Red Polls Galore

It's been a difficult year for Red Poll calves. This is Rosella and her daughter, Tabitha, with Blue getting out of their way:

The big red girls, napping, with little Tabitha and the horses, sleeping in the shade: The tree is also good for scratching one's back:

Tabitha with her mom, Rosella:

Tabitha is a healthy, smart, athletic little calf - so much so that I still have not been able to catch her to put tattoos and a tag in her ears:

But Tabitha does come into the barn with her mother twice each day, so I am hopeful that I'll get the chance to close the door on her one of these afternoons. Then the neighbors will come over and hold her while I tattoo her ears:

The chow line. My cows are, admittedly, kind of fat but bringing them into the barn twice each day is necessary for keeping them tame and for watching them for when they come into heat. Two of them still need to be artificially inseminated:

Rosella and Tabitha, mother and daughter, by the manure pile. Tabitha loves to climb up on that pile and play:

The herd likes to stay close together:

And they like to eat apples. Apples have been scarce this year but I've been able to feed them a few buckets:

When not eating, the cows like to lounge in the grass and chew their cuds. That's the advantage of being a ruminant, that they get to eat their meals twice:

This is Scarlett, Rosella's mother and Tabitha's grandmother. She's due to calve soon and her udder is already filling up with milk:

Ah, the pastoral life. I wish it was always this scenic and restful: