Guess what we bought

A Jersey cow! Or technically two Jersey cows - mother and daughter who were being sold together. The mother has had several calves and has been hand milked. We have been wanting a jersey cow, but decided to sensibly wait until we have more time when the house is finished. However we were thinking a few more grass eating animals would be good to keep the grass down so the horses don't eat too much and we happened to see this pair on leboncoin. There are not very many Jersey cows in France and fewer that have been hand milked so after several days of debating, asking friends their opinion, writing pros and cons lists we decided to go and see them. The lady selling them was very nice and helpful and they are both very friendly - the daughter perhaps too much so as she rubs you with her horns... The mother is either polled (naturally no horns) or was disbudded when very young leaving no trace of horns.

It seems the daughter is still drinking from the mother at a year and two months, so the mother still has a little milk. Perhaps the shock of moving will dry her up and wean the now adult calf. Or maybe we can have a quick preview of milking. We plan on getting her artificially inseminated (not many Jersey bulls around these parts and apparently dairy bulls are mean natured anyway). Perhaps we will have the daughter done too - advice seems to be first breeding at around 15 months. We will have to get more pigs next year to eat the excess milk! We may then sell the daughter with calf, or not depending how things are going and I suppose whether it is a boy or girl. They are called Eclipse (mother) and Equinox (daughter - she was born on 21st March). They are having blood tests and then will be delivered here in the next week or two. Photos to follow.