Some of you have been reading the Chronicles long enough that you remember Daisy, my first bum calf here at the ranch. For those new readers, here's a condensed version of the story...
Daisy was out of a two year old heifer that died from infection, we think. She (Daisy) was a strong, big heifer calf that the guys could get grafted on to a cow, so she became my bum calf. Most bums are puny, big bellied and, quite frankly, turn out sort of ugly and worthless. Daisy was atypical, and turned into a really nice little heifer...not by anything I did, that's for sure.
My father-in-law and I disagreed about keeping her. She was out of a two-year old, and we generally don't keep those calves, because they're not as vigorous or big. Her dam died after a pulling, two definite signs of weak traits in a cow. She was a bum, for heaven's sake, and bums never turn out to anything.
She kept making the cut....first, to be kept as a yearling, then to be bred, preg-tested and she came out bred...barely (not bred by many days, so she was expected to calve late), and made the winter without losing the calf. She was only distinguishable, size and profile wise, by her OC tag....held her own against cow-raised calves.
My brand is on the right side of the cow and the Langs Fork brand is on the left side. All our equipment is set up for branding on the left. And, as my father-in-law pointed out, at each sorting and saving, she might go down the road, so we really didn't need to brand her.
NOW we can brand her! She's not going anywhere, except out to the pasture with her calf.
I was the night calver last night, and at the midnight check, I saw that she had the bubble out (amniotic sac), so knew I needed to keep an eye on her. It's not good to hover, so I went back to the shop for an hour and trotted back out, holding my breath.
A perfect, strong heifer calf, already cleaned off!
She had her by herself, no pulling.
She cleaned her off and bedded her down in a pile of straw.
When I checked again at 3 a.m., the calf was up and sucking for all she was worth....
I can't express to you how excited I am!
And didn't realize I'd been holding my breath for two years over this little cow...
I've been smiling since 1 a.m....really.
Now, I want you to meet Rose (Rosie)! Maggie named her the minute we had the ultrasound results.
Isn't she perfect? Go ahead...you can clap and smile...
And here's Miss Daisy, good little mama cow....she didn't mind me coming in and taking pictures, but she wasn't really encouraging me to come any closer. She sure cleaned that baby off nicely....coat all fluffed and dry. I'm so proud of her.
Already exploring the world! I think she'll do...
So there you go....a Farmer's Wife birth announcement!
STILL smiling....
