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maryjane
7072 Posts
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 Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 08:40:30 AM
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| You meant to say 60s, right? Janet and me? |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 08:55:02 AM
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it stands to reason that 60s are BETTER than 50s ;> i was just giving 50s as a starting point, of course !
he he he. |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 10:03:03 AM
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Thanks for the video, Cindy. Your cows are really truly beautiful. Elsa still has some of the calf excitement while almost being as big as Sally!
Yes, genetics are a strange and wonderful thing. I can't tell you how many times, my hubby and I look at our kiddos and are amazed at how different they are! Just when I figured out a parenting style for one, I got the opportunity to figure out a new one as the next child responded so differently!
And, good to know I've got my best and most beautiful years ahead of me!! Nearing the 50 mark ... |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 10:15:31 AM
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| thanks charlene! elsa was trying to sneak in on a teat again, separated for nine weeks and she still makes a sneak attack once in awhile. but sally has none of it now, just moves a bit. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 10:18:03 AM
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| I saw that and was happy to see Sally reminding Elsa that it wasn't allowed any more! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 12:45:01 PM
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| I love the video! Such beautiful girls. |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 6:21:08 PM
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| Yes, a motion photo is worth 10 thousand words. Loved it, Cindy! Thank you. Thank you. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 6:40:30 PM
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| thanks mary jane. i speak to the girls about you every day and how proud of them you would be, and always think to myself "I need to update mary jane" with a photo or video ;> |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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Andrea0509
155 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 7:29:10 PM
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| Cindy I loved the video, they are simply beautiful! |
Hobby farming with my husband & two kids in beautiful Michigan ~ 1 Jersey; Miss Persimmon, 2 Olde English Southdown ewes; Lula & Clementine, and chickens to come Spring 2016. Loving the adventure! |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Feb 12 2016 : 8:33:04 PM
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| Elsa and Sally are so beautiful, Cindy. Your farm is also very gorgeous, great opportunity for photos! |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 13 2016 : 7:23:41 PM
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| the silliest thing mary jane is to see elsa sniffing the pugs butt, and the pugs sniffing the cats butt. when they all follow me into the pasture it can be hilarious. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Feb 13 2016 : 7:51:54 PM
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| Truly our animals entertain. Hubby has a field day with the butt sniffing, I mean, my animals, laughing at them, sniffing. We were sipping our coffee the other morning when Jasper jumped into my lap, laid his head on my chest, curled his two front paws in, then looked up at me with those gorgeous eyes of his. It pulled my baby talk cord. To which hubby said in his best Jasper/Tarzan voice, "My God, the baby talk, enough, I AM PUMA! |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 13 2016 : 8:26:28 PM
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he he he. its either the animals or the man in our life, both are so entertaining.
i really should be in bed, but it was a heck of a week and i am enjoying being out late ! |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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Shaina
32 Posts
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Posted - Feb 21 2016 : 11:42:08 AM
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| My goodness Cindy! I absolutely love Elsa's color and markings!! What a Beauty!!!! |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 21 2016 : 1:33:20 PM
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| thanks shaina, much appreciated! its really like admiring each other's baby photos, isn't it?! ;> |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Feb 21 2016 : 5:18:05 PM
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| And, where else can we flip out ALL of our cow and animal photos and have people oooh and ahhh over them? Love it. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
Edited by - CloversMum on Feb 21 2016 5:18:59 PM |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 6:04:41 PM
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here's a new one for me. i took elsa and sally to pasture today as normal, they both have their own pasture - not just separated into two paddocks. elsa's pasture is the original pasture, completely surrounded by backbone fence on all four sides. when lover boy and i went to fetch the girls this evening, as we turned the corner from the barn to the lane that runs down to the pasture... elsa was in sally's pasture. nursing. then trying to mount sally. then trying to nurse again.
yes, elsa is in heat. we knew that. but we take her and sally down to pasture at the same time, then they can see and hear each other all day and even touch noses through the fence if they want. we last saw them at 2pm today doing just that, saying hi and then turning around and both grazing on their own side of the fence.
we walked the fence of elsa's pasture. solid. seven-wire barbed wire fence still completely in place. but elsa obviously jumped it as her back two ankles had some scratches. not bad, but there was some blood.
i am not even going to dwell on the sally nursing, her four quarters are all plump again. the back two look full. how can that be in just one afternoon? but nature can take care of it as i am not going to worry, i got her this far and unless something seems totally bad i am just leaving that issue alone.
but now my biggest concern is with elsa. not that she might jump back in with sally, i could replace that fence line with field fence and at least have her encounter less barbed wire... but elsa's pasture has one border along a country road. with a whole herd of cattle on the other side of that country road. so she could have as easily jumped that fence to be with them and gotten into the road and been killed or hurt.
we have her in that pasture as she eats a lot less, and it was sally's old pasture so she has enjoyed taking it over. sally being full size and pregnant gets the new pasture full of fresh spring uneaten grass, but we can't put elsa in that yet as one leg of the fence is electric with NO backbone fencing around at all... if sally happened to get out she would just ramble around and make her way to the barn or the milking parlor... but if elsa got out she would run around like a careless teenager and might wind up in the thousand acre pine forest behind us.
my current thought is to maybe run a full electric fence line along the roadside fence, about three feet in. and perhaps along the side with sally as well. then maybe she'll respect that and not jump. she is familiar with electric fence as that is what we use to separate pastures into paddocks, so she spent months with it and never went through or over it - she keeps a healthy distance.
or i could just let them be together in the same pasture.
and from what i can read online, once a jumper always a jumper....
any experience, advice, thoughts? i am going down to the barn in an hour or two to wipe and spray the minor cuts on elsa. she was too jumpy when back to the barn, and being in heat i am not going to chance anything.
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Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
Edited by - txbikergirl on Mar 25 2016 6:16:00 PM |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 6:40:27 PM
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| Oh Cindy, I'm so sorry to hear of the glitch. If only things would go like we want them to. I have the two steer calves, Leo and Tuck separated from Nellie and Sienna by electric and barbless wire fencing. They have never gotten in with the cows or visa-versa. If you put them in the same pasture together won't you have problems drying up Sally again, and weaning Elsa? I'm sure you will work something out. MaryJane may have some ideas that will help you out. Take care Cindy. No two days are the same it seems. Keeps it interesting. ;) |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 6:49:35 PM
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| I only have two seconds but the easiest thing would be to plan for her heats and lock her up tight every time without fail. That's what I'm having to do here. Sometimes I get them locked up a day or two early but better safe than sorry. I have lots of fence jumping stories. Barb wire isn't recommended for that very reason unless you can use it only when cows are pregnant or not in heat. The hormone thing is intense. My cow Maizy literally climbed a wire fence. Sally might too once she starts coming into heat again. Think chastity-belt fencing when in heat. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 25 2016 : 7:05:39 PM
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ok ladies, thanks. glad to know it isn't unusal, the newbie human still has a thing or two to learn, imagine that ;>
i am going to build a corral panel fence in the pasture, have a permanent lock up ready to go 24/7 for these ladies. that will give them more room and some fresh pasture each time, but without the barbed wire danger. if they can get out of there then i'll move on to plan b... not sure what that is yet.
and elsa's heats are at exactly 19 days apart - every month but one. so i can totally plan ahead. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 11:32:31 AM
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| Sure hope things go more smoothly today Cindy with Miss Sally and Elsa. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 12:13:40 PM
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If you have rigid wire panel fencing (not the more flexible hog wire) and then a strand of elec. along the top of the posts, that seems to hold a cow in heat. Or a bull. Also, my five-strand elec. fence for my bulls has held them. And corral panels hold them.
But hog wire fencing with a wire along the top doesn't. Just last week, I put Finnegan alone in a new place and after two days he jumped? climbed? up and over the hog wire (bending it halfway down with him while popping staples), while flinging himself in between the top of it (now three feet off the ground and bent) and the strand of electric wire running along the top of the posts. I'm sure he took a shock plus he had a cut on his nose.
When Miss Daisy is in heat, she paws the dirt, routinely tips her feed and water buckets upside down, and lays in wait for me to wander in, forgetting she's in there because she's in heat and then I conveniently bend over to fix the water bucket with my back to her. "Here, hold my beer, I have an idear." |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 3:46:15 PM
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love the humorous reference to the unhumorous mating session with daisy last week maryjane ;>
well, lover boy is putting in 5' field fence as fast as his little legs and wallet will take him. its not the hog wire, its the cattle fence, and by that they must mean cattle climbing able ;>
i'll get my corral panel corral together as fast as possible in order to combat the heat beasties. we left elsa in her barn corral all day today and she's been carrying on like we have thumbscrews in her. both the heat and the melodrama of the calf... sally's happy as a little clam in her pasture so all is good in my opinion. i don't mind hearing a mooing calf all day, it is a sign i am achieving a dream! |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Mar 26 2016 : 9:25:57 PM
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| Always something is changing or going on ... and it keeps us on our toes for sure! So thankful for MaryJane's vast experience and wise & humorous words! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Apr 09 2016 : 8:27:40 PM
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here's a photo to show relative size of elsa to sally as of today. our little girl is growing up!
elsa is a bit more forward so looks a little smaller than she is when side by side sally, but it gives you an idea. you can see where they both stand compared to the cattle panels, and elsa's back ridge really isn't that far off from sally's.
this is her last july when i visited maryjane for all things milkmaid and cow. note the elegant leg stretched out front. duchess in training.
there really is that much difference in her coloring, although just in the past three months she has transitioned from mostly ebony to much mahogany. |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
Edited by - txbikergirl on Apr 09 2016 8:30:52 PM |
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Elsa O'Mally Butters - in Texas!
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