All Bull

The cold has arrived and boy is it ever chilly, especially for a Southern girl who prefers the heat.

We busily made sure all the animals had plenty of hay and fresh water before the cold snap hit and each morning we are bundled up doing farm chores.

Part of dairy farming is making sure the ladies are bred each year, and this task can be difficult when you do not have a bull.

Bulls can be dangerous and dairy bulls are notorious for being especially mean. Since I have children who like to roam, I have never been comfortable keeping a dairy bull around.

Thank goodness for great neighbors with bulls to spare.

This isn't a dairy bull, but rather an Angus bull. He is young and still docile. In fact, as one would expect from a beef cow, he is rather scared of people and runs away when we approach his fence.

He is shorter than my Jersey girls and tends to sire small calves. He will be the daddy to my next round of calves born here next year.

My neighbor told me I could keep him as long as I wish, so I will keep him at least a few months. He is in the far paddock to himself. I expect at least two of my girls to go into heat this week or next.

I find him rather handsome.

This spring there is a class offered at Mississippi State in artificial insemination of cows. It is a 3 day course and I am seriously considering taking the course. If I keep raising dairy cows I will need to either get a bull or learn how to AI. The bull would be easier and likely cheaper, but AI is a skill I have always wanted to learn.

Finally, my turkey raising adventure is about to end. Monday we will process the very few birds we have left. One actually dies last night. I am totally baffled as to what is causing the birds to suddenly die. I had to turn down several customers, but this was a year of learning curves...I just haven't maneuvered the curves well yet.

 

Whoever said farming was easy never farmed.

 

Happy Hump Day Ya'll!!