Things have been heating up in the calving barn, figuratively speaking since it is really cold again--3 degrees this morning. Calving has been going well for the most part, but we have had a bit of excitement. A few days ago, M found a new calf. As he was moving it to a pen with straw the mother had another one! Our first set of twins this year. We have quite a few heifers that look like they have plenty of milk but not that one. She seemed perfectly happy with two babies, but it would be hard for her to feed them both adequately.
As we were out feeding in the cow pasture I noticed a cow that was bagged up, thinking she was close to calving. Then I realized that it was one that had calved prematurely and the calf didn't survive. I asked M if he thought we could put one of the twins on her. She laid by her dead calf for several days until we took it away and was very interested in every calf she passed on the way to the barn so we thought there was a chance she would be okay with a new baby. M put her in the maternity pen and checked her milk. She still had good milk and all her teats were good so we brought a twin in with her, and she was very interested. The calf was bawling for it's real mother for a little while. It was kind of sad, and M gave me a hard time that it was my idea to take him away. Just seemed like the best solution for all involved. It took most of the day but I finally got a text from R telling me to look on the cow cam, and the twin was sucking on it's new mama. She is very protective of the little guy, and he seems to be adjusting well. Success!
Last night the guys had to pull a calf--the first one of the season. (We didn't have to use the puller at all last year--that's a record!). It wasn't a hard pull, but the calf was a bit bigger than we'd like from a heifer. I was happy (well, sort of happy) that I could watch it all from my couch. R's girlfriend was right there helping him. She doesn't have a problem jumping in and helping when needed, and that's so nice to see.
I'm afraid M is going to ban me from watching the cow cam because I always think something is wrong. Yesterday morning we watched one being born. We could see the calf moving, but the heifer just laid there and didn't move an inch. I was worried about that and kept telling M that she wasn't moving. Turns out she was just a bit of a drama queen because she was fine when M got to her although he said she also liked to beller. Another time we watched one the calf seemed to be in an unnatural position and was slow to move so I was sure something was wrong with it. It was fine, just needed time. I find myself going through labor with them and wanting to help them push. Once we go through it 200 more times, I should be over that (I hope).
With the cold weather, we've been running everything through the barn and have been having at least three in the barn at all times. We kick a group out every day to make room for the next batch. We had eight babies yesterday so it was a bit busy. I think M made runs from here to the barn at least six times yesterday.
R was in a wedding last weekend so was busy with those activities and M did most of the checking. Now we are in a routine where R does checks until about 4 am and then goes to bed. M is there by 6 am and then comes back to have breakfast and get me, and we do the feeding. During the day we all keep watch and someone checks the cow pasture before dark. We've had four cows deliver so far, so that area will be having more action soon.
J and C are in farming mode, getting everything ready so that they can get into the field when the weather allows. So, we're a bit busy, but a good busy. I found time to watch baby Sawyer yesterday while K was working on their "summer house". She's so happy and so busy! Her mom says she's taken a few steps by herself, but she's pretty cautious yet. She's figuring out stairs and went up and down and up and down and up and down our two steps while she was here. I can't get enough of her, so it was a wonderful day!
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