The Red Poll Herd

There were only three calves this year, all of them heifers. Alas, one died and now there are only two. It was a difficult year for calf production:


The cows and horses get along famously most of the time, though apple feeding time is not generally one of the good times. Things sometimes got a little tense then. Most of the apples are gone, though, so the Era Of Good Will has returned:

The two heifer calves are beauties - Tabitha (#12) and Maggie (#2) enjoy playing together and can often be seen butting heads or climbing up on the manure pile:

A moment of tenderness as baby Tabitha and her mom, Rosella, nuzzled each other. Rosella was herself a calf born here:

It won't be long until I'll have to begin feeding hay. I'm not looking forward to it:

Little Maggie gave me a good looking over, wondering what I was up to:

I learned a lesson the day I took this photo. I had a bucket of apples for the cows and fed them right here, between the barn and the old silo base. Nine tons of cows, pushing and shoving to get the most apples in a tight space can be a scary place to be. They meant no harm but are so huge that just a nudge can be damaging:

This was not as upsetting as it appears in the photo. The fence between cows and calves is very short and they all knew how to get around it:

Life is good in the autumn:

Colorful leaves, cool temperatures, lack of flies and sweet apples make for happy autumn cows:

Gracie and Jasmine. Neither of them produced a calf this year but both were artificially inseminated on the same day this summer. I am hopeful for next year:

As you can tell, apple feeding time is also a great time for picture taking. But with the apples now almost gone, I'll have to search for other photo opportunities: