Calf number two came yesterday afternoon with no problems (this seems to be the trend with Dexters from what I’ve experienced and heard). This little girl (yep, it is a heifer) picked a great day to be born with a temperature in the mid 50’s and plenty of sun. In fact there was even some dry ground for them to get out on. It was nice to watch this little girl bound around the pasture so quickly after she was born … it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they get going.
I’ve include the picture here because people often ask about the size of our Dexters. As you can see the newest calf is just a bit over knee high and probably weighs between 20 and 30 pounds (I’m just guessing). The black cow in the background is the mother and this was her second calf. She is pretty much average sized for Dexters I would say … maybe on the slightly taller end of the scale. We have a couple cows bigger and a couple cows that are smaller. This calf was from a smaller bull, but I would say that she is pretty much average in her size and weight compared to the other calves we have had.
I’m expecting four or five more calves this spring. It seems like I should have a better idea of how many calves we will have, but there is one cow that hasn’t had a calf on our farm yet and I think it’s been a while since she had a cow period. We bought her with a group of cows, but if she doesn’t calve this year she is gone … I gave her a pass last year because of some issues we had moving animals around and exposing them to the bull.
Hopefully we’ll throw a few more bull calves as the calving progresses so we can start building some beef inventory!
I look forward to the first calf of the year and am always relieved when calving is finally finished (especially with heifers).
After this winter, I am hoping I can start to move our calving season (and maybe shorten it up) to a little bit later in the spring next year. But, if the beef could all be sold through direct marketing, I have been wondering if having some fall and spring calves might be an advantage (two calving seasons could mean two finishing and marketing seasons).
Congrats on the heifer. She looks good, and I’m impressed she’s bouncing that much. I’ve been really lucking calving. The breeder I got my cow from is a leader in selective breeding, and he specifically breeds to have cows who will be able to give birth without problems.
Are you running just dexters or is that a hereford in the corner?