The Maternity Ward

This is one of the heifers who is going to have her first calf this year.  We keep them in the lots close to the barn so they can be whisked away to a cozy pen with straw inside when they get far enough along to "have the toes out".  The morning I took these pictures, I was on call; the men were feeding and looking for chilled down calves out in the pasture with the older cows, so I had to lurk near the barn and watch one of the heifers who "had the toes out".  Sometimes the new mamas flop the babies out and don't know what to do...she won't get the amniotic bag off the calf's head, or the calf will land with its head under its body and the cow won't get it pushed around.  OR...and this is my worst fear...she won't make any progress in calving and we have to put chains on the calf's feet and "pull" him to get him out.  That's hard on everyone.

This is a calf that's a day or two old with HIS heifer mama.  This is such a cozy, maternal scene, but it was horribly cold for brand new calves that morning. It's not just the wet snow, but the bitter winds we get here that are dangerous. Last night, one of the old cows had her baby on a creek bank and it froze to death...no matter how good a mama she was, it was just too cold for a wet, brand-new calf. 

I can see the shiny eye on this baby, but perhaps you can't.  He wasn't as miserable as he looks here...his mama had fed him and went to water in the pen, so his little tummy was full of warm milk and there was protection from the wind in that upper lot.  Still...just a couple days old.

This is a direct picture of the sun that morning.  The snow blowing pretty much obscured the light, so it was grey-on-grey.  We're so weary of grey...

The rest of the girls with their heads in the hay feeders; they're quite focused on breakfast...can't be bothered with paparazzi...

The road, with snow blowing across...

sometimes this is the most lonesome place on earth!

I hope to have brighter, blue-sky sorts of calf pictures soon.