new life

As we are busily working to get the big herd of cows home, still having pressure to get our cows on the milk truck, all the work to be done, the days getting shorter, the work getting heavier, the need of hay, ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
We have new life. It takes a moment or several to see and observe the miracle of life. I love watching! It's been 40 years since cows have been on the property and 40 years since a new birth on the farm as well. We were so excited! Plus they were Jersey calves being born. We were hopeful for heifers. We had spent a lot of money on getting these girls artificially inseminated. We had not wanted a bull where we were and AI was what we used. Not always the cheap route to take either.

 BIRTH PICTURES BELOW!

So on a beautiful, sunny, warm day in  August Daffodil had a healthy bull.We all watched as she gave life and took care of it. It's simply amazing.

The other girls come over to see whats going on.We didn't keep him for long. A few days and he was gone to another farm.

Then on another beautiful, sunny, warm, day in September Goldie had her first calf, a bull. It was actually on a Sunday afternoon. She worked hard to have him too. She is by far our most gentle cow. Real sweet. And she stayed sweet.

 This calf was up and sucking so fast after being born! I've never seen one so fast! Goldie was such a great mama too. She showed him off and didn't show any aggression towards us. Only the cats, when they came too close. We kept him for a few days and he as gone too, another farm.

So even in the midst of business we still got to watch calves being born. Happy, healthy, mamas and calves. We were thankful for.
Enjoy the day y'all!

20 days

 I woke about 3am. As per usual the past few weeks. And various other times throughout the night.We've been keeping an eye on Daffy since her due date being the 21 of May.
This being her first calf we wanted to be sure to be home in case she ran into trouble. She has had some signs, her udders getting bigger and her vulva swelling. But nothing unusual for a cow about to gives birth. We just would watch her. She was happy. Eating, pooping, peeing. No problem. The days ticked by.
5 days over due.
10 days over due.
14 days over due. We call the vet. They say to keep watch on her and wait a few more days. Don't worry. We call some other dairy farmers in the area. They say don't worry about her. We think, weird, she is not having this calf. She's gonna be pregnant forever! So we wait. And pray. She is still fine. Still happy and not in any distress.
17 days over due. Still fine. Her udders are getting bigger. Her vulva is getting more swollen. She still looks huge, so the calf has not moved up into the birth canal. We have been staying closer to home. Me usually always home, and if we both are gone it's only for a short time. We wait. I don't get much sleep. I'm up checking on her in the field. My husband is up checking on her.
18 days over due...more phone calls. More being told she is fine. Don't worry. It's not usual for a cow to be this over due?! Is it?! We give her one of those big calcium pills. Her udders are bigger. Her vulva is even more swollen.
3am June 10. 20 days over due. I get up and head out. I can't find her in the pasture. I run back in and wake up my husband. He put her in the barn, and forgot to tell me. I go back out and check her out. She is standing, she has some discharge. No big deal. But as of yesterday I figured it had to be soon. The calf had moved because she wasn't as wide. Her teats were swollen. I told my husband "I bet she goes tonight" while we were doing chores.
I get back in bed. I lay there awake. We hear soft mooing. (Our house and that barn she was in are close by). My husband gets up and heads out. I wait. He taps on the window and says to go get our oldest daughter. This is her cow. I wake her gently and ask her if she wants to watch Daffy become a mommy. A sleepy smile comes over her face and she quickly joins us outside. We watch. And wait.

I didn't get many pics of the delivery. It was dark in the barn and I didn't want to disturbed her hard work she had to do. We had her in the barn because of the outside temps last night, and the possibility of rain. We didn't want the calf to catch a chill.

25 minutes later she had delivered her first calf all on her own. A bull calf. She was up and licking him off. Mooing softly at him. We were so relieved. She was doing fine. The calf is alive and she is doing her job. And she didn't need any help from us on her first delivery, like her sister Dandie did on her first calf last year.

 He was up sucking, and mama was still cleaning him off. She drank some water and licked him dry and he had a good first meal!

 A beautiful sun rise on this glorious morning. What a beautiful day to be born. We left the barn and went into the house to let Daffy and baby rest and get better acquainted.

Outside in the pasture together. See her tongue licking his face? Her first milking done and now to rest and bond the rest of the day. At least until we figure out what to do with him.
As far as her first milking going? Well she was OK. She kicked the pail and danced around and mooed the whole time. Her calf was there with her. She was a bit nervous, but she knows us and trusts us. She can only get better from here on out!
Have a great day ya'll

it's a good day to be born

Well we took delivery of a bull calf today!  Dandies second calf, and her second bull calf. Although this time she is so much better off. Last year we almost lost her to Ketosis, and then milk fever. And had to pull the calf. She was due the 22 and we've been on pins and needles waiting for this calf to come. Due to all the hardship she had last year. We've been up every night multiple times checking on her. She's been bagged up and dripping a little milk and her vulva has been swollen for several days.
She labored for about 22 minutes from the time we saw the sack of front hooves come out to the time he was on the ground. We were all outside watching and I got lots of pics. So if your squeamish don't look down at the pics. I think it's an amazing event and the kiddos all watched.

I was actually heading out the drive way to go help my sister at her farm when I looked in the pasture and Dandie was standing with her head down and back arched. That looked suspicious to me and I stopped and watched. She laid down and was clearly starting to push. I ran back to the house and called to  my husband and grabbed the camera. I always grab the camera! He texted my sister to let her know I was not on my way. She understood, she had goats that recently kidded. We all sat and watched the event quietly. Even the animals were quiet while she labored. The other cows left her alone too, they must sense something is different with her and they leave her be.
Graphic birthing pictures! You've been warned!  (Smile)

 We kept a watch on the time due to the fact that she had such a time of it last year. But this time she was an old pro at it!  She did it all on her own. She was down for a while. Then she was up.

We watched her breathing when she was down. Then she got up and moved around. We just moved too. But we kept our distance to let her work. Then she laid down and just pushed.

 And here he comes out!

 My husband went out in the field to get the sack off it's nose while she stood up and then her backed off to see what she would do.

Her natural mothers instinct kicked in and she immediately came to him and licked him dry. All the while mooing softly at him and nudging him to stimulate him. It was amazing to watch her.

 Daffy (who is 7 days over due) was in the pasture with her, and she wanted to come see the new addition. Dandie didn't seem to mind showing off her prize!

Then started the trying process of standing on those long wobbly legs.

Ker-splat on his face. After some more encouraging from his mama he was up on his feet and noisily eating away!

And here they are. Dandie is a wonderful mom and she is good to her baby. So far they are both healthy and happy, napping in the pasture! Now we pray they stay that way! We are pleased and thankful for a healthy calf and mama!
Have a great Memorial Day ya'll.

and here...

is Dandie!!

She has 6 days left until her due date!! We are very excited for the arrival of her first calf. It will be the third generation from our first cow on the farm! I'm hoping I will be able to see the delivery and get some pictures of it! I got to see out last calf born from a distance, and hope to see this one a little closer.
Here's to a safe delivery and healthy baby and mama!!!
So exciting! SO thankful.

our weekend with the baby

Well we have settled back into the life of a dairy. Milking twice a day. It's nice. I have yet to milk Maggie at this time. I know my time is coming soon, but my husband has been doing the milking. I'm OK with that. Like I said there will be plenty of time for me to get my turn! I'm looking forward to it!

Miking Maggie for the first time this freshening 

 We are letting Daffodil stay right with Maggie and eat whenever she wants to. There is still some colostrum in the milk, and we think it's better for her mama to raise her, and we just gentle her and get her used to people. It worked well with Dandie, so we'll go this way again. We'll probably wean her at 6-8 weeks or so.
 Daffodil is wonderful. She keeps mama and big sister on their toes with her antics. She goes out in the pasture, sticks her tail straight up in the air and runs! Then stops, and lets them catch up to her, then takes off again. It's quite funny to watch. She'll try her hand at a leap in the air, and fall over. She is still working on her landing!

Our herd.

On Sunday morning when my husband went out to milk he fed Maggie, and she didn't eat her grain. He felt her ears, and they were cold. He knew that was some signs of milk fever. We've been keeping an eye on her for this. He called a nearby farmer and he said he would come right over and help give her some calcium (that is what they need when they have milk fever). When they get milk fever it's after they calve. She was just at the beginning of it. Another sign is they can't stand up, their muscles won't let them. This is when it's farther along. They can die from this if not treated. The kiddos and I headed off to church. I was reluctant to go, but did. I knew she was in good hands, and would be in contact with him. She was given the medicine, it takes about 2 hours to work, so he stayed home to keep an eye on her. She did come out of it. She was outside laying in the sun with her girls when I got home. I asked how she was and he said fine. Sunday night she ate some of her grain, before Daffodil decided to sleep in it, and her ears were warm again. We were
pleased with that. This morning she ate her grain, her ears are warm, and she is now outside eating with her girls. Another lesson in dairying life for me. A whole new lesson. I'm thankful it turned out well and that this was caught early and the end result ended well too. Very thankful for the help that came too, with no hesitation on his part, he helped when we needed it.

Sunday morning snuggle time with mama!

Have a great day all!

12:04pm

Well Maggie's due date has come and gone. It was Tuesday the 14th. Nope, no calf. But with the last two she has had with us she has been 9 and 10 days late. So... we wait.
We had thought she was going to go early due to the fact that her udders swelled up so. So we have been watching her and staying close to home. Well, I'm usually always home, but you get the picture. We even checked on her in the middle of the night a few nights. No calf. Not to mention she wouldn't come in the barn. Not even for me!! She always comes in for me. Stubborn cow. I would have felt better having her outside and calving in the field. More room and I didn't have to worry about anything happening to the calf outside.
So today I was doing school with the kiddos when  looked out the window and checked on Maggie. She was way up in the pasture, and it looked like she was dancing. I grabbed the binoculars to get a closer look. She was dancing. I know that sounds weird but that is the only way I can think to get a picture in your head. She was moving slowly in a circle, her hips slightly swaying and her back legs moving slowly around the front. Her head was low to the ground and then she would stop and take a few bite of lush green grass. Then sway her hips and back legs would move again. I stood in the window watching. The kiddos were watching me wondering what was going on. I smiled and grabbed the phone. I told the kiddos that "I think Maggie is gonna have a baby today." They cheered. I called my husband. He's been working out of town. I told him what was going on, and he said to keep him posted. I hung up and tried to get the kiddos back to school, but we were all too busy wondering about Maggie. We went outside and stood quietly watching with the binoculars. Each one taking turns and chattering excitedly as Maggie would lay down, and stand back up and dance around again. We came back in the house and got lunch ready, and peeking out the window. Not really wanting to eat, but getting it out anyways. We looked out the window and Maggie was laying down with her butt in the direction we could not see. Bummer. Then as she stood up and turned out came the baby as she stood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!!! The kiddos saw it!!!!!!!!!!!! How excited we all were!!! I called my husband again and told him she had just had the calf!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at the clock. 12:04pm. We gave her about 10 minutes and then we walked up the path to see her. We kept our distance because she gets real upset and pushy and will try to knock you over. We saw such a beautiful, wet, red looking calf laying in the grass soaking up some love from her mama. It shook it's little head and tried to stand up. Fell over and tried again. It laid there and rested. Mama Maggie mooed her special moo to her baby and licked the baby's  face. She pawed the ground, and kept her eye on us. Reluctantly we walked back to the house. I didn't get a look at the hind end of the baby. I still didn't know what it was. But I was happy to see it getting loved and dried off, and trying to get up. I knew they both needed some time. A few folks driving by stopped to see the new little calf too.
Within the hour it was up and nursing like a champ. I was pleased. And relieved. Still I did not know what the sex was...and dying to know!
Maggie delivered the afterbirth and my oldest daughter saw that. She thought it was gross. So I explained it to her, and then it wasn't so gross. Well Maggie decided to eat the afterbirth. I know that can cause them to choke and was worried about it. I didn't dare go out in the field alone, even with a stick. My father in law came over and we drove his jeep out in the field and I had a stick and a bucket. Well by the time he got here and up there Maggie had eaten all the afterbirth. We sat in the jeep and watched her for maybe 20-30 minutes. Not really sure what was going to happen. I do know she has eaten it before with her first one she had with us. But as we were sitting in the pasture watching the miracle of life and motherhood it stood up and wanted to eat...I held my breath and hoped it would turn and give me a nice shot of it's butt...it did!!!

We are pleased to announce we have a new little heifer calf!! Her name is Daffodil aka Daffy. Our oldest daughter named her. A fitting name for a spring baby. She is also the full sister to Dandie!!

Isn't she the sweetest thing????????!!!!!!!!!!! She say "hellooooo"
Her and mama are fine so far. We'll be keeping an eye on them and making sure they both stay fine. They are in the barn for the night. Maggie is all milked. My husband said it was nice to be milking again.

I didn't have the camera, my husband took it with him, so I had to wait until he got home from work to get any pictures of her. She is super cute.
We feel blessed and are very thankful.
Have a great night all!