Aspen's calf, Willow, born Feb. 21, at 4:35 a.m.
Rosie's bull calf, Bronco Billy, born Feb. 28
I included a couple of pictures taken at the start of Sunday's blizzard. These were taken early in the morning at the start of the storm. Winds were blowing about 35 knots steady, with gusts in excess of 50. The static air temperature was about 20 degrees. We received a total snowfall accumulation of about 10-12 inches of snow on the level.
You might have been looking for this entry last week, as it was my intention to publish it then. However, a series of unfortunate events transpired to prevent me from posting it. Unfortunately, the flu has been plaguing our house for a week or so and it is only today that we all appear to be completely recovered. The little guy seemed to get the worst dose of it, and I came in a close second in terms of severity. I would recommend that if any one you know comes down with the bug that’s circulating that you all steer clear. This one is particularly nasty and contagious.
Anyhow, on to the good news. After nine months of waiting and wondering our efforts were have been rewarded with two new additions to the herd. Aspen gave birth to a tiny 72 pound heifer calf on Feb. 21. Amy has decided on the name Willow for her and it seems to fit pretty well. She is a very curious and somewhat rambunctious little calf, but at the same time she’s very gentle and willing to allow some quiet petting which is unusual after the first couple of days. They become wary of people pretty quickly, but Aspen is a pretty tame cow, so even though it’s her first calf she is more tolerant of interaction with her calf than most new momma cows. Perhaps the biggest news is that I was present when willow was delivered and had the opportunity to see her born, the first one I have seen since we moved to the ranch. I have to tell you there are few things that are more amazing than seeing an animal born.
Anyhow, on to the good news. After nine months of waiting and wondering our efforts were have been rewarded with two new additions to the herd. Aspen gave birth to a tiny 72 pound heifer calf on Feb. 21. Amy has decided on the name Willow for her and it seems to fit pretty well. She is a very curious and somewhat rambunctious little calf, but at the same time she’s very gentle and willing to allow some quiet petting which is unusual after the first couple of days. They become wary of people pretty quickly, but Aspen is a pretty tame cow, so even though it’s her first calf she is more tolerant of interaction with her calf than most new momma cows. Perhaps the biggest news is that I was present when willow was delivered and had the opportunity to see her born, the first one I have seen since we moved to the ranch. I have to tell you there are few things that are more amazing than seeing an animal born.
I had been checking the girls pretty regularly throughout the past several days. My regular routine is to check them just before bed time and again at 2:30 in the morning followed by another check during feeding at 6:00 a.m. Aspen wasn’t showing much sign of labor at about 10:00 p.m., but was looking pretty uncomfortable during the 2:30 check up, so I set my alarm for 4:30 a.m., in case I needed a little extra time in the morning before heading to work, and climbed back in the rack for a couple of hours extra sleep.
At 4:30 a.m. I nearly turned the alarm off and went back to sleep, but I knew that if something went wrong I’d feel awful about not dragging myself out of bed. I suited up and headed out into the dark. When we’re calving the barn lights stay on all the time so I don’t have to fumble around with a flash light looking for the switch and I can also just stick my head in the door for a quick check and head back to bed if there’s nothing going on. So, I stuck my head in the barn and saw Aspen laying prone in her stall and not breathing and was immediately afraid of the worst. I turned my flashlight on her and I could see two tiny hooves just visible along with the tip of a calf nose. Now, the prone position isn’t normal for a cow and is generally a sign of distress, so I was pretty worried and wondering what I should do. This all took place in a span of about 15 seconds, and before I could react, or even really process anything logically, Aspen let go with a big Whooshing breath and Willow popped out fully into the world, much to my surprise. It all happened very quickly, but it definitely made the trip to the barn worthwhile.
With Willow doing well I turned my attention to Rosie, who although she was bred on the same day, was expected to calve first. However, that was far from the case. She was due on Feb. 24, but the day came and went with absolutely no fanfare. She had been in the barn for about 10 days by that point and other than having a tremendously full udder, had shown no signs that she was making any progress whatsoever. I came down with the aforementioned flu on Monday morning and I figured that would probably trigger her labor, since things like that generally do in our world. Unfortunately, I was sicker than I have been in several years and spent two days unable to roust myself out for anything. Nolan fed the animals for me, but reported no calving activity other than Willow (who I had forgotten to mention). On Wednesday, now three days past her due date, I was on the mend and back to work. Still no calf. Thursdays in the spring are always late nights for me at work, and when I left Thursday morning I was starting to wonder seriously if she hadn’t skipped over the AI breeding and been bull bred on her next cycle, which would have meant another 21 days to go.
When I got home around 8 p.m. Thursday evening, Allie (who almost always accompanies me on my chore rounds) was first through the barn door, which prompted an immediate (and very uncharacteristic) charge out of Rosie, who was extremely riled up. It took me a second to adjust to the light in the barn and determine the reason why she was so agitated. Her new calf, was laying in the corner of the stall, right where Allie was chasing her shadow (for those of you who don’t know Allie, this is her favorite spastic pastime). I shushed Allie out of the barn and went back to the house to get my calving box and Amy who always comes out to see the newborns. Rosie’s calf was a thick little bull calf who tipped the scale at 83 lbs. at birth. By the time I found him he was several hours old and up nursing and doing well.
I have to say it is always easier to doctor them and check them over before they can walk. They gather their strength pretty rapidly and more than once I have had a bit of a butt-kicking from a calf less than a few hours old, this turned out to be no exception and I ended up going for a short ride around the pen behind the little guy. Needless to say he is a strong, healthy calf, just the kind we have come to expect out of Rosie. He’s very curious and full of energy and loves running laps around the barn, bucking and kicking as he goes. It’s entertaining to see it happen for the first time. The cows always give chase, but after about a lap-and-a-half, the cows are wheezing and coughing while the calves continue on for hours on end.
We’ve been pretty fortunate weather-wise, last week’s weather was very mild and enjoyable for calving and dealing with newborns. They all had a chance to spend a couple of days outside before the weather closed in yesterday. We had blizzard conditions all day and they were in the barn for the entire day. I did clean their stalls and Rosie and her calf moved to the center-aisle holding pen which is twice the size of a normal pen and allows them room to play a little, something he took full advantage of yesterday, bucking circles around his mom and earning him the name Bronco Billy.
So that’s the latest from the ranch. We have more calves on the way soon and the next several weeks are going to be busy getting ready for our next run of calves which could start later this week. Gertie’s in the barn and up next, so we’ll have another update for you, along with some new pictures soon.
I hope this posting finds you well, wherever you may be.
At 4:30 a.m. I nearly turned the alarm off and went back to sleep, but I knew that if something went wrong I’d feel awful about not dragging myself out of bed. I suited up and headed out into the dark. When we’re calving the barn lights stay on all the time so I don’t have to fumble around with a flash light looking for the switch and I can also just stick my head in the door for a quick check and head back to bed if there’s nothing going on. So, I stuck my head in the barn and saw Aspen laying prone in her stall and not breathing and was immediately afraid of the worst. I turned my flashlight on her and I could see two tiny hooves just visible along with the tip of a calf nose. Now, the prone position isn’t normal for a cow and is generally a sign of distress, so I was pretty worried and wondering what I should do. This all took place in a span of about 15 seconds, and before I could react, or even really process anything logically, Aspen let go with a big Whooshing breath and Willow popped out fully into the world, much to my surprise. It all happened very quickly, but it definitely made the trip to the barn worthwhile.
With Willow doing well I turned my attention to Rosie, who although she was bred on the same day, was expected to calve first. However, that was far from the case. She was due on Feb. 24, but the day came and went with absolutely no fanfare. She had been in the barn for about 10 days by that point and other than having a tremendously full udder, had shown no signs that she was making any progress whatsoever. I came down with the aforementioned flu on Monday morning and I figured that would probably trigger her labor, since things like that generally do in our world. Unfortunately, I was sicker than I have been in several years and spent two days unable to roust myself out for anything. Nolan fed the animals for me, but reported no calving activity other than Willow (who I had forgotten to mention). On Wednesday, now three days past her due date, I was on the mend and back to work. Still no calf. Thursdays in the spring are always late nights for me at work, and when I left Thursday morning I was starting to wonder seriously if she hadn’t skipped over the AI breeding and been bull bred on her next cycle, which would have meant another 21 days to go.
When I got home around 8 p.m. Thursday evening, Allie (who almost always accompanies me on my chore rounds) was first through the barn door, which prompted an immediate (and very uncharacteristic) charge out of Rosie, who was extremely riled up. It took me a second to adjust to the light in the barn and determine the reason why she was so agitated. Her new calf, was laying in the corner of the stall, right where Allie was chasing her shadow (for those of you who don’t know Allie, this is her favorite spastic pastime). I shushed Allie out of the barn and went back to the house to get my calving box and Amy who always comes out to see the newborns. Rosie’s calf was a thick little bull calf who tipped the scale at 83 lbs. at birth. By the time I found him he was several hours old and up nursing and doing well.
I have to say it is always easier to doctor them and check them over before they can walk. They gather their strength pretty rapidly and more than once I have had a bit of a butt-kicking from a calf less than a few hours old, this turned out to be no exception and I ended up going for a short ride around the pen behind the little guy. Needless to say he is a strong, healthy calf, just the kind we have come to expect out of Rosie. He’s very curious and full of energy and loves running laps around the barn, bucking and kicking as he goes. It’s entertaining to see it happen for the first time. The cows always give chase, but after about a lap-and-a-half, the cows are wheezing and coughing while the calves continue on for hours on end.
We’ve been pretty fortunate weather-wise, last week’s weather was very mild and enjoyable for calving and dealing with newborns. They all had a chance to spend a couple of days outside before the weather closed in yesterday. We had blizzard conditions all day and they were in the barn for the entire day. I did clean their stalls and Rosie and her calf moved to the center-aisle holding pen which is twice the size of a normal pen and allows them room to play a little, something he took full advantage of yesterday, bucking circles around his mom and earning him the name Bronco Billy.
So that’s the latest from the ranch. We have more calves on the way soon and the next several weeks are going to be busy getting ready for our next run of calves which could start later this week. Gertie’s in the barn and up next, so we’ll have another update for you, along with some new pictures soon.
I hope this posting finds you well, wherever you may be.
