Meet Bella, our new Dexter-cross heifer.

She arrived yesterday evening, a pretty and calm 2 1/2 year old pregnant heifer. She arrived with her own name, Bella, and we decided it sounded nice with Bessie, so we are going to keep that name, even though we already have a Bella (Georgie’s special doll).

Mr T and Bessie were very excited about the new arrival. I have never see Mr T run around so much, like a playful puppy. He and Bella met face to face, after Bella made her way out of the trailer. They stood, nose to nose, sort of trying to back each other up, but being very gentle. Bella won this hierarchical test, making Mr T back away, and from that moment, Bella has been boss cow. The three of them walked the perimeter of their current paddock, walking in a straight line, with Bella leading and Bessie at the rear. It was really cute and interesting, seeing the cows walk around this way. They are such gorgeous, serene animals and I love being around them!

I loved feeding Bessie, and patting her. She is becoming much more tame! She is incredibly sweet!

This evening we went out to the cows with a bucket of cow pellets. Whilst Bella is not entirely skittish, she does not let us very close to her. We can get about 2 metres away from her before she walks away. By feeding her and getting her used to us, she will eventually become friendly, like Nina was, hopefully. Whilst we are not certain we would milk Bella, the idea is there at the back of our minds, as a definite possibility. Besides, we are not sure what she is crossed with, and although Dexters are good milking cows, whatever she is crossed with (we are wondering if it is a Hereford), might not be such a good milker.

Bella got pretty close to having some pellets, but she didn’t take any this time. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Maybe next year. We shall see.

Mr cow herder with his herd, loving it

We are excited because our farm is growing! Slowly, we are building our dream, and the family is jittery with excitement as we do so. I came home this afternoon and ran to look at the animals. on one side of the fence, the cows lay in the sun, chewing the cud. The sheep were on the other side, checking out the new addition. It was pretty cool. Bella is a lovely new addition and she seems well-natured.

And yes, since you asked, she is named after Bella in Twilight!