Wilamar Farm: Farewell Sweet Prince

Prince

Prince, the Irish Dexter bull calf, went home today. Once again, the deal had been made even before he was born.

It all started with last year's heifer calf. Debbie, from Nevada, had been visiting her dad who lives here in Bakersfield. On a lark she looked in the Purebred Dexter Cattle Association's member registry book to see if there were any breeders in the Bakersfield area and saw my name and that I had one cow. After looking at the cow and knowing who she was bred to, Debbie and her husband struck a deal to buy the calf, be it a heifer or bull. They were hoping for a bull, but this time it was a heifer. They knew I had two straws of semen left from that particular breeding and bought one from me.

I used the last straw to breed Ladysmith back. Originally I had planned on breeding her in February, but as it turned out I had to wait until March. My veterinarian, Dr. Michael Kerfoot, was in China at the invitation of the Chinese government doing consultations and grading dairy cows.

When he returned he AI'd Ladysmith. Two months later he came back to my farm to do the preg check. I noticed he seemed to be wincing a bit as he walked and I asked how he was doing. His reply was "Oh, as well as can be expected." Thinking he had been kicked or stepped on by a cow I didn't pursue the matter. Instead, we made small talk about his trip to China. He declared Ladysmith to be pregnant and I happily ran in to write the check to pay him.

pregnant Ladysmith

Not long after that Debbie and her husband, Tom, came up from Nevada with the cow they wanted bred. She was to stay at Dr. Kerfoot's facility for a few weeks where he would inseminate her with the straw they bought from me.

It was just a week later that I heard Dr. Kerfoot had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the prognosis was not good. That's when I realized that must have been why he was showing discomfort when I had last seen him.

Debbie called after they picked their cow up. She said the cow had lost a lot of weight, in fact more than half the bales of hay they had brought to feed her were still there. Something had gone wrong. I told her of the news I had heard. I don't know how the animals at the facility were cared for, if Dr. Kerfoot himself or some other care taker was supposed to do the feeding, but it was obvious because of the circumstances that things were in a state of calamity.

Just two months later, on August 27, 2006, Dr. Kerfoot passed away.

This was terrible news indeed. I had been hoping for a miracle, that he would be cured of his cancer and all would go back to normal. I had come to rely on him for my cattle needs. He was always patient and accommodating. I was really going to miss his jovial manner and inexpensive service.

I had to start thinking of the future. I didn't know of any other veterinarians that had the frozen semen storage tanks. I knew there were dairy farms that did, but they were for their own use. Maybe it was time for me to get my own bull.

I talked to Debbie about it because I knew they had some bulls. I was hoping I could get a full brother to the cow she had brought up because she was really beautiful. And they had the Cornahir Outlaw line in them, which is well known. I brought up the possibility of a trade. If Ladysmith's current calf was a bull would she be interested? She was.

Cornahir Outlaw

As luck would have it they did indeed have a full brother to the cow I had seen. He was 1 1/2 years old at the time. They really liked him but had been planning on selling him because they needed to get new blood into their herd. A trade would be perfect.

Next, I had to find some room for him here. I have three permanent pens, and a larger pen on the side that could be manipulated to make a few more smaller pens. The problem was, the large pen was occupied by the sheep, one permanent pen had the goat, one permanent pen had the pony. That left the largest permanent pen which was occupied by Ladysmith.

The problem was solved while sitting on the back patio with our neighbor Dean one evening. He offered me the use of his pens, which he was not using. So now I moved Flora, the pony, to one of Dean's pens, and Perry, the ram went into Flora's pen. The bull, named Dakota, would move in with Ladysmith and stay with her until right before she calved. Then Perry would go into a temporary pen for a month while Dakota took over his pen. After mother and calf bonded and the calf was older, Dakota would move back in. Depending on what stage of production the sheep were in, Perry would stay with them or move back to his permanent pen.

I had it all figured out. Now Ladysmith would have to cooperate and give us a bull calf. I prayed to God and to Dr. Kerfoot to please make this calf a bull. On December 17, 2006, my plea was answered.

new bull calf

Prince and mom, Ladysmith

Things could not have gone any smoother. Debbie and Tom brought Dakota in February and got their first in person look at their new herd sire. Dakota fit right in with Ladysmith and her calf. He just turned two and so far he has been the epitomy of a gentleman.

Dakota