Glory Bee! Not me! (I still have same one, thank you for asking.)
I want to get Glory Bee bred in the late spring or early summer. Cows are pregnant for nine months. Dumplin was born in December, which really isn’t ideal to me, so I want to plan better this next go-round. I’ve been pondering my dilemma for months. Getting a cow bred is always a dilemma! There’s a bull at my friend Sarah’s place, and I could take Glory Bee back there. But I don’t have a trailer, so borrowing a trailer is always part of the dilemma. I thought about buying a trailer, but finally decided against it because I only need it once a year. High investment, low use. Then there’s the whole issue of sending away a milk cow for a couple of months. I don’t really want to send Glory Bee away. I’d have to send Dumplin with her unless I want to wean Dumplin completely, which I don’t want to do just yet. Dumplin gives me “off” days whenever I want. Dumplin is handy! The bull at Sarah’s place might be able to come here, but we’d still have to borrow a trailer and it’s a bit of a drive.
It would be nice to find a bull that is close by, someone who has their own trailer and can move the bull themselves.
There’s only one farm on my road where there are cows. Their cows are often in the road, so you can’t hardly miss them! Ha. But I don’t know these people. I thought often of stopping by and introducing myself, but I’m a little shy. So I called my neighbor Jim who grew up around here and knows everybody. I explained my dilemma. Jim called the cow people and explain my dilemma to them, giving me a sort of introduction, then called me back and gave me the man’s phone number. And I called the man.
And! He said he’d bring me a bull anytime I want, with his own trailer. He’s just about a mile or so up the road. And no charge! This is perfect! (His cows are mixed breed beef, by the way.)
I’m going to start tracking Glory Bee’s cycle The most secure field on the farm is the back barn yard, where I kept Glory Bee for the winter. I have plenty of hay left over. When it’s time, I’m going to bring Dumplin and Glory Bee to the back barn yard and call for the bull. I should only have to have the bull here for a handful of days. I’ll take off milking at that time so I don’t have to try to bring Glory Bee in while keeping a bull out. Then send him away and wait to see if she goes into heat afterward. I can have him back as many times as necessary, but if I’m lucky, it’ll only take once. She’s young and healthy and should breed quickly–if I manage to get her time right.
Glory Bee has a date!
SarahGrace says:
YAY! So glad you found someone closer. Makes it so much easier on you. Did I tell you that dh’s 1st job of turning a bull into a steer didn’t take? That means we have a DAIRY BULL! I’m so glad he missed! 😆 I hope to put Bessie with him come fall time. 2nd calf he did it right.
On April 17, 2013 at 10:09 am
denisestone says:
will the bull pose any threat to dumplin? just curious, as it isn’t an answer that i know.
On April 17, 2013 at 10:12 am
jodiezoeller says:
I guess love is in the air! LOL Good luck with breeding GB again.
On April 17, 2013 at 10:45 am
Snapper119 says:
Don’t forget the flower behind her ear! :purpleflower:
On April 17, 2013 at 12:04 pm
bonita says:
Snapper119 beat me to the flower comment. Having a bull-on-demand service sounds ideal, for more than cows!
On April 17, 2013 at 12:11 pm
Joell says:
:happyflower: :happyflower:
Oh you girls, I was thinking a tiara or a lei of flowers, she should wear something special for her date, perhaps a bit of fragrance behind her ears, do you think her date will send flowers??
I will just bet Suzanne will take some photos of the couple, sort of like prom night It seems like just yesterday we were seeing her as a newborn calf.
On April 17, 2013 at 12:41 pm
lesliedgray says:
Even though you don’t think you would use one, I would recommend that you buy a stock trailer at some point. Not only do you have the cows, you have the horses, goats and sheep… What if a fire came through and you had no way to move your animals to safety? You can find a good used trailer for less money and you’d be surprised at all of the animal and non-animal uses you’d find for it!
On April 17, 2013 at 1:05 pm
BuckeyeGirl says:
@denisestone // Jumping in to say in answer to the question about a bull being any kind of a threat to Dumplin, the answer is, not usually. Bulls don’t mind calves much at all, and are often (Usually) protective of them as part of the herd. Also, I seriously doubt that the farmer up the road would bring a bull over to anyone elses pasture that was extremely grouchy so I’m guessing it won’t be an issue.
On April 17, 2013 at 1:08 pm
SwissMiss says:
In that photo Glory Bee looks like a Jersey. I’ve noticed that depending on the angle of the shot she can resemble a Brown Swiss or a Jersey. Dumplin’ is looking good.
Most bulls pretty much ignore the calves. They are use to being in with the cows and the calves for breeding season. Or they are with the cows all time. I imagine that the owner wouldn’t loan the bull out if he was a mean tempered one, let alone load him up and haul him back and forth.
Jeanne
On April 17, 2013 at 6:14 pm
CarrieJ says:
Ok, now that you have officially passed the torch from BP to GB, you should pass the flower too! We need a picture of GB all did up and ready for her date :).
On April 17, 2013 at 6:27 pm
3cows says:
Suzanne, please don’t leave Dumplin in with the bull. Jersey heifers can breed very young, (numerous cases are recorded of 13 and 14 month old heifers calving) and you may never even notice that she is in heat.
I bought a year old heifer about 2 months ago who will be calving any day and she just turned 14 months old, so she would have bred at about 5 months of age. I call her my unwed pregnant teenager!
Vet said she is big enough and should be ok, so we just watch her closely and pray a lot. :cowsleep:
On April 19, 2013 at 11:33 am