|
Post by stephanie on Jul 7, 2014 7:53:34 GMT -5
Nutlin Ginger Spice calved yesterday afternoon. I REALLY wanted a bull and bless her that is what she had. He is a big chunky chap, very similar to his Dad in shape but much bigger born and the biggest of any of the calves that I have seen by him. She has always milked well but I do wonder at her age - 18 in October - if she can cope with feeding him, I decided to start feeding her and took her a small amount of cake this morning, I shall up it gradually. A farming friend was here yesterday and was so surprised, not so much that she calved so quickly....she was grazing at 1.30 and had calved at 3.15 but that the calf was suckling...aren't dexters great!!! Stephanie
|
|
|
Post by ladena on Jul 7, 2014 8:20:56 GMT -5
Congratulations on a beautiful healthy bull calf! Spice has an udder to envy at any age much less 17. Do you already have a name?
|
|
|
Post by Olga on Jul 7, 2014 8:55:16 GMT -5
Awesome looking pair! Congrats!
|
|
|
Post by wvdexters on Jul 7, 2014 9:43:45 GMT -5
Congratulations Stephanie. You got just what you wanted and that mama looks great. I'd never guess her at almost 18 yrs.
|
|
|
Post by stephanie on Jul 7, 2014 10:54:12 GMT -5
Thank you Rhonda for liking the pic. You are right wvdexters most people would never guess her age, she has a bit of grey on her face now and didn't hold her weight too well this year coming up to calving though, I've kept her on the very best grazing most of the time, so she isn't thin but it would be better if she had more meat on her to feed that big bruiser! Thank you for being so nice about her udder Ladena, it is good for her age and as for a name, I won't name him until I'm ready to register him and we don't usually register a bull here until he is nearly ready to work we just notify the society of birth. Beryl the lady that owned Woodmagic until her death a few years back reckoned it was bad luck to name them before you were going to register I took no notice and named the first bull calf I had from Spice, (I've only had her a few years and only had 4 calves from her all told, the first was by a bull I wouldn't want to keep it from, then a bull calf by my bull and a heifer by AI,) So I named the bull calf...it died about a month later, never did find out why, possibly magnesium deficiency. So I won't do that again. Thanks Olga. Stephanie
|
|
|
Post by midhilldexters on Jul 7, 2014 11:47:19 GMT -5
Congrats, glad you got your wish. He looks real chunky, do you weigh your calves? Any idea on his weight? It's hard to judge weight or height from pics. Mom looks great considering her age, well done.
Carol K
|
|
zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
|
Post by zephyrhillsusan on Jul 7, 2014 14:09:55 GMT -5
Ditto on her great udder! And congratulations on your chunky little guy! "Chunky Monkey" is what came to my mind (it's a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, I doubt you have that brand over there).
|
|
|
Post by carragheendexters on Jul 7, 2014 17:25:30 GMT -5
That is what having great udder construction is all about. WOW! she looks fantastic for her age. I love her calf, nice and solid and short on the leg.
|
|
|
Post by ssrdex on Jul 7, 2014 21:05:10 GMT -5
Quite a pair Stephanie, and such a landscape! Your stock and background are beautiful. She's a great testament to the dexter breed!
|
|
|
Post by wildberryfarm on Jul 8, 2014 22:30:48 GMT -5
Ditto to the all of the above...beautiful cow, calf, udder (!!!!), pasture...all lovely!
|
|
|
Post by lakeportfarms on Jul 9, 2014 5:14:29 GMT -5
She certainly deserves a little cake now for being such a good girl all these years! Congratulations.
|
|
|
Post by stephanie on Jul 12, 2014 4:41:24 GMT -5
There was a visitor to the field that my cow and calf are in this morning at 9am, not that I think Reynard is of any danger to the calf, he could perhaps still smell the afterbirth? But I wouldn't want him visiting when I had lambs and they are born in the same field! Carlo K, I don't weigh, he is quite big for a Woodmagic Hedgehog 4th calf, his calves tend to be born about 2 weeks early, very easy calvings and quite small chunky little things. Having just bought a 50 pound bag of dairy cake for the cow and carried it from the car, I picked him up to try to gauge and I think he was about the same, certainly not over 60 pounds. Genebo, You are right she is so content, washing him all the time, this may well be her last calf and it is lovely to see her enjoying him so much. Susan, We can get Chunky Monkey in Waitrose. Louise, Thank you she is good for her age and now she has calved nearly a week and I have a bit of time this morning, all is lovely! I'm glad you like the landscape Joel, I have lived here all my life and still love it! Thanks Diana...all compliments appreciated!!! And thank you Lakeport farms, I have bought her a proper bag of dairy cake and she has so much milk now that the calf is just taking the one side of her udder!!! I'm only giving her a very small amount. She has a pound of broken wheat night and morning, 2 pounds of suckler rolls in the morning which prevents staggers (magnesium deficiency,) and at calving helps prevent calcium deficiency and now at night she has a pound of dairy nuts as well. Bet the old girl has never had so many good wishes in her life before, I'm just off out to her with her breakfast and to give her a back scratch, if I can I catch the calf and stroke it, which always reminds me of Beryl who liked me to fetch a calf into her kitchen for her if I could, so she could stroke it, she loved them so much and she would have tears in her eyes when she stroked a calf, I well up thinking of it. Stephanie P.S. Opened the gate down into the lower field that has a wooded area and a stream, she loves it under the trees.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2014 23:30:52 GMT -5
Beautiful cow and calf. Congrats!
|
|
|
Post by stephanie on Jul 15, 2014 4:48:06 GMT -5
Thanks Pinevalley, like the pic of your cow with her chin on the gate! Well there I was concerned that Spice wouldn't have enough milk for the calf and he is only taking one side - see pic below she looks like Lopsided Lilly and the far side does look very full! Mind you I reckon that he will take a bit of feeding in a few weeks time, it is surprising how much a dexter will take and I find bull calves are often greedier than heifers..... Stephanie
|
|
|
Post by stephanie on Jul 15, 2014 4:58:05 GMT -5
***CORRECTION!***
Oooops, just been speaking to her breeder who obviously isn't as bad at maths as I am Spice will be 17 this October and not 18 as I thought, her birth date is 10.10 1997.
Stephanie
|
|