Thursday, November 25, 2010

Random pix

I made roast chicken for dinner last night. Don carved. Lydia did her best to look as soulful as possible, hoping for a piece. (It didn't work.)


(Click to enlarge and appreciate the full depths of her mournful attempt to convince.)

Last leaf of the season.


Younger Daughter and her friend Miss Calamity watch the snow from a safe location.


Someone asked about Matilda because she's seldom seen by the feedboxes.  Spoiled Matilda is getting fed and bedded in her stall at night (along with her calf Pearly) because (a) she's a less hardy breed than the sturdy Dexters, and (b) she's lowest on the totem pole of the herd hierarchy, so she wouldn't get enough to eat if I didn't feed her separately.  Here's she's snacking alongside Don as he feeds the rest of the beasties in the afternoon.

9 comments:

  1. No chicken for a dog who has to live in peace with chickens. Sorry Lydia!

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  2. Yeah, and the roast chicken came from our own flock, too.

    - Patrice

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  3. I know what you are saying Patrice. You can imagine with a big ol' sensitve nose like Lydia has. It must be tough to be a smellin' that bird roasting for hours. I always got soft with my dog and gave her things that were not in her best interest.

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  4. The picture of Lydia under the table has a softness about it that I like. Looks like Norman Rockwell could have painted it.

    Andrea S

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  5. Poor starvin little pitiful unloved puppy.

    Uh-huh.

    A.McSp

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  6. I have a question about your cows. We live in KY and were thinking about getting a jersey milk cow. There is a man here who has Jersey's and Dexter's. He said the Jersey's usually have small teats that lend toward electric milking instead of hand milking. (we are hand milkers here) He said the dexters would be better for hand milking. Since you have both, do you have a comment on this? thanks!

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  7. Ann, I don't have a problem hand-milking either a Jersey or a Dexter. Both milk well by hand, and both can also use a machine milker. Not many Dexter owners use a machine milker simply because not many people own that many Dexters, but I do know a lady in NY State who runs a commercial Dexter cheesemaking facility, and she uses a machine milker.

    To help you decide between a Jersey and a Dexter, I would say it's more a matter of how much milk you want. Obviously a Jersey, being a pure milk breed, is a much heavier milk producer than Dexters, which are a dual-purpose (milk and meat) breed.

    I've come to love the gentle disposition of Jerseys, though the feistiness of Dexter has its charm as well. Dexters are better suited to our harsher climate (we prefer to keep our Jersey protected in the barn during bad weather), but that's not a consideration for you if you're in Kentucky.

    An advantage Dexters have over Jerseys is meat production. While of course you can eat Jerseys, they're not as meaty as Dexters at butchering time.

    Bottom line, I guess, would be milk production. I like both breeds so well I don't know if I could choose between them. Hope this helps!

    - Patrice

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  8. Sorry, made a typo up there. I wrote, "Not many Dexter owners use a machine milker simply because not many people own that many Dexters." What I meant to say was, "...not many people MILK that many Dexters." Lots of people have large herds of Dexters, but not many people milk more than one or two animals.

    - Patrice

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  9. That look on Lydia is so familiar. Our dog, Sallie Mae a Brittany, has it down pat. It's also why she has a fat butt.

    Ken

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