Saturday, August 27, 2011

It's a girl!

Well after a number of false alarms, our cow Jet finally had her calf. Another girl! (Secretly I was hoping it would be a boy so we could have fresh meat in two years...but oh well...)


I'm not precisely sure when she was born -- it was sometime while I was in Florida -- but probably Monday.


It's Younger Daughter's turn to name this calf, but up until today we weren't sure of the gender, so no name has been decided yet. (I'm favoring Sparky for some reason -- don't ask me why -- but the final choice will be up to Younger Daughter.)


We pulled Jet and the calf into the barn this evening to dehorn, but oddly enough we couldn't find the calf's horn buds. We certainly won't apply the caustic dehorning paste on her tender little skull unless we're sure where those horn buds are. So for the time being Jet and the calf are confined to the corral/barn until those little buds become feel-able.


There is a micro chance the calf is polled (genetically hornless), but as we've never had a polled animal (it's double recessive), we aren't counting on it.

2 comments:

  1. Sparky is a winner!
    Trust the reasons you were blessed with her instead of a freezer of meat.

    The spark of Mashiach,(the messiah),comprising the deepest point of the soul, is the activating force fueling leadership potential.

    Here is a little history on the biblical origin of "The Spark".
    source, http://www.inner.org/leader/leader1.htm

    The Messianic Spark in the Hebrew Soul

    Of all the teachings received from the Ba'al Shem Tov, perhaps none are as important or essential as the notion that 1) the Jewish soul "is a portion of G-d above," and that 2) a spark of Mashiach is contained within each individual soul. Based on an ancient Midrashic source, Kabbalah and Chassidut speak of five levels or gradations of the soul: the "lower soul" (nefesh,) relates to behavior and action; the "spirit" (ruach,) to the emotions; the "inner soul" (neshama, ) to the mind; the "living one" (chaya, ) to the bridge between the first flash of conscious insight and it's superconscious origin; the "single one" (yechidah,) to the ultimate unity of the soul in G-d, as manifest by pure faith, absolute devotion and the continuous readiness to sacrifice one's life for G-d. It is in the fifth and most sublime level of soul, the yechidah, where these two soul-aspects described by the Ba'al Shem Tov unite.

    The spark of Mashiach, comprising the deepest point of the soul, is the activating force fueling leadership potential. Just as the very definition of Mashiach is his ability to successfully redeem the entire world, so does the spark of Mashiach within an individual define his drive to improve the world around him in whatever manner possible. The desire to rectify reality and reveal holiness and G-dliness in the world, a cardinal Jewish character trait throughout the ages, is thus ultimately connected to the redemptive mission of the Mashiach. Each Jew who contacts this level of soul and begins to develop and reveal that spark within actually hastens the coming of Mashiach, the ultimate intent of all Jewish leadership.


    God Bless You and yours and all you put your hand to.

    notutopia

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  2. YAAAAY!!!!

    New calf!! No complications!!

    God's Abundance revealed once again!

    This is your barn calf. Maybe it's middle name is barnette. LOL

    A. McSp

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