A most exciting plan

I am hatching a plan. You know I have been thinking of buying a bull. Now don’t go getting all upset again. Just listen for a minute. Without a bull I am dependent on OTHER people to breed my cows, using AI, this is not sustainable. These people work, they are far away, it is always a panic and NOT always successful. And I am not breeding for a pedigree I am breeding for beef and milk.  AI is so fraught with difficulty when you live so far out. I always have trouble – every year. So – as I am not afraid of taking risks – (or heights) –

How about a Little Bull.

“Oh come now Cecilia”, I hear you say, “they don’t stay little for long, you know.”

Maybe they do. How about a  bull who will not grow any bigger than the kitchen table. A gentle and very small giant. What do you know about Irish Dexter cattle?  They are a small old Irish breed. Really small. There are not many of them but they are grown for both milk and meat and all my research points to the reassuring fact that a mature Dexter bull could cover my Dutch-Belted/Holstein cross Lady Astor and Aunty Del (the Ayrshire)  if necessary.  (Though Naomi will still endure the AI treatments in the hopes of producing a belted Dutch Belted calf.)    Dexters are half the size of a regular cow but eat half as much and are such good mothers that they will readily adopt another calf. The pure breds will grow to be about as tall as a kitchen bench – up to 42 inches (110 cm) .  My crossed animals will be a bit taller. A cross with a full Dairy cow will give me a beefier bull calf for beef or a good heifer for milking and more chance of an easy calving. AND an animal who is easier on my pastures, gentle and small.

So TA DAAA I have  bought a 6 month old Dexter bull calf – he is coming next week PLUS a bred Dexter heifer. YES! When he is Two he will be big enough to breed my girls (and his own girl even earlier than that). I am excited.

I will keep and milk my big house cows (Lady Astor and Aunty Del and Naomi) but will be breeding smaller animals, saleable easy to manage house cows. I will also milk Alex (the new heifer) she is bred to a miniature Angus/Hereford cross bull so we will be the United Nations of cow herds. And on the side we will be breed a few pure bred Dexters to sell as well.

There is one hiccup with this breed if it is pure. The breed itself was created by selective breeding for smaller and smaller animals and this has caused some mutations in the gene which can cause miscarriages of abnormal fetus’s.  The people I am working with have not seen this problem occur in recent years because this is more likely in the short legged Dexters. Both of my new animals are the Long Legged variety.  I don’t particularly need a mini animal I just want a bull of a manageable size. Our new heifer (her name is Alex) is a bonus.  The wee bull will be called Carlos IV.  (Carlos the Fourth).

The milk is wonderful, they say, plus the meat is lean and we will not be producing huge mammoth amounts of beef. I just don’t need that much meat.

So how about THAT for a plan!  And I know of a woman who has one of these little guys and he breeds Holsteins for a dairy farm. Though surely he must carry his own bull stool! (Maybe Ton can carry the stool for our new boy.)

Remember that my plan is to grow enough food to keep my families fed. And to be sustainable I will not overload my land.  So from now on any extra female animals will be grown with lots of handling,  then sold to other little farms to be house cows (I  have had enquiries already) – small scale farming is a growth industry in this country.  And if you have two acres you can run a Dexter and her calf!

I am still in training but I am making my own breeding decisions now and it feels good!

The other day we went Climbing. I love Climbing Walls and can get myself up to the top gently and carefully without much effort as long as the wall is not too hard but Hugo just soared up and down like a monkey. He literally walked up the walls.

We had a great day yesterday with out hostess with the mostest Kristy from Family Food Adventures.

She is a tough little climber herself!

Lots of love,

celi