The calving season has begun on the Bornemann farm!
We have a grand total of 1. (Outside of the 3 that came early from a bull that obviously wasn't where he was supposed to be last year.)
The guys had to get the little tyke in the barn with it's mother, as she was not doing a very good job of getting him licked off and it was pretty chilly with the wind blowing this morning. They also tube-fed it some colostrum to make sure he got a good start in life.....And so starts the busyness on the farm once again!!! Prayers for safety for farmers and cows/calves would be wonderful.
Oh...this should be exciting! Can't wait for the pictures!!! :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I am curious....What exactly is it about calving season that keeps ya'll so busy?
I'll try to remember to take my phone out with me to chores and snap a few of the little cutie in the morning. :)
ReplyDeleteCalving season gets very busy for many reasons actually! Somebody needs to go and drive through the cows ever 2-3 hours (day and night) to just check that all is well. If all is not well, then that person goes to get help getting the cow in the calving pen (which has a head-gate and a squeeze-gate). If she's having troubles giving birth, then we need to assist her by pulling the calf. If her baby is just too cold or weak to get going, then we get the mama and baby in a barn and sometimes the baby needs to come in the house to get warmed up and to get fed some colostrum so it gets going. Otherwise, it would definitely die. Also, my dad and Andre begin the grain-cleaning season here shortly, which means that they're gone all day long and tired at night. This leaves the remaining 3 of us to deal with problems and to pray that there aren't any problems! ;) We calve out approx. 180 cows now, so it's a big job. Also, the calves need to be caught and tagged, which can be dangerous if the mama is an excellent mother and wants to keep you away from her calf!! Hope that answered your question, Emmy. :)