A Sad Day for Luna

Saturday while we were putting the hay in the loft, I noticed something not quite right.  Luna, one of our Jersey milk cows, was not acting as she normally should.  She was hunched over and when I walked around her, there was a long thread of blood mucous.  Then it became obvious.  She's in labor!  But it can't be.  She's not due until January.  I called Tricia over to check things out.

At that moment, Tricia told me that she could see a nose and a tongue.  In a few minutes of pushing, the head was out.  But something was dreadfully wrong.  The feet weren't coming out and the baby calf did not appear to be breathing.

Warning: Unsavory photos follow

Tricia got on the phone with the veterinarian to see if she could find one on call.  Luna had just gone into labor and would push and periodically get up and walk around and then sit back down again.  She had plenty of strength.  We decided to let her continue to push versus pulling the calf or calling the veterinarian out on a farm call.

In just a moment, Luna delivered the calf - a little heifer.  Dead.  Two months premature.  We don't know what happened.  This is the second calf that Luna delivered dead.  We are going to run some tests to try to figure out the issue.

Calving is normally a very happy, exciting time and this time, it was a time of sadness.  We watched over the next few hours as Luna came and looked for her baby, walking back and forth, bellowing loud, melancholy moos, calling for her little girl.  We were so anticipating a heifer.  We've had nothing but bulls lately, but it was not meant to be.

Cows that deliver calves, regardless if they live or not, produce milk.  Here we go again.  Later that evening, we found ourselves in the barn, milking the colostrum out of Luna and feeding it to the hens.  Luna kicked at me briefly while I was milking her, so I hobbled her leg.  She'll settle down, poor girl.

Our other two cows, Rosie and Clarabelle, should also be bred.  Hopefully, we see a happier outcome.  Meanwhile, on the bright side, we'll have fresh milk again.