Monday and Tuesday, July 16-17, 2007

We spent Monday getting ready to go to the fair, packing straw and hay and supplies and equipment into the little trailer. Then we went to the fairgrounds to set up. The place where the animals are now has a layer of sawdust followed by several layers of straw, all packed down. It seems very comfortable! There will be 7 cows. Anna is showing a young cow that the farm just purchased from UVM. Blake is showing a summer yearling, Pinky; Kristy and Katy are showing winter calves, Tweddle Dee and Tweedle Dum, I’m showing Cricket, and finally, Katharina (Wanda’s 7 year old daughter) is showing Clarabell, a Holstein spring yearling, and Starlight, a Jersey spring calf.

That pile of straw is from half a bale. It fluffs up a lot!
We had to borrow some sawdust from the show ring...
Packing the layers...

Ready for cows!


Tuesday morning was spent making the final preparations for taking the animals to the fair, like packing the tack box, making sure the trailer was clean, getting more hay, and stuff like that. there were also two calves, both heifers, FINALLY! We checked on the heifer that was calving and she was doing fine so we went to get hay and when we got back, the calf was on the ground. That one was tiny, probably less than 50 pounds. I had no problem picking it up and carrying it to the calf pen. The other calf was born backwards but alive, luckily. It was much bigger, so big that Katy and I could barely lift it off the ground to get it to the other pen.

After lunch we finally loaded all the animals onto the big stock trailer and went to the fair! First, we tied them up in the straw while we got the rest of the stuff unloaded and our little base camp set up.

Then, we had to give all of them baths. After that we got to relax a little bit. Our goal while we’re there is to make it look like none of the cows poop, ever. Later in the evening, I helped Wanda clip Cricket again, this time a special way to make her look slender and angular (the way a dairy cow is supposed to look). We clipped along her shoulder blade to emphasize the angle, and along her hind legs to make them look slender. On our way back from the clipping station to our area, we stopped to let a crowd of fair-goers pass, and Cricket greeted each and every stroller, reaching out so each toddler could pat her nose. She is the model public relations committee!