Since entering the cattle business several years ago, my husband and I have taken opposite positions on the subject of genetics. His goal is for our herd to become completely black. My goal is for our herd to become completely cute. Since I'm not necessarily of the opinion that solid black equals cute, we have a discrepancy. A conflict. A marital dispute.
With only 10 cows left to calve this year, we have only one calf on the ground that is not entirely black. And it's a steer, which means it will not remain in the herd. I'm grumpy about that.
I'm so grumpy about it that I went through the archives of my pictures and found some not-black cows.
There are only two problems. First of all, these pictures were taken with old camera, and they're just not that good.
Secondly, these are not even our cows. They're my dad's. You can kind of see him in the corner of this picture.
This is his pickup, too. He ought to open up a petting zoo. The kids wouldn't even have to get their feet dirty because the cows just come right up and stick their heads in the window.
Their cute red heads.
But I guess our black calves are okay, too. At least they're not chickens.
8 comments:
I go for cute in our herd also. But dh is the one who places orders for the semen tank. And he usually orders homozygous black. Though sometimes we still get surprises. We have two red ones in this winter crop of calves. And I too am glad they are not chickens!
I figured those had to be your dad's cows when I saw the sheep in the background of the first pic. Does he pasture both the cattle & sheep together all the time? What breed of sheep does he have? I saw mostly white face but one black face, must be Suffolk by the looks, was there too. We've decided to AI some of our smaller heifers to some lowline this year. Hopefully we can find a niche market. Loved the pics even if they were taken with the old camera LOL. BTW, I miss my chickens!
Those are all cute cows! I have always had a soft spot for cows, cow was my first word when I was little.
Wow! Your dad has a LOT of sheep! HOLY!
Ok, so even though I don't have cows, I am partial to the red ones too. They are cuter, you are right. ;)
I think they are all cute.. I don't live on a farm though.. So, i'm sure i'd have no say on what we got either if we did own a farm..
Sandy
Having experience with both the red and black varieties, I too am partial to the red angus. Overall, they have a nicer disposition and are easier to handle. The most gentle herd of cows I've ever been around were reds. On the other side of the spectrum; however, is the price. If you have two groups of commercial steer calves, both even in weight and stature, the blacks will bring more money than the reds.
It's funny to see this debate in someone else's house. Since I married into this farm life and didn't grow up around cows...I just don't get it, but apparently 'brown white face' are the color or choice on this farm...I've never understood it. ???
I'm getting tired of black cows at our place too. We had red Angus at first but have gone black. It is amazing how they can be the same darn cow and the black will bring more $$ Advertising took care of that. There is just nothing cuter than baby calves running with their tales up in the air bucking and kicking...just enjoying life. This usually happens in our lot when the mamas are being fed. We call it Rodeo Time.
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