Calf 4

The 4th calf was born at 4 am on the 4th day of the 4th month.  The stars had to align - that must be why it has been so long since the third calf was born.

I had checked on the cattle at 9 pm last night.  One cow was off on her own, and looking at her, I had a strong feeling she would give birth by morning.

At 3:15 am this morning I woke up and went outside.  Outside I could hear one cow mooing mournfully on a regular basis.  I put on a coat, grabbed a flashlight, and went out to the pasture.

One cow was by herself. She was standing and mournfully mooing.  She was circling a wet spot.  It appeared her water had broken and she would give birth soon.

I kept my distance and turned off the flashlight as it would bother her. I looked around for any other cows nearby.  I didn't want to get rushed by either Mama or Buddy.  One cow (Mama?) was laying under a nearby tree.  The other cows were further away under other trees or by a hay feeder and eating.

The cow's mooing turned into mooing that appeared to time with her contractions.  She was up. She laid down.  She got up.  She laid down.  She got up and circled.  She laid down.

At one point I heard a wet sound, then I heard her slurp.  With the flashlight on it appeared she was eating a water "balloon", one of a few that can come out prior to a birth.

She laid down.  Up. Down. Up. Down.

The contraction mooing was turning into grunting.  That turned into heavy breathing timed to the contractions.

The night/morning was cold.  The temperature was in the low 20s.  I should have worn a heavier coat.  I have a nicer heavier coat but I didn't want to potentially get blood on it if I had to assist the cow.

I was getting cold standing there waiting. 

I couldn't see well with the flashlight so I couldn't see if the calf's were coming out okay. The cow was uncomfortable but not in agony.   I continued to wait.

Finally I heard the calf slip out of the cow.  The cow immediately got up and began to lick the calf clean.  I waited a bit and then got close to check on the calf. The calf was sitting up with her head off the ground.  She hadn't stood up yet, but she appeared to be ok.

I was cold so I left and went to bed after 4:20 am.

While I said 'she' earlier, I didn't check the calf's sex until after I got up later in the morning.  The mother was not happy with me touching her calf but the calf laid there and let me look to see if it was a heifer or bull calf.

A few hours later Donna came with me and we went and put an ear tag on the calf's ear.  The mother is cow #90.   The calf is a beautiful, all black, long heifer.