry her off around Thanksgiving.  It would be a bit early, but I would like to have some time off milking two cows, if possible.  Winter time is the best time to reduce the farm workload.  My cow, Emmy, is due the end of next month, and so I will have two to milk from the time she has her calf until I dry off Ruby.

Milking the cow at Elliott's Emerald Acre

Can we see you milk the cow?

I sometimes get requests from friends and customers who want to come during milking time and watch us milk the cow.  I thought it would be easiest for me to do a video and show how we do it, so here it is.

Winter

I think my pinky fingers almost froze off while I was milking the cow this morning.  That wind just cut right through me while I milked, chilling me to the bone.  I must remember to wear gloves when I am draining the hose because the cold makes my hands ache.  I'm so grateful for thermal underwear and wool socks!  The high today was forecast at 27F.  I got two eggs.  Ruby has been giving just about 3 gallons a day for several weeks now.  I missed her heat cycle once again, so she's still not bred.  <sigh>  At least her daughter, Emerald (Emmy), is assumed to be pregnant, and is due near the end of June.  I hope Emmy is a good milker, and has a nice beefy calf.

So Many Lovely Walnuts

I love English walnuts, and I'm very blessed to have a walnut tree.  They are coming off the tree by the bucketfuls right now.

Last year we gave away too many walnuts as gifts, and I had to buy walnuts before our tree began dropping them this fall.  So this year, I'm hoarding them.  ;)

Moving Day for Chicks

Well, today was moving day for the 1 month old chicks.  They are fully feathered out, and have been going without their heat lamp for about a week now.  Their dust was becoming unbearable in the little house where we have been keeping them.  So, the kids and I moved the chicks outdoors and set them up under the hay shelter.  We used leaves for their bedding.  I like free stuff, and leaves are free!  We'll turn their heat lamp on the first few nights to help them adjust to the cooler temperatures.

Step one was moving them outside.  Step two is cleaning up the thick layer of dust, dirt, and shavings they created while they were indoors.  The kids helped me with step one, but somehow they disappeared when it was time to do step two.  And then I looked at my watch, and it was time to take the kids to swim team practice.  So step two will happen another day.

California Mastitis Test (CMT) Tutorial Video

This is the most useful CMT tutorial video I have seen on the internet.

Baby Chicks!

Nothing makes me feel quite like baby chicks do.  I just love picking them up from the hatchery or the post office and settling them in.  These have been here nearly a week, and I'm late in putting up a post about them.  I have 36+ chicks.  I lost count because I had so many helpers (my very excited children) when I was taking them out of the box, but I know I ordered 35, plus I got a free rare chick, from Murray McMurray Hatchery.  We don't know what kind of chick the rare one is, so we'll just get to see how it grows.  You can see the oddball in the upper right corner of the picture.  It's the brown one.

Ten of these little ones are Delaware chicks for my mom.  They are yellow with a little bit of black on their heads.  They will grow white feathers with tips of black at maturity.  My mother wanted new chicks, but didn't think she had a place to brood them.  So, I'm brooding hers for her, and she'll take them from me when they are feathered out.  The remaining 25 are White Leghorn chicks, well-known for being the best white egg producing breed available.  They are completely yellow as chicks, and will grow all white feathers at maturity.  I hope to be able to keep up with my customers' demands with younger, more productive chickens.  Right now I joke that I'm running a chicken retirement center!  Time for those old ladies to be sent to the freezer.  Next year I'll get more brown egg layers, and the batch after that, I'll replace my Araucanas (green egg layers).  I like to see a variety of colors in my egg cartons.  It just makes me happy.

This is where your milk comes from

Here she is, Ruby.  My 7 year old jersey cow.  I bought her mom, Fancy, when she was 11 years old and pregnant with Ruby.  Fancy was a good, wonderful cow from a jersey dairy in Emmett Idaho.  This dairy treats all their cows like members of their family.  It's like cow heaven!  Anyway, Fancy was 11 years old and pregnant with Ruby when I bought her.  She calved with no problems on July 27, 2006, and I was delighted to have a new heifer.  Sadly, two years later, Fancy's arthritis was becoming very painful for her, so I put her down.  I salvaged the meat, because I don't believe in being wasteful.  When her abdominal cavity was opened up, all her organs were adhered to the abdominal lining, so she probably didn't have long to live, anyway, and it was good that I was a wise steward.

Anyway, back to Ruby... she's been with me since the day she was born, and has never known any cruelty or harsh treatment.  She's a beautiful cow, content, and calm.  I smooth her path in life, and she gives back so generously, with over 6.5 gallons of milk everyday!  I'm a blessed cow mama!

Why Elliott's Emerald Acre?

Elliott's Emerald Acre is named "Emerald" because my animals eat green pasture, and I name my cattle after precious gems.  "Elliott" is my son who died unexpectedly, from unknown causes, at age 19 months.  I have some really wonderful friends, and they helped me come up with a name for my farm, and even created the label you see above.  It's nice to be able to see his picture, see his name, type his name, and say his name, even though he's not here with me and my husband and children.  We believe we will be with him, in the flesh, in the morning of the first resurrection.