Friday, April 29, 2011

Haltering Victoria

This morning we finally got around to fitting little Victoria with a halter. She didn't like it, of course! But it's the first step toward halter-training an animal.


By the way, see those ornery-looking scabs on her head? Believe it or not, they're beautiful (to me, that is). Those are the residual scabs left over from when we dehorned her. They're healing up exactly as they should. It means the dehorning went well.

7 comments:

  1. What a cute little calf. I just want to give her a hug.

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  2. Do the animals on your farm show any signs of missing Pearly?

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  3. A thought just came to me, Victoria's birth was unexpected and Pearly's accident was unexpected. They are both bonuses--new life (Victoria) and meat (Pearly) for the family in the freezer.

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  4. None of the livestock appear to be missing Pearly. Because they didn't see anything the day we had her butchered, no one was upset. Pearly was Matilda's calf, but Matilda hasn't shown any distress, possibly because her attention is occupied by her new calf (Thor) (and to an extent Polly).

    - Patrice

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  5. I think Victoria is adorable...=) I'm glad her dehorning went well. I'm glad the other animals aren't missing Pearly...It's sad when they miss one of their own.

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  6. She is adorable!

    Patrice,
    I'm a first time commenter, but long-time reader. We have very little in common -- polar opposites, politically, socially and parentally, as it may be -- but I've long been interested in homesteading and home-business-ing (already got the homeschooling part down) and so greatly admire your commentary and knowledge on the subject. I found your blog some time ago through Backwoods Home Magazine, your Bovine Basics article. Your blog has been a huge inspiration, source of entertainment (and delicious recipes), and the seed of many far-fetched plans and ideas for the until-recently unrealised dream of having my own land and homesteading. I recently became the owner of two parcels, and it's all starting to become real now. The larger parcel away from the "home" parcel has been run for about 20 years as an organic pick-your-own operation and farm stand, and I'm learning the trade on a crash-course before summer. But as for my main parcel, about 40 acres, I'm starting out blank slate and am going to work setting it up as a true, diverse homestead and moving/crawling toward self-sufficiency.

    Your blog has been a huge resource for me, and I greatly admire your family for how you've survived and thrived after you too made the big leap of faith moving from the city to the country. I probably never would have even dared to start without the writings of yourself and others like you who've done it and succeeded, so from the bottom of my heart, I just wanted to say, thank you!

    I also have a probably silly question, if you don't mind humouring a completely naive Bovine Beginner:

    1: When you've gotten cows in the past from other people, what do you look for? Do you bring a vet to check them out like you would a horse, or is there a set of either vague or specific criteria you go in knowing and looking for?

    By the way, I admit I sometimes check your blog several times a day, just looking for a Lydia fix! My kids too. Shouldn't have shown them; since being "introduced" to Lydia, they've been begging for a Pyrenees for several months now.

    Thank you very much for the insight and entertainment of your blog, and I'm sorry I've made a yawner of this!

    - Kari

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  7. Aww, she's a cutie even with scabs.....and doesn't seem to mind her new "jewelry" either, LOL.....

    And yes, I think we all will still get all "aawww" about animals, even after the Pearly experience......animals should be loved no matter what, for as long as possible.....nice to hear there's no lingering distress amongst Pearly's herd-mates.......

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