Happy 'Moo' Year! ~ The Moo's-Letter

Published: Wed, 01/03/18

Happy New Year, !

It's been three months since I sent out a newsletter, and in that time I welcomed three new additions to the farm!

Birdsong Princess Marina was born on October 7th. She is Birdsong Princess Alexandra's second calf, and her second heifer too! She is the sweetest little thing, and even has a few white markings, or "chrome", on her.

Many years ago I wanted to raise Jerseys and Guernseys, before deciding to focus on Jerseys. But ever since then I've had a love affair with white markings.

Marina is a great-granddaughter of my first purebred cow, Princess, and is part of my "royal family". I name all of the heifers in this cow family after real royalty, and Marina's namesake is Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark.

Percy was born on November 18th, and he is Birdsong Golden Buttercup's second calf. Percy was the 40th calf born on Birdsong Farm--how cool is that?!

While I name heifer calves after royalty (if they are from my 'Princess' cow family) or flowers (if they are from my 'Blossom' cow family), all the bull calves are given names that start with the letter for that year. The letter for 2017 was 'P', but I couldn't think of a name so I asked my followers on Facebook and Instagram for inspiration and received nearly 100 replies to my post! Several folks recommended Percy and I thought that name was perfect for the new baby.

The fourth and final calf born in 2017 was Porter. He was due on my birthday (November 19th) but decided to wait another 10 days and was born on November 29th instead. He is Birdsong Princess Grace's third calf.

Porter has the coolest white markings--I counted a total of seven! My favourite one is the "lightening bolt" on his face.

2018 promises to be an exciting year, with 11 calves due already. First is Birdsong Princess Isabella with a heifer calf due on May 15th, followed by Birdsong Sweet Jasmine on June 6th.

July will be a crazy month. Birdsong Princess Charlotte is due with a heifer calf on the 12th, the five calves from Fancier's flush are due on the 21st, and Birdsong Shirley Rose is due on the 27th.

And finally, Birdsong Princess Sophie and Birdsong Princess Zara are due on September 1st and 3rd, respectively.

On a side note, if you think of any good boy's names that start with the letter 'Q' (that's the letter for 2018), please let me know!

Wishing you health and happiness in 2018!

Naomi