Saturday 3 August 2013

It's that time of year ...

... the time when all tracks lead to the "calving mob", the cows that have been identified as close to calving, drafted out of the herd and kept in an easily accessible paddock.  Here the wheel tracks tell the story of frequent visits by Heather, and the presence of the vet's vehicle completes the story.


At first glance the jersey doesn't look to be in much trouble.


There's more than a little interest in her back end.


Ahh, yes, even I can see that she's not very comfortable.


Heather doesn't look very impressed right now.  But the vet seems happy and confident.  Nice to watch someone happy in his work.
 

 The jersey was the perfect patient.  She kept trying to give birth, kept pushing.  And finally was delivered, with a lot of assistance from the vet and Heather, of a huge calf.


Don't look at the next shot if you are squeamish.  I've seen a fair few close to death calves in my day and this one was about as close as you can get.  But somehow, slowly it came to life and recovered from the indignity of it's entry into this world and by the time we left the paddock it was up and wobbling around looking for it's first feed. 

11 comments:

  1. A happy story to start August. There are few things more depressing than still births.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Pauline,

    Oh my goodness, glad the calf arrived safely. Is that Georgia in the photo as well?

    Happy days.
    Bev.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That is awfully big to give birth to. Now i know where the saying, "Poor Cow!" comes from. Glad it all turned out well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Life on a farm certainly isn't for the squeamish! I'm glad the calf made it and hope that the cow is no worse for the difficult birth.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a wonderful occasion. I love the farm. Spent a lot of my time as a young girl at my grandparents. So glad the mother and baby are doing well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brings back lots of memories and similar events for me too.
    May the little one continue to thrive and 'Mum' too!
    Have a lovely weekend over there Pauline.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've been through this at my neighbor's farm. It was a tough delivery too, but all ended well.
    Wonderful photos and good for "Mum" and the new baby.

    ReplyDelete
  8. so hard to be a mother, cows or humans.

    I haven't been commenting, first my sis in law, then my aunty died.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm glad the story had a happy ending!! It's amazing what some babies survive!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Never having lived on a farm myself, this makes me think of the James Herriot TV series - All Creatures Great and Small (about a vet in the Yorkshire dales) (late 1970s and 1980s) ...

    ReplyDelete

I love to know who's visiting. Leave me a sign!