Dexter-ity!

Cows are us. Cows have been our main focus the past few days. In the last installment you learned that we got two Jersey calves. We knew the 3-week-old calf was significantly smaller than the 1-week-old calf, but we chalked that up to genetic variation. It turned out he was not eating well and he was not nearly as frisky as the younger calf. So, we returned him to the farmer, who will surely be able to care for a vulnerable calf better than we novices.

Sara and Cadence talked to the dairy farmer across the road about buying raw milk for the Jersey calf we are keeping, preferring to feed him real milk than powdered calf formula. They worked out an arrangement and walked home lugging the 5-gallon pail.
Our calf definitely appreciated it. Unlike his herdmate, he has a vigorous appetite, chugging a gallon in just a few minutes. So far, Cadence has leaped out of bed by 6 a.m. every day to feed him breakfast.

Last night Debbie and Lawrence of Dream River Farm and their daughter Kate delivered the small Dexter cow we purchased and her calf. We were quite impressed with Lawrence's finesse manuevering the huge horse trailer through our long fenced driveway and deftly turning it around in our farmyard.

The Dexters leaped out of the trailer into their new pasture. The week-old baby is the same age but considerably smaller than our Jersey calf - he's precisely the size of our Aussie, Cocoa. The new cows kept their distance and stayed mostly on the hill on the far side of the pasture last night, surveying the view of their new farm. In the meanwhile, we humans all feasted on wood-fired pizza with a fabulous bottle of wine Debbie and Lawrence brought and they patiently answered our myriad questions.

This morning it was so lovely to look out and see the silhouettes of our cattle in the foggy light!