Good News/Bad News

from Layne & Beth Klein .....We've had some good news and some bad news when it comes to Sassy and her impending birth.   First off, Sassy had a normal pregnancy and all signs pointed to a healthy birth of her calf.  On October 6, Layne woke in the middle of the night knowing he needed to check on Sassy.  Much to all of our disappointment he delivered twin bulls, both born dead at 4:30am that Monday morning.  Twins are not that uncommon on the Farm, but delivering so close to the due date meant that each were full size, weighing approx. 80-100 lbs. each.  Our focus immediately went to helping Sassy recover from a less than perfect delivery.  She started off her lactation (milking) not at her best.  Cows having twins usually have a difficult time getting rid of all that they carried in the Uterus.  Sassy has over the last month slowly been getting back on track, recovering from the birth, and gaining on her milk production.  In a few months we will be looking to breed her again, hoping for another pregnancy with better results than this last time.  Living on a Farm requires us to deal with life as well as death; the good right along with the bad.  Now the she is feeling better, Sassy will continue to report on the happenings around the Farm once again.  Stay tuned to updates from our favorite cow as she lets you know all she sees from a cow's point of view.

Eden has Girl! Harvesting has Started.

Hi Everyone,  Sassy here again.  I was thinking the other day while out in the pasture that fall was finally coming, and here we are feeling very hot again.  My hooves and ankles feel swollen from the heat.  Thank goodness, Layne and Jake take care of us pregnant ladies so well. Today another girl left the dry cow barn to have a baby.  Eden delivered a healthy baby girl today.  Take a look at the pictures, she is just beautiful.  Eden will now join the cows in the milking barn where she will be milked into a bucket which will then be given to her baby for the first few days.  After that, her milk will be put into the milk tank, just like everyone else.  The baby will then be placed on formula.

Just born!  Eden licking her baby.

Harvesting is in full swing as well at the farm.  Just the other day, I was grazing in the cow lot and out came Jake driving the chopper right near where I was eating.  He was busy chopping hay.  I was able to get a picture of chopper for you to see.  They are all done filling the second silo on the farm.  Next up is chopping corn which will be filled in the tallest silo.  Finally, in November, they will shell all the high moisture corn and place it in the blue silo. 

Hay and Corn Chopper

Finally, I noticed a lot of repairs going on around the farm and I just realized that it's almost September and Fall, and Fall=Harvest Weekends and Open House the entire month of October.  I caught Layne and Matt today repairing the heifer barn beams.  Matt also finished and posted the corn maze signs.  Beth told me the other day that we now have 2 corn mazes.  I found out Open House will be the first weekend in October and harvest weekends will be every other weekend in October.

Repairing the heifer barn

It's ready and open...and FREE!!!

NAME MY BABY!!

It's Me..Sassy..just saying HI!

You know, I'm having trouble coming up with names to name my baby when he or she is born.  I asked Beth and she suggested I have a contest to name my baby.  From August 29th-September 30th, on this blog in the comment section, please suggest a name for my baby.  They can be either boy or girl, but have to start with the letter S.  In order to keep cow families together, we always name the baby the same first letter as the mother's name.  When you comment, just leave your first and last name and your name suggestion. (you can also email your name suggestions to kleinline1@aol.com so we have your email address to contact you if you're the winner)  Everyone can each enter twice, once for a boy name and once for a girl name.  The Klein's will choose their top 5 boy names and top 5 girl names.  On Open House weekend, we will have open voting from the public to choose the top boy name and top girl name.  Those two people will win $20.00 gift cards to the farm store.  When I have my calf, his or her name will be revealed first to this blog.  If you decide to enter, please check back on October 4th to find out who won.

Sassy the Cow

Hi, my name is Sassy the Cow and I have my own blog.  The farm decided to give me a spot on this blog because I'm loved and special.  No, seriously...I am special.  Jake Klein, who happens to be my owner told me so just the other day.  That was right before he put me out to pasture and stopped milking me.  I am pregnant with my 2nd calf.  I was bred in January and was milked in the barn along with the rest of the cows until the first week in August.  At that point, Jake and Layne dried me up and put me in the dry cow barn.  So you ask, how do you "dry" a cow like me up?  They stopped milking me gradually.  I was only milked for one time a day for about a week, instead of the twice a day like the other cows in the barn.  After a while, my milk stopped coming in and I was moved to the dry cow barn until I give birth. 

You're probably wondering (especially if you have visited my farm) how did I get pregnant? Well, the farmers don't keep any bulls on the property because it is just to dangerous and if they did, the gene pool would just get too small.  In the cattle world, variety is the spice of life, so to say.  I was bred to a bull named Outside back in January, via artificial insemination. My gestation period, just like a human is 9 months. 

So, here I stand, watching the world pass by and that's why I am finding the time to "blog".  Other happens on the farm that I can report are an explosion of baby fowl.  This summer, we've had 4 baby peacocks born, 15 baby ducks and lots of baby chickens.  You can see all these cute babies walking around on your visit to the farm.  Feel free to stop by the dry cow barn to say hello to me as well.  I am the red and white holstein cow who is just ohh so friendly.

Hi, I'm Sassy the Cow

 

 

Up Close and Personal!  Yes, I am friendly!

My home...aka The Dry Cow Barn