Nov. 10, 2004 ~ A baby calf
This entry contains subject matter which may bother those with sensitive stomachs. You have been warned!
Yesterday Lucy Mae gave birth to her first calf. She happened to do this in the hay meadow, where she and the rest of the herd where grazing. Said birth occured late in the day, and when it came time for the herd to go into a different pasture (because the hay meadow has no pond), the new baby bull was not yet able to walk. Husband has been sick these past couple of days, and stayed home from work. He was not well enough to pick up the calf and carry it, so we decided that the obvious answer was to put the calf in the cart which is attached to the riding lawnmower. Now, this baby was very fresh from the factory, so to speak, and the placenta was there on the ground beside the calf. Mama cows eat the placenta. I know, it IS pretty gross, but it's instinctive, and it's actually smart. By eating the placenta, they're getting rid of it, so perhaps predators will not be attracted by the smell of blood. Also, it must provide some nourishment or replenishment of fluids for the mothers who have just labored so hard and long. It is usually many hours before the cows will walk to the pond for water, because they will not leave their calves... they wait until the babies are able to walk. So they must get very thirsty.
The new baby was there, and mama cow had licked him dry, another smart thing. Licking stimulates the circulation and begins the bonding process between mother and calf. Lucy had apparently just started eating the placenta when we arrived with the mower and cart. She was understandably upset and didn't want us messing with her calf. We apologized, and Husband picked up the calf anyway and placed him gently in the cart. He struggled a bit at first, wanting to get up, but he hadn't quite mastered "up" yet. Lucy snorted and mooed and insisted we stop what we were doing, and then she went back to eating the placenta, as Husband slowly drove away. At first I walked beside them with my hand on the baby's head, but Husband was going a little faster than I could walk, and the calf seemed calm enough. My job then was to shoo Lucy along, to get her to come with us to the other pasture. Except... Except that she did not want to leave the placenta. She kept running back to it and I kept chasing after her, waving my arms and hat at her and I probably told her that she was a REALLY silly cow, among other things. But no matter what, she kept running back to the afterbirth. Her four young legs could outrun my two not-so-young legs, no contest at all. Finally I just walked in Husband's direction, and when I caught up with them, told him that if we wanted the cow to come with us we were going to have to go back and get the afterbirth.
Husband drove to where the herd was now eating hay, and picked up the baby, then placed him on the ground near the hay. We then went back for the afterbirth (yuck) and the cow. Along the way we stopped to pick up a bucket, a shovel and a pitchfork. We put the placenta in the bucket and sure enough, Lucy came trotting after us, mooing like crazy. I think she was just a little mixed up, poor thing. Giving birth is very stressful!
I drove to where the calf was, then unceremoniously dumped the contents of the bucket beside the baby, and Lucy ran right up to him, mooing up a storm, and began licking him. Completely ignoring the placenta, which was still there this morning, untouched. Ick. Those things start to smell awful in no time at all. I hope the buzzards take care of it.
I wish you could have seen that calf in that cart, riding merrily along, looking out at the scenery! This morning we went out to check on him, and he probably wondered where his ride was. Can you imagine? First day on the planet and someone plops you in a lawnmower cart, then hauls you around the farm. He'll probably expect it now!
Mother and baby seem to be doing fine. He is exceptionally cute, and very soft, and yes, you're right, I do think that about every single one of them.
All rights reserved
_______________________________