Glory Bee was born on September 13 of last year.
She was so little! (See Baby Cow, The Movie.)
And she loved her mama so much!
And look, she’s still doin’ that!
Okay, here’s what happened. And it’s almost miraculous! I decided, since we were going to be taking the sheep down, I should get Glory Bee out of the goat yard, too. The goats need their yard back to themselves. They need greedy eat-it-to-the-ground sheep outta there, and they need the big stomping calf out of there, too. Despite the fact that moving Glory Bee around anywhere is like trying to move a Tasmanian Devil having an atomic spasm, and has in the past involved at least two people (one of them being male), and ropes, I decided I was going do it all by my lil ol’ self.
It was an experiment!
An adventure, if you will.
And guess what? I took her out of the goat yard all by myself. It wasn’t even that difficult. What is that about? Could she be growing up, at long last? Heady with my brat calf management skills, I was ready for the next step–making some separation between BP and the brat. Because the brat doesn’t realize she’s really not a calf anymore. She’s a heifer. And heifers aren’t supposed to be milking their mamas.
It’s wrong on so many levels!
So we got this little system together. The front area of BP-land is now sectioned off, surrounded by an electric fence that keeps Glory Bee away from BP–when I want her away from BP. It’s two-strand electric here, to keep her from trying to nurse under the fence. (It’s one-strand around the rest of BP-land.)
The fence has a temporary gate, which isn’t made of anything more than the wires and hooks. I pull the wires across and hook them on to the other side to shut the “gate” when I want them separated, then open it back up when they can be together.
Between this post and the tree is the opening, when I have the wires pulled back so they can pass through and be together.
To close it, I hook the wires across the opening.
To open, pull then back and hook them out of the way.
Glory Bee is bigger than she used to be. She knows and respects the electric fence now. I haven’t had any trouble with her trying to cross the fence when it’s pulled shut.
She sits up on the hill and watches mommy. (See her through the trees on the hill above BP?)
I keep them separated overnight so I can get the first milking of the day–instead of Glory Bee. When I’ve had mine, I open the temporary gate and they’re together again.
Glory Bee waits and watches. She knows when the sound of the milking machine stops, mommy’s coming.
The amazing part here is that I’ve had no trouble at all managing Glory Bee to get her back out of BP’s holding area at the front each evening.
Now that I’ve typed all that out loud, Glory Bee’s probably going to stomp on my head tomorrow, but so far, so good! If she keeps up with this kind of cooperative behavior, I’m going to have to stop calling her the bad baby! Except for the part where she’s still taking most of my milk. I milk BP then take her back, open the temporary gate, and watch Glory Bee latch on and milk her again.
I think BP might be holding out on me.
And that possibly this whole show of cooperation is part of a big plot.
The situation is under investigation and a person of interest has been identified.
Glenda says:
You should wean her now….she will need to be bred soon and then she will be a Momma and shouldn’t still be nursing BP. Of course, you know all that and I know you don’t want to milk 2x a day. Some people go to once a day milking even without a calf.
Did I miss you telling us BP was pregnant?
Yes, they can hold up their milk. My cow does it each time I have to milk her….she also holds up her cream! To test this, I did like you and turned her in to the two babies and, voila!, her udder filled up again! Dratted cow.
On September 14, 2011 at 5:41 am
Suzanne McMinn says:
I’ve tried to wean her! I’m not letting her milk BP so that I don’t have to milk twice a day. I only milk BP once a day anyway, have only been milking her once a day for months. I’ve had Glory Bee separated from her for months other than when I had her over at Skip’s the last time and I sent Glory Bee with her. They’ve been apart again two months since then.
On September 14, 2011 at 6:13 am
Rose H says:
Happy belated birthday to Glory Bee. Let’s just hope she get the message REAL SOON about being weaned. :cowsleep:
So pleased for you that (fingers crossed) she’s being a co-operative sweetie too!
On September 14, 2011 at 6:54 am
Granny Trace says:
Oh sweet Glory Bee! Happy Happy Birthday!
I just love your stories and photos!
Thank you
Granny Trace
http://www.grannytracescrapsandsquares.com
On September 14, 2011 at 7:23 am
Chickenlady62 says:
I just love your photos , especially the very last one with just the eye and ear peeking out! :cowsleep: too cute. Good luck with the weaning struggles. Thank God chickens don’t require weaning or I’d be in soooo much trouble! :heart:
TinaH
On September 14, 2011 at 7:52 am
cabynfevr says:
Happy Belated Birthday to the little (?) Miss! Any word on if Mama is with calf?
On September 14, 2011 at 10:02 am
CarrieJ says:
I think moving her out of the goat yard was a good call. I saw her body slam one of them into the gate opening. She didn’t even look back and apologize.
On September 14, 2011 at 10:51 am
JeannieB says:
Do you know of a 12 step program for large baby cows?? Must be hard to give up that sweet milk!
On September 14, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Glenda says:
Well, good. It is amazing how long they can be off the cow and still remember to nurse. I have enough land that I can move Willow’s weaned calves a long way from her…or sell them.
That helps. She is really more attached to them than they are to her especially once they start enjoying grain.
It has been fun to see BP and GB’s progress.
I am just milking three times a week now.
On September 15, 2011 at 7:06 am
Flowerpower says:
Poor Glory Bee…she loves her mommy! If BP is with child Glory Bee will surely get weaned by then..Maybe not.
Happy Birthday Glory Bee! :happyflower:
On September 15, 2011 at 10:58 am
Window On The Prairie says:
YIKES. Ok, here’s the deal. That heifer will always want to nurse from her Mom, doesn’t matter how old she gets. BP will only butt her away when she has her next calf. Doesn’t matter how long they are apart though, she will always want to nurse from her MOM. And if BP is pregnant, isn’t it an extra drain on her to be nursing a heifer too? Calves can be weaned as early as 4 months, and usually no later than 9 months. I know they like to be together, but at this point, it’s doing BP more harm than good. She’s making a baby calf after all.
On September 15, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Ms.Becky says:
she was the most beautiful baby ever. I loved looking at her photos and watching her grow up. It’s amazing that she a year old already. what a squirt. I’m glad that she’s not completely separated from her mommy…
Do we know for certain whether or not BP is preggers now???
On September 15, 2011 at 5:32 pm
tribalcime says:
beautiful photos . I enjoy reading the stories of the animals .
On September 15, 2011 at 6:22 pm
lavenderblue says:
I always thought that eventually the mom would start running the baby, or not so baby, in this case, off when it was time for them to be weaned. Especially when Mom is expecting. As I recall, being pregnant with one and nursing another kind of hurts. I know, I know, TMI.
On September 15, 2011 at 10:34 pm
mahapundit says:
I joined this forum because I read an article by somebody who said she bought a cow and finds the cow lot of work. She milks the cow only once a day. Now I can’t find that article. I could not comment before because I was not a member and when I became a member and could post I can’t find the article. Cows cost money and the owner milks only once a day. I think the owner of the cow is the owner of the site. She bought the cow only because she wants material for this blog and she can afford to maintain the blog. But if I were to buy the cow I’d milk the cow at least four times a day because any less milking is under milking the cow. I’d sell its milk and try to recover the cost of the cow. Keeping a cow is not that much work. But it makes me sick when the owners ask questions like what’d happen if we do not milk the cow or milk it only once a week and not even once a day. I ‘d read the comments on that article. Every body agreed with the article and said that they too milk their cow only once a day. They let the milk f0 rot and that will cause the cow to get mastitis. If that happens the cow will not produce milk. Lots of people have cows whose cows produce milk only in three quarters or even two quarters of the udder. I too have had cows all my life and I’m surprised when people buy the cows and do not want to milk. They probably think of cow as a pet like they would think of a Dog or a cat as a pet. Only Dog or a cat would be a cheaper pet than a cow. Even a Goat would be a cheaper pet. You could afford to buy a goat and not use it to make money by selling its milk. I found the name of the owner of this site. Suzanne McMinn. She shows a cow sucking the milk of another cow. To her it is fun. If I’d two cows they would not be drinking each other’s milk.
On September 24, 2011 at 5:25 pm
mschrief says:
mahapundit, are you an idiot? Are you a moron? Ok, you’re probably an 8 year old using Mom’s computer.
I think Ms. McMinn knows loads more than you ever will about managing cows and calves.
Now, go back to watching ICarly and leave us alone.
On September 26, 2011 at 9:58 am
CarrieJ says:
mahapundit…Suzanne knows what she is doing. She has plenty of resources and has done plenty of research. Guess what? BP is happy and healthy. There is plenty of other material on this website besides milking a cow once a day or 10 times a day (or whatever it is you are trying to say she should be doing). She actually started with milking Clover, her goat. Which was funnier than anything. Those were written LONG before she got BP and started working with her first cow. So, that fact IS, BP is one of the loves of her life, she keeps BP happy and healthy, BP keeps her in cheese and ice cream. This blog is NOT all about cows…maybe you should do YOUR research before you make yourself look like an idiot.
Oh, and by the way…try selling your raw milk in the State of Washington without a license and you will probably find yourself heavily fined/penalized. Then where would she get her cheese…..? So that was an extremely bad piece of advice you have given.
I think you should read every blog here about Glory Bee…Glory Bee has a mind of her own and has been difficult to wean/control since day one. I’d like to see YOU try and manage Glory Bee since you seem to imply your are some sort of a cow “expert”. Oh…and write a blog about it because we ALL would love to see how that works out for you. Go back and read about Clover too….that is some good entertainment, and once again ISN’T all about getting a cow, milking it, writing a blog and profitting from it.
You have completely missed the point of what CITR is all about. Oh and watch what you say…she has some obsessed fans here who have learned a lot from her trials and errors. Go back and read about the time that goat magazine stole one of her pictures and printed it without giving her credit or paying her for it. It wasn’t pretty….and she did get her apology 🙂
I have to agree with Mschrief…you sir/madam are a moron.
On September 26, 2011 at 11:56 am
bbkrehmeyer says:
mahapundit.
what are you some kind of a brain damaged idiot? stupid person.you don”t milk a cow three or four times a day. go bach to 4 th grade and learn about animal husbandry. (that doesn.t mean you marry animals.but judging by your comment,you probably would hahaha….
On May 23, 2012 at 2:58 pm