Got me a jersey girl!!

allenslabs · #1 01/18/12, 05:53 PM

Still working on a name though. She is a first freshening girl, giving about 39lbs of milk per day (per his records), is bred back and due Sept! Teats look good for hand milking.
There were two to chose from, this one, who is curious but far from friendly and then another the same age but milking more and due mid July in the heat of the summer. The second one though was super sweet!! She was perfect but I was worried about the calving in July and the heat and all the stress and what would happen if things went wrong and all that hot hot weather. She was $200 more but worth it if not for that calving in July thing.
But my girl is curious of people and I led (if you want to call it that) her to the barn so there is hope. I know we couldn't stick a halter on our beef cows of the same age lol! She didn't like it but we did end up in the barn with minimal fuss and most of it was from our dogs who, although were in their pen, wouldn't shut up. I have her mostly brushed but I knew I needed to milk later anyhow and needed to get my kids all fed and stuff. LOL!
Also picked up a little bull calf who is a month old. Cute little painted boy who will be a good butcher yourself project next winter. We had him in a large dog cage wrapped in tarp to keep the wind off and I thought I could unload him myself. Wrong! He is spring loaded!! I got him out and he wanted to buck and before I could get him caught good he tried jumping over the side of the truck!! I slowed him down, but he landed on his knees and hind feet! Then started tossing his head and bucking and trotting around. So I walked up trying to talk to him and he had that tail up and was about take off and I had to pretty well tackle him to keep him from running into the pine trees!! For now his name is leap frog and amazingly enough....he's perfectly fine! Crazy....hyper....but fine. LOL!
I will post pictures as soon as possible!!

farmgirl6 · #2 01/18/12, 07:04 PM

Congrats love the jersey

janij · #3 01/18/12, 07:04 PM

Congrats. Would love to hear how the first milking goes.

6e · #4 01/18/12, 07:31 PM

Congratulations!!!

Cindy in KY · #5 01/18/12, 07:40 PM

Ah. Good for you! I'm sure you two will bond within the week.

Welshmom · #6 01/18/12, 08:14 PM

Congratulations on your new girl! Didn't take you long to get back in the game!

allenslabs · #7 01/18/12, 08:55 PM

LOL! Nope....not one to stay out of the game too long for fear of never getting back in. LOL!
Well....first milking....goodness. LOL! She has never been handled, I know this and so weigh it heavily in how I react to stuff. I know it takes a while to get settled in...it took Elenore at least a week if not more to get over the shell shock of not having 100 other cows who look very much like her and smell like her, do your job twice a day and are not bothered much when doing it. I understand and so know it will be better but she did ok....not by far the best but definitely not the worst.
The main problem was she wouldn't let her milk down! I got MAYBE 1/2 gallon out of her if not less. She just wasn't interested but also hadn't drank anything, didn't like the grain and barely nibbled the hay. She of course had never even heard of this crazy contraption called a halter, let alone seen or wore one! And what was worse, to her, was that this contraption had her tied to the wall!
Now...given her level of human contact prior...she did pretty good overall. She stood for the majority of it but like I said, wouldn't let the milk down which took a while of me massaging and getting every drop out I could in hopes of causing a let down.
The calf on the other hand.....he's a pistol. Not sure really what to make of him. He's about a month old and has been nibbling the hay all day and tonight when I showed him the bottle....not even close to interested. When I tried him on the cow...not even interested. I was amazed really that she stood for that part of it. Elenore tried to kick in the teeth of all calves unless she was in this one corner of the barn where she knew defeat was inevitable. This girl though tolerated it nicely thank heavens as I would love to let the calf nurse.
Sooo....still not sure on a name. She is awful persnickety as she tosses her nose up like she is just way too good for all of this and just can't stand the lot of it....I mean goats....guineas squawking....human that kept bugging her...I mean really! LOL! I told my mom I wanted to call her persnickety but that was too long and she suggested Percy. If I remember that was the snobby train on Thomas the Tank Engine. LOL!
Here are some names I've been considering:
Ivy - Cause that stuff lives like forever and around here....you just can't kill the stuff.
Mally
Gwen - Short for Gwenevere

Names for the little ornery bull calf:
Jack Jack - My brother said it is the name of the little character on the Incredibles movies that just never sat still.
DareDevil - Because he jumped out of the side of a pickup truck
Leapster or Leap Frog for the same reason - he jumped out of the bed of a pickup truck.

allenslabs · #8 01/18/12, 08:57 PM

Oh and she is curious of we humans so that always helps and she did let me brush most all of her and get the mud clumps off that were stuck to her. So....that takes patience. Once I get the clumpy stuff off I will stick with the stiff bristle brush as I think to them it mimics the feeling of a rough tongue. I think brushes makes great friends in the cow and goat department.....at least until they learn to like your grain and treats!! LOL!

**gone-a-milkin** · #9 01/18/12, 10:40 PM

Well your head isnt stove in from your first milking so I would say you have a good chance of getting along.

Surely you are going to give us some pics tomorrow?

Karen in Alabam · #10 01/18/12, 11:01 PM

Congrats