Just realized that the wrong date was on these pictures. There is a little more to this story. The heifer had a noticeable kink in her tail at 9 p.m. Saturday night, so was put into the barn. She was standing quietly in a boxstall at 4 a.m. Sunday morning, with the "kink in her tail" still noticeable but nothing else was showing. She had never laid down to really get with the program or to have contractions, but I put her into the headgate at this time to check her out. She was not dialated yet, but the front feet and nose were there handy whenever she was ready. I decided to give her more time. Several hours went by with no more progress, so at noon on Sunday, Peach and I worked together and put her back in the headcatch. Peach checked her that time. Nothing had changed much, so we held a joint committee meeting and decided to give the heifer still more time. I looked at the heifer again at 2 p.m. Still no further progress. I went out again at 4 p.m. This time she was laying down with the toes showing, and the toes appeared to be pretty good-sized. The heifer had been into the headcatch often enough that I knew she would not want to go in again. I used my handy-dandy cell phone to call for back-up, breaking up a perfectly good card game in session. The calf was pulled by 4:30 p.m. Sunday, January 24th, some 19 hours after she had noticeably started to calve. Had we rushed this deal and tried to pull the calf earlier, the head would have gone back and we'd have had problems. Probably a C-section would have been necessary then.
Just thought I would detail this chain of events for the record. :wink:
Three pretty cheerleaders
The team captain
This guy usually sits on the bench, but this time they let him play.
Not a lay-up but a lay-down
Backsides and elbows
Getting ready for a little action
I never promised her a rose garden. :wink:
We are both kind of sleepy after all the action.
Head is up, and I need my momma.
A successful landing; everyone will be able to walk away.
Mother and child
Suppertime
This cold and snow makes me have to go.
Bedded down for the night