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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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 Posted - Feb 19 2015 : 5:37:38 PM
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Lets not jinx anything just yet  Mary Jane is kindly working on a difficulty on my end to see if there is a solution, butI don't want to discourage anyone else from throwing their hat in the ring as you never know how things will work out... I think Miss Sally O'Mally deserves any number of suitors lined up for her with hats in hand hoping they are the lucky one |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Feb 19 2015 : 5:50:24 PM
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| Naaaaa...I think a cow like that would fit well with you guys. Pretty much everything you wanted in an cow. Hope it works out for you guys. |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 19 2015 : 6:02:13 PM
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| Thanks Ron. You were right last winter in telling me to wait and look for a pregnant cow. thanks for the great advice. It isn't always easy to take the "wait and look" advice when you are the one wanting something so bad!! |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Feb 19 2015 : 6:25:41 PM
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| At the end of the day all I want is a good glass of milk and a pound of butter! Lol |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 10:22:16 AM
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| Yes, she is to txbikergirl. I just couldn't be happier. She'll make a great cow mom. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 10:34:15 AM
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| YES! She stays in the family! Congratulations all around! Glass of milk to all! |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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NellieBelle
11217 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 11:30:06 AM
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| Congratulations txbikegirl! |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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tcboweevil
338 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 11:36:34 AM
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| Yeah! I am so happy for you, txbikegirl! |
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Sydney2015
1156 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 12:04:59 PM
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| Congrats! Good Luck! |
A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing - Laura Ingalls Wilder
I live on a small farm of seventy acres called Green Forest Farm, with 10 horses, a donkey, 5 beef cows, 2 beef heifers, 3 Hereford heifers, around 60 chickens, 8 dogs, my amazing cow, AppleButter, and her little Jersey calf HoneyButter! |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 12:27:50 PM
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HAPPY COW DAY FOR ME!!  Thanks everyone, I have been bursting at the seams to announce it to y'all! Miss Sally O'Mally returns to her southern roots later this year, to East Texas.
My hubby and I are over the moon for Sally, and Mary Jane has made this the perfect win/win/win for her/us/Sally. We won't bring her home for a few months, but that gives us time to finish up our fences. We've planned for this for years, but somehow there is just never enough time on the farm to get as much done in 12 months as you think you should.
I also get the delight of attending "MJ milkmaid university" sometime in the upcoming months where I can meet Miss Sally O'Mally and be taught all about the care, feeding and milking of her. Mary Jane has truly gone out of her way to make this work for us, and I can't say that many people in this day and age would do so.
Another shout out to Ron who gave me some great advice last Fall about my first cow, and unbeknownst to him those thoughts kept me patient these last 6 months waiting for the "perfect" cow for us. Sometimes you just have sit back to let be what is meant to be, and in the end it all works out.
Blessings from Texas! I'll keep you all posted about our progress for the Sally O'Mally preparations. |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 12:58:24 PM
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| Wonderful! If you (y'all) need a stop coming or going for hay or water it's here! |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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Mike
1667 Posts
Mike
Argyle
WI
United States of America
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 12:58:44 PM
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Way cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are so lucky.
Mike |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 1:07:01 PM
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| I feel lucky Mike, like I won the lottery. And I feel so blessed. So grateful. |
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Udder Chaos
30 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 1:07:38 PM
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| Congrats to you! So excited for you! |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Feb 23 2015 : 8:43:37 PM
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| This is so much fun to hear! Congrats to all! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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farmlife
1413 Posts
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Posted - Feb 24 2015 : 04:56:28 AM
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| Congratulations! I can't imagine how excited you are! |
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GingerBKelly
274 Posts
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Posted - Sep 14 2015 : 09:01:50 AM
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Very nice story, indeed! Soon Miss Sally O'Mally will be headed home to her Texas summer kitchen in the pine trees new digs. Sounds like a very good adventure for Sally, Cindy and her hubby.
I look forward to reading about more happy endings, or rather....happy beginnings. 
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~Ginger Kelly, Kelly Homestead Apiary, Charlton, MA~.jpg?v 26652890) gingerbkelly@gmail.comWhen a cow laughs, does milk come out her nose? ~Author Unknown
Check us out on FB: https://www.facebook.com/KellyHomesteadApiary/ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Dec 24 2015 : 05:11:41 AM
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wanted to share an update about Miss Sally O'Mally, especially for Mary Jane. We have really been working on affection with Sally, she is a bit of a sassy girl and not really warm and cuddly - wants to shake her head at you a lot to tell you what to do. no complaints here, we LOVE her directness - but its almost like she doesn't know how to give/receive much affection.
so about a month ago, before she weaned Elsa, she started being more receptive to neck scratches. but it was still as if she didn't know how to communicate what she wanted - as the more we did that, at other times it would seem like she wanted more love but had started taking her head shaking to the level of now bumping us, whereas before she was always 1-2" away from us and never touching. she wasn't trying to be violent, but didn't realize the next step to love wasn't a bump to the human.
then last week she started to stop outside the milking parlor on the way to the pasture and just let me scratch and love on her. not her usual "all business get me to the pasture", just stopping for some love. and she's been standing calm in her stanchion for me to scratch her neck and such, whereas before it was again all business shake your head and get me to the pasture.
yesterday my niece was here. city girl. she has been desperate to milk, thinks she might want a farm some day. i swear she is a cow whisperer. we went down to feed the girls and then to get sally for milking, and sally did NO head shaking and came right up to me and then started crying as i scratched her. mary jane, it was like when i was at your place and sally got the idea that i was taking her from you and she cried. now yes, it could just be coincidence - but this cow has NOT had teary eyes since arriving here. and this was downright crying right then. streams of tears.
so i scratched her all over, and then she moved to my niece and let her do the same - and sally does NOT take to strangers easily. i reassured her that she isn't going anywhere, and that cow was so affectionate all day yesterday it was amazing. and it took almost two hours to do the whole milking process with my niece doing it, and she was patient and never had an accident in the parlor.
i felt as though we were really breaking through to her the last month, and patrick has even noticed it as well - but yesterday was really sweet.
so lets hope this morning i don't go down there and she head butts me ;> |
_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Dec 24 2015 : 07:37:28 AM
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What an encouraging story ... Sounds like Sally was concerned she might not be staying with you! She has bonded with you and all of you extra attention this past month paid off in a big way.
Not only does it speak well of Sally, but of you and lover boy, too. Well done, Cindy! I don't think you'll be able to keep calling yourself a "cow newbie" as you've shown some great cow insight. |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Dec 24 2015 : 8:17:06 PM
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I've tried several times today to find a minute to respond, Cindy, but really I think I need an hour. As I've gone about my busy-ness today, I've been thinking about you, your niece, lover boy, and of course Sally. And Elsa. And also Miss Daisy, Fanci, Eliza Belle, Ester Lily, Lacy Lou, Rose Etta, Nellie, Sienna, Clover, Betsy, Harriet, Elli, Miss Persimmon, Little Annie (Annabelle), AppleButter, Belinda, Rainey, Nickel, Jacey, and maybe Flossie (fingers crossed), Amore, Valentine …
The people I know who are committed to really knowing cows say things like, “Of course cows cry. My so-and-so cried when … ”
What I want to say is, not enough. They don’t express whatever tears are about very often, if at all. Is that because of us or them? I stood with mine today for quite awhile, hanging out, no agenda. I always have an agenda. “I’m here to muck," or “I’m here to milk,” or “I’m here to move you,” or “I’m here to train you, or “Here’s a little bit of love … gotta go now!” Some people want to fly to Mars. I want to know cows. The sad truth is I feel like I barely do. It feels as monumental to me as flying to Mars, given where I’m at now and where I want to be. I want more moments like you had Cindy. I want our cows to be so sure we love them that they trust us with their feelings, every day. I’m thinking I’m going to commit to thinking more along the lines of what it’s like for them, rather than what it’s like for me to care for them, milk them, worry about them. What would it be like to be Sally? What is she trying to say? When my grand girls were smaller and crying for no apparent reason, my daughter would say to them, “Use words. Tell me in words.” Teaching a toddler how to express their feelings in words rather than acting out their feelings is every parent’s challenge. How will we convince our cows to use a tool like words? I have no idea.
How was Sally the next time you milked her?
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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Ron
4666 Posts
Ronnie
Peever
SD
USA
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Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 04:26:18 AM
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| Way cool story! Just keep an eye out when She comes into heat....Harriet always gets too friendly. :) |
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there, here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo. |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Dec 25 2015 : 6:07:06 PM
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thanks janet and ron and mary jane.
its day three with the new and improved "sweet sally". i say that with a grin on my face, but seriously - the difference is night and day. yes she can still be impertinent and extremely direct, but she is so affectionate now. this morning she laid her head on my shoulder when i was facing her while i scratched her neck. she has never done that before, even for scratching up to now it has been more "you can touch my neck but not anything else", and this was on her terms... she stepped forward and voluntarily did that.
so mary jane, she has been what i would consider exactly the same at milking, but in general she is sweeter and wants more affection. less head shaking to just demand things, more patience and just wanting love. i love the "use words" mary jane as that is what i am thinking to her, tell me what you want sally please tell me ...
i know that when training my dogs there was a point at which the bonding all of a sudden moved ahead from a slow step to a fast train , and the bonding was almost immediate... after months of work ;> so the jouney is an interesting one that is so fascinating as well as heartwarming |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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CloversMum
3486 Posts
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Posted - Dec 26 2015 : 08:37:30 AM
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| A new phase for you and Sally, Cindy. Wonderful to hear and experience through your words. Thanks for the continued update! |
Loving life and family on our Idaho farm, Meadowlark Heritage Farm; A few Jersey cows; a few alpacas; a few more goats, and even more ducks and chickens |
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maryjane
7074 Posts
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Posted - Dec 27 2015 : 04:58:53 AM
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It's deeply heartwarming, Cindy, to follow you and Sally on your journey into a loving relationship. It's these kinds of breakthrough moments we need more of.
When I was first training Etta Jane to come into the milking parlor, she was doing okay but was still afraid and not letting down very well. The oxytocin thing. My daughter was here one morning so she asked if she could join us. It was very similar to your situation with your niece. I thought things would be as they'd been and Meg and I would get a chance to visit while I milked. I asked Meg if she'd stand up front by Etta Jane and give her some grain. Magic!!!! Etta Jane gushed milk. For the next week or so, Meg was recruited. From that day on, Etta Jane always gushed milk the minute I started milking her. She had a good udder and teats, she just needed to be okay with all of it.
I've tried to reconstruct what happened but with limited success. I'm not clear why or how that particular formula worked. Was it the vibe between me and my daughter? You and your niece? Or merely the presence of innocence? Or the presence of someone who wasn't on task? I don't know. Any ideas, Cindy? |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Dec 27 2015 : 4:06:29 PM
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mary jane. i have been thinking about if she was any different in the milking parlor since you posed that question and i responded quickly. she is more patient, very patient. not one moo during the process. but i put that down to another change i recently made, so not sure which one caused it. i used to put her first food with minerals in a bowl, and then she finished that and i changed it out after i cleaned udder while the betadine teat dip dried... but this last week i started dumping that bowl of food straight into the box so she didn't have to complain to me about the bowl being empty and in the way ;> so just assumed the bowl was the difference but who knows.
this afternoon amidst a huge rain storm my niece and i fetched the cows from the pasture while lover boy mucked. my niece was supposed to lead elsa and i sally, but elsa got afraid of the two of us in rain ponchos and ran off, so while i went after elsa little miss sally came right up to my niece so she just attached the lead and with thunder and lightening and drenching rain just led the calm sally back to the barn - sally doesn't act that way for just anyone. so sally has calmed, and my niece has the touch with her.
sally is very giving with affection now, she waits for us to scratch her neck. i think she is learning to trust us, she is learning how to receive love and that it isn't a bad thing after all, and my niece has a calming presence that is just helping it along. so we'll see how it keeps progressing, as its truly amazing to have a relationship with something that can't just tell you what is going on with words. i don't have a clue what is going on other than it is positive and whatever we are doing is working ;> |
Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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