Helju at sunset

Helju is a very special cow. Her mother was a regular, smallish Ayrshire cow. Her father's breed was Fleckvieh, a dual-purpose (milk and beef) breed from Southern Germany. While 2/3 of Finnish cows are Ayrshires, Fleckvieh or closely related (milking) Simmental cows are very rare.

Helju is quite beefy for a milking cow. When she was young, people used to say that she'll hardly be much of a milker. I always thought that we should wait and see. Now we have seen that she is actually just as good a milker as a good Ayrshire cow would be.

Today is a very special day, the beginning of major changes in our life. Triinu drove off in the morning and her studies start tomorrow. After about 6-7 weeks our cows will leave. Sun is setting on our dairy production.