All the calves for this year are on the ground!

I feel like this might get a bit overwhelming for some people, I tend to go on and on about things that I'm passionate about, but I really wanted to share this new project we've been working on!
We've been breeding pure miniature Jerseys for a while now, and have finally added some new breeds to our mix. We live in Wyoming, and have had a pretty hard time keeping the weight on our dairy girls while they were on pasture. After a number of tragic events, our herd size went down to two heifers, and only one of which we had planned on retaining. This lead us to decide that we want to create a homestead dairy cow that thrives in rotational grazing, handles the weather well, doesn't need tons of supplements to stay healthy, and doesn't produce too much milk for their body to handle. The pure miniature Jerseys weren't quite there, and we decided to try adding in a few other breeds to try and strengthen our herd. We brought in miniature Whiteparks because of their thriftiness on pasture, and miniature Highlands because of their winter hardiness. Both of these breeds are primarily for meat, so we plan to breed them back to miniature Jersey to balance it out. We have a ton of experience selecting for good frames in the jerseys, so this will definitely be an adventure as we learn to balance out the different traits from each breed! As it is, we have a really awesome foundation to start from.
With that, here's our calves from this year! Two heifers, and one bull calf! If you're interested in learning more about their parents or our breeding goals, here's a link to our website (so that I don't bore everyone with tons of information they didn't want, lol).

Man, those sure are some adorable baby calves!

That's wonderful.

I grew up on a dairy farm, and many times -- always at 3 am -- checked on a cow that we knew was in labour, in case she needed a little help.

I can tell you it was satisfying to help with a tug on the forelegs, bringing that new life into the world. And clearing the placenta, and clearing the calf's mouth, and making sure it had that first cough and was breathing well. And mama would start licking.

Sometimes the calf needed help with the first breath -- I recall making a "respirator tube" with my left fist and blowing hard into it. It worked! So yes, I have kissed a cow. Tough work then, but good memories now.

Years ago I had a Dexter heifer about to calve.  I checked on her and saw her standing off to herself with tail up.   She had the calf while I stood nearby.  I went into the house to rest a bit before tackling other chores and suddenly felt an urgency to go check on her.  She had eaten the afterbirth and was choking on it!  Suddenly she was down, eyes closed, unconscious, and legs sticking up into the air.  I reached down her throat up to my elbow and snatched it out.   She still wasn’t breathing so I pushed in on her sides and gave her artificial respiration as much as you can do with a cow.  Her calf bawled and her maternal instincts brought her back.  She gasped for breath and struggled to her feet, rushing to the calf as soon as she could stand.  Pulling that afterbirth (about a foot of it) out so fast apparently temporarily damaged the epiglottis in her throat.  For a couple of weeks, she had a little difficulty swallowing and I figured she had a sore throat.  It was a good bonding for all three of us.  She would graze in the pasture and I would walk beside her  and milk her at the same time.  She would lick her calf, then turn around and lick me on the arm.  She wasn’t tame when I bought her as a four month old calf.  Took some time working with her, and one day as I leaned against the fence next to her, when she was still just a baby, she turned around and licked my arm.  It was an exhilarating moment of truth, knowing we had crossed the barrier from fear to friendship.  There’s something special about cows.