Filed under: Cows | Tags: calving, dairy calf, Jersey calf, Tiddles' bull calf
I could tell she was getting close. I think the definitive sign is how they walk—-or more accurately, can’t walk. That’s how you know you are less than a week away, in this case about 3 days. Plus, we were expecting a spring snow storm and that seems to be the favorite time for livestock to give birth. I guess if they survive the cold and wind, Old Bitch Nature (my favorite little nugget from the Contrary Farmer) figures they can survive anything! I could tell she was in labor Tuesday night at milking time so I decided to wait up with her and watch. I was not disappointed! A healthy bull calf was born around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday morning (April 27th). The birth was uneventful but still a little miracle as every birth is.
It took him a really long time to nurse which was of some concern. That sent me in to take a look at the internet and I picked up some interesting information. Dairy breeds have been bred to have HUGE udders and their teats are not tucked up in the natural place that calves look for the food source, high up between the mama’s back legs. Tiddles’ teats were hanging down below her hocks so they were hard for him to find and latch on to. Some smart agricultural expert had a little table of how low cows teats are and how long it takes on average for the calf to find them. The lower they are, the harder it is for the calf. Who knew?
I also discovered that the calf’s ability to absorb all the antibodies from colostrum goes down the longer it takes to nurse, so that if it doesn’t get colostrum until 48 hours after it is born, it only absorbs 5% of the antibodies. That was enough information to get me worried. We hadn’t got him to latch on really well by 4:00 a.m., so he has been bottle fed since then.
I am posting pictures (mostly so I can refer back) so if you are squeamish about these things, you’ll probably want to stop after this bit of text.
Rosie had been looking very uncomfortable for several days. Think whale. Her bag had been full for a little over a week and the ligaments next to her tail head were relaxed for about the same amount of time. Baggy vulva, too, and her gait had started to look unstable. Two days before the calf was born, I took some pictures because I was so convinced it had to be soon. That was Thursday night.
I checked on her Friday evening before I went to bed and she looked pretty much the same as she had the night before.
Rosie's rear end
Rosie two days before calving
Saturday morning Jon went out around 8:00 a.m. and informed me that there was no change in Rosie. I thought, “Great! We’ll have bacon and eggs for breakfast and then go out and do the barn chores and milk Tiddles.” I was still in my jammies anyway. When we were done eating, I began to clear the table and Jon went out again. He came right back in and announced, “There is a little calf standing next to Rosie in the corral!!” That was at 9:30 a.m. Obviously, there had been a change in Rosie; just one that had gone unnoticed! So I hurried and got dressed and here are some pictures of what I found.
Rosie and her new heifer calf
Rosie’s little heifer calf was born around 9:30 a.m. on an unseasonably warm winter’s day, January 29, 2011. We reached a high of 74 degrees that day. Unfortunately that great weather didn’t last long….
The City Girl Farmer 