Rosie's Due Date is Approaching

If our math is correct, Rosie will be calving somewhere around November 9th.  We'll have a lot of babies around the farm with Nellie (the goat) having Annie, Daisy (the matriarch Jersey) having Bully that still isn't weaned, and Maggie (Rosie's 2 year old daughter), having 4 week old Lili.  None of them are weaned and to be honest, it is like a day care center around here.  Many mornings we're awakened by mooing calves and bellowing mama's.

Last year around this time Rosie delivered a stillborn calf about 2 months premature.  It was a sad, but one of the things you deal with and move on.  We really don't know what went wrong.  So we've been watching her closely now that her time for delivery is coming up.  She's pretty fat right now and is in good condition. The last couple of days I've noticed that while Daisy and Maggie go out to the pasture to eat grass, Rose Ethel (Rosie's proper name) goes and sits down by the hay bale for a while to rest for a bit.  From prior experience with our cows, we know that toward the end of their pregnancy, they become lethargic and lazy. I guess the extra weight they're carrying is hard on them.

 Pregnant Rosie eating a little morning ration

Normally Rosie eats in the barn, but now that we're milking both Daisy and Maggie, Rosie eats outside.  We only have 2 milking stalls in the barn.  After Rosie calves, we'll just have to rotate them through when we begin milking all three of them.  It'll be a regular little dairy around here!

While Rosie was eating this morning, I walked around her back end to check to see if she was starting to 'bag up' yet.  Normally when the due date nears, their udder will 'bloom,' or swell and that lets you know that her body is preparing the colostrum and milk for the soon-to-come calf.  Another sign is that the vagina-area will sort of swell and become 'flabby.'  I didn't see the bloom yet, but I did notice her vagina area is swelling and I did notice a little clear mucous discharge, which is normal around this time.

The Rear View

In preparation for her calving, we've increased her calcium intake to ward against milk fever and ketosis - two complications that dairy cows sometimes get after delivery that can be quite serious.  For now, all we do is wait expectantly for the new arrival.

Lots of babies around here!  Stay tuned for baby pictures coming in 10 days or so...