It didn't take them long to reach the farmer's market. Lei'lira found herself smiling fondly at Teirue as the young girl's grew huge with wonder.
It is a truly rewarding thing to see the world through the eyes of the very young. Everything is new, and filled with wonder. she thought as she herded the kids gently towards the animal pens.
There were three farmers selling cows at the market, but two of them only had breeds that were raised for beef rather than the dairy cows she was looking for. That made her decision of which farmer to buy from much simpler. Lei'lira walked towards the area where the dairy cows were being held. But she quickly found herself out of her depth. She knew what she needed, but there were a lot of different breeds of cows to choose from. How would she know which cows would best suit her needs?
"Can I help you?"
Lei'lira looked over towards the woman who had spoken to her, and offered her a relieved smile.
"I hope so. I work with horses more than I work with cows, so I'm really out of my depth here."
The older woman smiled back warmly.
"Perhaps if you tell me what you're looking for, I can help you find what you need?" she asked gently.
"I've always been fine with having just one cow to provide the milk I need in the past. But I have several children to look after now, so I find myself needing more dairy products than I can get from one cow. So I am hoping to buy two more cows, but..."
Lei'lira gestured at the cows, looking lost.
"I don't even know where to start."
"I think you just did. If you know that you are only looking to supply milk and such for your family rather than starting a dairy farm, that is an excellent start. It means that you won't need to consider some of the more expensive breeds that are known for being top of the line milk producers, for one thing. So the first question is, are you looking for cows, or heifers?"
Lei'lira blinked in confusion, and realized that she must look as lost as she felt when the older woman chuckled at her.
"You do know that a cow has to be pregnant in order to be milked, right?"
Lei'lira nodded.
"Well, a heifer is a female bovine that hasn't given birth to a calf yet. They are considered to be heifers until they give birth to their second calf. Cows, on the other hand are mature bovines who have given birth to two or more calves. In your case, I think I would recommend cows over heifers because it is easier to know which cows will have an easier time of birthing than it is with a heifer."
The woman led Lei'lira over to an area where she assumed the cows were being held. To Lei'lira's inexperienced eye, they looked no different than any of the other cows aside from the visible differences between breeds.
"How much do you know about a bovine's breeding cycle?"
"Not much." Lei'lira admitted truthfully.
"Okay, I'll just stick with the basics, then. Since you aren't looking to start a dairy herd, you won't need to know more than that. A heifer should be at least 450 trials old before they are bred for the first time. A bull, on the other hand can be bred at one arc old. Any younger than that, and the calves are likely to be small, and sickly. The heifers will be more likely to have difficulty giving birth as well. So if you plan to keep the calves you get for milking, that is something you should keep in mind."
Lei'lira nodded to show that she understood. She noticed that Eri was paying close attention as well. But Atreyas didn't seem to have much interest in the subject. Instead, he was keeping an eye on the younger kids, and entertaining them so that they wouldn't get bored.
"A cow's gestation period is 279-287 trials. The average pregnancy is 283 trials. But cows that are carrying bull calves tend to have slightly longer pregnancies than those bearing heifer calves. It isn't a sure thing, but you can sometimes tell what the gender of an unborn calf is if you know that. Now this is mostly useful for you to know because it tells you how long you can milk your cows safely. Cows need a 90 trial rest from being milked before they birth their calves. This will allow the damage caused to their udders from milking to heal before they must begin nursing. And since the calves need all of their mother's milk in order to thrive, it is unwise to milk your cows until their calves have been weaned."
Lei'lira nodded again. She hadn't know that milking a cow would hurt the animal. She probably would have felt guilty about hurting Daisy if she didn't know that a cow would suffer a lot of pain if they weren't milked often enough. As they talked, the dairy farmer selected two of the cows, and separated them from the others.
"I think that these two should suit your needs. Both of them are proven to birth easily. More importantly for you, they are docile creatures who won't give you any trouble about being milked. And both of them were bred not that long ago, so you will have a good while before they reach the end of their pregnancies. These calves will be the third for each cow, and they are young enough to be able to provide you with milk for many arcs."
"I'll take them." Lei'lira said softly, trusting the older woman to know what she was talking about.
She started to ask about whether it would be a good idea to buy a bull as well, but she was distracted by a soft, distressed lowing sound. Lei'lira looked up, and her eyes widened when she saw several men holding a cow still while another man was standing behind her with his hands buried inside her.
"What...?"
The older woman chuckled at Lei'lira's expression.
"Darren's our vet. He can work with most animals, but he specializes in cows. And to answer your question, he is examining her. What did Darren tell me? Oh, yes. Rectal palpation of the uterus is a good way to tell if a cow is pregnant. It can be performed as soon as 35 trials after a cow has been bred, and is very accurate in determining if the cow is pregnant or not."
"Ewww, that's disgusting!" Atreyas exclaimed, making both Lei'lira, and the other farmer laugh.
"Have you given any thought to buying a bull to service your cows?"
Lei'lira nodded.
"A little. Mostly that it would save me the cost of breeding them to someone else's bull. But how do I choose one?"
"There are a number of things you want to consider. The first being that you make certain that the bull is healthy. That isn't a problem with most of the farmers around here since they tend to be good, honest folk. Animals are usually examined very carefully before they are sold to ensure that sick ones aren't sold to unsuspecting people. A sick animal, in this case, a bull, will transmit any illness it may have to the rest of your herd. None of the bulls we have for sale are sick. We've made very certain of that."
Lei'lira nodded. That made perfect sense to her.
"The bull's characteristics are also important. Size, weight, things like that. The bigger the bull, the bigger the calves it will sire. That will be less important to you since you aren't looking to raise beef cattle. But it is still something to consider if you plan to sell the calves your cows produce. In your case, you want a bull from a line that has been proven to sire calves that are easy for their mothers to bear. Since you are only looking to keep a few cows to provide for your family, the loss of even one due to complications in birthing will be a problem for you. Age is also a consideration. Bulls are expensive. You don't want to buy one that is too young to be bred, or that is so old that you will only get one or two breeding seasons out of him before he is too old."
That also made a great deal of sense to Lei'lira. She didn't need a whole herd of cows. She just wanted three so she would have plenty of milk for her family, and enough extra to barter with. The dairy farmer led Lei'lira over to where her bulls were being held. There were several to choose from, and Lei'lira watched as the older woman began looking at them to find one that would meet Lei'lira's needs.
"When you do buy a bull, you want to quarantine him for thirty trials. That will ensure that if the vet who examined him missed anything, it will show itself before you expose him to your herd. Likewise, if he's been exposed to an illness, but hadn't begun showing any symptoms when he was examined before sale, the quarantine will give him time to show signs of it. Of course, this should be done with any new animal you buy before introducing it to an existing herd."
The woman pulled one of the bulls aside, and showed him to Lei'lira.
"Finally, you want a bull who is definitely fertile. Buying an untested bull is always risky. This guy here is three arcs old. He's had three breeding seasons so far, and performed well for all of them. None of the cows he was bred to had any difficulty in bearing their calves, but he hasn't been bred to any heifers yet, so I can't guarantee anything if he's bred to one. Than won't be a problem with either of the cows I'm selling you, though."
Lei'lira thanked the woman, and handed her the nels she owed. They arranged for the cows and bull to be delivered to her farm at the end of the trial. Then she turned to her kids. They had been wonderful while she was conducting her business, so she was happy to keep her end of the bargain.
"Where would you like to go next?" she asked with a smile.
Off Topic
The cost of the 2 cows, 2 calves (that will be born in Zi'da 717), and bull have been deducted from my ledger
