Calf 1 - 20's

According to the cow gestation charts my first calf should have been born on the 14th or 15th (Wednesday or Thursday).  While I thought cow #60 looked farthest along, I checked my records and cow #20 was the first to be with Buddy the bull.  Cow #20 is the cow that broke her leg last August.  I had her in the corral with the heifer over the Winter so the other cows didn't push her on the ice and cause her to injure her leg again.  I kept an eye on cow #20.  She looked pregnant, but not close to delivering.

Wednesday came and went.  Thursday came and went.  Friday came and went.  I began to think that Buddy wasn't with her the entire time she was in heat as I saw him with her just hours after I released Buddy to be with the cows, then I didn't see them together again.  Her pregnancy must not have taken and she wouldn't give birth until her next cycle in three weeks.

This morning after feeding hay to the cows and Tobey the bull I noticed one of them higher than the others while eating from the large feeder.  A few days ago I found one of the 2 by 6 feeder floor boards broken in two.  The only way that could happen is if one of them stood on it.  I had replaced the board.  As the corral is a muddy manure mess this morning to check on why one seemed higher than the others I went through the south corral - which, while muddy and with manure, wasn't near as sloppy as the north corral.  I found that Tobey was standing with his front legs in the feeder while eating.  I let him be as I didn't feel like going into the muddy manure slop.  I walked by cow #20 and still no indication she was going to give birth soon.

I went uptown to run errands.  When I came back the cows and bull were in the north pasture relaxing.  I closed the gate between the corral and pasture so that when I put hay out in the afternoon I didn't have cattle milling about trying to eat as I put the hay in the feeder.  Walking back I looked over to the south corral and cow #20 was laying under the roof next to the barn.  Something looked off.  I walked over and she stood up.  Once she stood up I saw her newborn calf laying there.

That was a surprise.  She had given birth between 9:30 and and 1 pm.  Judging from the calf's condition, probably around 11 am or thereafter.

We still have lots of snow.  While I shoveled an area free of snow, the south corral is not dry nor very clean, even under the roof from the barn.  Also, last year Buster had scours and I had him in the south corral as he recovered.  I didn't want to chance any of the scours bug still was in the ground where a newborn calf could catch it.

My option was the NE pasture.  The trees by the road was snow free and dry, and clean.  Other than the path to the hayshed the rest is still under almost a foot of snow. For several days now I have been shoveling a path wide enough to drive between my Calvin plowed path and the trees.  I had half of the distance shoveled.

First I carried the calf from the south corral to the NE pasture and laid him on the ground where Calvin had plowed earlier.  He was shivering in the shade under the roof and laying on wet ground.  The sun was out and the ground was drier in the NE pasture.  I had to herd cow #20 over to the calf as cow #20 wanted to remain in the south corral.

The calf is a boy - a big calf - and Donna helped me band his testicles and I ear tagged the calf.  Then Donna helped me shovel the rest of the way to the trees.  She broke up the iced frozen snow and I shoveled it away.

Daisy came and supervised.  She also had supervised the previous days I shoveled.  With all the snow she had not been able to go over the neighbor with the blue house this Winter and it has been bothering her.  The other days, over and over, whenever I took a break from shoveling Daisy would come to the end of the path I had shoveled to look if she could get to the blue house.  Seeing that she couldn't reach the house she would meow at me to get back to shoveling.

Today once we reached the trees Daisy had a round-about way to get to the neighbor's place.  They have a small storage shed and she made her way over there and then spent the afternoon sitting looking and waiting for mice to come out from under the shed.  Daisy was happy.

Once I had a path shoveled I used the tractor to carry over one of the metal feeders from the north pasture.  In the feeder I put four small hay bales for the cow.  I also got an extra water trough and strung hoses from the well and filled the trough with water.

The calf is laying to the right of the trees.

The cow and calf had spent the afternoon next to the gate to the north pasture as the cow wanted to be with the rest of the cows.  Various cows wandered over to the gate to check out the next calf.  I then loaded the calf into the pickup and Donna drove over to the feeder and trees while I held the calf so it wouldn't try to jump out of the pickup.  The mother followed behind the pickup.  After I unloaded the calf on the dry grass where it felt even warmer the cow walked back to the gate.   She'll be back eventually.  The calf curled up and was happy and warm.

I put hay in the cows wooden feeders.  Later when I let the cows in to the corral to eat cow #20 was still near the gate.  I had to herd her down to the trees, her feeder and her calf.  Cow #20 hadn't eaten since morning - other than some of her afterbirth - and after a quick moo at her calf, cow #20 quickly went about eating the hay.

So.  Hopefully the calf doesn't get scours.  Otherwise they are set up nicely.

The next cow I know of being with Buddy should give birth in three days.  If she is on schedule.

Warming up and trying to make sense of this new world.

Since the calf was born on St. Patrick's day, I am calling the calf "Patrick", or "St. Pats".