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A New Calf
Friday, February 6, 2009
Today Chowder, our white pineywoods heifer, gave birth to her first calf.  Chowder has always been a little more aggressive than the other cows; a bit standoffish and only sometimes able to suppress a slightly maniacal gleam in her eye.  She has the confidence to stare down man or fellow beast, including our long-suffering bull.  But, motherhood tames the wildest beasts, and over the past few months she has been suspiciously mellow and slowly expanding in circumference.  But, even in birth she manages to express her dominance:  the calf she birthed looks like her clone and bears no sign of the bull's involvement.
The calf is colored in the 'white park' pattern.  White park cattle are an ancient English breed known for their white coats and coal-black eyes.  (If you want to read a fascinating history of a domestic breed, it's worth doing a little internet research on white park cattle.)  This beautiful calf carries forward a version of the white park color scheme in the pineywoods breed.