Calf update

When I left you in March we had a bottle fed calf. She miraculously went back to her mother after several weeks. Mom did manage to relactate to some extent, but our little girl never was quite right. We ended up trading her to a neighbor for Ruth the mule:



The little black calf spent several months trying to put on weight at our neighbor's. He bottle fed and grain fed her. Last I heard she was heading for the auction.

The black bull managed to sire more calves; three were born in the summer.

We also took our first calf (a little over a year old) to the slaughterhouse in October. The meat was quite good, especially the ground beef. Being a free-range boy his muscles were strong, so the meat was tough if not ground or tenderized, but what flavor! A good soak in wine for the steaks, and a long slow cook in the crockpot for the roasts have helped make the meat more easy to chew. It feels good to now have our own beef, chicken and eggs. Now if we can get the garden in, and get a goat to actually give birth, we'll add produce and dairy and we'll be practically self sufficient!