There’s a couple new faces at the homestead, we are excited for you to meet Toby and her calf, our new foster animals!
Foster animals? What?!
To tell this story, let’s first back up a bit.
You all may remember Mabel, our first family cow. So many dreams came true when we brought her to our homestead February 2019 and when she calved a few weeks later. However, our dream was cut short and despite our best efforts, we had to sell her in April.
Suggested: Family Cow|Mabel Update
Even though we had a very rough go with our first cow, we were absolutely hooked on having a family cow. We didn’t know how or when it would happen, but we knew that owning another family cow was certain.
Fast forward to a few months ago… it was summer and we were busy, like most homesteaders. Another family cow always in the back of our minds but circumstances did not allow us to purchase a cow AND have enough funds left over to feed said cow. As sad as it made our whole family, it just wasn’t going to be in the cards for this year. We decided to table the idea and revisit the idea in Spring of 2020.
One day, I popped on Facebook and noticed a friend of mine had tagged me on the “Around the Farm Table” page (if you don’t know what this show is, you HAVE to check it out- especially if you love homesteading/small farming). Of course, I quickly checked out what was going on. My heart raced as I read about how Inga was in search of foster families for her cows. I had never heard of such a thing but instantly knew I had to try and help.
This poor woman lost three barns in 5 months. Fire, wind, and snow. Bad luck doesn’t even begin to cover it. Inga realized the rebuilding of barns was not going to be fast enough to provide shelter for the cows/calves during the harsh Wisconsin winter.
To tell the truth, I was hesitant. I immediately thought “oh she wouldn’t choose me!” and “I bet she has already found homes lined up!”. Despite my self-sabotaging, I sent Inga a message right away. In the message, I explained our situation, talked about our homestead and our family… then I prayed.
I prayed that God would make the answer clear. If this wasn’t meant to be, I wouldn’t hear back or she would let me know that I was too late. I also prayed that I would be okay with either outcome.
After a few days of no response, I was beginning to accept that this was not meant to be. I was sad but okay with it, I had asked God to help me not be upset after all. One day my phone alerted me to a message and I certainly did not expect to read what I did. Inga was actually interested in us fostering a cow!
We corresponded quite a bit about the details and agreed to get back in touch in September as we had arranged to take the cow/calf in October. Inga also said we could go ahead and milk her, keeping whatever milk we get! Yay- fresh milk again!
Our summer continued to keep us busy and my mind mostly off of the pending excitement. I even vowed to keep the news pretty hush. Mainly, I didn’t want to have to explain what happened if it didn’t end up working out in the end.
When September rolled around and my kids were settled back into the school routine, we got in touch again and agreed that our family would come visit her farm so we could meet Inga and the cows. This is when I really started getting excited- it was actually happening!
I’m not going to lie, traveling that day to meet Inga was so nerve-wracking! I did not know what to expect. Not only was I meeting a “famous person” whom I admired, I wasn’t sure how to approach the cow situation. It wasn’t like going to look at a cow we were planning on purchasing. We were just fostering this cow. I didn’t know if she was going to pick out the cow for us or if we were going to… it just was totally new and uncharted territory!
Luckily, it took about .02 seconds after meeting Inga to realize she was as down to earth as any person I’d ever met and immediately felt more at ease. She showed us around the farm and we talked a bit about her string of bad luck. We did have a couple words of advice since we had also lost our barn to weather (tornado).
After talking awhile, we went into the pasture to see the cows. What a sight! Not only is her land gorgeous, the small herd of Jersey cows, calves, and yearling heifers was simply picturesque. My yearning for another cow on our homestead grew just looking at them.
Inga talked about the cows as they milled about and showed us the one she had chosen for us (phew, I really was uncomfortable at the idea of choosing one!). Toby, an absolutely stunning light-colored Jersey and her little bull calf. Inga explained that Toby is very calm, halter broke, and able to be hand milked.
On our way home that day, I felt so much more at ease and allowed myself to get even more excited! We were going to have a cow again, even if it was temporary, and I get to milk again!
Helping Inga out is truly a win-win for both of us. She was desperate for someone to give her girls a good, temporary home and we were yearning for another family cow. Despite this being a temporary situation, we are definitely going to spoil this girl and her baby!
Our adventure with Toby and her calf have just begun. Be sure to stick around for what is sure to be a memorable experience!
If you have any name ideas for the bull calf, be sure to leave them in the comments below. I’m totally thinking “Keith”… haha (Toby and Keith). Mike isn’t sold on that one though ;).
Thank you for stopping by the homestead!
Until next time,
Melissa
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