The new addition to the farm has a new addition

We have wanted cattle since before we were married.  So after 20 years we have moved to a home that will accommodate a cow.  We picked a small dual purpose breed, Dexter.  We picked her out Friday after Thanksgiving  and she, Erica, was really pregnant at the time.  We figured she would have the calf before we could get her but she hung in there and nine hours after she arrived at our farm she delivered.  Boy, oh boy, did Erica deliver!

                                                         A beautiful red bull calf. Ted.

Ted is three weeks old now and doing great.  So now the fun begins.  We are going to try to take a pasture raised dexter cow and gentle her to the point that we can sit down next to her, reach under her, grab her teats and milk her.  Wish me luck! 

So here is my thought process.  Get her used to confined space and us being very close. So I add two round pen panels into her larger pen.  I will feed her between this two panels and slowly decrease the space between them.  Here is a picture of our first practice.  I closed the panels to form a triangle once she was in there. I waited until she was calm and eating again before I opened the panels.  I hope to do this every day until I can have her walk in between the panels set up like a stanchion.

                                        Just had to add pictures of that cute face.