A babe is born

[Soapweed]

A calf is fixin' to be born

I'm shy, don't watch

Looks potentially dangerous, the sack could smother the calf

At this point I had to put the camera away and poke a hole in the sack

Ready or not, here I come

Crash bang, here I am

But Mom, don't eat my blanket, I might get cold

Bovines being lazy and ready to bed down for the night

 

[MsSage]

OMGAWD thanks for the pics that works out awsome for Tomorrow and Friday. Showed the "worst" class the pics I already had and they were ok . Cant wait to show the next 3 classes these pics.

 

[RedcowsareBest]

Very nice pictures, very nice cow to let you take them. The miracle of birth never ceases to amaze me! I have three kids who are always in the calving lot, so it's of the utmost importance to me to have nice tempered gentle cows. We had a C- section on a heifer last night, nice sized heifer, nice calf, he was just too big!! But I didn't have time to run to the house to get the camera. My oldest daughter was there though ( she's 12 ) and she got alot out of it, our vet is really good, he explained everything he was doing, what direction the muscle layers run and etc. Momma and baby are doing fine, so I thank the good Lord for his blessings!!

 

[Tap]

I might be having some fun at your expense Soapweed, but the only thing better than that would be for her to be holed up by herself in a grassy meadow or draw, or even behind a clump of sage on such a nice day. Talk about a busy maternity ward.

 

[Jinglebob]

We had a young man who used to come and spend his spring break with us so he could be around "real enviromentilests". He wanted to see a cow have a calf sooooo bad and it took several years of 1 week at a time before everything worked out. I would have been so great to have these pictures then. Maybe there has been some improvments in the last 100 years. :wink:

Great set of pics. Glad you had the camera and thot' of this!

 

[Soapweed]

I might be having some fun at your expense Soapweed, but the only thing better than that would be for her to be holed up by herself in a grassy meadow or draw, or even behind a clump of sage on such a nice day. Talk about a busy maternity ward.

Well, Tap, the theory is good, but we've had enough troubles this spring that I'm glad we are watching them. There has been several backwards calves and quite a few thick smothering sacks over the calves' heads. We'd have had several dead cows if we weren't watching them pretty close. The "busy maternity ward" is just our night-time lot. They have quite a bit of room in a good-sized pasture during the daytime hours. Besides, with a night man on duty, it's not that bad of a deal.

Calving is not an easy occupation, no matter when you do it. This is a lax time of year anyway, and a good time to get calving out of the way. I like the extra pounds on the calves at selling time, too. We have too much rough swampy-type hay to use up. Cows would never graze it, and they'd bog down if they did. They won't eat it in hay form in the later spring, but they eat it now when confined to small areas. Every ranch is different, and the over-seer must run it best for the conditions of that ranch. If I lived where you do, I'd probably try to run that ranch similar to the way you do.

 

[Tap]

I would agree with your last statement Soap. We had that visit several times in the past, and I wasn't trying to go over it again. :wink: Really, I was thinking more about what a darn nice day we had today, and how wonderful it was for any new babies "hitting" the ground. I am always amazed at how on top of things you are, and how lucky we all are to get to be part of it.


Hats off to you and your crew.

 

[Soapweed]

Thank you, sir.

 

[Tap]

You're welcome!