Weaning calves: day 2

I didn't get a good night's sleep last night.  The cows and calves mooed most of the night.  Every so often the cows would stand in the hayfield near my house and moo my way.  Whenever they did that they woke me up.  They mainly mooed near the house just before sunrise and a few times after.  Next year I won't have the cows in the hayfield when I wean the calves.

When I went outside I found three calves in the south corral with cow #20.  The calves had got into the water trough and pushed through the small wire-free opening above the trough.  Well... that's a first.

I nailed a board over the opening for a temporary fix.

The calves were along the south corral fence where a number of cows were on the other side.  I got two calves back into the north corral fairly easily.  "Xbee", Beulah's calf, didn't want to leave the fence where his mother was on the other side.  After some chasing back and forth I finally got Xbee back into the north corral.

The water in the water trough was dirty and muddy from the calves' action.  I couldn't pull the trough out to tip it and dump the water as I didn't want a larger opening for the calves.  I used a hose to siphon much of the water out along with using a bucket to get the water out.  I had to add more clean water to repeat several times to fully clean the trough.  All this while the calves often stood nearby screaming at the cows laying down in the hayfield just south of where I was working.  The calves were getting on my nerves.

Usually the herd sticks together.  This time the cows would take turns when they went to eat or go to the river to drink and would leave a few cows to remain near the corral at all times.  Finally, mid afternoon, when only two cows were in the hayfield I herded them into the middle pasture and closed the gate.  After this the closest the cows got to the corral was the middle pasture.  And the calves would then spend most of their time at the west side of the corral in order to be closest to the cows.

The calves were getting on Daisy's nerves by this afternoon.  She patiently waited - at a distance - while I cleaned the water trough.  Once I was done she wanted to go in the house and she led me there.  After a quick bite to eat she went down into the basement, the only place around here that was quiet, where she finally had peace and could sleep.  She stayed in the basement until evening.

Here is another short video of the calves bellowing about 24 hours after the weaning started. The calves are still going full on. 

https://youtu.be/2YeXagGSizs

Finally this evening the calves were starting to wear out with many having become hoarse.  It looks like tonight will be quieter than last night's very noisy night.  By the afternoon the cows were quieting down for the most part, with only occasional minor eruptions of bellowing in response to the calves.   Beulah's udder was swollen and massive for all the milk she was producing.  Some of the cows had minor hoarseness.   Mama, who usually just "meeps" when she moos, had found her voice today and was actually mooing at times.