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thee_q

@thee_q

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Today, we celebrate May 4th, by letting our bull out to start the breeding season. May the bull be with you.

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Had to do a remake with all the goodies hubby brings home from work. As you can see not everyone likes fruit snacks and some have preferences of what they eat. 😅 I’m missing a few cows though. Maybe I’ll do a third remake! 🙂 Stay tuned!

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I have been sleeping in until 5 since we dried up our milk cow. Haha. I realize that 5 is not sleeping in to some. 😅
Hubby woke me around 450 to tell me that Grace had calved. I shot out of bed and immediately got dressed. Nothing like a new calf to get my adrenaline pumping! I was so worried that the calf would be born during the rain that was predicted. I don’t like that I worry so much about things I cannot control. Once again, God made me realize that He has it all worked out, and the calf made its entrance before the rain started! The calf was standing but Grace would not follow as Hubby carried the calf. It was dark and the other mommas were in the way. Grace knew where we needed her to go, so I told Hubby to walk the calf into the barn. He started directing the calf to the barn and Grace followed along nicely. She was probably thinking, “Hey, my calf has four legs, it can walk!”
Once everything settled down, the calf wanted to nurse. Hubby was able to break one teat open but the calf would not latch. Grace has very large teats and sometimes it’s hard for a calf to latch since their mouths are so little.
Later that morning, I heated up some colostrum. It had been about 3 hours since the birth and I knew the calf needed this crucial miracle milk. The calf drank around 2 cups and then wobbled towards Grace’s udder. Grace stood completely still as I helped her calf latch. In just about 10 minutes the calf had successfully latched on 3 of the 4 teats! I was so proud of Grace. She’s really turned out to be a wonderful momma cow. Grace had a black and white faced heifer. We named her Gwen and she weighed 80 pounds.

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Yesterday, 2/23 during my morning check, I saw a momma on the flat licking a calf. I thought it was Grace, but once again I was fooled! Cricket (cow 7) had calved! I quickly fed the two mommas still housed in the maternity wards. Since Nub’s calf was born Friday, I felt it was ok to let her out. Once I got the ward cleaned and ready for its new occupants, I headed for the calf trailer. When I arrived with the chariot, Cricket was lying next to her calf. I loaded the calf into the trailer and away we went. This is Cricket’s second calf on our farm. Cricket was born late September 2020 in a pasture field. The field was crawling with crickets and that’s how we came up with her name!
Hubby and I headed to weigh and tag her calf after dinner. Her calf was like a limp noodle and it had a weak sucking reflex. So we thought best to administer colostrum. We got 6 cups ready. Once it got the hang of it, it sucked the bottle dry. We put the calf by Cricket’s udder to see if it would be interested, but all it wanted to do was sleep. Can’t say that I blame it at all!
This morning, I heated up another 6 cups. I fed the calf around 4 cups. This gave it enough pep to try on its own. At first, it headed towards Cricket’s shoulder, then I directed it towards her udder. I helped the calf successfully latch. I stayed for a little to observe. I think all is going to be just fine, thank God! Cricket had a sweet little heifer. She weighed 65 pounds and we named her Cinnamon.

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It was a beautiful day Friday (2/20) so I decided to let some of the new calves and mommas out of the maternity wards so they could enjoy the sunshine. I pulled through the gate and noticed Nubs’s (cow 50) tail was in a weird position. I let the first pair out and walked a little closer to get a better look. Nubs was in labor! Yay! I observed her from the top of the hill. I watched and HEARD her water break. At that point, she absolutely did not want me watching. So instead of driving the side by side to let the other pair out, I walked. I tried to be as discreet as possible as to not bother her. It took me only 10 minutes to let the other cow/calf out. As I was walking through a pasture field trying not to draw attention to myself, I could see that she had had her calf! So from her water breaking to birth was around 10 minutes!
Nubs is another veteran cow. She’s been on our farm since her birth in 2015. We found her barely alive, half frozen, in a pile of frozen manure. We tended to her the best we could, but she did suffer some frostbite. The tips of her ears and some of her tail eventually fell off. We call her Nubs because of her cute little ear nubs. haha.
She had a heifer calf and she weighed 83 pounds. We named her Nellie.

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Our cow 12 was also showing signs of calving last night/early morning. I expected to find her with a calf when I took hay out around 7am. Unfortunately, she was still pacing and acting strange. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a good feeling about this situation. She was acting as if she calved, but I knew she didn’t. I walked all over the pasture fields looking for a clue, and found nothing. I decided to leave her be. There was nothing I could do at the moment. 2.5 hours later I took a ride back to check on her. She was in her favorite calving spot and it looked like she was licking something. At first, I didn’t see what she was licking and then all of the sudden it came into view! She had finally had a calf after a very long labor. The calf was up and attempting to nurse. I was alone, so I tried to lure her with feed, but the peanut gallery showed up (yearling steers/heifers), and ruined my plan. 12 is the cow I am most afraid of. I have watched her slam Hubby more times than I can count. So since I couldn’t get her in on my own, I thought best to leave them.
After dinner, Hubby and I devised a plan and prayed. We were both nervous because we know how 12 can be. Well, our prayers were answered! 12 had brought her calf up near the bale feeders and “hid” it in one of our pasture fields. That was such a blessing because we could safely get the calf into the trailer without dying! Haha.
12’s calf had a lot of spunk and I mean A LOT! Hubby finally got it loaded and we led 12 to the lower maternity ward.
12 had a black and white heifer. More color added to our all black bunch of calves. Her calf weighed 89 pounds and we named her Greta.

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It was rainy on Sunday February 15, so after church I wanted to check on the babies. Hubby and I walked back to see how everyone was doing. And, well, we walked right up on a cow in active labor! Rose (cow 77) was standing at the bale feeder. She had an amniotic sac hanging out and once she saw us immediately started walking away. That was a cue for us to leave her be. (even though I REALLY wanted to watch!)
We came back two hours later, expecting to find her in the hay with her calf. NOPE! She had it on a hillside and it was lying in running water. The poor thing was trying to get up, but the ground was too slippery. With all the maternity wards full, we had no choice but to bring her to the barn. Hubby carried her calf up the muddy hill and loaded it into the calf trailer. Rose followed like a champ; she’s such a trooper. Once at the barn, Rose was super stressed out. She absolutely would not stand still for her calf to nurse. We gave them time alone, but Rose was still antsy. We ended up giving the calf some colostrum on Monday. We also waited to weigh and tag the calf because we didn’t want to add any additional stress. Rose had a beautiful heifer calf. We named her Rita. Rita tipped the scales at 83 pounds. The two of them are still at the barn so we can make sure Rita is eating well. Rose has settled down a lot since we let her out to be with the other cows. I guess she didn’t like her stay in the luxury suite!

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Pretty Girl (cow 88) also calved Sunday morning! She and M&M were actually about 100 yards apart.
She was already feasting on her afterbirth, so I’m guessing her calf was around an hour old. Her calf learned a hard lesson right off the bat, sadly. Pretty Girl nudged it to get up and it walked right toward the electric fence. Oh boy! It started to bawl as it was repeatedly getting shocked and just then, Hubby grabbed it by its hips to pull it away. Thankfully, Pretty Girl didn’t get freaked out. She just calmly walked behind Hubby. Whew!
Pretty Girl had a smallish bull calf. We named him Percy and he weighed 72 pounds.

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Early Sunday morning, February 15, on our calf check, we found ANOTHER calf! M&M (cow 44 - Margo’s mom) was standing over a wet, black calf in the hay. Yes! More babies! Best day ever! If you’re counting, that is a total of 6 calves. M&M is the sweetest mom. So gentle and loving. Her calf looked small, but as you know, looks can be deceiving. She had a chocolate colored bull calf. He weighed 89 pounds and we named him Miles.

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We woke up Saturday not knowing what to expect, but always hoping to find a calf. Welp, we found one! Cow 75 had calved some time throughout the night/early morning. AND it was Valentine’s day! :) It was a great gift for me! I’d rather have cows than flowers, teddy bears, or chocolate. (hint, hint @thee_q )
75 is known for having beautiful calves, and this one was no different. Her calf was a little spunky and hard to handle. We love to see that in a calf! And if you’ve followed me for a while, maybe you can guess what she had?
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Yes! She had a spirited heifer. Her calf weighed 99 pounds and we named her Candy. You know, ‘cause it was Valentine’s day.

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Also on Friday the 13th, we welcomed another calf to our farm! Princess, our 3 year old heifer had her first baby!
Early evening, Princess started showing signs of labor. We fed and watered as normal, but Daughter stayed at the barn to keep an eye on her. Princess had a quick labor and delivery (for a heifer). The amniotic sac was out around 620 and by 642 she had delivered! Praise God! We gave her about an hour to clean and bond, then brought them under the barn where it is dry. Princess was a little confused at first, but finally followed Hubby as he carried her calf. I was slightly concerned how she was going to react since this is her first calf. She almost seemed dazed. She stood in a corner with the calf rooting around looking for milk. I cautiously approached her and helped the calf latch. And to my surprise, Princess was totally ok with me touching her udder! Win!! The calf was very vigorous and that definitely helps things. I am so pleased with how Princess handled her first birth. She had a beautiful heifer calf that weighed 80 pounds. We named her Pam.
(I love alliteration. It helps me remember the calve’s names.)

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The last few days have been super busy on the farm. And I have a lot to update you about!!
On Friday, February 13, the oldest cow on the farm safely delivered a calf. Cow 92, better known as Boss, is one of those cows that I won’t mess with. She’s very intimidating. She may be bluffing but I don’t want to take a chance, so I always leave her calf for Hubby to grab. 😬
Boss had a beautiful bull calf. He weighed 77 pounds. We named him Dwight. Oh, if you’re wondering, Boss is 17 years young. 😉

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