Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Another new calf

Hot weather has finally arrived in north Idaho, and we're all sweating and suffering until we get used to this (ahem) hideous 85 degrees. I took the girls to the lake today to cool off.




When we got home, we decided to put the cows in the woods behind the house for the next few days because a heat wave is upon us (temps expected to be in the 90's) and I don't like animals to be in a pasture without shade during such weather. I opened the gate and let the animals out of the pasture.

But Jet, one of our herd matrons, stayed behind. A quick glance at her hunched-over posture revealed she was in labor.



Her udder was turgid this morning, a sign a cow is near her time. I figured today was the day. Guess I was right. We all trooped down into the hot pasture to watch the birth.

The tips of the front hooves just starting to show. Birth is about ten minutes after this point.



Chateau, Jet's yearling steer calf, is wondering what's going on with his mama.



Another good contraction.



Unfortunately Jet decided lie down during the last major push, so the birth photos aren't as clear as I'd like:




First sniff at the new baby.



Amniotic sac, still full. Like how the sun is shining dramatically through it?



Amniotic sac after it emptied.



Start licking!





Did you know we've been accused of depriving our children by living in the country? But look what city kids are missing!





We left before the calf stood up (we were sweltering!), so we don't know the gender as of this posting. I'll find out tomorrow.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing! I love how you share your homesteading life with us!

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  2. AMen! City kids do miss out on so much!!! Love the pics.

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  3. I don't know anything about cows other than steak, but was there a reason not to de-horn that one cow? I had read that you did de-horn the other calf and then used good old duct tape.

    Dave Jones

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  4. Our two herd matrons had horns when we got them, and past a certain age it becomes dangerous to dehorn a mature cow because a sinus cavity runs the length of the horns. To dehorn them at this stage literally leaves holes in their heads. Yuck!

    One cow (Ruby) has learned to use her horns with a vengeance, and won't allow us to halter her up or lead her anywhere. Our other cow (Jet) had a fairly sweet disposition, but even she will use her horns when she wants. No more! None of our heifers will have horns ever again.

    I don't care if the steers keep their horns because they go in the freezer at two years old anyway, and the horns aren't big enough at that age to do much damage. Besides, Dexter steers generally have a sweet and docile disposition.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Our two herd matrons had horns when we got them, and past a certain age it becomes dangerous to dehorn a mature cow because a sinus cavity runs the length of the horns. To dehorn them at this stage literally leaves holes in their heads. Yuck!

    One cow (Ruby) has learned to use her horns with a vengeance, and won't allow us to halter her up or lead her anywhere. Our other cow (Jet) had a fairly sweet disposition, but even she will use her horns when she wants. No more! None of our heifers will have horns ever again.

    I don't care if the steers keep their horns because they go in the freezer at two years old anyway, and the horns aren't big enough at that age to do much damage. Besides, Dexter steers generally have a sweet and docile disposition.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our two herd matrons had horns when we got them, and past a certain age it becomes dangerous to dehorn a mature cow because a sinus cavity runs the length of the horns. To dehorn them at this stage literally leaves holes in their heads. Yuck!

    One cow (Ruby) has learned to use her horns with a vengeance, and won't allow us to halter her up or lead her anywhere. Our other cow (Jet) had a fairly sweet disposition, but even she will use her horns when she wants. No more! None of our heifers will have horns ever again.

    I don't care if the steers keep their horns because they go in the freezer at two years old anyway, and the horns aren't big enough at that age to do much damage. Besides, Dexter steers generally have a sweet and docile disposition.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When my wife and I were kids, there would be hundreds of people at that beach and it was standing room only in the lodge. Pretty quiet now. We will be on the Chat side on the 4th, training for a 72 mile ride later in July.

    ReplyDelete