Baby calf being born....

Sorry about getting side tracked for a couple of days, I had to go to my uncles and get Mikeys post ready. He was shoeing his team for the winter/logging and I got to help/take pictures/stand around/have Auntie Anne watch the kids/spend time with my favorite uncle all in one day AND at the same time! So here a pictures of the calf that was born last week...

This is Martha.. She's a gal that let the bull get to close - again - it was a cool spring evening and the moon was out. She'd a little to much mollases mixed in her ground feeed and thats all it took for her to let it all go - including her decency. NOW, she is paying the piper like we all have I guess. This is the first peek at the calf. That is the water sack and his left front foot.
I know the barn looks dirty, but its not as it seems. In the winter the 'white wash' falls from the walls because the frost pushs itself into the blocks. SO thats why it doesnt look white. She is a bit dirty because this happened during that cold spell we had, so she had not been outside for 3 full days. It is SO SO SO hard to keep them nice and clean when we have to keep them inside. Now, she is curied off and looks bedazzling once again!

This is Big Son breaking the water sack - we do this to help her along. It will usually speed things up for her so that she doesnt lay so long in mortal agony.... been there myself....

Sorry, this one is out of order.. stupid blogger...

We must clear the sack away from the babys nose so that his lungs will start to function before his umbilical is completly severed at birth.
Big Son is SO compasionate. He really wants to make her feel better soon - I love this kid. But as I write this he is murdering some one on the Nintendo James Bond game.... boys...
This is what I ment by the barn looking 'dirty' - see in the back ground how the walls look brown and gray - but also shiney. They are damp and that causes the white wash to flake off in HUGE chunks - like paint peeling off the wall's. Next to Martha is Beuford (on the right) - she's a flake and that is a milker haning between them. As you can see, the baby is coming along well. These are the last pictures I got before he was born. I went into the feed room and Palmer put the

PULLING CHAINS!!!!!! on her

So for those of you in the contest that said that - you were RIGHT. I will be drawing the winner today/tonight/ this year.... dont be discouraged, it will be soon!

I went into the feed room to talk to Milk Man and Palmer yelled to me to come take a picture before it was born. Needless to say she gave one last push before I got there and there he was...dangit.

The board you see hanging from the ceiling is so that we dont milk her while she is 'dry'. Remember a dry cow is a bred cow that is less then 8 weeks away from delivering her calf, so we dont milk her. We 'dry her up' in preperation for her next calf.

And here is - ANOTHER CONTEST - but I dont know what to have for a prize you guys. I dont have another gift card so leave a gift idea with your name suggestion - sound stupid????? Anyway - this little bugger needs a name. He is probably going to be one of our future breeding bulls for the herd. He is HUGE and his face is all white - the rims of both eyes are pink. He's kind of goofy looking!
He is less than a minute old in this picture - its kind of gross but the birthing fluid gets ALL OVER the place! So there you have it my friends. The sorted story of a baby calf. After the baby is born we put him/her in front of the mamma and they usually clean them off. We then get the milk from her for the next few days and bottle feed them untill they can drink out of a pail. Bottle calves are fun, but can be VERY frustraiting at times. The reason is that they dont always suck well, or have much of an apetite but if you take good care of the mother, she is healthy and have no other issues, most calves are healthy and do GREAT!!! If a calf doesnt suck well, they can get dehydrated in a matter of hours and once that happens its all down hill. You then have to 'bag' them - stick a tube down their throat and pour warm milk into a bag at the end of the hose. Most of the time this works, but when it doesnt they die. We also have put dairy calves 'on' our beef cows. That means we pair a beef cow mamma whose calf may have died or that she has enough milk for 2 ,with a baby that needs the milk and wont take a bottle. The couple of beef cows we do this with are GREAT mothers and its a titty free for all with them. Any calf can nurse on them and they dont care..... SO there is your farm lesson for the day . Tonight I will put up the winner of the gift card and look at the entrys for this contest. I cant wait to see what you guys come up with!! Tommorow is Mikey's post - or yet tonight if I am awake enough to type it.... See ya then!