AFRICA - the sheep, not the continent

Africa came to us as an orphan ewe lamb in March of 2005. She was already a month old, and never has really liked us. In March of 2006 she had a huge, darling ewe lamb that we called Kenya. My daughter later changed the name to Satania when she showed her at the Jr.Livestock Show. But the Satania brought her a couple of red ribbons and $450. In March of 2007 she had twins that each weighed about 15 lbs. (big lambs). We named them Zambia and Zimbabwe. They weren't overly tame either (a fact with dam raised lambs) but they both won blue ribbons at the Jr. Livestock Show and Zambia was 12th out of almost 200 in the carcass class (judged with ultrasound, not butchering). Last year I sold Africa, but she came back and lambed with twins again the end of May when I was not home. These twins are Zulu and Botswana - and I am trying to sell the whole family again. Zulu and Botswana are pretty tame because I had bottle babies in the same pen with them and they are so full of curiosity that they came to watch the bottle babies drink their milk twice a day and I can walk up and touch them. But alas, my daughter is now too old for 4-H and they didn't get to go to the Jr. Livestock Show.

SORE HEADS

I own two registered Alpine bucks. The two cannot live together in rutting season, because one has to be dominant and that means they will fight. So one recent dark morning when went outside to do chores, the young buck comes walking up to me. I put him back in his pen and used a pallet to make it more secure. Young buck is a jumper. One side of his pen is the state road yard with an eight foot high chain link fence topped with three strands of barbed wire that tip toward his pen. The south side has a feeder that young buck was using for a launching pad, and now has an eight foot high fence made of livestock panels and pine poles. The other two sides of the pen are five feet high with corner covers. We will see how that all works. Old buck didn't get up for grain that recent morning. When daylight came, I surveyed the damage of the rampage. Young buck had gone visiting to old buck. There was a four by four foot area outside of the west of old buck's pen that had been plowed almost a foot deep. Old buck's heavy duty livestock panel had been pushed out almost three feet. And the heads of both bucks were bloody. That is what I call real sore heads.

LORD, help me not to act like a sore head, but rather trust in you, not push on the fences of security you put around me.

Konrad, Olga and Ole

Last month I came across a lady that said that all cows were autistic. I challenged her - that she never had had personal experience with cows then, because cows are intelligent and react with each other and their caretakers. Konrad, Olga and Ole are my current calves. Konrad is 3 1/2 months old and ready to wean, but he sure does like his big bottle. I feed him last of the three bottle calves, and he patiently waits over by the hay and grain until his turn. Olga is impatient, but a few slaps and she will not try to steal the nipple away from Ole. Olga likes to suck on the other calves' ears and I am working on teaching her to NOT suck on ears. Ole is the youngest, just over one month old now. He is one month old and on the shy side. All three calves are aware of the world around them and interact with it- not autistic. Their favorite play time is dusk and they play tag or roll the big black plastic tube around the pen.
This evening I fed garden debris to the critters. Konrad has a good healthy boy appetite, and is willing to at least try anything. Beets and carrot tops were great with him. It took Ole some time to get going on the beets. Little Olga is the finicky little girl. I was down to the next to the last beet before I could persuade her to put one in her mouth - and then she wanted more, but I soon ran out. Sorry Olga.

ANOTHER CHICKEN STORY

Those little chicks that hatched back in the beginning of July are growing up. I guess they could be called teenagers now. Like teenagers, they make a lot of noise and run around a lot. The roosters are learning to crow and it sure is funny. The first time I heard one, it was dark outside and I was on the opposite side of the shed from where the chickens huddle for the night. I was not able to identify what is was that I heard, but in tuning my ears that direction, and it sounded like something (not identifiable) was being strangled. I checked to make sure there were no dogs in that area. All dogs were secure. Then I realized what it was - a rooster learning to crow. It is so funny to hear them at this stage. They still mostly peep even though they are fully feathered out and 3/4 of adult size.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord" Go chickens! and may we obey that directive also.

CHICKENS

Matthew 23:37 - ...How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings...

I am a person that really likes animals - cows and goats first. Chickens are way down the line because they are pretty stupid. But I have chickens. There is one big black rooster, two black (Austrolorp) hens, and four black and white speckled hens and ten mostly black half grown chicks.

When the chicks were little fluff balls, the hen would call them and they would all huddle under her wings - with a few little beaks and eyes peeking out. All it took was a couple of rain drops for the hen to call for the chicks. I always thought it would make a good picture, but never got a camera outside and now the chicks are all feathered out and think that are big stuff, off on their own.

There is one chick that I have just named Would Not, because he would not follow the hen. He sure did spend a lot of time calling for his mom when he realized she wasn't there though. There are another two chicks that just have to fight. They stand up on their little toes and just go at it for all they are worth - over nothing. There is plenty food available, but they just have to fight, to prove what?

What a picture of people - we get to thinking that we are big stuff and can live without God. Then the raindrops or dogs or other scary things come by and we run around like chickens - which is really a good picture of stupidity.

Someday I will talk about sheep. I have them too. They are a bit smarter than chickens.

Drover

Drover - big, black mutt. We gave him away once, but he came back. I would give him away again, but we need an outside dog all night. Dover is the son of a dog we took in when the owner died. He is just over a year old and weighs around 70 pounds. If you don't know him, he can be scary. He is mostly tied up, but I let him off to run while I do outside chores in the morning and evening. If the state road yard next door is open, sometimes he goes in there and runs up and down their big gravel piles. He is fast. Drover is obedient when it comes to the command of "come". Many other things he just doesn't understand. He wants to play with the little kitties, but they think he is too big. Drover likes eggs, and has been caught helping himself to them. Now I either pick up eggs before I turn him loose, or keep a real close eye on him. Drover also likes to catch chislers (ground squirrels) and that helps the neighbor if he doesn't dig in the alfalfa field. Drover's name was Dribbles when he was little, but we were hoping that he would outgrow the reason for the name - but he hasn't.

Little Cow - my favorite

Proverbs 27:23 Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for you herds (NIV)
My boss at Rosedew Dairy must do that because we have some great old cows.

Little Cow is officially known at Rosedew Dairy as 585. That is the tag she wears in her left ear. Little Cow is eleven years old now, has been milking over 500 days in this lactation and still giving over six gallons a day. Little Cow has over 200,000 pounds of milk in her lifetime production. I don't have exact figures, but I am sure it is less that 1% of dairy cows in the United States that last long enough to accumulate that many pounds of milk. Little Cow must weigh only 900 pounds, while the herd average is probably closer to 1300 pounds and we have a few big cows that weigh over 1800 pounds. Little Cow is what you call efficient. She can milk over 100 pounds (12 gallons) a day when fresh. Little Cow needs her feet trimmed, but her udder is the most fantastic soft udder in the herd with no extra fat or meat or scar tissue in it. Little Cow just minds her own business and doesn't want anyone fooling around with her.
Keep going Little Cow.