We'll Call Her Betsy

On Monday morning the alarm went off at 6 am, and I headed out to the barn to feed chickens, open the nesting boxes, feed and milk goats, and feed the cows.  I got everything done and was in at 6:30.  Tricia and I normally start our day in the sun room with a cup of coffee while we read the Bible.  We're almost all the way through the Psalms and will start on Proverbs in the next day or so.

After reading, I headed out to check on water and glanced out in the middle of the pasture.  What was I looking at?  Immediately, I knew.  I ran inside to tell Tricia, and then I went out to the pasture to check on the new arrival!

Fresh from the Farm

LuLu was standing by her little one.  She must've calved overnight as she had already eaten the placenta and the calf was licked clean.  She stood lowing for her calf, being a protective momma as we admired her little one.

LuLu

One of the first things I do is lift a leg and check to see what type of 'equipment' the calf is blessed with.  Here we go.  There is no male apparatus and four teats are clearly visible.  It's a girl!  We narrowed down the names to Opal and Betsy and settled on Betsy.  Since she was born pretty close to the Fourth of July, we were thinking it would be a fitting tribute to name her after Betsy Ross.  Perhaps we can put a stars and stripes bandanna around her neck?

A little Jersey heifer

Betsy got up on wobbly legs and plopped right down in the grass again.  You can tell that the grass is mashed down right where they are standing, evidencing where she went into labor last night.

Before the day warmed up, I picked up Betsy and carried her to the shade on the southern side of the pasture by the barn.  LuLu followed very closely behind, requiring repeated assurances from me that her baby was fine and I'd be giving her back shortly.

There was  whole welcoming committee in the shade.  Tricia was there, the roosters and hens, Elsie and even an appearance by Nicky, Betsy's daddy.

After a little bit, LuLu sat down in the shade by her little one.  It was a long night for sure.

Little Betsy lay low in the grass, napping all day.  She's a cute little thing, there's no denying that.

It's important that we get some of LuLu's colostrum in Betsy quickly, so we're about to get her up and interested in nursing.  We'll show you some of that tomorrow.