Why IS It?

[Northern Rancher]

Calving just about always starts out rough then smooths out-we hauled out a bloated 4H cow-lost the heifer than had the first calf-I guess tipping herself upside down i a mudhole wasn't condusive to longevity. Now we've had the next twenty calves out in the pasture and haven't seen one born. I don't know how many springs it gets off to a rocky start like that. Last year it was a three day blizzard the day the first calves came-makes things interesting.

 

[DejaVu]

It's a combination of several factors: #1 Murphy's law. If everything is going well, you've obviously overlooked something. #2 It's gotta suck at some point so we know when it's really good! But, you're right. It usually starts out tough and levels off. Nature's way. She rules!

 

[Grassfarmer]

True enough NR, same on our place. We started with the heifers and had a bit of bother - a little of everything, lost a couple of calves and had a good heifer prolapse her uterus for no good reason. We have had about 50 cows calve now with the only issue being one backwards calf and a set of twins that needed supplementing to start with. Heifers -2, cows +1 so on 70 head we're making out OK. It always gets you nervous when you get off to a bad start though.