Due Date

Today is March 1, and technically the "Due Date" of our calves.  At this point, I think we have had about ten total, maybe a few more. There are one hundred or so cows in total, so I guess we are about ten percent finished... More like just getting started! 

A rather unfortunate throat cold of some sort seems to be working its way through the four of us at calving central-- Tom, Carol, Jeff, and myself. I have spent less time at Tom and Carol's house than any  of the rest of them, sleeping in my own bed on nights I work, so I am hoping I don't come down with it.   Tom seems to have it the worst at the moment, so I have been enjoying accompanying Jeff on some of the duties: checking the cows, feeding and calf-tagging chores.

These photos are a from a few weeks ago. I am getting some feed for a small group of the animals we keep for our own meat. 

Right now the rotation is to go out at about 10 p.m., about 2:30 a.m., and then 6:00 a.m., and then several more times in daylight hours. Jeff takes the two night checks, and Tom has been going out at 6.  Walking through the cows with a flashlight, checking for signs of imminent calving or calving-in-progress is exciting, in my opinion. Although, I have never gone out at 2:30-- waking up from a dead sleep to slog through the corrals and then hope to fall back asleep upon return. I suspect that time slot in the rotation is less exciting and more of a chore... 

Last night, at a little before 10:00 p.m., Jeff and I went out to check the cows.  One cow was in the process of calving- we saw a little pair of front hooves sticking out.  We left her alone for about a half hour and went inside to watch the news.  When we checked her again, she had had a tiny little red-haired calf.  Jeff jokingly said, "That's ranching: Watch the news and check again." He also fleetingly said that with the calf being so small, perhaps it was a twin. The cow had not shown any obvious signs of a second calf to follow, however.  We didn't stick around to find out, finishing the rounds and heading in to bed, the sound of a cow bellowing behind me vaguely registered in my mind as we walked toward the house...

At his 2:30 round, Jeff discovered another newborn calf.  The cow who had calved at 10:00 had indeed birthed twins.  The second calf, a heifer, bigger than the first, which is a bull.  Our first set of twins for the year. Last year, we didn't have any twins at all.  Now I wonder if the bellowing I had heard as we headed in was the cow- confused over why she still felt labor pains after seeing her newborn calf? Everyone seems to be getting along just fine, though, so far.