Waiting for Calf to be Born

GMEG Jealousy trying to keep cool while she waits to deliver her calf.

My excellent big red girl GMEG Jealousy is due to calve sometime soon. I hadn't seen her since Wednesday (July 4).  Her udder was getting full at that time but her back end wasn't getting loose, so she looked like she still had a couple of days to go.  It's 95 degrees this morning (Saturday, July 7) and I wasn't looking forward to tramping up and down the wooded hills looking for cows - but needs must - so out I went.  I found Jealousy pretty quickly - I could here her splashing in the creek.  She was standing in the biggest of the three pools left in the creek that runs through the property.  I suppose like humans who get relief from the heat by plunging their hands up to their writs in cold water, she is getting some relief standing with her hocks in water. 

No other cows were in sight, which concerns me. Also, one chamber of her udder is very swollen and distended, but the others are not and when I check her back end, she was not really loose - loose would indicate she is getting ready to calve. He belly is hung low though, so time will tell.  I sure hope this isn't another breach birth like Violet had.  If she doesn't come up for salt by tomorrow morning  I will have to go get her and drag her up to the barn where I can keep a closer eye on her. Fortunately she is a former show heifer and halter broke.

Even though I traveled mostly in the shady and somewhat cooler woods, I came back to the house dripping with sweat. I downed a large icy glass of orange juice before sitting down to write this. A little itch near my left temple caused me to scratch my scalp and the next thing I knew a tick flew out of my hair and landed on my computer screen!  I promptly flushed it down the toilet. Now I need to check for more. Ah, the joys of farm life.

This creek runs about a quarter of a mile through our property and these rocks are usually covered in flowing water. I walked the entire creek line and found only three pools of water. Jealousy was standing in the biggest one. They are all brackish and muddy.  I have a two hundred gallon tank filled with water for them up near the house where I keep their salt and mineral feeder so they won't go without water, but cows don't like to have to travel more than 600 feet from their grazing to find water. They will probably wait until the creek is totally dry before they use the tank on any regular basis.