First Evening And Day Two - Welcome, Tabitha!

I double checked and made sure the calf was a heifer. Then I named her Tabitha, using the same name as the calf who died a couple months earlier. I got lots of time to observe Rosella and Tabitha interact. Like her own mother, Rosella leaves her baby sleeping in the tall grass and then, later, goes looking for her to provide another feeding. She has a "mommy voice," a soft, low pitched series of short sounds when she is calling to or talking to her calf. Once the calf is found, Rosella lets roar a couple of loud bellows. I'm not sure what the purpose of that is, but it doesn't seem to be defiant or a warning to stay away:

Early the next morning, while the rising sun was casting a rosy glow over everything, I found Rosella and Tabitha right near the barn:

Rosella didn't want much grain, but I got her to eat a little by carrying a bowl out to her because she wouldn't enter the barn. After she'd had her fill, she walked out into the field and I followed:

I'd feared that something was amiss with Rosella's udder, but I soon realized I'd been wrong. It was symmetrical and well attached. The teats, which started out small, began to get bigger each day:

And Tabitha continued to be playful and curious:

Rosella was being a wonderful mom, with behaviors much like her own mother:

Still in the rosy light of dawn, I continued to snap photos. Tabitha was getting annoyed with me:

And went over to join her mother:

Gracie gave the new calf a sniffing, deciding she was OK. I watched when Tabitha tried to nurse off Gracie. That was not allowed (she isn't lactating) and she gave the little one a carefully placed, ever-so-gentle kick to move her along:

Are you still taking pictures of me?

Everything seemed to be going perfectly and no, that's not a setup for a problem. Things still seem to be going perfectly:

Rosella has proved to be a great mother and beautiful cow. The first calf born on my farm, Rosella now has a baby of her own:

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: