Chris and Sherry Hardie

B&B homesteaders

Opening up a bed and breakfast was the realization of a dream for us. Our long-term goal is to be self-sufficient (we're well on our way) and to be able to share the earth's bounties with our guests.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Calving season is over

Our third Scottish Highland cow that has been looking very pregnant for the past two months finally delivered a heifer calf, but it was not without some challenges.
We were thankful the cow managed to get through a recent 100-plus degree streak without calving. But when she had the calf, it dropped in an awkward position on top of its head and was not moving.
Sherry climbed into the pen and kept a close eye on the mother -- Highlands do not take kindly to perceptions that you are messing with their calves. Sherry was able to get close enough to the calf to roll it over and she started moving. Yes, she. Two of our three calves born this year were heifers.
Heather has now joined the herd.
Soon we will be removing the bull calf who was born in March because he will become a steer and be raised for meat. He will join two other beef calves we bought this spring and will be the start of our mainly grass-fed beef operation.


Sunday, July 1, 2012

A surprise but welcome arrival

We have a new member of the Brambleberry farm family and she came as a surprise.
Flora, a snow-white Scottish Highland heifer calf, was born last week. And we didn't know that her mother was pregnant!
Deidre gave birth a year ago to our young bull Gavin and all the cows were with a bull last summer and fall on another farm before we bought them. But she certainly didn't look as fat and large as Mulberry, our third Highland cow who has looked ready to calve for about a month now.
We spotted the newborn calf during our nightly feeding but wondered why Mulberry was not paying any attention to her. That concerned us because calves must have their mother's milk within a few hours of birth to ensure their survival. We thought it odd that Deidre seemed to be more interested in the calf.
Finally, logic prevailed and we realized that Deidre had also been with the bull last year. It also made more sense because Flora's brother Gavin also was very white when he was young. His coat has started to darken but it's still the color of cream with shades of red.
Flora is doing well and we're happy to have a heifer for future herd expansion. She joins Sir Loin, a bull calf born on St. Patrick's Day.
Meanwhile, we're still waiting on Mulberry. Perhaps we'll have something else to celebrate this July 4!