BlueEyedPony
Active Member
I haven't been on to post in forever...seems things are always so busy these days! I wanted to share some pictures of our newest addition. Her name is Marigold, and she is a registered Irish Dexter cow. I never thought in a million years that I would want to have a cow, let alone enjoy having one, but life is crazy like that! She has the sweetest temperment, and loves to have her neck scratched! Irish Dexters are a dual purpose breed (milk & beef), and are considered a heritage breed (largely unchanged since their development for use on small Irish homesteads). They have great temperments, excellent milk, and do very well on a grass-fed diet (they only need 1/2 acre of good pasture!). The part that really drew me to the breed was their small size...they are not a "miniaturized" version of a larger breed, but have been a small breed since they were first recognized. Marigold is not as small as my miniature horses, but at 45" tall she is considerably smaller than most common breeds of cattle. The most exciting part is that she is due to freshen (have a calf) any day now, and we're really looking forward to milking! Dexters produce anywhere from 1-3 gallons of very high quality milk per day, which is perfect for family use (ice cream, butter, milk for drinking, cheese, etc). Not that I need anything else to keep me busy! So without further ado, I introduce Leep At Farms Marigold. I was hoping to add a picture of my minis Kinder and Duncan checking her out the day she came home to keep this MHR, but the pic is still on my camera in my fiancee's car. Go figure.
These two pictures were taken about a week after she came home, and immediately after her first bath! :bgrin Everyone I know who owns cattle laughs at me when I tell them that I brush her twice a day and have given her a bath, but she loves it, and she smells a lot better, too! For comparison, here is a picture taken the day she came home so you can see how disgusting she looked (yes, that is manure on her, not dirt :smileypuke:
And this is my favorite picture...check out what she's doing with her tongue :new_shocked: . It amazes me the things she uses her tongue for...definitely different from horses!
These two pictures were taken about a week after she came home, and immediately after her first bath! :bgrin Everyone I know who owns cattle laughs at me when I tell them that I brush her twice a day and have given her a bath, but she loves it, and she smells a lot better, too! For comparison, here is a picture taken the day she came home so you can see how disgusting she looked (yes, that is manure on her, not dirt :smileypuke:
And this is my favorite picture...check out what she's doing with her tongue :new_shocked: . It amazes me the things she uses her tongue for...definitely different from horses!
