Happy Valentine's Day

Mr. & Mrs. D



Little Man




Little Miss


 From all of us have a great Valentines's Day!



Happy Week

We hope everyone has a great week ahead.

Two mommies are better than one..

Usually, mommas don't have an issue of having enough milk for their babies.  But sometimes things happen.  A momma doesn't take to her baby.  She just doesn't have enough milk.  Sometimes the cows don't survive a delivery.  There are many things that can alter the natural course of how the babies get fed.

Enter the enormous bottle full of warm milk, and two kids who fight about who gets to feed Stinker!  His momma is a first time momma and she just wasn't getting him what he needed.  We gave her a shot to help stimulate her hormones to make more milk.  Then we started giving him a supplement bottle once a day.  That way  he nurses off his momma the rest of the time.  This way he's getting what he needs. And she is still bonding and raising him.  One bottle is 3 pints of milk re placer.  You can get this from your local feed store.  Last night he didn't drink all of his bottle. So we are going to start weaning him off of it.  We think he is finally getting what he needs from momma.  Yay!

Happy Thursday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

All the cuteness that comes with calving...

That our red heeler is still with us...

That I have these two babes!
They make me want to be the best I know I can be.


Have a great day!

Signs of a birth

We have had several calves hit the ground lately. We are almost halfway done now.   And it's tiring, exciting and so many other emotions wrapped up.  Cows are pregnant for 283 to 286 days, depending on their breed.  So once they are close we get them moved to start keeping and eye on them.  Many of our friends have asked how we know when they are going to calve.  So I took a few photos.  I hope I don't offend anyone.

this cow had her calf 5 days after this photo.
sadly we have a cow twice this size and she's not due till April
she did not like me taking a photo of her from behind, poor thing.

this udder isn't ready yet.  each nipple has a quarter and only her back 2 quarters are full
the day she calved they filled out and "rocketed" out, almost pointing out to the sides.

cows have a discharge when they are preparing to calve.
as they get closer that discharge gets heavier and more frequent.

We only have 3 more cows due this week.  Then we get about a 10 day window.  Which will be a nice break.  And then the most precious of girls will calve, Little Mans Simmy heifer he showed last year.  I may sleep with her!  I don't leave the farm unless Mr. M is home.  And then I'm not gone for more than 2 hours.  It sounds like a lot to some, but you wait months and months.  And you only get one chance to have a live, healthy baby.  I hope everyone has a great week ahead. 

Recipe #2: Chicken Vegetable Alfredo Soup

Thanks to Pampered Chef for my sons favorite soup recipe!

All your ingredients you'll need.

I like to cut the broccoli down to put in the chopper.

I like to use the chopper, 1 cup of broccoli.



then i use the chopper for the 1/2 cup of carrots.



then i chop the onion with a knife, 1/2 cup of onion

yummy garlic; 1 garlic clove minced.

toss the broccoli, carrots, onion  and garlic in a stock pot.

dice up the red bell pepper, 1/2 cup.

toss in the red bell pepper and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
Cover; reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

while that's boiling i dice up 3 chicken breasts that i pre-cooked.

snip some basil, set aside. add the chicken and Alfredo sauce to the pot.
simmer 5 minutes or until heated through.  remove from the heat.

and there's the finished yumminess!

ladle into bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve with fresh buttered bread.
i do double this recipe for our family of 4 because the original recipe only yields 4 servings.
ENJOY!

The fun of babies..

This was our first calf of the season. 
He's full of spit and vinegar.



This little man is only 2 days old in this photo.
You have to taste everything.




This little guy is only a day old here.
I think he likes the bath he's getting.




The calves always find the dogs interesting.
We take the dogs with us when we check cows so everyone gets introduced right away.


 We only have 4 more to go in the next week and then there's a small break before we start over.  And sadly we will be breeding at the rate time is flying by.  I hope you all are having a good week.  Take care...