Today we had a jersey cow calve today rather unexpectedly, even though it’s her due date. There are certain tell-tale signs a cow goes through that shows us that she’s getting closer and closer to giving birth. Sort of like women, though a cow doesn’ t wear clothes so it’s a lot more obvious.
This cow didn’t show too many signs and we checked and thought maybe we had the wrong breeding date on her which would mean the wrong calving date. Apparently we were right all along, and a bouncing baby bull was born in the dry cow pen. No big deal, especially as it’s such a warm day – mama even had a little help cleaning him off!
I took my son TK up to check out the new calf and make sure everything was okay. TK is only five months old so he wasn’t really “into it” yet, but we went anyway. I saw that the calf was fine but would have rathered if he was in a different spot than where he was. Being a thoughtful cattle caregiver and of course the mom that I am now, it was all I could do to not jump in the pen to fix the situation to my liking. However, this requires squeezing through a tight space or climbing over the top and alas, TK was in my arms.
So the next best thing – I went to track down my dairy farmer. Found him, explained what was happening and how I really wanted to get in there but couldn’t and ended with a wisecrack, “this kid really slows me down.” And to that, my dear husband replied, “sometimes that’s a good thing” as he drove off in his tractor.
Hmpf. He’s right. Sometimes in the past I’d go and go and go, usually until I crashed sometime. As work gets busier this time of year and I get back into the “swing” of things, I’m going to try and remember that. Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to get involved again in volunteer activities like 4-H and farm bureau but I don’t want to let myself get consumed by it all. And I think with my dairy farmer and TK, I’ll have a little help in remembering.
As for TK, here’s a picture from his official 5-month birthday. People say this all the time, but it’s amazing how a baby changes everything.
Farm Life Love 