The Changing of the Cows

The cows enjoying a cool day on Hillbilly Hill.
The days are getting shorter here now, and fall is in the air. We've been putting KC, Honey's calf in the barn alone, some nights, so we can get some milk from his Momma, and to get him used to not being on her all the time...so we can wean him sometime next month, since he is old enough to be. Course that means we have to go out every evening to find him, and bring him back to the barn and lock him in. Sometimes he can give us fits, but other times he goes right in.

Course that means I have to milk an extra cow now. *sigh* It's nice to have the extra milk, since the other two have slowed down how much they are giving, with winter coming on, but it's not as fun to milk Honey, as it is the other two. Honey's teats almost don't fit in the milking machine cups, so it's a pain to get them in there and letting the milk out.

We've been managing it, thankfully, since I can't milk her out by hand, with my hands hurting, but...we've decided to sell her, and stick to smaller cows, with teats that work in our milker better.


Honey in the grass, on Hillbilly Hill.
Thankfully, although Honey is a nice cow, neither of us has gotten to attached to her...so it won't bother either of us to let her be someones else family milk cow...that is if we can find someone who wants her.

We've already found her replacement, who may arrive tomorrow night. She is a 16 month old cow, (maybe pregnant) who has already had a baby this last spring. She isn't in milk, they dried her up, since she was so young to have already had a calf, so she could have a little more time to grow. Hopefully we can get her trained, ready to milk, when she has her next baby...and hopefully she actually IS going to this next spring. She was running with a bull for a couple months, so we are hopeful. :)

KC, sure won't be to happy if we find someone who wants to buy his Mom, but maybe he can get a snack from Daisy for a few more weeks, till we move him over with the teenagers (Clover & Stew).

I may not be to happy with the amount of milk we get this winter...since we will be down to the two, and Mabel already doesn't give to much with just one working teat, but...I will survive. I think we should have plenty of butter in the freezer, to get us through, least if they still give us some so I can churn some now and then, so it will just be cheese I'll miss, if we don't get much milk. Hopefully we will still get some though, and they won't totally dry up on us...cause then I can just keep the milk, till we have enough to make cheese with and not totally go without any fresh cheese. We may not have much for our animals...but maybe they will get some now and then. :)

Anyway, any prayers you want to spare, that we can get Honey sold as quickly as possible would be appreciated!! I need to pay the money back that I'm using to get the new one, so we have a little fall back money...and would like to do it by selling her, not take it out of our budget the next few months. God knows whats best, so I'm sure we will sell her, if he wants us too...but prayers are never out of order.

God has been so good to us, and I feel so blessed to be able to have the cows, to provide us with all the goodies we can make out of their milk & cream, like cheese and butter. I hope he keeps blessing us with that wonderful "pastured gold"* for many years to come. :-))

I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler temps if you are lucky enough to have them now...and is having a great week!!

*I like to think of our Butter (and even the milk, cream & cheese) we get from our cows as "pastured gold" because I feel so rich having it to use. It's so much better for us, because it's from grass fed cows, with lots of extra vitamin's and minerals that store bought butter doesn't have. Course the butter from the store is still better than that nasty plastic junk they like to call margarine.