Sugar finally had her calf Monday morning. Sugar is the cow that I thought would be the first to have a calf this year. Sugar was so big when pregnant I thought there was a chance she would have twins. And she did.
When I went out at 7:30 am to check on cow 110 and calf 3, I then checked the rest of the cows. Sugar's first calf had just been born. It was wet after having been just licked off. It hadn't stood yet. Off and on it was struggling to stand. It was a male calf.
I went and checked on Little Red's calf. Then I went and let cow 110 and her calf out of the loading corral and over to the south corral. Then I went back to check on Sugar's calf as it still hadn't stood up yet. When I reached Sugar I found another calf. It just had been born a few minutes earlier as Sugar hadn't had a chance to start licking the calf clean yet. This calf is a heifer.
Both calves were born about a half hour apart. Both calves are large, with the male calf a little larger than the female calf.
After 1 pm Donna, Betty, and Betty's husband helped me band the male calf and then ear tag each calf.
Fortunately Sugar has a very large udder as now she has two mouths to feed.
Late afternoon when checking on the cows I saw the two calves were a hundred feet or so apart. Sugar was laying by the heifer. I carried the heifer over to the male calf who was laying under a tree, and Sugar came along with me. It is better if they are together and Sugar lays next to both of them the first day or two.
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| The first time the male calf stood up. The female calf still has goo on her from her birth. |
After the calves were banded and ear tagged. The male is on the right and the female on the left.
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