Luna The Runt

Luna is our youngest Jersey heifer.  Something went wrong in the genetics I guess and Luna just never grew.  She is a runt.  She doesn't know she is a runt, though, and is very bossy, just like her mother.  Well, the runt is an expectant mother now.  The best we can figure, her due date is somewhere around the first of April.

We noticed the other day that her udder is beginning to swell up and that is one of the first signs that the big day for little Luna is approaching.

A few days later we noticed that her udder, while small in comparison to our other Jerseys, is swollen.  Not only is her udder swollen, but so is her vulva.  When they near their time to calve, the vulva becomes "flabby."

Here you can see Luna in the foreground and her mother, Daisy, in the background.  Daisy is much larger than her, but other than that, they are clones.  Luna is Daisy's 'mini-me!'

Even though Luna is a runt, I've been told that this doesn't necessarily mean that her calf will be a runt.  We'll have to wait and see.  Lots of babies around here this spring!