A Very Painful Calf Birth – Part 1

Sunday evening when we came home from chores we checked the heifers before we headed into the house. You might remember that heifers are two year old females pregnant with their first calves. We keep the heifers near our house so we can check on them often. Heifers are more likely to have problems calving than our older cows.

As we drove up the drive to the barn and lot where the heifers are, we immediately noticed one of them was standing off by herself holding her tail aloft. She also had an amniotic sac protruding from her backside.

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She was in labor.

So Harland got out of the truck, went into the lot and drove her into the barn. Of course, six other heifers went into the barn too and had to be chased back out. Heifers never go anywhere by themselves.

Then we left her alone to take care of business. Heifers are nervous critters and won’t have a calf if they know they’re being watched.

An hour later, I went up to the barn to check on her. She hadn’t progressed at all. Another 45 minutes went by and then Harland drove up into the barn and sat in the truck watching her. I followed along a few minutes later and stood outside the barn peeking around the barn door. It’s really silly that we have to spy on our own cattle, but hey, whatever works for them is best.   She was laying down pushing and making some noises like she was in pain. Usually they are as quiet so they don’t attract predator attention. Then she let out with a LOUD bellow and all went quiet.

Harland jumped out of the truck ran over to the calf.

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Come back tomorrow to see what happened next……

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xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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10 Responses

  1. Kathy S. says:

    How can you leave us in suspense? I’ll be here tomorrow for part 2.

  2. Teresa says:

    That is one huge calf. It doesn’t look good, but I hope things turned out okay for mom. I agree it’s mean making us wait to find out what happened.

    • Suzanne says:

      Hey, everyone had to wait over summer vacation to find out what happened to JR, right? And everyone had to wait a full year to find out what happened next on Downton Abbey, right? You guys can wait one day…. geez. 🙂

  3. Alica says:

    It’s anybody’s guess what this heifer will do! She might suddenly jump up and take over…she might play “drama queen” for a while yet…or might she have a twin in there? I’ll be watching for sure tomorrow! Glad to see the calf looks to be fine!

  4. Rebecca B says:

    Yikes. Hope all is ok with momma AND baby!

  5. Glenda says:

    I like the twin theory but we’ll see.
    I have to think there is a happy ending!

  6. Alice says:

    Twins!

  7. Carol says:

    Goodness gracious, Suzanne! If I don’t wake up tomorrow, I will never know how the story ended. Can’t the poor girls have something for pain?

    • Suzanne says:

      Well…it would have to be a shot…and we’d have to catch the cow first…and the stress of being chased and caught and given a shot might ultimately hurt the unborn calf. Our cows are Angus (major attitude) and nearly wild.

  8. Jeanne says:

    Ohhh, I hate to know that they are in such pain! I hate it when our woofies are hurting too. And then you make us wait?! Ohhhh!! How can we bear it!!! Just have to give you a bad time! I do hate it when animals are in pain, though. They look at us with such sad eyes…

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