A Slightly Dramatic Day

No photos to document today, but apparently this weather system was strong enough to bring on 2 more babies…in dramatic fashion.

Jesse and I got the cows out of the field (which has a lot of trees and brush) for milking and I went to roll up fence while he walked them in. I was about to unhook the fence reel when I heard the sound of a mama moo noise a short distance away. 

I walked to where I could see around the brush pile and there stood Mallory with part of the amniotic sac visible. I couldn’t decide at first whether she was just getting started or was having trouble. She finally laid back down and I could see one foot. She let me get close enough briefly to try to determine if the other foot and head was coming correctly, but I couldn’t feel the second foot so I was concerned one leg was back. I used a polywire to get her out of the field to the barn and called Dad to let him know I was coming. Once there, we got her in the chute and thankfully there were two feet and a head coming correctly. We got a halter on her and the chains on the calf’s legs and started pulling. Jesse had one chain, I had the other, and Dad used his strength to add a little more pull. It was a hard pull, but we eventually got the little heifer out and she was alive!

After all that, we still had to milk cows!

When Charli came through the parlor, Jesse made a comment about her having a calf before too long. I responded with something about her April 30 due date having been off (but the accurate date would have been any time). After looking at her udder, I figured she could still be a couple days off possibly.  

Once milking and cleanup was done, I went to feed the bulls another strip of pasture while Dad and Jesse pregnancy-checked a few cows to make sure they were open before we send them to the processor.

Then there was just enough time to give the cows their next break of grass before lunch. After lunch we got the eggs gathered right before the storms rolled in. Then the power went out, so when it didn’t come back on after a little while we fired up the generator, especially to keep the ice cream from getting soft. 

Busying ourselves with some indoor work while the skies dumped over 2”, there was finally enough of a lull that I could go back out to give the cows their final break (and when I arrived they were definitely ready for more to eat by then!). 

I rolled up the polywire and was going to give them yet another strip because all the rain had made the ground very soft and I wanted to make sure they had plenty to eat for the night. 

But Ruthie was bothering some calves she thought needed to be herded, and then I realized there was also a cow in the mix…in the mud. Charli was in the midst of having her calf as well! She was literally in a mud wallow, getting up and lying down again. That was no place for a newborn calf to come out, but I had to force her with a polywire (very useful tool, that!) to get to a slightly grassier area, because she was bound and determined that spot was THE spot! 

Once there I waited for her to lie down again so I could hopefully get ahold of the feet and help hurry the process along (because although I had utilized a window of lighter rainfall to head to the pasture, the next round had arrived long before I finished, as rumbles of thunder and steadier rain had returned, and Paul and Ruthie had to take it in the back of the ranger). 

I was glad Charli was a mature cow (Mallory was a first calf heifer), because this calf seemed to have a little bigger feet and head. Charli probably would have delivered ok without assistance, but the conditions weren’t so nice for the delivering! Once the calf was out, I drug her a little farther up the hill a few feet away and Charli got to work cleaning her off. 

Then I finally could get the other fence set up to give the cows the extra area, and head back to the barn. 

And now we are down to two more cows to calve (or three if one of the questionable preg-checks is a positive after all). 

Let’s hope tomorrow is less dramatic!