Adventures in Calving Part 4

This was an easy one as our adventures go. 

First calf heifer making progress but slow.  It was getting dark and we didn't want a repeat of the 3 am deal so went ahead and got her up.  The presentation was normal, J slapped the chains on

and pulled. 

Everything came out fine,

and mom and calf were turned out in the morning. 
 

Adventures in Calving Part 3

We have been having way too many calving adventures this year.  Thursday night J checked the heifers at 11 pm.  One had the water bag out, great.  It was 20 degrees with the wind blowing 20-30 mph.  He waited 1 1/2 hours and checked again.  No progress, great.  To the barn she went (J had already put her and a couple others that were close in the barn lot, he is excellent at planning ahead)  A quick check revealed that one leg and the head were there, but that left one leg back.  I was able to fix that in short order and we pulled it by hand from there.  

The problem was that he had gotten a little hypoxic (decrease oxygen to the brain) during the ordeal.  It also didn't help that it was 20 degrees with the wind blowing 20-30 mph.  Trying to get it to stand just resulted in a limp rear and bracing front.  It was clear he wouldn't be able to nurse that night so back to the house for some colostrum.  After that he still wasn't very lively.  I sort of thought he seemed chilled.  

So back to the house for some warming tools.  I am pretty sure I have used this hair dryer on goats and calves more than I have on myself. 

I also got a blanked and made a make shift tent with a heater blowing into it.  

We got his temperature to 98, normal is around 102.  He seamed a little stronger and at 3 am we quit and went to bed.  

We had to tube feed him a couple of more times, then got him to suck a bottle.  It was  over 14 hours before he could get up on his own.  After that we put the heifer in the chute and helped him nurse.  Hopefully, if all is still good tomorrow, we will turn them out. 
 

A Few More Birds

I am slowly increasing my birding list.

This week I added a Northern Flicker. 

I like how he is showing me some love.

This noisy Brown Thrasher was in the yard one morning. 

along with this Chipping Sparrow. 

I already had an Eastern Meadowlark on my list, but I was proud of myself for getting the picture.  

And not a bird, but who can resist a cute squirrel in a hole in a tree.  

My new additions should propel me up to number 75 on my county birding list!
 

Adventures in Calving Part 2

We had our first set of twins for the season.  J thought it would be a good idea to separate them out into a smaller field without any other cows and calves so as to avoid confusion, both on the cow's part and ours.  

She had them down in some old pine trees on a step hill.  But what isn't steep around here?

A bull and a heifer, both nice and lively. 

Walking up the hill and through all the down trees, they got separated. 

So J picked up the laggard and carried him.  Just zoom in on J's face to see how he enjoyed this part. 

We herded the cow and one calf out, 

then J carried the other through the group on onlookers. 

The togetherness was short lived.  A little while later, they managed to get separated by the length of the field, about 1/4 mile.  We rounded them back up with the cow an put them in the smaller lot next to the new barn.  So far so good.  
 

Adventures In Calving

Spring calving is going full force now. 

A few days ago we had a heifer not progressing in her delivery.  

Time to get her to the barn so we could help out.  Everything was coming right but it was just a tight fit.  No pictures of the procedure, sort of hard to hold the camera and help with the chains and calf jack at the same time. 

But everything came out fine, the heifer got up albeit a little staggery at first.  

Then it was back out with the others the next day.  Then Sunday, the story repeated itself only this time J was by himself.   Good thing he has some awesome skills. 
 

Trail Cam Scavengers

We went to feed the dogs the other day and noticed blood on some of their faces.  J was immediately worried that they had killed a calf.  We went looking and all the calves for fine.  I finally found a dead deer in a gully.  We set up the trail came to see what all would come to the feast. 

Mr. Fox showed up, 

and in color too. 

The coyote was a frequent visitor. 

Lots of black and white, no color. 

Of course the dogs were there at varying times. 

And lets don't leave out our birding friends.  There were crows, 

and ravens.

Looks like the raven and turkey vulture were not getting along. 

I think we have a vulture selfie. 

Another Spring Calving Season Has Begun

It's not officially suppose to start here until April 1st, but it really started March 17th.  This just happened to be the first heifer to calve today and easy for me to go get a picture. 

And it was a bull calf which required banding. 

J had that done in short order. 

And then snapped in an ear tag.  I think he tags them more for my benefit because he pretty much knows all the cows as individuals.   We really don't use the tags in any form of record keeping so J is always saying he doesn't even know why he bothers.  He has talked about just getting an ear notcher instead.  But for now, it is still a tag. 

All done and ready to run back to mom. 

Plus the grass is greening up!