Cow update

Buttercups milk is really yummy now. Doug has been milking her twice a day. We have had loads of icecream, the chickens have had some, we have made yogurt we cooked pork in milk. Then production seemed to drop off - this was explained when the neighbor came round one morning and let Doug know that he had seen one of the cows feeding from another.

Bluebell wasn't weaned until she came to us which was very late to do it - she was 18 months old. The previous owners were a bit hippy and didn't want to interfer with nature, but Jersey cows aren't very natural! We managed to stop her last year to allow Buttercup to dry up by putting a weaning clip on her nose (hurts her nose and spikes mum if she tries to suckle). It was a bit tricky as they are sized for 6 month olds... Now that Buttercup has milk again she has gone back to it, we tried the spiky thing again (Doug had to fight with her hungover after the neighbor kindly came round - looked like she was going to pull over the electricty pylon she was tied to) but she managed to work round it,  so we put in a bigger spikey thing (which was fun and games let me tell you)

As far as we can tell from the amount of milk Buttercup has left for us, she is still managing to suckle. So now we have moved Bif and Buttercup to a separate field for a while just to see if we get more milk - and to give Buttercup a chance to put on a bit of weight. Sadly we will probably have to sell Bluebell if we can't cure her of this. We feel annoyed with the previous owners that they didn't deal with it at the right age and it probably wouldn't have been so ingrained. They didn't teach her to lead either which is a bit of a problem with a 400+kg cow...

Bif has had a couple of episodes where he seems not to be able to breath. We think he may have breathed in milk, but have wormed him in case of lung worm and given antibiotics too.

He is in the grass somewhere in this photo. This is Buttercup super happy in her giant meadow full of grass for just her and Bif. You can see she is looking a bit thin. Jerseys always look skinny round the hips and bottom, but you can see more ribs than you should be able to.

The highlands have stayed with Bluebell to keep her company. We rather expect we may find them all back in the same field tomorrow. Bluebell is shouting like mad, this is the 1st time she has been away from her mum. Hopefully will calm down soon otherwise Doug will get no sleep!