Marigold was born on 10/4/2020 at Waldo's Way in Tyler, TX, a known, now-retired raw dairy featuring A2A2 Guernsey's.
We bought Marigold in August 2023 as a heifer. Her previous owners bought her as a potential milk cow yet didn't prioritize breeding her. They hired someone to AI her twice, but she didn't take. [We've learned how tricky it is to AI Guernseys; timing is everything.] When we first acquired Marigold, we were not AI-trained, so we had to wait until we acquired the right bull to breed her. We purchased a registered Jersey bull on November 20th, 2023, and Marigold was bred her first heat cycle after his arrival. She is fertile, the first cycle she took. However, she did slip her heifer calf in June of 2024. The exact reason why is unknown to us: we were not able to bring the calf in for an autopsy. In May, we purchased a new cow that was sick after transport. With the size of the transport, it's possible the new cow picked something up along the way and then spread it to Marigold. Fevers will cause abortions.
Therefore, Miss Marigold is a cow (vs. heifer) but has never been in milk. We don't feel anything is wrong with Marigold; she bred quickly with a bull. She was bred later than ideal; cows should have their first calf around or just before their second birthday, and she was three years old the first time she was bred. However, we feel strong conviction around her losing her calf due to shared illness from the new cow, but only time will tell as we await her next pregnancy to prosper.
We failed to AI Marigold twice ourselves, once in December 2024 and once in January 2025—it's a timing thing, and she must be particular! As of February 27th, 2025, Marigold is with a registered Guernsey bull at a known cattle expert's farm. She went into heat on March 6th, 2025, and was mounted twice by a registered Guernsey bull. 🤞
Marigold is a risky purchase. She is four and has never been in milk or had a full-term pregnancy. However, we're confident she will breed back quickly, but will she maintain a full-term pregnancy? It is a big what-if with her, and we get that. It's the same what-if we're having. We will have two Brown Swiss' and aren't sure if we want to invest another 8+ months to wait out her pregnancy to finally get milk from her. She's a new risk for you, but it's less risky. You're just waiting out her pregnancy before you get that yummy, so-good-for-you Guernsey milk.
She was raised on a well-known Guernsey raw dairy, so you know she received colostrum and everything she needed as a calf; her youth owners gave her everything she needed and loved her dearly, and we'd like to think we've done right by our cattle, gaining expertise from veterinarians and cattle experts along the way.
We're submitting her hair and blood samples to get her registered via DNA profiling. A2A2 beta-casein will be confirmed when we test her for pregnancy in late March to April. Waldo's Way was A2A2 only, but we don't have test results saying that for Marigold. Her last health test was on 3/6/2024; she was negative for BVD-PI and Johnes.
Marigold is "for sale," but it's hard to sell a Guernsey as beautiful as this girl when you have no reason to believe that she can't do her job of providing milk for a family. However, we feel we only need two milk cows, and we have a Brown Swiss currently in milk and a Brown Swiss yearling.
If Marigold peaks your interest, let's talk.
