Well there can't be too many more calves to come, but our latest arrivals both sired by Rawlings ET, are a black heifer from Rawlings Annastacia and a red bull out of my beautiful Rawlings Delta Blue.

There are only five

Well this morning we have another calf, Rawlings Bohemian Rhapsody has given us a black heifer by Rawlings ET, she has only ever had bulls before and the bull name was picked out.  But after some thought this calf will be named Gypsy Queen, she looks quite sweet.  Shame she was not born yesterday, I would have liked a heifer for my birthday!!

We have had another two calves born in the last few days, Rawlings Delloreen has given us a horned black heifer by KP Envoy, she will be named Gayleen.  Envoy is a horned bull and I did this to test if some of the females we have could be homozygous polled, but it now shows that Delloreen is heterozygous polled (single polled - only has one polled gene), she will be now put back to one of the other polled bulls with the hope of producing homozygous polled offspring in the future.

The other calf born is a polled red bull out of Rawlings Eclipse Blue Star and by Rawlings ET, who has the potential to be homozygous polled.  He will be named Galaxy Quest.  He gave us the slip the day after he was born and we spent a good hour looking for him when we wanted to move the mob, he was found sleeping in the laneway in some lovely sunshine.

Sadly on Sunday we have had to have one of our Border Collies put to sleep, Yoda is now at the Rainbow Bridge with Austin, chasing cows and rabbits.  And then there were two!!  Until September when we are sure Flame is going to give us a litter of little ones.

More news on the last of the eight calves due shortly.

Well we have certainly had some rain in the last few days, 68 mm yesterday and 39 mm the day before.  Mark had an interesting one last night on his way up the hill to check the cows due to calve, he was overtaken near our bull paddock by a platypus swimming up the laneway.  There was a good 8 inches of water lying in the lane and the platypus obviously thought it was a good night for a swim.

Luckily no more cows have calved, we did spend half the day today looking for KP Ulinzi's calf who Mark thought was a heifer but could not get close enough to tell yesterday when it was born.  We walked up and down our Bracken paddock, across this way then the other, fighting blackberries and slipping in the wet.  The calf was finally located in the paddock next to where she was born, tucked up in a knoll of grasses and bracken ferns, warm and dry unaware she had caused such a fuss.  Mother and calf were reunited and yes it is a heifer, maybe she should be called Gone with the Wind or Getaway.

So my new saying is "you now its wet when a platypus overtakes you on the laneway!!"

Wonder what Mark will find tonight on his way to check the cows, broken torches, platypus, what next??  Life is never dull at our place.

It never rains it just pours! I can cope with the rain, walking up the hill at night to check cows dressed like I just got off an atlantic fishing boat, but when my trusty spotlight decides not to work as I am about to head up the hill, I must be lucky. A quick search revealed the spare with a duff battery, how lucky can one be.

In to the shed and put a light together, thankfully and to much of my wifes dismay I tend not to throw much away instead storing it there quoting "I might need that one day" well that day had come.
Power pack that was the easy bit, one of those combo units jump starter conpressor 12 volt outlet etc, heavy and bulky but it will do the job, work light off the bobcat wire it in and it works ,then to my suprise the worklight opted for early retirement, plan D spare car spot light from another part of the shed ,wired in and and away we go. Cows checked one cow calving all OK, woke up this morning feeling one arm is longer than the other, those power packs tend to get heavy after an hour.  Bought a new torch today !!
Mark   

As expected the cows have all decided to drop in the rain, 4 calves.  Thank goodness we made the decision yesterday afternoon to move the cows to a nice sheltered paddock at the top of the hill.  At least they have a chance to get out of the weather.

The calves
A polled red bull out of Rawlings Duchess of York (Fergie) and by Blueprint who was born late last night and will be named Griffen
A polled red heifer out of Rawlings Belladonna and by Blueprint who will be named Gezzabelle
A polled black bull out of our Grade 3 Rawlings Criss Cross and by Blueprint who is to be known as Gee Whiz, he will make a nice steer.
A polled black heifer (well Mark thinks it is a heifer as he can't get close enough to her)out of KP Ulinzi by Blueprint and a full sister to KP Freedom, as yet unnamed, I will leave that to Sue.

And finally a name for KP Distant Echo's polled black heifer born a few days ago she is going to be named Gaelic Welkom.

Another four calves and they still remain all polled, ALL 15 polled, just 10 more to go so I am sure we will get one horned calf.

Bye for now.

Why is it that in the worst weather the calves are born??  This morning after 39 mm of rain Eva Diva has decided she will calve.  All is well, Gaga that is Lady Gaga, arrived a polled red heifer by Rawlings ET who could be homozygous polled.  Yippee!!!

Well it has taken four calvings but Rawlings Apricot Ice, our special Grade 3 cow out of Rawlings Watermelon has finally broken the drought.  After the Count, Darn It, Eddie & F It all Grade 4 steers, this afternoon in a huge downpour she produced a gorgeous polled red heifer who will be named Gelato.  It was worth getting wet to go up the paddock and see what we have waited all this time to be born.  Mark is up there now checking that mum and bub are both OK, and yes it is still raining.

A name has also been chosen for the black polled heifer out of Rawlings Chariot of Fire and by Rawlings ET, she will be called Ginseng.

An interesting point is that all 10 of the calves to date have been polled, with Rawlings ET siring 4 of those, could we be so lucky to have two homozygous polled bulls.  I hope so!!  Only 15 more calves still to be born, we are going to be busy and sleep deprived for a little while longer.

Our Wiltshire Horned ewes have also decided to start lambing today with the first birth a set of twins.  It is all happening at our place!!

Here are the pictures of the calves born to date. They are shown in the order that they were born, going from oldest at two weeks old to youngest who was born just last night.  ENJOY!!

Firstly we have decided to name Damita's black polled calf Granita, she is running around and has taken to going through the fence and sitting in the laneway in the long grass.  Makes sense the grass acts as a windbreak so no wind out there, her mother is always at the fence to show us where she is.

Charity calved last night, a polled black heifer calf by ET.  She is a sweetie and was born 5 days late so surprised us all by being a heifer! Usually the bulls are born late and the heifers are on time or a bit early. Her name will be decided shortly and I will get some pictures today before the rain starts again.

Apricot Ice looks close and Eva Diva is a few days late now, so they will calve when they are good and ready. Stay posted.