It's Go Time!

Technically we started calving on March 11 this year--about 3 weeks ahead of schedule--when Clara delivered her calf early. The two of them have been doing quite well and her little fella is growing like a weed!

We've mostly been allowing her calf to do the milking, but last week we sorted out several cows that appear to be the closest to giving birth to keep them nearer the barn, and we've been bringing them through the milking parlor. This allows us to milk Clara (if she has any milk left that day after the baby got his share), as well as train the first-time mamas to come into the parlor and teach them to stand in one place while they're in there.

On Monday this week when we brought everyone in, Tav and Cedar were pretty concerned about Clara's calf too. This told me it was very possible the two of them were also about to have their babies.

Sure enough, before dark Tav delivered her calf! I walked out to the pasture next to the barn to check on them. She had pushed the baby out, and he was laying behind her, but she hadn't gotten up yet. I thought I'd just go see if it was a bull or a heifer before she got up. But as I approached, she got up herself. And promptly walked way from her calf, heading straight towards the other side of the pasture where Clara's calf was!

I moved toward them and attempted to bring all three of them back to the vicinity of the newborn baby. But basically Tav only had eyes for Clara's calf.

Now here's the ironic part.

Two years ago, Tav ended up with an adoptive mama because Coconut thought Tav was her baby and paid no attention to the one she gave birth to! You can read the full story of that crazy day on the Baby (calf) Mama Drama blog post!

But back to the present.

At this point, Cedar was mooing over Tav's wet baby. Not licking, just mooing. It was nearly dark, and I wasn't willing to bank on Cedar cleaning and nursing this very vulnerable new little guy (plus she didn't appear to be in active labor herself yet, so I wasn't sure if letting another calf nurse at that point would be the best thing anyway).

So I called Doug and he brought the Ranger out so we could take the slippery little fella to the barn. Then we went back to retrieve his mama. I made a lane of sorts with the polywire and somewhat easily sorted her out. But right before she got to the gap to leave the field, she ducked UNDER the polywire and ran back to the calf who didn't need her!

The next time around we had to bring all three of them to the barn just to get Tav!

Finally we got Tav closed in with her calf and let Clara and her baby back out in the pasture.

Although Tav stopped to smell her calf a couple times, she did not seem inclined to mother it. So I took a handful of hay and rubbed him down a little bit to dry him off some. Then I got some colostrum out of the freezer and put it in warm water to start thawing so I could ensure at least he would get a bit of milk in his belly before the night passed.

I returned to the house for a while as the milk thawed and warmed in the milkhouse. When I went back out with the bottle, I was able to get him to drink a little, but he didn't seem overly willing to take very much. By this time, thankfully Tav was at least showing a little interest in him!

He was able to get up and walk around, so I watched them for a few minutes in the dim light. It didn't take long for him to find her udder and I could hear him smack his jaws as he began to nurse. Hallelujah! After finishing up around 10:30, I was ready for a shower and bed! 

The next morning, they appeared to be bonded much better so they got to return to the pasture in the afternoon.

Also that next morning, I found Cedar had indeed had a calf in the night...a little heifer.

Cedar is Clara's mom, by the way. So we've got quite the family affair going for the early 2025 calving season! 

And I am thinking, I might just wait an extra week this summer to turn the bulls in if babies are determined to make their appearances a week or more ahead of schedule :D