Post by zephyrhillsusan on May 26, 2014 23:01:46 GMT -5
Siobhan had her calf tonight between two episodes of "Downton Abbey." 
She had really bagged up the past few days and her teats were strutting, but no mucus at all. Her pins didn't seem to have gone, either. The only thing that made me wonder if she might calve today was that last year's heifer, Macree, suddenly started trying to mount Siobhan today, though she does do that when in heat. Also, Siobhan would graze for awhile, then go under the shade shack, then back out to graze, etc., though of course it was pretty hot in the high 80's, so she could have just been uncomfortable. However, I had a feeling, so kept a close eye on her. At 8:45 pm, before we started a second episode of "Downton Abbey," I was going to go check on her. DH offered to go in my place and came back and said she was grazing calmly. Right before 10:00 when he went to shut the LGD in the barnyard, I said I'd go out in my Kubota runabout and use the headlights to check on Siobhan. Lo and behold, there she was with a wet red bull calf!
Macree was torn between licking the calf and trying to mount Siobhan, of course nearly stepping on the calf in the process, so Herb took her down to the lower pasture where she's bellowing for mama, and Royal is bellowing to her. I gave Siobhan a large bucket of warm molasses water which she guzzled down, and some alfalfa pellets which she gobbled up. The calf was still wet and had obviously not nursed. He tried, but Siobhan kept moving away, obviously quite tender. We gave them close to an hour after we found the calf. He laid down pretty quickly, and I got him up, but he gave up before he found the milk bar. Finally right before 11 pm, I tied Siobhan to a fence post and Herb carried the calf to her and pointed him in the right direction. The little guy latched on and really went to town, for which we were very thankful. Siobhan was restless and tried to move forward and backward, but each time she pulled away, the calf went back for more. When it was clear he didn't want any more, we let Siobhan go and left her standing over him licking him and making mama moos. We heard coyotes earlier, so we left Misty the LGD in the pasture with them.
This is the fifth calf we've had, but it's our first bull and our first red calf. (The heifers were born in November, June, July and April.) We have lots of scope for names with him coming in the middle of "Downton Abbey" and on Memorial Day! This is definitely a memorable Memorial Day.
She had really bagged up the past few days and her teats were strutting, but no mucus at all. Her pins didn't seem to have gone, either. The only thing that made me wonder if she might calve today was that last year's heifer, Macree, suddenly started trying to mount Siobhan today, though she does do that when in heat. Also, Siobhan would graze for awhile, then go under the shade shack, then back out to graze, etc., though of course it was pretty hot in the high 80's, so she could have just been uncomfortable. However, I had a feeling, so kept a close eye on her. At 8:45 pm, before we started a second episode of "Downton Abbey," I was going to go check on her. DH offered to go in my place and came back and said she was grazing calmly. Right before 10:00 when he went to shut the LGD in the barnyard, I said I'd go out in my Kubota runabout and use the headlights to check on Siobhan. Lo and behold, there she was with a wet red bull calf!Macree was torn between licking the calf and trying to mount Siobhan, of course nearly stepping on the calf in the process, so Herb took her down to the lower pasture where she's bellowing for mama, and Royal is bellowing to her. I gave Siobhan a large bucket of warm molasses water which she guzzled down, and some alfalfa pellets which she gobbled up. The calf was still wet and had obviously not nursed. He tried, but Siobhan kept moving away, obviously quite tender. We gave them close to an hour after we found the calf. He laid down pretty quickly, and I got him up, but he gave up before he found the milk bar. Finally right before 11 pm, I tied Siobhan to a fence post and Herb carried the calf to her and pointed him in the right direction. The little guy latched on and really went to town, for which we were very thankful. Siobhan was restless and tried to move forward and backward, but each time she pulled away, the calf went back for more. When it was clear he didn't want any more, we let Siobhan go and left her standing over him licking him and making mama moos. We heard coyotes earlier, so we left Misty the LGD in the pasture with them.
This is the fifth calf we've had, but it's our first bull and our first red calf. (The heifers were born in November, June, July and April.) We have lots of scope for names with him coming in the middle of "Downton Abbey" and on Memorial Day! This is definitely a memorable Memorial Day.
We weighed Wellie this morning, 39 lbs. I milked Siobhan and got a quart and a half just from her right rear quarter which obviously hadn't been nursed. All told I got half a gallon plus a cup of colostrum which I froze. Wellie is quite vigorous and running, but much more laid back than cousin Tiggy! It's to be expected, as daddy FF Lil' Christmas Cash is a really laid back guy.
