Cute Calf Contest

[lonecowhand]

    It's that time of year we could all use a Dose of Cuteness!  Chances are those cute little Harbingers of Renewal and Spring are already springing up on your farms and ranches, in spite of the Perma- Frost.

   This time: no conditions other than cuteness, and that you own or bred them, boys, girls, (should still be cattle! ) traditional , modern, no matter, and lets show this years crop. That doesnt mean they had to be born in 2015 precisely, but what you'd  consider this years' Crop-o-Cuties. (As Hans has suggested , using props (like little kids in the photo) can't hurt! You all can suggest when this ends!

   Since I am, by no means , the sole Connoisseur of Cuteness, we can vote on the winner! Can't think of a better use for the Polling Function on this Board.
I will provide our winners' owner a good, brand new calf halter once we have decided!

   So lace up those Mukluks, and defrost the camera or Iphone, and let's see some cuteness! Don't feel that you must limit your entries to just one!

Bill

[genebo]

Adam One hides from the goats:

Adam One and his mother:

[genebo]

For sheer cuteness, I like these of Ruffles (1/2 Dexter, 1/4 Hereford, 1/4 Charolais) and her 3/4 Dexter calf, Binkie, sired by Windridge Nollaig

[lakeportfarms]

I'll have to look for my calf photos, but how about a "Yearling Dexters who get themselves into a predicament" photo for the time being?

[hollyrockranch]

Hi lakeport, how did you get his head out? Inquisitive little calf  I like the photo.

[jamshundred]

lonecowhand -  I lose before I start.  I am renowned as the absolute worse photographer in the world.  Absolute disaster with camera in hand.  I can turn the most attractive photo opportunity into a dismal failure.  I simply do not have the eye or hands for it.

Genebo - Funny you should post that photo of Ruffles.   The other day I was searching for a photo of an extinct breed of cattle and my screen filled with photos and smack dab in the middle of the screen was that photo of Ruffles!

Hans -  LOL!  Been there and done that.  Holly, for me it took a hacksaw. . . twice.   I had a very pregnant cow get her head caught in an area like that on a round bale feeder.  Oh my goodness what an ordeal that was. . . . . and then i had another cow do the same thing with a gate.   

I have two new calves. . . . and I have been out with the cell phone AND the camera trying to get one of those close-up photos I see all the time on the internet with the babies adorable head and beig blue eyes shaded by the long lashes.  Hummph.  You can barely tell it is a calf in my pics.   In my next life I want to be able to paint. . . and to take great photos!

Judy

[lakeportfarms]

We were lucky with this one. She has a pretty gentle nature, so we were able to guide her head in the proper way to extract it from the corral panel without resorting to a hacksaw. However we have a Highland cow that finds a way to get her head stuck in just about anything relating to cattle, and we've used the hacksaw a couple times there. Even though she's fairly gentle, she's so darn strong that we don't have a chance to move her head if she decides she's not going to do it.

[lonecowhand]

You can do it, Judy! Keep trying!

Genebo , Binky is a cutie, for sure. I like Adam Ones face, tho. Have you ever been accused of waxing those cattle? Yours always look so shiney!

Hans, that is funny! and also puzzling. I guess the nose went in first, so had to come out last...

[lakeportfarms]

Gene, here is our cute calf (of the day because they're coming about every day right now)

Brenn's daughter Maggie had her first little heifer this morning. She's being a good mother. I happened to go out as she was first starting to present the hooves. I watched her for a bit, and when I saw the nose and head start to pop out I just gave a bit of a tug and out she came. I made sure she had the bag cleaned off her face, and Maggie just continued to lay there looking at it. So I left the stall and all of a sudden it must have registered....OMG! This one is mine! Up she popped and started knocking her around (YOU HURT ME!) and then finally licking her off. Heifers are funny with their new calves...

[genebo]

Our losal Southern States Cooperative has a nutritionalist on staff. He came here and surveyed my farm pastures. He took samples. He even walked to whole thing looking for noxious weeds. One fern was judged injurious and had to be eradicated.

Then he gave me the name of the loose minerals which most closely preovided the minerals my pasture was low in. In addition, he suggested that I supplement them with thiamine and keep a selenium 90 block out at all times.

I also had to put a very heavy application of lime on the grass and quit feeding them corn gluten to carry the minerals. I now put their minerals in a mix of sweetfeed and whole kernel corn. About 1/2 pound of feed per day per Dexter.

Here's a video of a dun bull that is rough coated. In the video is a young Windridge bull calf for comparison:




The coats of the Dexters improved. A lot. No more rough coats. However, some had shinier coats than others. It just turned out that the ones I kept came from the shiny coated ones, the Windridge Dexters. I've had lots of Dexters whose coats were not so shiny. Some were even cute looking because they were so shaggy. Apparently I liked the shiny ones better, for that's what I kept.

One cow I owned had hair so thin that you could easily see her skin all the time. Yet on frosty mornings, she had the most frost on her. Evidently she was holding her heat in well despite the thin hair.

[genebo]

Hans,

I didn't see your post before I wrote my last one.

I'm tickled to see that you had an easy time of it at birth. Usually I do nothing more than watch.

Who is the sire?

[jamshundred]

Ok!  Does anyone think it mere coincidence that an email arrived in my JH mailbox with links to photography classes?  Here is the body of the email.    Judy


Photography Courses



Compare Photography Classes



Study the World through a Lens

[lakeportfarms]

Gene, I probably didn't have to help, but I was there and she let out a couple of long "MOOOOOOOO's" so I figured why not since she was a heifer? The calf is quite light. The sire is CJS Timber. Maggie carries red from her dam, and Timber is red, but black is what we got. She'll carry red though. Timber is A1/A2, and Maggie is A1/A2, so who knows what we'll get there. Not sure if it's long or short. With Mike's calves, it was usually quite obvious from day one, but we're still adapting to some of the other shortie cows we have and what they produce in both long and short.

Maggie was one of three who calved today. Willow Hill Macey had a long legged heifer, and Chautauqua Joyce had a long legged heifer. Joyce's calf will be a traditional lines Dexter. We plan to AI Macey (a traditional lines shortie) to a long leg traditional bull we have here in the tank. Haven't decided which one yet...Macey is the black cow in the photo I've posted where the shorties are grazing. She's really short, but a deep and long body and a really nice udder for a 13 year old cow.

They all picked a nice day...temperatures in the 40's and bright sunshine. Sweatshirt weather for us and I was still warm. Macey and Maggie had theirs in the barn, but Joyce had hers out in the (still) pretty deep snow. I like that a lot more than mud though. We picked up her calf and carried her into the barn for the night.

[Deleted]

no calves here yet. We start in 2 weeks. I do have one that i dont know the due date on that i expect to go any day but she just keeps holing off. So for now here is one from last year taking a nap on my lap with mom looking over him.

[genebo]

Mike,

That, to me, is the best reason for owning Dexters. What other breed has calves so gentle they will nap on your lap? What other breed has mama cows so gentle that they will permit it?

They really are a quite special breed. I love 'em.

[lakeportfarms]

Great photo Mike! That should go into the AGM photo contest. If that wouldn't sell Dexters I don't know what would.

[wvdexters]

Doggone it, No new calves here until May!!!

Love the picture Mike. You definitely should enter it in the photo contest. They are beautiful.

Gene. I'm thinking you might be right about the Windridge line and shiny coats. Vera J is just beautiful. Her hair is the shiniest jet black and longer/thinner than my others. The texture is so different than her 1/2 sisters Caitlyn and Triu.

Judy, that's funny LOL!!! I've been having fun experimenting with my zoom - zooming in and out - playing with it a little. Today is supposed to be absolutely beautiful here. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a few good ones.

[Deleted]

I will say I would not do this with all of my cows. This girl is one of my milkers she was raised here and her mom was one of my milkers so she has had a lot of handling. She trust us completely. She had no problem with me holding her calf. If I had taken it out of her site she would likely panic running around looking for it. I do pick up weigh and tag all of my calves. No mother has ever been aggressive to me about it but they do pace nervously while you are messing with the calf. As long as they are right there with in reach they dont get that upset about it. Also that calf was less than a day old. After about 2 days instincts kick in and I will not be able to touch them again until they get a little older.
a word of caution to anyone reading this not use to cattle. A new mother is full of raging hormones and can be dangerous. You better know how to read cattle before you mess with a new baby.