Michigan

[chicken grandma]

Welcome back Opa!
Hope all went well down South and thank you for that snake horror story!
I learned something about snakes tonight and it does not make me like them any better.

Here is a story for you all.
My husband and I lived in California when we were first married.
We had a deck on the back of the house with slats and one day a California King snake
came up between two boards and went down between two other boards.

My husband came running into the house screaming like a sissy and since I was raised on a farm in Michigan, I went out to help with the snake.

It was huge because it's large body just kept slithering over the boards and I was agast at how large it was. I had never seen a snake that large or that long..
My husband appeared and handed me a saw to saw it in half. I pictured it wiggling as I tried to saw it and I handed him the saw back.

Turns out the snake was a neighbors pet but it lived under our house from then on and we never had a bug or mouse again. We actually were kind of fond of it. When we had our daughter she loved to hold snakes and we would glance at each other and wince, then turn back and smile brightly at her.

 

[Farmerboy16]

For Farmerboy -- Shorthorn Cows w/ Calves

Thanks Olive! By looking at the pictures, I can tell that they are beef type, but I will call them tomorrow just to make sure. I am sure that my dad will not want to make an 54 mile drive just for a cow. :/ They sure look pretty. I found this using your Craigslist link, its is farther than the one that you posted, but it is the first of the Milking Shorthorn type that I have seen. I am emailing the poster to see if they know of anyone closer that have the milking type. http://saginaw.craigslist.org/grd/2833666395.html Opa-That is very funny story!

 

[Olive Hill]

Thanks Olive!
By looking at the pictures, I can tell that they are beef type, but I will call them tomorrow just to make sure. I am sure that my dad will not want to make an 54 mile drive just for a cow.

They sure look pretty.

I found this using your Craigslist link, its is farther than the one that you posted, but it is the first of the Milking Shorthorn type that I have seen. I am emailing the poster to see if they know of anyone closer that have the milking type.

http://saginaw.craigslist.org/grd/2833666395.html
Opa-That is very funny story!

Yeah, they do look to be beef type, but thought if you couldn't find milking type... That said, if 54 miles is too far to drive you may need to broaden your options considerably even beyond just beef vs milking type. Milking Shorthorns are considered critically endangered. The fact that they're not on every other farm is kind of the entire point. A Jersey or Holstein cross would be much easier to find and would serve you well.

 

[Farmerboy16]

Quote:
Yeah, they do look to be beef type, but thought if you couldn't find milking type... That said, if 54 miles is too far to drive you may need to broaden your options considerably even beyond just beef vs milking type. Milking Shorthorns are considered critically endangered. The fact that they're not on every other farm is kind of the entire point. A Jersey or Holstein cross would be much easier to find and would serve you well.

My dad want us to get a dual type, and I work with Holsteins, and they produce waaay to much milk for us and have very little beef on them. We can go with Brown Swiss, but they are more of a dairy then a dual type, I think. Sigh, it is a lot harder just to find a right cow for us, than I had thought. :/ I am not picky, I just want a hardy dual purpose young cow, that have good teats for easy milking.

 

[Olive Hill]

Well, you're not going to eat your heifer. You can breed any dairy heifer to a beef bull and you have dual purpose offspring for eating. You can feed excess milk to your birds, pigs, dogs, cats, make cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, yogurt, freeze for when you dry the cow off... just something to consider. With such a tight driving restriction it may end up being your only choice.

 

[Opa]

Nice be back home and reading these before so many accumulate.

 

[snowflake]

Good morning all, ..Loved the puff snake story Opa, I will remember never to pick one up if I see it

Farmerboy, do dairy farmers ever sell off their older cows, maybe you could get an older heifer, who's milk production is down but has a few good years. Then do as Olive said and breed to a beefer. You have to breed them every yr. to keep the milk coming right? Never had cows but have read a little

 

[RBahmer]

Good morning everyone.

 

[LoveMyChicklets]

Good morning all. Been peeping, I mean peeking a lot lately but haven't posted much. It's heck trying to get caught up on all the chatty posts

 

[M.sue]

Good morning all, ..Loved the puff snake story Opa, I will remember never to pick one up if I see it

Farmerboy, do dairy farmers ever sell off their older cows, maybe you could get an older heifer, who's milk production is down but has a few good years. Then do as Olive said and breed to a beefer. You have to breed them every yr. to keep the milk coming right? Never had cows but have read a little

Good thinking!!