Sharing - Reformation Acres

19 January, 2011

In the absence of fresh raw milk we had to go back to drinking whole milk from the grocery store and we all found it to be unpalatable. I was amazed at how quickly we became acclimated to the taste of the raw milk! I honestly didn’t think that the adjustment back would be a big deal at all.

In hindsight, I think that we allowed the cold weather to influence our decision to quit milking more than we should have. Maybelle was giving us (read: the boys) a really hard time when they’d call her in for milking. (I was conveniently preoccupied at milking time.) They’d have to chase her down in the dark and Caesar was still out there lurking around then which made it somewhat nerve wracking. You can’t trust a bull even if he is just a gentle giant. When they finally were able to get her milked, the amount was really sporadic- anywhere from a couple cups to over half a gallon. Everywhere we read that pregnancy doesn’t affect production, but the vet confirmed our suspicions that it did when he confirmed her pregnancy. I think that Caesar made her care less for us since she didn’t need our companionship. Now that he’s gone, she’ll stand watching the door for us to leave the home, hoping for a visitor.

That very week that we were dreading the many months until Maybelle freshened, I was handed the number of a very local cowshare that had recently formed. We quickly joined and won’t have to worry about dealing with store boughten milk until April! Yeah!!!

This Jersey is so much bigger than our Dexter! In my ignorance, I didn’t quite realize what a little gal Maybelle is. She certainly lives up to the Jersey reputation of being docile. There is no way she would let us get away with milking her like my husband is without kicking or stamping on him. She clearly has an attitude problem and knows that she can push us around.