Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Day One - Welcome, Tabitha!

Rosella was three days past her due date but not yet showing much udder development. I wasn't expecting anything to happen for another few days at least. But one night I saw her off by herself at the far end of the field, pacing uneasily. The other cows saw it also, and went running over to join her:

But it was almost dark and there was nothing I could do, so I had no choice but to go to bed. At first light the next morning, I went looking. But the cows were in the far, far field (that house in the background is set into my property a long way from my own house. So I got into my little red car and drove through the gate, all the way across the south field, past the neighbors' house and into the most distant field. There I found Rosella with a not-so-little calf:

The sun was just coming up, causing the colors in the photos to look a little funny, but I was pleased with what I saw:

It looked to be a heifer calf and if so, would be the sixth of seven calves sired by a bull named Mardan's Ray's Promise. He's well known for producing calves which are born small but then grow rapidly. I say he should also be known for producing heifer calves:

The little calf was only a few hours old and should have been a bit wobbly. Instead, she was running circles around her mother. In fact, Rosella seemed a bit exasperated, trying to keep up with her:

Remy came over to investigate but Rosella inserted her hefty self between him and her precious baby:

And then she took off, calf following, to join the other cows:

Blue and Remy made a few more attempts to get near and investigate, but Rosella made it clear to them that they must not get any closer:

After the two had joined the other cows, I continued to take pictures:

And then I saw the little one begin to nurse. That's when I began to relax and think that everything would be OK:

Later in the day, Rosella brought her little girl over near the barn and I learned that she was not afraid of me. In fact, she found me fascinating:

Rosella, however, was concerned and inserted herself into the situation to be sure nothing was amiss:

4 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your new calf! How exciting! RB Eugene OR

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  2. How perfectly wonderful and lovely your little Tabitha!
    Always love how you describe events unfolding, Bill.

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