Those are the three words you want to hear when your Dairy cow delivers her baby. We've been waiting on Rosie to calve and knew that her delivery date was quickly approaching. We missed seeing the delivery Saturday, June 20th right after lunch, but Russ was out there right after she calved. This is Rosie's fourth calf. She's given us three heifers - Maggie, Amy, and this one. And then one bull calf that was stillborn between Maggie and Amy.
We've decided to name her Clarabelle. It sounds feminine and seems like a good name for a little heifer. It didn't take long after Clarabelle was on the ground before Rosie's motherly instincts took over.
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| Clarabelle's first bath |
The hens gathered around to welcome the new addition to the barnyard. Their curiosity was met with impatience by momma Rosie.
Pretty soon Amy showed up and was introduced to her new little sister. Lots of sniffing going on as they get to know one another.
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| "I'm Amy, your big sis" |
Daisy, our other Jersey cow, showed up to greet the newborn and even Annie, the goat, came to give her good wishes, which is astonishing since the cows are so mean to Annie. Annie thinks that GOAT stands for Greatest Of All Time. The cows don't concur.
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| "I'm Annie, the goat" |
The chickens are relentless and they'll gather around and start pecking at the newborn calf's hooves. The hooves of a newborn calf are soft and apparently the chickens think it is a good snack. We try to get them away quickly, so as not to hurt her. They pecked at her front hooves pretty good.
Russ built a temporary enclosure with some hog panels to segregate the meddling chickens from Clarabelle and Rosie and then brought some hay for her to lay in. Russ did a good job of fixing up the 'nursery.'
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| The nursery |
Rosie wasn't finished yet, though. Uterine contractions continue and the placenta is finally expelled. It's not a pretty sight, but is just a natural part of the birthing process.
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| Delivering the placenta |
In a very unappetizing event that is instinctual in cows, they will eat the placenta. It is widely thought that the cows do this to hide the evidence of calf-birth from predators. Some think that it provides the cow nutrients, and others think that it is a good source of hormone uptake.
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| Eating the Afterbirth |
After numerous tries on long, wobbly legs, shaky Clarabelle is up on her back legs...
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| C'mon, you can do it. |
And then she's finally is up on all four legs and then begins trying to find where the milk comes from. You're on the wrong end, Clarabelle! The milk spigot is on the other end.
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| "Wrong end, little girl!" |
Exhausted after a long, sweltering hot day, momma and baby sit down in the shade, accompanied by the ever-present hens to rest and collect their thoughts - whatever it is that bovines think about (or ruminate on).
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| "Let's rest. It's been a long day." |
She's a cute little heifer, that's for sure. Next up is Daisy, who is due in October, followed by Amy, who will be having her first calf in December. Lots of babies this year.
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| Clarabelle Sonnier |
An update on Clarabelle:
"Why does it have to be so difficult?!" That was the rhetorical question I called out to Tricia Saturday evening and several times on Sunday. Clarabelle has been very difficult for us. In the past, we've had calves that have taken a long time to stand up, and we've had calves that have taken a long time to suckle. The trouble is, in order for antibodies to be passed from the mother to the baby, it is very important that the calf drinks the colostrum within 6 hours of delivery or for sure within 24 hours. That colostrum provides antibodies that the calf needs to ward off infection and disease. Each hour after birth, the calf's stomach changes and is less able to absorb the antibodies.
Many times we're quick to jump in there and take charge and forget that the Good Lord designed His creatures to give birth and raise their young without any human intervention. I've even been impatient and pulled out a calf before that really didn't need pulling. So now our first strategy is to just sit back and observe and get involved only if presented with a real problem.
Clarabelle was that problem child. It took her about six hours to stand up and never would "latch on" to Rosie in order to get colostrum. It was hot, she was a little weak and shaky, and after trying repeatedly, with no success, to make her suckle, we got out a bottle, milked Rosie's colostrum into the bottle and bottle fed Clarabelle. We don't want her getting dehydrated. We were both soaking wet with sweat and exhausted when done.
She drank it and then we pulled the old 'bait and switch' to put her on Rosie's teat, but she just doesn't have a strong sucking reflex. Sunday we bottle fed her three more times and actually was able to have some success getting her latched on Rosie's teat to suckle for a brief minute. This morning she drank a half gallon and at noon Tricia gave her another half gallon. She's making a little progress each time we work with her, and tonight we'll work with her some more, hoping to get her off the bottle and on her Momma - that's kind of the point of the whole thing! You shouldn't have to bottle feed a calf when you've got a Momma cow full of milk.
Clarabelle is teaching us a thing or two about patience and hard work. We'll keep at it and keep you posted.
"Why does it have to be so difficult?!" That was the rhetorical question I called out to Tricia Saturday evening and several times on Sunday. Clarabelle has been very difficult for us. In the past, we've had calves that have taken a long time to stand up, and we've had calves that have taken a long time to suckle. The trouble is, in order for antibodies to be passed from the mother to the baby, it is very important that the calf drinks the colostrum within 6 hours of delivery or for sure within 24 hours. That colostrum provides antibodies that the calf needs to ward off infection and disease. Each hour after birth, the calf's stomach changes and is less able to absorb the antibodies.
Many times we're quick to jump in there and take charge and forget that the Good Lord designed His creatures to give birth and raise their young without any human intervention. I've even been impatient and pulled out a calf before that really didn't need pulling. So now our first strategy is to just sit back and observe and get involved only if presented with a real problem.
Clarabelle was that problem child. It took her about six hours to stand up and never would "latch on" to Rosie in order to get colostrum. It was hot, she was a little weak and shaky, and after trying repeatedly, with no success, to make her suckle, we got out a bottle, milked Rosie's colostrum into the bottle and bottle fed Clarabelle. We don't want her getting dehydrated. We were both soaking wet with sweat and exhausted when done.
She drank it and then we pulled the old 'bait and switch' to put her on Rosie's teat, but she just doesn't have a strong sucking reflex. Sunday we bottle fed her three more times and actually was able to have some success getting her latched on Rosie's teat to suckle for a brief minute. This morning she drank a half gallon and at noon Tricia gave her another half gallon. She's making a little progress each time we work with her, and tonight we'll work with her some more, hoping to get her off the bottle and on her Momma - that's kind of the point of the whole thing! You shouldn't have to bottle feed a calf when you've got a Momma cow full of milk.
Clarabelle is teaching us a thing or two about patience and hard work. We'll keep at it and keep you posted.
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