Washing tails in a bucket of soapy water.

This spring’s Dexter calves are growing beautifully & it’s now time to take care of some registration details.  We had to get the heifers’ ears tattooed for ID as required by the ADCA, and also pull tail hair to send in for some DNA testing.  Yesterday was the big day for the girls, so they were haltered & brought into the barn stall.  We started with the DNA samples, since after tattooing everybody is an inky mess.  If you’ve never done any DNA testing & aren’t sure what’s involved, read on.  It’s not complicated, and can give you some important information about your cows.

A clear water rinse for Ebby's tail.

What & Why We’re Testing

Trixie is a red heifer out of a red sire & a black dam.  To register a calf as red, either both parents must be red or at least one must be tested & proven to not carry dun.  Since neither of those is the case, Trixie must be tested to prove she is red.  I’m also testing her for dun, to see if she also inherited Ladybell’s dun gene or not.  I’m color testing Ebony as well…just because I like to know what color genes we’ve got to work with.  She is black, and I know she’ll have a red gene from Rousseau, so it’s just a question of whether it’s an E+ or e, and whether or not she got Kiera’s dun gene.  This way I’ll know what possible color calves I’ll be able to get out of these girls when they grow up. (more…)

The Li'l Man lookin' good.

It’s been a crazy busy couple of weeks!  Brenton graduated from high school, as valedictorian, Friday June 17.  We made a road trip to west KY to trade non-breeding Noel back to her original owner in exchange for a half-sister of hers.  I had a fun “horse show” day with a small group at a friend’s farm.  Sierra went to the vet for a little surgery, because 5 kittens is quite enough.  And to top it all off, Mace’s shenanigans have required quite a bit of attention also.

So proud of my boy! I can't believe he'll be off to college already.

We had leased Mace to some folks nearby for breeding their 2 Dexter cows.  The wife had contacted me, saying the cows were bred & we could come get Mace, so we were planning to pick him up sometime the week after the AGM.  We got home Sunday night, and early Monday morning she called, rather troubled, asking if we could come for him that day.  Their neighbor had put a small herd of Angus cows in the field adjoining theirs, a few of which apparently weren’t bred & were calling to Mace through the fence.  He had jumped the 4′ fence & proceeded to chase the Angus cows around, trying his best.  Fortunately for Mace, the Angus BULL didn’t care who was fooling with the girls that he was supposed to have bred!  And fortunately for the rest of us, neither did the neighbor.  They were able to get a halter on him & lead…or maybe drag…him down the road & up their driveway to get him back in the pasture where he belonged.  Needless to say, we left as soon as we could, to prevent a repeat! (more…)

Ladybell & new heifer, Trixie, by the electric rope & vinyl perimeter fence.

Jeff has been working on fencing the last couple weeks.  We’re finally getting the front yard enclosed for more pasture….yeeaaa!  Then there’s also some existing fence that needs redone, as we’ve found it to be inadequate…hence the calf tricks.  Tricks that I’m tired of!  So, if you’re wondering what kind of fencing you need for Dexters, here are some things we’ve learned.

The ”Old” Fence

When we started fencing on this property, we decided to fence with braided electric rope, in combination with a vinyl product called Equiline.  Jeff didn’t want to have to worry so much about grass & weeds gettting on the electric, and the Equiline was cheaper.  We put up a 5-strand fence, two of those being electric.  The lower electric is at nose-height for Dexter calves, the upper around nose-height for adults.  Then there are 3 strands of Equiline, bottom, middle & top.  This gives us a strand below the lower electric to keep bitty calves in, and the top strand is high enough for the horses.  But there’s enough space under the electric that the animals will graze under it, as they can push the Equiline out of the way.  (more…)

Our new baby girl...not quite dry yet.

It’s been quite a busy week!  Tuesday morning I had a dentist appointment AND an eye Dr. appointment.  I got back home about 1:00 & looked in on Keira before going in the house.  I had her put up at the barn, because she was looking close to calving.  She was standing there, looking back at me like there was nothing in the world going on….and it really looked like there wasn’t.  I went in & did a few things before returning to the barn to finish cleaning things up in the parlor from morning milking.  At 2:00, as I walked back toward the barn from the house, I could see a small black something laying on the ground beside Keira.  Sure enough, in the short space of an hour she had delivered a darling little HEIFER.  Yiippeeee!! Finally a heifer!!  Though, actually she’s not that little…she’s a hefty 60 lbs.  WOW! (more…)

The view from our patio door.

Aaahhh….sun, sand & ocean waves.  I’m writing from the beach in Florida this week.  Jeff’s corporate meetings for the hospital mean a mini-vacation for us.  Gotta love it!  Listening to the ocean sounds, in my imagination I’m on a ship…we’re being boarded by pirates…no, this IS a pirate ship…and it’s going down…or is it?  The crew is bailing furiously…trying to repair the breach…the pirate Captain is screaming orders, trying to maintain control.  I’m not hanging around to see what happens…I gotta jump into…Whoa, back into reality!  Boy those waves are mesmerizing.  Or maybe I’ve just watched Pirates of the Caribbean too many times with my kids.

Accomodations on the corporate dime can be rough.

Whatever the case, reality tells me I need to get off the PDCA ship.  Things are very wrong there.  Whether or not the ship is sinking remains to be seen, but at least in my opinion, they’re totally losing their credibility as a reputable Dexter registry.  Although there are a few Board members trying to do the right thing, they get out-voted by the majority.  There are things going on at the leadership level that the general membership ought to be made aware of, yet I doubt the leadership will be forthcoming about their activity.  “Member driven” is recited like a mantra, but I’ve come to believe that it’s a farce.  So here are a few recent happenings you may be interested in knowing about. (more…)