For those who say Dexters aren't pets...

[lakeportfarms]

Well, the calf we were expecting cooked a little longer than we thought but she was born early this am in the barn.  Just slightly below zero actual temps and -20 windchill. She was a bit frosty so we brought her in to warm up by the fire.  She loved it of course, though mom was a bit upset.  I'm not sure if it was because her calf was missing or she wanted to be near the woodstove too.

Little "nipper" needs a name...heifer, black, surely long legged, out of Mike (chondro) and Tia Faye (non-carrier).  Tia Faye is a really nice small cow with a great udder, so we have a decision to make about retaining her too.  I wish she was a shortie...

[bruff64]

We had a little bull calf last night as well out of a first calf heifer. It was below zero and all went well other than the new mom did not want to let the calf nurse. We seem to have resolved that problem, hopefully.

[zephyrhillsusan]

If only they could be potty-trained!

[rudi9396]

Awe.. what a sweetie!! Look at her! Arctic Blast would be cute, call her Artie? or Tanta Congrats!!

[ssrdex]

Thanks for the pics! The worst part would be kicking her back out...how do you sleep at night Hans? ;-)

[lakeportfarms]

Lately with the cold temperatures I've been sleeping with a nice thick down comforter, preheated by an electric blanket underneath   However we knew the little girl would be happier with some nice warm Dexter milk, and since neither my wife or I am lactating it wasn't an option...lol.  The 45 minutes in front of the stove sure seemed to perk her up though, Sheril mentioned she was hopping and running around as much as a 12x12 stall will allow, like she's already 3 days old.

Happy to hear Bruff you too had a successful calving in the cold temperatures, they do present a bit more of a challenge to our normally easy calving breed.  Thanks for the name suggestions, we're going to hold off until we decide to keep her or not.  We'd like to give a new owner the option of a name if we sell her.  We have more than a few Dexters running around other farms with different names than what we gave them.  We're not offended at all though .


Which brings to mind a question...with a pseudonym name for testing how do we submit the registration for genotyping, etc.. with the ADCA?  Is there a protocol for this?  

[dexterfarm]

here is what I do. I dont do anything with the adca until I have a name and ready to reg. I do all my testing through legacy and use the tattoo number for the name. then if it will be registed I just have the name changed register with legacy. then I send everything on to the adca.

[zephyrhillsusan]

Hans, you're so funny! We need an LOL button next to the thumbs up!