Birthday and First Barnyard Baby

Katy Turns 28: I had a good birthday this year and even had a little party to celebrate. We had a big knertz game which I ended up winning, so that was pretty fun. We had a little cake and ice cream for me on my actual birthday and then did my family party the next day complete with cake pops, lots of treats, cafe rio, and of course knertz. After the kiddos went to bed we went to an Imagine Dragons concert that was reserved just for friends and fans. Nate was room mates with their lead singer so we got to listen to some good music and catch up with old friends.

                                     Flower from Nate and my visiting teachers and making my birthday cake   

 Making my wish and cutting the cake with the birthday knife!

 Happy Birthday with my cake pops - Nate was so sweet and took the time to make them for me. I had forgotten how much time they take to make but they sure are yummy!

 

Me and Em outside after the concert

Imagine Dragons

Comfrey: I really wanted to order comfrey last year but it got pushed to this spring. I ordered 3 two year old plants and they threw in 5 root cuttings so we have a total of 8 comfrey plants. They said there should be new growth in about a week so I'm looking forward to that on the older plants. It is great for healing, animal fodder, and fertilizing. It grows really fast too so hopefully we have enough to make some good compost tea for the garden this year.

 Chloe and Avenlea in front of the newly planted comfrey

Betty and Her Baby: I went out to feed Betty her grain and do "the routine" when I noticed a tiny little brown cow in the straw bed we had prepared. He was still a little bit wet and wobbly but healthy and already trying to run and explore. He is so tiny and cute! I gave Betty all the warm molasses water she wanted and she seems to be doing great. But Betty is about 10 times more mean. She wouldn't leave his side all day, which I guess is a good thing since she's being a good mom. That only meant I couldn't milk the little bit 12 hours after like I had planned.

Betty with her bull calf

 After debate and despair that I would never be able to milk Betty, we decided to give her 3 days to get over her funk and just keep trying the same routine we had been doing. Well it worked for a bit! She came in just like normal the next morning at 7am and I milked out a whole 2 cups of milk after spilling and missing the bucket every other squirt or so. She wouldn't come in at night so I just tried the next morning and got a whole quart! I was even able to milk her last night too, but she got really mad when I tried to milk a certain teat and spilled the whole bucket.

cute baby boy

 So that brings us to this morning. Its freezing out and snowing, I walk out to give her the grain and hopefully milk more than I have and she won't come into the barn. I've gone out twice, once at 7 then again at 8:30 and she still won't come in. She hasn't eaten hay since yesterday morning and I know she's hungry but she still won't come in. I plan on trying again after I take Chloe to preschool and Avenlea goes down for her nap. I think the difference is the baby is awake this time. The other 3 times little Prince Ali (like in Aladdin - named by Chloe) has been asleep.

 I really don't want to resort to getting the lead rope on her and dragging her in because that ended up in rodeos and chasing her down last time. I knew we would have issues with her because she's never been milked before but it still doesn't make it easier to deal with. Now I have to get her to come in the barn daily when I want her to come, figure out how to milk faster, and stop her from kicking me and the bucket. She also keeps her back end so far away that I have to milk from the wrong side of the stanchion so that makes it hard because I'm reaching through boards and there isn't much room to move the bucket when she steps or kicks. Nate is working on a little contraption to push her to the right side but I'm sure it will take some trial and error too.

Me after milking for the first time

We can't get milk for the house for the next couple days anyway because of the colostrum in the milk, so I'll just use these days as practice. I think if we can get her settled and milking well by the time we separate for 12 hours in a month or two I'll call it good. Anything before then would be extra. 

But I am so excited to be learning to milk and even though it's frustrating going through all this makes me feel like a real homesteader. I think I might take notes daily for a while to track things for next time - what works, what doesn't, how much milk I get, etc. Wish me luck!