As the days lengthen, snowdrops have already bloomed; the daffodils are starting to form in the garden. Our weather girl on the Midlands News said that spring is on its way. That may be so, but it’s only the first week of February. Our ‘spring barometer’ is the curlew. We are fortunate that they come to nest in the fields behind our house and it will be a little while before we hear the warbling of that welcome guest.
We have had the first calf of the 2008 season just two days ago. I have been watching as the young mother to-be gets closer to giving birth. We had a new bull last year so it’s unknown territory as to whether the calf will be too big for the heifer. Two days ago I could see she was getting close, checking her four times during the day. I decide to go to Pontesbury to see the cows, the heifer close to calving is lying down cudding nonchalantly in deep straw. So on returning I thought it best to check her again. Lo and behold, I see a head on the straw and with a final push the calf is expelled. My first thought is to see if the calf is O K. A little trick is to get a piece of straw a put it up the calf’s nose which causes the calf to draw breath. However on this occasion all is well so I go and thaw some colostrum to make sure that the calf has enough antibodies in its system.
Sometimes assistance is required, so we have a calving aid, which is a vital tool to get calves alive. I have a cousin who witnessed his first calving and on seeing his father pull a live calf from a cow, the five year old said “how the heck did that get in there”. In the interests of balance, when ever I have told this tale my mother has reminded me of a similar experience. She would say “what about you, all you could say, I bet he thought it was dark in there”.
However here is the new arrival Alice 7th. She is only 36 hours old but was unwilling to stand still for the photographer.