Shaky Legs

Here's a much shorter video showing the calf actually standing for a few seconds shortly after being born.

Finally!

This morning, some time around 7:30 am and just before he left for work, my husband came in and woke me up. The cow was getting ready to have her baby. And how was he so sure? The big bubble hanging from under her tail!

I jumped up and got my little Nikon Coolpix L3. It had been ready for a few weeks actually. Unlike my bigger Nikon D40x, the little camera has a video mode. I had been hoping to catch the calving on video so I could post it and the less squeamish of you could see a real cow giving birth to a live calf!

Of course the whole thing would not have worked had she had the baby at night. But she didn't and I was able to capture the birthing.

The video is about 7½ minutes long. Originally it was about 17 but the file was too big to be uploaded to Blogger. You will notice the breaks where the program cut pieces out to make the original video shorter.

By the way, I think it's a heifer calf (girl) but I couldn't get close enough to tell yet. Ladysmith gets a little protective for the first couple of days. I'll try and find out and let you know tomorrow.

Palm Sunday

I know, it's not a palm tree, but it is some type of blue bell bulb I planted umpteen years ago and it's still blooming every year.

Happy Palm Sunday!

April Fool's Day

I thought Ladysmith, our cow, was due to calve in late December or early January. December and January have come and gone and nothing happened. Somehow I grossly miscalculated.

As the weeks progressed I've been keeping my eye on her, unsure if I should put her back with Dakota, the bull, or wait. She seemed a little fatter, she looked pregnant to me, but why didn't she have her baby yet? Where is that calf!

At one point, oh, several weeks ago, I thought her back end was getting what I call "puffy". That is one of the first signs of an eventual birth. I got a little excited at that point but nothing has progressed more than that.

That is, until Monday. Her back end was decidedly more puffy and her udder was most definately filling! I was so convinced that she was going to calve either Monday night or Tuesday morning.

April Fool's to me! Now here it is, Wednesday, and still no calf. I'm hoping I will be able to catch her in action so I can video it and if it's not too long then post it here.

So here I sit, twiddling my thumbs and looking out the window every 30 minutes. And when I see her laying down I catch my breath and watch intently. Watch her chewing her cud, that is.

Meanwhile I started doing some repair work on the cattle panels. Currently they are wired on to the pipe fencing (with the exception of one short side). I am in the process of undoing the wires and welding the panels to the fence. One thing I learned: wear long sleeves! Ouch!

I actually like doing the welding. But as with anything the worst part of the job is the prep work. In order for the welds to adhere well the old paint needs to be removed. I do that with the grinder. And the dirt has to be dug out from the bottom so the sagging panels can be pulled up to the proper position. (I do that with the shovel!)

I got one side done yesterday but had to stop because the welder tip got clogged, which is not uncommon at all. It's a good excuse to go to the welding supply store and get more tips, more grinding plates, and maybe even splurge on some leather welding sleeves! ☺

I may not get that job done before Ladysmith has her calf, but you never know. I've been fooled before!