The Bovine Bugle

Another cow is born

We were greeted by a flat tire on one of our tractors this morning. After morning chores, my Dad, Howard, took it into St. Albans to be repaired and to do the farm banking. Dad is the bookkeeper here on the farm. I put the repaired tire back on the tractor after he got back and finished the chores I needed the tractor to do. Dad got busy and boiled in the sap we gathered yesterday.

Irma, a cow that was due yesterday, finally had her calf this evening. She had a girl, a heifer. She had her last calf last April, 12 months ago. This would be considered by most dairy farmers as the ideal calving interval. We try to have a cow calve every 12 months. After a cow has her calf, we wait at least 60 days before we try to get her pregnant again. We use artificial insemination to breed our cows and it usually takes 1or 2 tries to get the cow pregnant. A cow’s pregnancy lasts 9 months. We stop milking the cow 50 to 60 days before her due date. This is her "dry" period and gives her mammary system a rest.

--Jonathan, Howmars Farm
Franklin, Vermont

Jonathan is a third-generation dairy farmer, whose family owns and runs Howmars certified organic dairy farm.

Posted by Blogger Chris at April 22, 2004 01:26 PM