New crop of calves

Posted in Farm on Thursday 1st June 2017 at 12:33pm

Only calving a dozen cows this year for us seemed to be a breeze until it started for real. The first calf arrived over a week late but was fine. The second followed a day later and was to keep 5 of us busy for several hours. A new heifer coming into the herd was trying her best but once examined by us and then the vet the decision to “take the calf out sideways” was made. The caesarean was done by 2 vets whilst the cow stands secured by a halter and kept as still as possible by husband and son. Nearly an hour after the first anaesthetic injection a healthy bull calf emerged into the world. My job starts now acting as mum, cleaning the calf up and encouraging him breath and then to stand. Yet another hour later and the stitching on the “15 inch zip” is completed up the side of mama and the calf is ready to suckle. The next 5 calves have been a mixture of “do it yourself” and “help pull” with the calving tool. All arrived alive and are thriving now which is the main objective. Only 3 to go…