April 08, 2004

THE COWS ARE SUNBATHING AND GIVING BIRTH

Spring came back for one beautiful day the last week in March. The older heifers we wintered outside were lying around like a bunch of sunbathers soaking up the rays. I guess it was a long winter for them, too.

We had two more newborns earlier this week. One of our Black Angus cows had a heifer calf. (Girl calves are heifers, boy calves are bulls.) She is doing great and she has the most beautiful face. The Jersey that calved, Jamie, had a bull calf. The bull calves are usually sold when they are a day or two old. We don't use a bull for breeding on our farm; we use AI (artificial insemination). Last spring we did keep four bull calves to steer and raise for our beef operation, and we will probably do that again this year. This will help us keep up with our growing demand for organic beef.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

Posted by Blogger Chris at April 8, 2004 02:58 PM
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