Well, today we are talking breeding: Pros and Cons
There are several ways to manage breedings on your homestead. You can AI your animals which means you KNOW exactly when the animal is bred. But then there are concerns with the side effects that can cause on the mother and the off spring. You can hand breed your animals. Again, you KNOW the due date IF conception takes place. The biggest challenge with this method is being sure that your timing is correct. And then you have the "let the boys live with the girls" option. This means that nature will take its course and as long as the animals are not sterile, you will one day have a healthy baby born. And that is the con: one day. When the boy lives with the girls, you NEVER know the due date. You have watch your girls to figure out they are bred and hope you are ready when the baby comes.
On our homestead, we let the boys run with the girls. This means we manage three flock of sheep with three rams. We manage two herds of goats with two bucks. And we manage one herd of bovine with one bull.
We don't always keep our bucks with the does. We do put the boys in with the does around September and they will stay together until December. This works well and we have a good idea of when the does will freshen.
One of our rams does really well with no girls. So with Dodge, we put the ewes in when we want them bred. We normally have them with him for 8 weeks. We have another ram, Blue, who goes nuts without at least three ewes. So we keep three ewes with him year around. And yes, they have to be the same three ewes. We never know when these ewes are going to lamb although I do keep a close eye on them. When their udders start to develop and they are getting 'fat', we know they are close, but it is still a surprise when the lambs are born.
Cows are a completely different story. We have a bull that is half Jersey, a quarter Dexter and a quarter Belted Galloway. He is a 'cute' little guy. And he is young. We have him with our two Jersey Heifers that are large for their breed.
This past Tuesday, while we were at the vet, we were discussing breeding options for our Jersey cows. My son kept saying that the cows were going to freshen any day. But to be perfectly honest, he has been saying that for about five weeks. I had lost hope and told the vet that point blank. Yes, I felt sure the cows were not bred and most certainly, they were not due 'any day'. On Thursday I went to tea with a friend. While I was at the tea house, the cell phone rang. It was home. Since the boys know not to call unless it is important, I answered the phone. "Any day" arrived! Yep, our older Jersey cow freshened (gave birth) to a BEAUTIFUL heifer!
I could not help but laugh. My smart, homeschooled son, was right on target! He knew. And yes, I called the vet and left her a message.
Since I was not home for this big event, I let my son name the calf. Her name is Lilly. Here is her picture. It is a perfect name for a perfect little heifer! She gets her color from her daddy!
Were we ready for Lilly? Not 100%. That is the bad part of homestead surprises. I needed calcium for Laurie Belle, but not just any calcium. Since we had lost one of our lovely Jerseys two years ago to milk fever, I did give the vet a call right away. The vet had what we needed even though the feed store did not. I'm blessed with an excellent vet! Other than the calcium, we were ready. We picked up the correct feed for Laurie Belle and Jasmine (our other Jersey that is due any day). We had perennial peanut hay at the farm. We had Calf Manna here too. The boys gave Laurie Belle molasses water as an energy treat after giving birth to Lilly. And we have now wormed Laurie Belle with Eprinox. Yes, we do fecals and in fact, Laurie Belle's was negative, but the stress of birth and nursing normally brings worms on and since we can't drink her milk for several days due to the colostrum, it is a good time to worm her.
We have an appointment for the vet to test both cows for diseases that can be passed on to people through the milk and we are done. Everything has been done that needs to be done and we are well on our way of having fresh milk on the farm again for the next year. Fresh milk from our naturally fed Jerseys. Life is GOOD!
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