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We had a return visit yesterday from Dr. Casto, the very kind USDA vet who visited our farm last fall to enroll us in the federal scrapie program, a government service that tracks sheep and goats (mostly sheep) and provides free testing. (To find out more about that visit and the federal scrapie program, see this post.)
Annabelle didn’t feel quite so fortunate to have his company as he was here specifically to see her.
Annabelle is a Suffolk-Dorset cross. Suffolks, and other black-faced sheep, are breeds associated with scrapie and therefore of particular interest. (Annabelle doesn’t have a black face, of course–her father was a Dorset and she takes after him, but her mother was a Suffolk.)
The vet and his assistants put her up on a bale of hay in a pen.
Then they got into her unmentionables.
Annabelle felt quite violated by the time it was over.
Jester said she wouldn’t have put up with that.
By the way, the little lambs have lost their tails.
And they don’t know where to find them!
The last time the USDA vet was here, after he finished with his business as part of the federal program, he generously examined our goats and donkeys. We’d just lost Pepsi and I was full of concerns. It was wonderful to have an experienced, expert farm veterinarian with the Department of Agriculture on our farm to look at our animals and answer our questions.
And so….
I just couldn’t let him leave without saying, “Do you know how to tell if a cow is pregnant?”
He laughed and said, of course, he did, but he didn’t have any long gloves with him, sorry! (He didn’t look sorry.)
His assistant said, “I have some in my truck!”
He told his assistant he was FIRED!
Poor Dr. Casto. He wasn’t even getting paid for this.
And so….
Beulah Petunia! I raced off to call her, brought her back to the milking pen, and the vet put on his gloves.
If you’re eating breakfast, you might want to think twice at this point about continuing to view the photos in this post. You have been warned!
He’s going in!
He’s trying to be stoic!
And then he’d had all he could take and he taught his assistant a lesson for bringing those gloves with him.
And yeah, baby!!!!
“There’s a calf in there.”
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BTW – it didn’t bother me because (a) breakfast won’t be for several hours and (b) I watched all the All Creatures Great and Small episodes – several times!!
But please give Annabelle a hug from me. At least she didn’t have to go into stirrups.
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so exciting is your life!!!!!
Hugs Granny Trace’
P.s Your birthday presents just keep coming!!
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Kathleen H in Indiana
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Jill from NY
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The little lambs are sooo adorable….all soft and squishy
And poor Annabelle — for some reason stirrups look more comfortable than what she went through, that didn’t look any more graceful
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Sarah, he thinks she’s probably about 3 months along, so maybe late October or early November is our best guess right now! So we’ll need to dry her up toward the end of the summer.
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P.S. thanks for the crock pot Grandma Bread Recipe. I posted a recipe for Fruit Pizza if you’re interested. It’s really easy and oh so good…. oops, it calls for an oven, sorry.
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I ask you, who would want to be an artificial inseminator or a large animal vet? They spend a good part of their time wearing those long gloves
That’s wonderful news about the calf!
How exciting to have a birthday present that just keeps on giving
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I’m smiling about us picking out names already
Amelia is a great name too. Perhaps Suzanne will continue her penchant for double names
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Poor Annabelle. Hopefully the darling will have a short memory after he’s gone. That’s really lovely that you get free testing though!
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~Jenny~
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I’m so happy for you and Beulah Petunia!!! That will be exciting. Suzanne, you’ll have to go without your own cow milk for awhile. Baby needs it more : ))
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Congrats on the baby cow! It seems so far away…
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Congrats!!!!
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I will learn to do the arm thing if you want me to . . . I certainly have enough experience with shorter parts – hehehe – -(Don’t panic folks, I’m an OB Nurse!)
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Someone suggested Amelia for a name. That was my mom’s middle name. She never liked it ’cause she thought it sounded like a cow’s name. Just don’t pair it with Margaret ’cause that was her first name, although now that I think about it, my mom probably wouldn’t have minded. But do keep the double name for cows going, it sounds so old-fashioned and cute. Quaint, as it were.
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Also, and I’m playing the devil’s advocate here, please don’t go commercial on us like some other previously well loved bloggers. We just want to hear about your farm and keep up with the doins. I myself don’t need giveaways and yada yada and book tours etc. That just takes you away from the good stuff. Now, I know this is a capitalistic venture and you are trying to increase your capital, but please don’t make it too big or you will lose readers, not gain them. I mean this in the nicest way possible.