We sold a horned cow with milk genetics, two bulls, and a steer. That paid for part of three bred Murray Grey cows. They're due to calve in March, April, and May.
They came from a farm in East Pittsburgh, about an hour to an hour and a half east-southeast of us. The seller kept them mostly on grass with a little grain in the winter, which is close to how we run things here. We avoid grain when we can, so we wanted genetics that do well on grass. The Murray Greys we looked at came from New Zealand lines.
When I first saw them, they looked plump and happy, and they were very big. All three are pregnant.
Loading them was an adventure. They were born on that property and had never been in a trailer, so the last one took a lot of coaxing and some shoving. A butcher hauled them for us and backed right up our driveway. He said we got good animals.
They went into corral panels first and then into 30 days of isolation from the herd. They aren't used to the no-fence collars we use, so for now they're behind temporary electric fence on rebar stakes and twine.
Next to the rest of the herd, they're clearly bigger bodied. The rest of our herd is mixed, with mini Hereford, Jersey, and Holstein genetics all blended together, and these three look like a different build. They're also the only full-blood cattle on the farm now. Greg Judy talks about wanting a barrel on toothpicks, a wide, deep body on short legs. These have that look. Brownie came out of that same herd, and she was even more built that way.
Blackberry is the black one, and Fern is the gray one.
We'll share more when the calves arrive. Join our email list.