Today, as we celebrate the incredible maternal drive which weaves its way through our lives, calves continue to arrive on the farm.
This heifer calf was found in the calving pasture at 6 this morning, presenting with 2 front feet, a snout & a tongue - all which seemed normal/healthy, however the cow did appear to have been trying to deliver for a while. I walked around a few more times in the next 45 minutes checking in on progress & seeing none, so decided it was time to bring it in to help.
Once you remove the natural feel of the delivery, sometimes the cow will lose interest in the calf and ultimately reject it. This cow unfortunately did just that. We brought the pair in, so the calf could feed, then returned it to a pen to recover.. While working with other cow-calf pairs, I watched as all of a sudden, 2.5hrs after delivery, something just clicked. The cow instantly took to the calf & began cleaning it/calling to it.
Sometimes the cow comes around, sometimes it does not - there are a lot of factors at play. This morning, it was an absolute thrill to see the instinctual transition happening right before my eyes. The cow went from knocking the calf away to preserve the milk in its udder, to all of a sudden, encouraging it to nurse.
Farming can be full of frustrations, it can be remarkably humbling... but the thrills in the day to day of working with cattle are indescribable.
We hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day!