And now welcome….

….our newest calf and his proud mother.  This is one of six heifers that enter our production herd this year.  She’s a Rotokawa 93 daughter.

We schedule our heifers to calf at three years of age because we feel that’s better for both mom and her calf.  Other breeders like to push calving earlier, believing they get more calves over the life of the cow by starting at two.  Our experience is that by being patient we extend the productive life of the cow.  But more than that we find they are calmer, better mothers when we wait.

Incidentally, the sire in this case was our Rotokawa 974 herd bull, U2, or as Wooz calls him “Double Trouble“.  Personally I think he deserves a better name for such a trouble-free bull.  And this little calf is quite an accomplishment for a first-time sire and dam.