Well, it's almost 1:30 AM, but it is technically the day after my husband left for basic training now. You know what didn't happen the day after he left for basic training? The cow giving birth, that's what. That's right, the calf arrived just about 11:30 PM, January 14th of 2020. He's a stocky little bull calf, half angus half whatever you want to call Apple (half Jersey? 3/4? she's got a little white on her here and there so there must be some Holstein somewhere in her lineage.)
It's been a long road, one I won't describe in detail in this post (as I mentioned, it's 1:30 AM and I'm only writing to work off the adrenaline and hot chocolate of the evening), but I am relieved to finally have a cow with a calf at her side. This means that, once the colostrum stops and the milk starts, I'll be milking the cow daily (letting the calf feed half the day) and return to my cheesemaking and butter churning habits of yore. We bred her back in April, after a long struggle to find an AI tech or a bull or anything with some bovine genetic material to share; we finally tracked down an AI tech willing to drive out to our place and get the job done. Fortunately she took the first time, and I've been counting the days ever since. We chose to breed her to an angus bull, because they tend to make little tiny calves that emerge relatively safely from the womb; this characteristic is known in the cattle world as "calving ease."
Well, the calving was easy, all things considered, but the ease came to an end as soon as the calf was born. You may not know this, but cattle aren't particularly bright. It's very possible that the only thing dumber than a cow is a newborn calf. To further complicate matters, Apple, bless her heart, is not only an inexperienced mother, but also a pariah with zero social skills. She was fine with licking the calf, that fit right into her worldview, but when the calf at length stood up for the first time (go baby!) she started yelling at it and trying to stab it with her horns. She made several attempts to dominate the calf, including (I kid you not) an attempt to mount it (quite unsuccessful given the fact that the calf is small enough to walk under her belly). In these instances I changed from my soothing midwife tone to my angry baby-advocate tone and was able to get her to back off temporarily. I was severely tempted to take the calf away then, but whenever she knocked it down she recommenced licking it and I knew she wanted to bond; she just had no idea how to do it. Adrenaline flowed as I watched every attempt on the calf's life, and I prayed lots of prayers for the cow to be flooded with kind thoughts and oxytocin. Ultimately I haltered her, put her on a tight tether, and began trying to guide the calf in how to nurse.
Of course, my worst case scenario became reality: she kicked at the calf whenever it randomly wandered toward her udder (which was infrequent, as he far more commonly wandered toward the wall or her brisket or a garbage can.) More adrenaline, more prayers... Finally, by holding her halter in one hand and half carrying the calf with the other (see also "times when I wish I had a spouse living with me right now"), I brought the calf near enough her udder to be kicked, then began stroking her flank in the manner she prefers and which I've always used as a precursor to an udder massage. She started to relax despite the calf randomly nosing everything in the area, so I took a teat and squeezed out some colostrum toward his nose. With lots of my squeezing of milk, my other hand firm on her halter and some physical guidance, the calf finally drank a fair amount of colostrum. then he forgot and wandered away.
I took her off the tether and let her follow him around licking. She didn't try to stab him anymore, but she did continue to kick (half heartedly now) when he tried to nurse. Ultimately he got her cornered and after an initial kick, I started massaging her side and she relaxed and let him nurse again. Some more licking, and on his third attempt she let him nurse without any protest. She also eagerly ate his first poop.
I left the barn after the calf laid down; she had stopped trying to lick his head off and was happily eating hay. Will this peaceful state continue? Will she renew her attempts to kill him? Will she let me milk her properly when the time comes? More as it develops...
It's been a long road, one I won't describe in detail in this post (as I mentioned, it's 1:30 AM and I'm only writing to work off the adrenaline and hot chocolate of the evening), but I am relieved to finally have a cow with a calf at her side. This means that, once the colostrum stops and the milk starts, I'll be milking the cow daily (letting the calf feed half the day) and return to my cheesemaking and butter churning habits of yore. We bred her back in April, after a long struggle to find an AI tech or a bull or anything with some bovine genetic material to share; we finally tracked down an AI tech willing to drive out to our place and get the job done. Fortunately she took the first time, and I've been counting the days ever since. We chose to breed her to an angus bull, because they tend to make little tiny calves that emerge relatively safely from the womb; this characteristic is known in the cattle world as "calving ease."
Well, the calving was easy, all things considered, but the ease came to an end as soon as the calf was born. You may not know this, but cattle aren't particularly bright. It's very possible that the only thing dumber than a cow is a newborn calf. To further complicate matters, Apple, bless her heart, is not only an inexperienced mother, but also a pariah with zero social skills. She was fine with licking the calf, that fit right into her worldview, but when the calf at length stood up for the first time (go baby!) she started yelling at it and trying to stab it with her horns. She made several attempts to dominate the calf, including (I kid you not) an attempt to mount it (quite unsuccessful given the fact that the calf is small enough to walk under her belly). In these instances I changed from my soothing midwife tone to my angry baby-advocate tone and was able to get her to back off temporarily. I was severely tempted to take the calf away then, but whenever she knocked it down she recommenced licking it and I knew she wanted to bond; she just had no idea how to do it. Adrenaline flowed as I watched every attempt on the calf's life, and I prayed lots of prayers for the cow to be flooded with kind thoughts and oxytocin. Ultimately I haltered her, put her on a tight tether, and began trying to guide the calf in how to nurse.
Of course, my worst case scenario became reality: she kicked at the calf whenever it randomly wandered toward her udder (which was infrequent, as he far more commonly wandered toward the wall or her brisket or a garbage can.) More adrenaline, more prayers... Finally, by holding her halter in one hand and half carrying the calf with the other (see also "times when I wish I had a spouse living with me right now"), I brought the calf near enough her udder to be kicked, then began stroking her flank in the manner she prefers and which I've always used as a precursor to an udder massage. She started to relax despite the calf randomly nosing everything in the area, so I took a teat and squeezed out some colostrum toward his nose. With lots of my squeezing of milk, my other hand firm on her halter and some physical guidance, the calf finally drank a fair amount of colostrum. then he forgot and wandered away.
I took her off the tether and let her follow him around licking. She didn't try to stab him anymore, but she did continue to kick (half heartedly now) when he tried to nurse. Ultimately he got her cornered and after an initial kick, I started massaging her side and she relaxed and let him nurse again. Some more licking, and on his third attempt she let him nurse without any protest. She also eagerly ate his first poop.
I left the barn after the calf laid down; she had stopped trying to lick his head off and was happily eating hay. Will this peaceful state continue? Will she renew her attempts to kill him? Will she let me milk her properly when the time comes? More as it develops...
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