I started with purebred Canadian horses and Canadienne dairy cows, plus 3 Karakul sheep brought out from Quebed and Ontario, 5 years ago. It seems almost like yesterday, but so much has been learned. There was a problem and where we were staying for the winter was on acreages near Two Hills, AB, but the land did not allow farm animals. The man who rented the shop to me allowed me to fence his land and bring in the animals, knowing full well they were not permitted. I had to find board for the animals or sell them rapidly. I sadly sold the cows to pay for the the board for the horese and sheep, but likely should have done it the other way around. Although Canadians were not common here, they were not so rare either, but the cows were extremely rare and sought after. Of course, I get no credit for having brought them out, but that is another story. I sold my beautiful Canadienne dairy cows, bred. My great loss. 

Then I got a Dexter, but she was a fence jumper and was always in with the herd next door, so I got another cow, a Dexter, to keep her company and keep her home, which did not work. So I sold those two cows, one with a calf. 

Then I got a Jersey, a lovely little girl all the way from Pink Mountain, BC, where she descended from a long line of dairy cows bred to do well on grass only. She was also bred and confirmed pregnant. She did have a calf, but the calf got stuck in the mud and the other big cows that were boarded here trampled her right in and she passed away. I found my little Jersey mourning her calf and pulled the dead baby out of the mud so she knew she was gone. The neighbour's dogs ate the calf that night and I know it was them because I saw them. The neighbour's response was, "So, shoot them". I didn't. 

I sent the little Jersey home with the big cows to get bred. The farmer had an artificial insemination tank and knew people with Jersey semen. I told him a couple of times that she had not had grain and could not have grain, that she was bred to thrive on grass alone and he should not feed her grain. So, he turned her out with his cows, who were fed a mix of grain, hay and ration, whatever that is, and he found her dead, belly up the next morning. He said it was from getting too deep in the bedding and would not replace her or take responsibility. 

I was a little hesitant to try my luck with cows again then. You can see why. 

But the man who rented my pasture the following year could not afford the board and we had agreed that he would give me a heifer calf at weaning instead. Kyle, the Kilo Highland came here that way. She is a delight. I can pet her when she drinks water. 

But I had been talking to a man who breeds a naturally small cow, the Galloway, only in Sherwood Park, which is just about 2 hours drive from here. I could not afford a prime calf, but he had something for me then, a little heifer that lost her mother when she was just 3 months old. She fended for herself and managed to survive the winter, but would be small due to her short time on Mamma's milk and without mother's protection. She was perfect for me, only was unapproachable. I was hoping to change that. The breeder also had a bull that was appropriate for me, smaller side and 1/8 Highland from way back in the genes, so he was not registerable with the Galloways. So I acquired two Riggit Galloway cows. They have double coats so in winter stay warm without the need for extra bedding or extra feed. I think they are wonderful. 

And finally, I wanted to try a dairy cow again. Unfortunately the people who sold her to me were less than upfront and she arrived thin and has a fallen foot so she walks on the bottom of her ankle instead of the hoof. I mentioned it to the fellow who laughed and said he forgot to trim her feet. Ha. He forgot the poor cow entirely. I have put some weight on her now and she does look better and a cow hoof man is coming to tend to her feet. She was supposedly bred and I have seen no action from my bull, so hopefully she is and will be due in September. Then I plan to sell her when the calf is old enough to wean, as a nurse cow, which is what she will be best suited for. She is a Norwegian Red Holstein cross and was a dairy cow, likely expelled due to bad feet. Darn, I wish people were honest. 

So that is the story of the cows of the Fat Ewe Farm. I think I will stick with the Riggit Galloways only. I would love to milk Kylie the Highland, but I do not think she is tame enough and I don't know enough about cows to tame her more. I do not drink milk though I would use it to make cheese, butter and yogurt for sure. Oh well, some things are not meant to be. Moooo!

I fist learned about a heifer when I read a book in school entitled, "One's a Heifer". I have  absolutely no recollection of the story, but did learn that a heifer was a young female calf or cow who did not yet have a baby. That is all I remember of that book. Now I know what heifers are, I have two of my own, only lately I have been thinking that Shona might be soon a mother. She is quite wide in the belly. 

Shona is a small Riggit Galloway heifer whose mother died at age 17 when she was just 3 months old, leaving her to fend for herself. Without her mother's milk and protection, she did survive, but not thrive and has remained small and aloof. Her pasture mate is Kylie Highland, a Kylo Highland heifer. Kylie does not seem to be bred. The bull calf stayed with Shona for the winter months in a small pen, whilst I tried to tame them. The bull became calm, but Shona was always wild and wary. The bull is out with the rented cows, or rather the cows that rent the pasture. Shona and Kylie have stayed in wth the sheep so they would not be bred to the giant Charolais bull that came in. Kylie may have been bred though, by the Riggit Galloway bull prior to his bailing for the other girls. 

Both breeds are small cows, and both are ancient breeds. Both breeds have double coats that keep them warm in winter, thereby saving on the feed bill since the modern cows must eat to generate heat to stay warm. These cows develop such thick winter coats that they do not even need straw to bed down on, much like the livestock guardian dogs, who often prefer to sleep in the snow. 

I was hoping the first calf would be tame and the mother tame enough to milk, but that did not happen with my heifers and because they are not tame, they may not allow me near their babies either. Time will tell. But, I must say, Shona is rather large in the belly. Hmmm. 

The two new calves to the Fat Ewe Farm are Galloway, the heifer calf and the bull calf from different genetics, and both being the Riggid pattern, that is black and white speckled. the mother of the bull calf is an old type Belted Galloway who was bred to a White Galloway, producing the riggid pattern in the bull calf. He is 1/9 Highland though, as a result of a Highland bull who  jumped the fence some generations back, so he cannot be registered. The Galloway herd book is very strict. The heifer calf was the last calf born to an old cow, a cow in her fourteenth year, who had produced a calf for thirteen of those years. The mother gave the calf all she had until the calf was three months old, then the mother laid down and died. The calf was then motherless and left to fend for herself, with no special considerations. She has thrived, however, is small for her age due to the lack of her mother's rich milk and the early unintentional weaning. 

The Galloway breed is a very old breed, hardy and able to thrive where other cows would find only marginal existence. They are smaller and ideal for a forage based operation. the traditional Galloway cow has a double coat for winter, so they require 25% less feed than the modern cows, who use some of that energy simply to keep warm. They do not require straw for bedding or additional shelters, either, since their double coats provide all they require to keep themselves quite comfortable, even in the cold winters of northern Alberta. 

The Galloway cows have extra rich milk and lots of it. They easily can nurse their young ones for a year, however, the babes are best weaned when the bull calves show an interest in breeding for obvious reasons, around 7-9 months of age. The calves are born small with a strong will to survive and seldom do they require assistance to enter the world. The cows are excellent mothes with strong maternal instincts and have the babies cleaned and nursing very quickly. They are highly protective of the babies too. As a matter of fact, the Galloway cows will protect all the calves in the herd and seldom are any babies lost to predators, even pasture newborns. 

Although Galloway cows are not milk cows, they have been milked in trying times and the milk is high in butterfat and generally is A2, that is the type of old style milk with easily digestible milk protein and little lactose. There is a stong resurgnece of those seeking A2 milk since A1 milk has caused great problems with the human digestive tract, while A2 milk is eaily tolerated and beneficial to humans. I hope to make friends of my little heifer so that I can share her rich milk every year with her little calf. 

The beef from the cows is higher in the good fats and also nutrients of a forage fed cow. The cows eat many weeds that other cows will not touch, which in turn provides them with the minerals and vitamins to create healthy tissue. 

I welcome our little boy and girl Galloways to the farm. The bull will eventually breed Kylie, the little Highland heifer already here and since he is 1/8 Highland, the calf will be about 60% Highland, though it could come with the belted colour of the Galloway, or be white, or riggid or even dun, since the genetics for all of those colours are in the heritage of the bull and some are with the Highland calf herself. The riggid Galloway heifer could be any of the above as well. I do not intend to be a farmer of meat cows or dairy cows, but do wish to be sustainable and utitlize the land better. The Galloways will forage in the bush and eat the leaves of the shrubs and trees well into winter, and as well paw the snow to access the grass below as they did in ancient times. 

The Galloways are both from old style Galooway cows from a special North American premium breeder whose animals are sought after and well known through the Galloway world. The breed is naturally polled and bulls are used to introduce that trait to new herds, which is a heck of a lot better than having to burn their horns right out of their skulls as babies. The cows are quiet, easily manged and easily tamed. When the babies come to the farm, they will go into a very small area for a month while I take the time to tame them and they become familiar with me, then they will move to the next size pen. In the fall the heifter will likely be old enough to breed as they do breed young and it is not harmful to this breed. The bulls are calm and easily kept with the cows for most of the time. I wish to halter tain the cows so I have no problems moving them in their adult years. 

Say hello to my new Galloway babies, the welcome additions to the Fat Ewe Farm !