New Arrival

Neatha had a calf yesterday. Neatha is Fartha's calf and Nera's granddaughter. Her cousins are Yonder and Nearly. You get the idea. Earl had a little fun with those names. But Erik saw the calf first, or her feet anyway, as she was being born, and he named her Nikki.

Nikki is the first of the spring calves and her birth means milk production will come up a little bit as Neatha rejoins the milking string. Calving is not really a seasonal thing, except that we plan our breeding to avoid having calves in the deepest, darkest part of the winter. Cows cycle year round, about every 21 days, and have a nine month gestation, just like people. Unlike people, they don't seem particularily bothered by being pregnant and are pretty chill about giving birth too.

Cliffy did his homework on the fly so he and Jackson could run up and take a picture of the new addition to the herd.