Witnessed Calf Birth #2

So, as I said in my last post, I was able to witness my second calf birth (our 3rd calf this year) last week.  She was not so hidden in the weeds and, while it did progress fast, it was not quite as fast as the first one I witnessed a few weeks ago!  The photos are from my phone which means they are not the best quality, but they do show exactly what was happening.  I didn't have time to go get the camera or I would have missed the whole thing!

First sight was 2 hooves showing.

With each push more of the calf was showing.

Some pushes I could tell were extremely hard and painful.

At this point the bag was torn and we could see the calf breathing.

The rear end was a little harder to expel than the head was.

All of a sudden --plop onto the ground!!  We were almost certain it was a girl and IT IS!

The first few attempts at standing were very wobbly.

Momma quickly gets the new calf cleaned off.

Finally she stands and after some help from us, starts to drink.

Once again it was an amazing sight that I feel privileged to be a part of.  Red is a great mother and this adorable little girl born on May Day is named May!!

Farm Happenings

There is lots going on at our farm in the past couple of weeks!  Last Thursday evening our heifer "Red" looked kinda funny in the pasture.  She is the one that had an enormous bag but the hind end wasn't really puffy yet.  My hubby went out to check on her(I would have but I was getting supper ready) and I got a call a few minutes later telling me that he could see hooves.  Of course, I dropped everything and rushed out hoping to see the birth.  I did see it and my daughter got to too!  It was the first birth she has been home for and she was so excited!

I did get photos on my phone (which I will post later this week) of the entire birth and, believe me, Red was an all-star. I should have taken my camera out there, but I was hurrying so I didn't miss it altogether.  She had a beautiful heifer calf that is, of course, solid black.  Glad it isn't the kinda icky brown that she is.  We love her anyway.

The very next morning I went out to do chores and our heifer "Tiny" had a little membrane hanging out.  After a bit she didn't seem to be progressing.  I was all over the pasture that morning looking at her and the others.  I left her alone for a while and when I returned an hour later to check on her all the cows were in the barn lot, including her.  I walked around the corner of the barn and nearly stepped on a new black calf.  A little confused at first, I finally came to the conclusion that since the calf was cleaned off and I saw him stand and drink for awhile, she had already had him when I first saw her!  What I was seeing was the afterbirth, but there was so little of it I couldn't tell.  I felt like such an idiot that the calf was probably bedded down in the pasture I had just been in a little while before.  He was a healthy black bull calf that wasn't as small as I thought he might be considering she was our smallest pregnant heifer.  

All the calves, we have 4 now, are doing really well and were jumping around the barn lot tonight.  They all seem very happy and healthy.  It is extremely exciting having so many!!  We have 1 cow left to calve and my son has one to calve also.  Each one is just as exciting as the last and I feel blessed to have witnessed 2 out of 4 births this year so far.  

In non-animal related happenings I was able to, with my daughter's help, get our garden all planted this evening.  Actually we have 2 gardens!  I always feel so good about getting that done in between the weather!  It was extremely windy here but that didn't stop us!!  We have some new crops this year and I planted some more herbs, too.  The asparagus has begun and I need to get out in the pastures to check it again soon.  The rhubarb is growing well and all the fruit trees are beginning to bud.  

I love spring and all the new life it brings!

The Vacation Decision

Vacations always seem like a great idea until I think about being away from home, who will do chores for us and the biggie -the expense of it.  Is it really worth paying that much for a few days of fun and relaxation?  I have always been able to talk myself out of it --until now, that is!

When I was a kid we took only 2 long distance memorable vacations.  Both were to Texas, with one being on the beach in Galveston.  This one is the most memorable, probably because I was 13, not 7.  It was the single most fun I remember having as a kid.  I remember picking up shells and swimming in the ocean.  My cousin stepped on a jellyfish and I will remember that until my last day.  

Recently, I have been working on and revamping the way I think and live.  I want to do things I enjoy instead of making it through each day of the daily grind only to wake up and do it all again.  Those who do that, it seems to me, are only biding their time until the end and with,for many, tons of regrets I would imagine.  I don't want to live like that.

I have started to be more serious about my photography, which is something I truly enjoy.  Also, spending more time "playing" with the kids.  If I don't take the time now I will never do it and they will be all grown up.  I want them to remember that I did do those things with them.  There will always be work to be done, but the kids only grow up once!

With my new outlook, I have decided that taking time to vacation and enjoy the fun and relaxation is important to me.  Yes, it does cost a ton and yes, we will have to find someone to do chores for us but I really believe it is good for our family to do this.  I have made plans for a week long Florida beach vacation in June, which is before all the fairs and livestock shows so we get some fun before  the busyness of the summer. We are staying on the beach so the kids will have the same experience as I had as a kid.  They can search the beaches early to find the best shells and we can watch the amazing sunsets you can only see there.  I absolutely hate to fly, but am very excited about this trip.  I do think vacations are important to kids and making special memories as a family.  This will be an experience they will always remember.

I think everyone needs a little breather from life to enjoy themselves.  If we don't do it now and I keep talking myself out of it, we will never get to do it.  I like my new outlook on things in life and what life is meant to be.  I think vacations make happier people and something to look forward to.  

So, take a breather, relax and enjoy a few days without the daily life worries, work and problems.  We will be very soon! 

 Life is hard sometimes so everyone deserves a vacation from it!