Cow Q&A

☆ March 9, 2010

This was originally (similarly) posted on The Daily Coyote in October 2009; I am reposting here for the sake of continuity & keeping essential Daisy details on this site!

What kind of cow is Daisy?
Daisy is 3/4 Brown Swiss and 1/4 Jersey.

Though the baby bull calf has seven names, is one of them most prominent?
Unfortunately, no.  Mike and I cycle through all of them at random, and most of the time, I just call him Baby.  Which is now what he answers to, and he trots over when I call out “Baby.” My soon-to-be 2000-pound Baby….

Is Daisy pregnant?
Daisy was bred (pregnant) via a Holstein bull when I bought her from the dairy and she is due to calve in December 2009.  Sad, sad days are upon us, for next week I must wean Baby and stop milking – this gives Daisy a rest period before she calves so she can focus on the baby inside her.

To make the weaning less traumatic, I’ve been separating Daisy and Baby at night for the past few months – side by side in adjoining sections of the corrals, with just a simple pole fence between them.  This way, they can see, smell, communicate, and even touch eachother, but Baby cannot suckle.

When it comes time to wean, I will give Daisy full run of the pasture and most of the corrals and put Baby in with Houdini, Mike’s 26-year-old horse (and the horse that peed on me, if you’ve read my book), who is in another section of the corrals getting special treatment (extra food, better shelter, etc).  Daisy and Baby will still have through-the-pole-fence contact, and Baby and Houdini will have the opportunity for some quality male-bonding.

Why are you keeping Baby a bull?  Don’t you know bulls are dangerous? You’re going to get hurt. I know someone who was gored by a bull.”
While I appreciate the concern, these emails remind me of the emails I got two years ago stating: “that coyote is going to kill your cat and eat your face off in the night.” Charlie hasn’t eaten my face off because a) I never forget he’s a coyote, and b) I spend a ton (TON!) of time working with him.  Likewise, I never forget Daisy is a 1,200-pound animal.  For as sweet as she is, she could give me a black eye with her tail while swatting at a fly if I didn’t watch myself.  She’s angelic but she could break my bones.  And the same goes with the bull.

This Spring, one of Mike’s bulls tested sterile, a fatal flaw in a herd bull.  Since Mike was rather overwhelmed with the idea of having to buy a new bull immediately, I suggested he lease a neighbor’s bull for the summer and then use Baby.  Baby will initially breed heifers the summer of 2010 (”heifers” = females that have not had a calf, like “maiden;” once they have a calf, they are “cows”).  Once he reaches his full size and weight, he will breed cows.

Do you groom Daisy and Baby?
Yes!  They love being brushed.  It’s the only time I ever see them being rude to eachother – they will push eachother out of the way for more one-on-one time with the brush.

Do they have shelter?
Yes!  Though I must say, these animals are tough.  When I first moved to Wyoming, I had Mike’s two horses in the pasture at the house I rented.  One day a huge storm blew in. I led the horses into the garage so they would be out of the weather.  The horses were as baffled as my neighbors.  That said, all the animals have shelter at the corrals, and one section is fully enclosed and heatable.  This is where Daisy will have her calf and where I will milk during the cold winter and wet spring months.

If you have more cattle Q’s, leave them for me in the comment section and I’ll do another round ~ in the meantime, you can find more pictures of Daisy and Baby here, here, and here!

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