Calf 5 birth

At sundown I was coming from working in the pasture.  The cattle were making a ruckus.   The calves were bellowing.  Their hay was getting low so I moved the remainder from the middle to the sides of the feeder.  Buddy was along the fence and a few cows were in the corral. The red heifer was mooing.  That's when I noticed the red heifer was about to give birth.  A bag with her water was hanging off her rear.  I called Donna then came back outside to watch.

The heifer kept turning so it was hard to see her rear and whether the calf was coming out.  The four previous calves were running around the pasture and were about to run into the corral.  Three of their mothers were running after their calves bellowing at them.  The other cows were getting worked up.

I closed the gate to stop them from entering the corral.  I opened the gate to let out the other cows in the corral while keeping the red heifer in the corral.   The heifer laid down a few times and I thought she was about to give birth but she stood up again.  At one point I saw the end of a hoof sticking out the back.  The hoof was pointing in the right direction - down.   Then the hoof went back inside the heifer.

Donna arrived. It was getting dark and I got flashlights.  Buddy was still in the corral.  It appears one heifer is in heat as I saw a steer mount her.   But Buddy then forgot about the heifer in heat and got interested in the birth and would stand by the cow.  Donna and I shooed him out of the corral.  Then we could get a better look without him in the way.

Daisy limped out to join us in the corral.  She sat with us near the feeder as we watched.

The water broke and some birth fluid and material came out.  The heifer ate it.   The hoof was out again and stayed out. We kept watching for the heifer to lay down. We needed the flashlights to see.  We weren't real close in order that the heifer would feel more comfortable and would lay down.

Then I heard the heifer slurping.  I didn't think it could be the birth material as she would have finished it already.  I got closer with my flashlight and found the baby calf on the ground.  The heifer gave birth standing up!  The poor calf had fallen to the ground.

In the mess of fluid, grass and dried manure I could see the calf was breathing.  The mother was working hard to lick the calf clean.  It was a matter of minutes and the calf was already trying to sit up, then stand up.  But with the mother licking so hard the calf couldn't get up.

Donna and I lifted the calf's leg and checked.  It's another girl.   The time I spent watching was just under an hour.

The mother was right on cleaning and attending to the calf so I think she'll be a good mother.

The leg starting to come out.

A few hours later I went back to the corral to check on the calf.  I wanted to make sure in the cool night air she wasn't cold and shivering.  Nope.  She was walking around already checking stuff out.   The mother was grunting her concern to the calf.

"A few hours ago I was curled up in a nice warm wet dark place and now where am I?!!"