Post by dunderi on May 28, 2014 17:09:44 GMT -5
So this morning, Anna and Sophie are doing the paddock waltz, and it turns out to be Anna that is in heat.
part of me says "dang it" because i thought i'd missed her cycle, and was going to wait until maybe august to breed her.
BUT, we're also hoping to move about then, and i don't know how easy it is to get an AI guy down there, let alone one with a 100% hit rate like i have now.
and i do the thinking about it, I'm hoping to get myself knocked up in the first week or so of july when DH is home from the mine, which means if i breed her now i'll be about 7 months when she calves - which is still able to manage - and by the time i'm ready to drop my own calf i'll be able to have a couple of fosters on her, and I won't be worrying about her not being milked while i'm having a baby.
now her last calf (5 months?) nuffy, is doing splendidly. I may keep her to put beef over, or i may freezer her, depending on when we move and how much paddock there is at the new place and whether or not we need beef. she's the santa gertrudis cross.
the question with Anna is, do i do the same mix again, or do i breed to a guernsey, and pray that the heifer gods smile on me?
i suppose i figure that if she has a bully, when he's old enough i can have him cover sophie, and then put him in the freezer. and if it's a heifer, then she'll be kept on as a milker, as that will bring me to a total of 3 cows, which should be just right for house milk, foster calves, cheese, pigs, chooks and dogs etc.
so i'm thinking i take the guernsey gamble.... or should i go the reliable SG beef again??
i also took some video of Anna and Sophie - it's not great, i took it on my phone, trying to be covert through a glass door (right before feeding time) as Anna is a notoriously hard-to-detect cycle girl, but it shows that behaviours (other than bellowing) that a cow displays when she's in standing heat.
i'll get it on my channel and share it here too if people are interested.