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!

Garden Season Approaching

Garden season is fast approaching us and we have started to get the garden area ready for it.  My husband has done the first tilling of both garden areas and will do it again just before I plant.  This makes the soil nice and loose for easy planting.  He also threw some "fertilizer" on from the chicken house that he tilled in with the first tilling.  Many old timers will advise that chicken droppings are the best!

With plans to attend farmer's markets this year, I have added some new crops to our garden plan.  These include spinach, beets, head lettuce, eggplant and kohlrabi.  These will add to our already large variety of produce including veggies, herbs, cherries, plums and peaches.  I have also thought about planting garlic and cilantro.  I will be mapping out the gardens this week to give me a better idea of what will be planted where and how much we can fit.  We have enough room to add another garden if needed.  I would be planting by next weekend, but since we have 3 dance recitals in those 2 days it will not happen until the following week.  I probably could have gotten it in this week, but with the unpredictable weather we have had I decided it was better to wait.  I get pretty nervous about planting anything before May 1 at least.  

I also am going to do at least some of our garden plant shopping at the local nursery instead of the big name stores.  They often have varieties available that the big names simply don't have.  This would include some of the heirloom tomatoes and spinach varieties to name a couple.  They are a little pricier, but not enough to make the difference to me.

Every year I get so excited at garden planting time.  It is so much fun planning it out, shopping and getting all of them planted.  I always feel a great sense of accomplishment and then the work and wait begins for harvest time.  That is always my favorite!  There is nothing better than the first tomatoes and zucchini.  

As always have a wonderful day!

Udderly Enormous!

All the girls were up in the barn lot tonight so my daughter and I decided to go out and check on them.  We have a heifer, Red, that is due in a couple weeks with her first calf, but she has really been bagging up recently. I am so excited to see what her babies will look like since she is built like a brick, well, you know the rest.  When we looked at her tonight all I could do is feel sorry for her as it must be so uncomfortable, but this is what we saw:

This photo taken with my phone doesn't quite do it justice but believe me she is gigantic!  I think if she doesn't calve tomorrow I will start taking bets on when it will be or if it will be before she has an udder explosion!!

On a cute note, I got some decent photos of my little girl (she might become my favorite) in the barn lot. I love to look out in the pasture to see her playing in the field by momma.  She is just the meaning of adorable!

Love this girl!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day and I will post as soon as our next little beauty is born!

More Pics of the Babies!

I cannot resist these cutie pies! I had to post some more pics of them as I have taken a ton of them already!  They are doing great and seem to be healthy.  They both drink from mommas well.  The little girl runs and jumps around the pasture but the little boy still lays around a lot.

 Little Mr. (no name yet)

Little Miss April

Such cuteness at the farm here now!  It was definitely worth the wait to see these two.  I am so excited for the others to arrive.  

Happy Easter!!

Our Cow's Labor Stages

Yesterday as I was driving past the pasture I noticed our cow, Mabel, standing with her tail straight out and looking like she was straining with nothing coming out (or so I thought from that far away).  Also, she was in the corner of the pasture away from the herd.  This was about 2:30pm.  I rushed right down with her in time to catch all of this:

 This is what she looked like when I first saw her.

When she turned I could see this discharge from her vaginal area.

After a few pushes like above it seemed she was pushing harder and her tail would curl.  This went on for a few pushes. 

Finally I was able to see just a little of the bag starting to appear.

More and more bag appeared with each push.  She seemed to be progressing just fine.

Finally she laid down to push.  Even more bag was visible.

A few more hard pushes and it is hard to see with the weeds, but the baby is being delivered in this photo. (Unluckily she moved behind these weeds just before this) This was around 3:30pm.  This all was right at or just over an hour after I noticed labor had begun. (Not exact on times due to watching cow not my watch!)

It took momma a minute or so to get up after delivery and I was starting to get a little nervous because I couldn't see the baby moving.  A couple licks from mom and I could see movement!

Baby is all black and is still being cleaned off just minutes after birth.  Already seems very alert.

And baby calf stands!  This was the first full stand after a few failed attempts.  This was roughly 10 minutes after birth.

Later that evening we went to check on the calf and found out he is a boy!  He is 7/8 angus and 1/8 maine anjou.  

Today we were able to check out the black white-faced calf born earlier yesterday and she is a girl!  I am so excited about that because she will be retained for breeding.  Both calves are great looking babies and we are so happy with them.  I feel privileged to have witnessed such an event.  I did stay back a ways so that momma could have her room to do her thing, but she is a wonderful gentle and tolerant cow so she lets us touch and pet the calf anytime.  She is also very protective and rarely leaves his side.

We feel so blessed this year already and have a few more to go!  

Long Awaited Arrival

It is days like today that make all the hard work and money spent all worthwhile.  It seems like I have been waiting forever to see our first new arrivals of the year (pretty much since the bull was here) and we are calving much earlier this year than any previous year.  

I have been keeping a close eye on the cows out in the pasture with binoculars from the house when busy doing housework and everything else.  Today after lunch I noticed the cows were within sight so I whipped out the binoculars to check on them.  To my shock and amazement there it was, a little black white faced calf running about near it's mother, Maria.  Yep, Maria was the first to calve and a first time mom who did it all by herself without a hitch.  What a tremendous calf she has(as I believe they all are).

Of course, I headed out to check it out and snap some pics of it.  We still cannot tell for sure if it is a heifer or bull calf, although my husband thinks she's a girl and I sure hope so.  If so, she will definitely be a keeper!

I then had to go into town to get our weekly ration of feed for the goats and chickens.  Driving by the field on my way home I noticed Mabel was in the corner of the pasture again as she was when I was out earlier.  I had checked on her then with no signs of labor.  She was now standing kinda funny with her tail straight out, but she wasn't eliminating anything.  I just had a feeling she was maybe in labor.  I ran in the house, grabbed the camera and my phone and headed back out determined to see the whole thing.  I did get to see it and it was an amazing hour.  I got lots of pics of the whole thing, some of which I will be posting maybe tomorrow in a "step by step of labor post".  The end product is a beautiful little boy that is as black as night and also oh so wonderful.  

Mabel is a wonderful momma and let us pet him this evening.  What an experience that was.  She is an amazingly gentle cow who is one of my favorites if not the favorite as far as temperament.

We still have 3 to go and each is sure to be as amazing as the others! My son also has a heifer to calve.  With all the events of today, one never knows what tomorrow might hold!