This morning, around 2am, Galloping Gertie the Cow, known as Gigi to her friends, gave birth to a healthy, approximately 50 lb girl. We missed the labor and birth - as you might expect, we were sleeping at that hour - but Gigi woke us around 3am to let us know about it. We went out to her paddock and found the baby calf, and found that the baby had staggered to the other side of the electric fence from Gigi, who was distraught because she couldn't get to her. Orrin brought the calf back to her, but she continued to wander out of Gigi's reach for the rest of the night. The resulting mooing kept me from getting much more sleep, and kept Orrin from getting anymore sleep, as he went out to check on them from time to time. The calf figured out how to nurse around 8 or 8:30 this morning, which is fabulous. It is pretty amazing to witness this little creature, walking, jumping and playing within 12 hours of life!
We were very glad that Gigi was able to give birth without needing any assistance (this was her third baby, by the way, so really she's an old pro). We're also pretty thrilled that she had a little girl, because 1) that mean's we now have a herd of 2 whole cows, and 2) we don't have to figure out how to castrate just yet. However, it does also mean that we will probably have to buy another male for beef at some point in the fall, as Gigi's calf that came with her (named “Beef” to be clear about what's what) won't be big enough to slaughter until the fall of 2012.
Seeing a brand new calf, an hour or so into it's life, not to mention continuing to be around it during the day, is yet another first in the long list of “first's” for me, and for the farm.
 |
| The adorable little girl, 7 hours or so into life. |
 |
| Mom and baby |
 |
| Oliver provides a little perspective, although they are about 30' away. |
No comments:
Post a Comment