Technically Friday, March 10, can be the first day for calves to be born. We're getting close. Or maybe even closer.
Today, after putting out another large hay bale for the cattle, I looked at the cows as they stood and ate. Here are photos of many of the cattle.
The udder will increase as they fill with milk, but that can only be a few hours before the calf is born. I look at the vaginal area as that starts to swell earlier than the udder fills. And the tail top will thicken and start to rise. When the tail starts to lean to one side, it is getting close.
In the first photo, a cow is on the left and the bull is on the right. His tail doesn't change.
The following photos are of Sugar. See how her tail is starting to tilt? I think she will be the first cow to have a calf. Maybe even before Friday March 10? We'll see.
I will have to check on Sugar every day. As you can see there is snow almost everywhere, and our overnight lows are predicted to be in the teens and daytime high temperatures will be in the low to mid 30s all this week.
I shoveled the manure out of the loafing shed. That is in case I have to put Sugar and her calf in the loafing shed to be warmer.
Cow #110 is not as close as Sugar, but she and Panda may be next to give birth. Cow #110 is the cow I have to put in the loading corral runway so her calf can initially drink as #110 always initially rejects her calf. Yesterday and today I had to shovel the snow out of the area where I put #110 and her calf. It took two days of shoveling snow as the snow is very, very hard and is not melting in the shade of the loading corral runway's fence.
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