78

78

That is how many photos of cows I found taken on a single day.  

Apparently, SOMEONE wants to show you our cows!

So here they are.

Acorn

The timing was impeccable.

We knew a calf would be happening over the weekend...but would it happen after Matt poured the concrete?  Would the concrete have time to set properly?  Would the vacuum pump be installed and the piping complete?  

And what about our farm boy Andrew- the boy who had been devouring every cow and calf book he could get his hands on for the last few months- copying the texts and illustrations for handwriting and copywork during school time and reciting telltale signs of first and second stage labor to any willing (or not) listening ear at every opportunity...(I heard more about a cow's swollen and purplish vulva than I care to even think about...particularly coming from my 9 year old son.)  Would Andrew be able to witness the ACTUAL birth or would Penny give birth at night...or while we were at church?  

Saturday was the due date but the barn project wasn't completely done so we were hoping Penny would wait until Sunday.  But Sunday- we are gone from about 9-1:30 for church and if she had her calf then, I knew Andrew would be devastated.  And then- there are only another good 3 1/2-4 hours before dark and things got even more tricky.  

When we left for church she was back at the edge of the woods- in the very spot where she had given birth the first time.  

Oh boy.

After church, as we drove up to the house, we all anxiously scoured the pasture for any signs of a calf.  Andrew ran to Penny the moment the van shut off and raced back, completely thrilled to give us the great news that her pin bones were loose and flabby and all the other telltale signs of labor.  We went inside, changed our clothes, ate some lunch and played a bit of checkers.  Andrew, all the while, came in every five minutes or so to give us detailed reports of her condition.  Then, at 2:45, he rushed in to tell us that there were feet!  And a snout with a tongue hanging out.  The boy was over the moon.

We all went outside to watch the 'action' take place but eventually Matt realized that Penny was having a bit of a time with it and not progressing as she ought.  (He had bred her-a Jersey- to a Holstein, making for a bigger, sturdier calf but perhaps a more difficult delivery.)  He eventually had to step in and help out. 

I wish I could look so serene when giving birth...

What a scrawny thing the calf was...and a girl! 

 I was surprised to see that while she was technically a 'Jerstein', she was pretty much all black!

All the animals came up to watch- it was quite an intriguing show!

I know animals are animals and all that...but there is no denying that a baby loves its' Mama and a Mama loves its' baby...  It was so precious to see them nuzzle each other and to see the dead-looking calf perk perk right up after its' Mama started licking it all over.

It was also super cute to see the calf eventually try (and fail) to get up.  And again.  And again.

It was pretty cold so Matt got the wheelbarrow to get the calf in the barn.  

You should have seen how fast that Mama was up after her baby!  She practically ran all the way to the barn!  I have to admit, I kinda feel the same way when the nurses snatch my newly born babies away for a wash up and measurements.  

The calf, dubbed 'Acorn' before she was born (and without knowing she'd come out black!), is doing well.  Sturdy.  Feisty.  And after a few scoury days, doing very well!

Those first two days were a terrible pain to get Acorn to eat- so when she finally started eating like she meant it- well, it was pretty exciting!  I love Corynn's face in this picture.  That is a girl overjoyed with a calf that actually WANTS to eat.

And this is the newest face on the farm.

We are, once again, in the milk making business! 

Eventful

  

   

 

 Saturday we hosted our annual "Christmas in July" picnic for the Newman side of the family.  40ish people, some all the way from Virginia, were anticipated.  We did get a surprise guest though- right smack dab in the middle of the party, Andrew (who has been on constant watch) came running from the woods saying "The calf is born! The calf is born!"

I thought he was joking because, well, he's done that a time or two.  ;-)

But sure enough- the whole party trekked through the woods to discover a little fawn-like calf curled up next to her robust Mama.

(Because, you know, hosting a bunch of people for an afternoon isn't eventful enough.)

All week Matt had been out of town and I was petrified that Penny would give birth during that time- and her being a first-time heifer, I was certain there would be "issues" (which I was certain I would be completely inadequate to resolve by myself!)  Needless to say, I was more than a bit relieved when Matt came home and no calf had been born.  And more than a bit relieved when, as the calf was born, all worked out without a hitch.  We weren't even there.

  After nine months of waiting- the last two being almost unbearable for the boys in this family- Penny had her calf.  (A good sized calf, too!)  Without any problems.  She cleaned out perfectly fine.   She is just an angel at milking time- she stands still as a statue and never kicks or dances around.

The calf was having a few issues with scours but she is on the upswing now.

We've gotten 16 pounds of milk at each milking (about two gallons)...making four gallons a day.  I really wish we had pigs right now to feed the milk to since a calf can only drink so much colostrum and I sure won't!

Oh- and by the way... her name is Ellie.

Penny's Big Day

 

This post may alarm you.  It may gross you out.  It will probably leave you feeling a bit squirmy.  It does me, anyway.  Feel free to skip it entirely, unless watching a cow get impregnated fascinates you.

 Because that is what Penny did over the weekend:  Get pregnant.  (At least SOMEONE around here is.)



Or, at least, that was the idea.  We'll see if it "took" in about 20 days.  If she hollers and bellows for some male to come and make babies with her, then we will know it didn't work.  If she stands quietly and contentedly, growing a baby bovine during her next 'heat cycle', well then CHA-CHING.  It took!

 

We chose to buy some bull spermies in a nice, tidy little straw instead of using an actual bull.  We did this because Matt loves me and knows that I am so NOT CAPABLE of having a bull around here.  No thank you.  If a bull comes to Hopestead- I will go.  That's final. The end.  Over and out.

 See?  Nice and tidy.

He sticks the intimidatingly long spermy-shooter in his shirt.  Spermies, they like it warm.

(Wow.  Never thought I would use the "s" word on my blog.  And here I am, shooting it off like bullets.)

 Meanwhile, on the other side of the barn...the innocent and unsuspecting Penny wonders why she was put in the barn on such a glorious day.  "Odd" she thinks to herself.

But she doesn't know the meaning of the word ODD just yet.

Whhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?????????????

Oh yes.  This is happening.

Matt has done this many times before- in fact, he's been known to quadruple pregnancy rates on the farms where he has worked.

He has skills.

I don't think Penny minded the actual procedure, but she may have minded all the spectators gawking at her while she was most vulnerable.

The whole thing took like five minutes.  Penny was fine and dandy afterwards.  I, on the other hand, waddled back to the house with knees glued together, wondering at the indecency I had just witnessed.

We put Penny out to pasture.  After all, she may be eating for two...

Later, I found that Penny's brave feat had made the papers! 

 (My apologies to the Marble family.  The journalists' priorities, is seems, were more than a bit skewwed.)  ;-)