Calling for Fiona

Fiona

I can’t believe I haven’t posted a Fiona status report since her birth! This calf is painfully darling. And it looks like she’s going to grow up to be a dairy cow!

I was curious how the genetic mix of dairy (Daisy) and Angus (Sir Baby) would manifest. Dairy cows are taller and bonier than Angus ~ their energy goes to producing enormous quantities of milk (Daisy is considered a “low-producer” at six gallons a day at her peak) while Angus cows are shorter and stockier ~ they produce enough milk to raise a healthy calf but their udders are much smaller and the bulk of their energy goes toward muscle (meat).

Fiona has Sir Baby’s eyes, as mlaiuppa so astutely noticed right off the bat, but everything else about her is Daisy. She is so tall, compared with Angus calves her age, and has the delicate dairy cow face. Her little teats are not so little when compared with an Angus calf, and she has loose, flappy skin where her udder will be, which leads me to believe she will have an udder like Daisy! Hooray!

Behaviorally, Fiona has followed the pattern I noticed with Baby and Frisco when they were young calves. They let me pet and fondle them for about a week after birth, then went through a stage where they were skittish around people and only wanted to interact with other cows. And then, after about a month of that, it was like a switch was flipped and they became pets.

Fiona followed this pattern to the day. She was a cuddly newborn, then seemed to trust only the other bovines (which did not concern me as I’d noticed the same with Baby and Frisco) and then one day about two weeks ago, she trotted up to me and was like, “LET’S BE FRIENDS!!!!”

Now, every morning after I milk Daisy and open the gate to let everyone out to graze, Fiona trots over to me and nuzzles my face and licks my arms and shoulders and neck and as I rub her down.

Her tongue is still small enough that her licks are a gentle exfoliation – a grown cow’s tongue is so rough it will practically take off a layer of skin. I only let Daisy “groom” me when I’m in jeans and a long shirt, otherwise it hurts too much.
But Fiona’s kisses I will take for as long as I can.

The Farmily Tree

The Farmily is getting big. I’ve had so many requests for a tree, so here is my attempt: in order of appearance, including year of birth + year joining the Farmily. Click on each name to go to a photo/post on each member.

The Farmily:
Eli ~ Cat ~ born 2006, joined 2006
Charlie ~ Coyote ~ born 2007, joined 2007
Ranger ~ Quarterhorse ~ born 1999, joined 2007
Chloe ~ Border Collie/Mountain Cur Hound ~ born 2008, joined 2008
{mother: Pita, father: John, see extended Farmily}
Daisy ~ Brown Swiss/Jersey Cow ~ born 2006, joined 2009
Sir Baby ~ Black Angus Bull ~ born 2009, joined 2009 {adopted mother: Daisy}
Flicka ~ Quarterhorse ~ born 2006, joined 2009
Frisco ~ Holstein/Brown Swiss Steer ~ born 2009 {mother: Daisy}
Rue ~ Cat ~ born 2003, joined 2010
Mushy ~ Cat ~ born 2010, joined 2010 {mother: Rue, father: presumably Eli}
Kettle ~ Cat ~ born 2010, joined 2010 {mother: Rue, father: presumably Eli}
Fiona ~ Brown Swiss/Angus Calf ~ born 2011 {mother: Daisy, father: Sir Baby}

The Extended Farmily:
Ricardo ~ Goose ~ age unknown ~ RIP 2011
Houdini ~ Quarterhorse ~ 1981-2011
Sunshine ~ Paint Horse ~ born 1985
Rocky ~ Angus Bull ~ born 2004
Ervin ~ Angus Bull ~ born 2006, joined 2009
John ~ Border Collie ~ born 2000
Pita ~ Mountain Cur Hound ~ born 2006
Black ~ Cat ~ born 2010
Blue ~ Cat born 2010

So Here’s The Dealio ~

Admission: when I write posts, I pretend that no one will ever read them; it’s the only way I can do it. And I guess I half-believe it at this point because I had no idea there would be so many questions about details!

So, to answer:
Re/ EMT ~ I’ll be bringing my pager with me and keeping it charged via solar as well. I’ll actually be closer than the ambulance to any calls that might occur on the mountain, the mountain highway, and the National Forest. I won’t make it to any calls that occur in town but will be able to help on anything that takes place on the mountain (and it sounds like the bulk of summer calls are up there, anyway).

Re/ the Farmily ~ Ricardo is not coming to the mountain, his favorite cow is one of the Special Project cows that stay down here all summer. As for the rest of them, it should go without saying that I would not be doing this if I thought it would traumatize any of them or put them in any greater danger than they are down here. Duh, right?

I think they’ll love it. The cows and horses will have knee-high grass and no bothersome flies. Eli has moved with me three times, Charlie twice, and Chloe once. They’ve never shown distress with any move and I believe that new experiences are really good for them ~ it allows them to use their brains in a different way.

I will be taking a camp trailer up the mountain and I pulled it right next to my house back in April, so that all the animals could have plenty of time to get used to it and associate it with “home.” All have spent much time in the trailer over the past months and it’s just an extension of home at this point, and will be a measure of consistency up there.

I will be setting up a fenced area on the mountain for Charlie (and Chloe) though they’ll also be allowed freedom there, too. The fenced area I have down here is not to keep Charlie from running away, it’s to keep him from getting shot by strangers or the ignorant, and to keep him from hurting anyone (he’s not demonstrated aggression against others, but just to be safe). He’s a coyote, but he is no more likely to “run away” than Chloe is. Which is to say, not at all.

Rue, Kettle, and Mushy have never roamed further than 100 yards from the house since they moved in. They’re homebodies. I expect that to continue up there, too. I hope Eli does not get eaten by a bear on the mountain, just as I hope he does not get hit by a car or killed by a pair of raccoons down here.

Mike once said it perfectly ~ their home is where you are.
Can I get an “Awwwww”?!

Re/ the baño ~ Outhouse!