Being a 4-Her for so many years, there are a few “projects” I’ve yet to give up: flowers, photography and, most notably, dairy. When I moved to northern Wisconsin a few years back, some of my cows came with me shortly after. A few milking cows stayed at my parents place, payment for feeding them all these years, but the four heifers I had moved north. I had two Holsteins, Tasha and Dana, and two Ayrshires, Greta and Marnie. The Holsteins are not fairing so well. One refused to have a calf until she was more than three years old. She just doesn’t milk. In Nate’s barn the cows pay their own way or they don’t stay. Dana hurt her back in a stall after she freshened and hasn’t been the same. The only thing saving both of them is that they keep having calves.
I’ve had more success with Greta and Marnie. I have to admit Greta is my favorite if only because she goes back to my old show cow, Willie. She’s also given me two heifer calves and is just pretty to look at. Marnie is pretty much the opposite of Greta in appearance: short and fat. But, she milks well, is pleasant to work around and keeps having calves.
After having her first calf in June of last year, Marnie bred back right away and was due May 2. The day came and went with Marnie looking as fat and dry as ever. By June we were really worried, but she wasn’t acting sick like there was a problem. Nate swore up and down he wrote her breeding date down correctly, and she could not have gotten near a bull in the freestall barn. The vet was out for pregnancy checks the second week in June, so we had him ultrasound Marnie. Yes, there was a calf. Yes, it looked good and was alive. We would just have to wait. As time went on we came to the realization someone didn’t write down the second breeding date (first time it has ever happened since the farm has been using artificial insemination).
On Tuesday I finally got the happy news: Marnie had a calf, and it was even a heifer. In Nate’s words, she is only about 50 pounds and “cute.” Now comes the tough part: what to name the little bugger. Tradition dictates she will have an “M” name like her mother and grandmother, Marita. Meanwhile, I’ll be combing the breeding records trying to figure out who her daddy is so I can register her. We only keep a few Ayrshire bulls in the tank, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. If all else fails, maybe one of the daytime talk show hosts would invite her for a paternity test on the show.
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