Post by Olga on Jul 2, 2009 13:49:12 GMT -5
Elsie (L.C.), our Dex-Jersey 1st time heifer, pulled a surpise on us. Last year we kept Elsie here, at the house, as a companion for Erin, our then-milk-cow. When she became of age, Elsie started having very strong heats, which brought disruption and hiatus to my milking times. So when Elsie turned about 14 months old, I said "well, that's it, I can't take it anymore! Elsie, you're going to see a bull!" So off went Elsie to our other pasture, to meet Little John, who was to turn a year old on the 13th of October. Little John is a shortie, so I wasn't sure if he'd be able to "get to" Elsie right away. But apparently he did. Since we put the two together in September, and Elsie calved around July 1st!
Elsie tried to keep the birth secret. There was not a day that I didn't see her. On June 30 I saw the cows midday, Elsie was with the herd, I noticed that her udder was bigger yet and that her vulva was very floppy. But I didn't see any discharge. I came up closer, just in case, to check out her ligaments by the tail head, and they didn't look drooped or relaxed.
On July 01 we came up to the pasture around 10 a.m. and saw that Elsie wasn't with the herd. On an off chance that she was having a baby, we walked to where we spotted her in the woods. Elsie appeared to be just fine, there was no loose ligaments, no discharge, nothing out of the ordinary. I thought that may be she was just taking her afternoon nap. We left to get a load off hay, and when we returned, the boys spotted a little calf following Elsie from the pond among the rest of the herd. The calf was not a newborn - his ambillical cord was already dried up and he was steady on his feet. A few hours later, when we went to catch Elsie and the baby for the trip to the house, we figured it out. Elsie was telling the baby to stay quiet and still in a nice shady spot in the woods, then she'd walk away far enough away that if someone was to find her, they wouldn't discover the calf, but close enough that she could keep her eye on the baby.
After some "loading issues", mama and baby made it home. We've attempted to milk Elsie last night and this morning. The only difficulty is in her not letting down. She'd half-heartedly kicked at the bucked a handful of times, but only when I was trying to milk her smallish rear teats. I think we're doing great under the circumstances.
The baby calf is a bull, he is tiny, but appears to be long-legged. I'll take some pics later today, when it cools off a bit.
Elsie tried to keep the birth secret. There was not a day that I didn't see her. On June 30 I saw the cows midday, Elsie was with the herd, I noticed that her udder was bigger yet and that her vulva was very floppy. But I didn't see any discharge. I came up closer, just in case, to check out her ligaments by the tail head, and they didn't look drooped or relaxed.
On July 01 we came up to the pasture around 10 a.m. and saw that Elsie wasn't with the herd. On an off chance that she was having a baby, we walked to where we spotted her in the woods. Elsie appeared to be just fine, there was no loose ligaments, no discharge, nothing out of the ordinary. I thought that may be she was just taking her afternoon nap. We left to get a load off hay, and when we returned, the boys spotted a little calf following Elsie from the pond among the rest of the herd. The calf was not a newborn - his ambillical cord was already dried up and he was steady on his feet. A few hours later, when we went to catch Elsie and the baby for the trip to the house, we figured it out. Elsie was telling the baby to stay quiet and still in a nice shady spot in the woods, then she'd walk away far enough away that if someone was to find her, they wouldn't discover the calf, but close enough that she could keep her eye on the baby.
After some "loading issues", mama and baby made it home. We've attempted to milk Elsie last night and this morning. The only difficulty is in her not letting down. She'd half-heartedly kicked at the bucked a handful of times, but only when I was trying to milk her smallish rear teats. I think we're doing great under the circumstances.
The baby calf is a bull, he is tiny, but appears to be long-legged. I'll take some pics later today, when it cools off a bit.
