Baby calf 1

I haven't written much lately on the blogs. But I've been busy.  I have three baby calves so far.   On Monday, May 5, two calves were born.  The first one was born around noon.  When I went outside there seemed to be a commotion the corral.   I couldn't see Momma and thought she was giving birth.  I went to corral and saw a small black baby calf moving about.  Black....?   Both Momma and the bull are brown.    Then I saw the mother.  She is a black cow with a white face.   Surprise.  Momma wasn't the first cow to give birth.

It was chaos in the corral as the cattle all were trying to see the new calf.  The calf was stumbling around looking for its mother and getting confused by all the other cattle.

Are you my mother?  Are you my mother?  Are you...?

I herded the other cattle into the other part of the corral.  With only its mother there the calf then could concentrate on finding her mother's udder.  It took some doing.  On its wobbly legs it wandered around and around looking for something to suck on.  The mother would push it away when it came around her head.

Taking a rest break in its search for her mother's udder.

Success!

I called a few people to share the news and get last minute advice.  Dan stopped by and dropped off a bottle of gentle iodine for me to spray on the calf's navel to guard against infection.

Back in the corral the calf had laid down to rest. The mother was nearby and concerned but did not interfere when I was working on its calf.  I lifted the calf's leg and sprayed iodine on its navel.  I looked and the calf appeared to be a girl, but I'm no expert as I have never seen a boy calf.   A few days later Tammy and I saw the calf pee. She is a girl.

I picked up the calf and carried it to the loading corral.   Momma was mooing her concern and followed us.  In the loading corral, separate from the other cattle, the calf could easily find its mother.  And it wouldn't accidentally get stepped on.

The weather was nice for the birth.  But then clouds rolled in.  It looked like it would pour rain.  Fortunately we only got a few rain drops.