Calves Keep Coming but March Forgot Us

Blackberry Bramble and her first calf, Samantha (Sammy)

I hate calving in March. The weather is so unsettled. Heavy rains, then cold and snow, little or no sun, still!   Three calves on the ground in three days, all in good shape so far thanks to their good Mama cow's care. I am very pleased with Blackberry Bramble. This is her first calf and she  is doing a very good job with it. Plus, she calved all by herself. 


Sarah and little heifer

The big white cow is Sarah, a Shorthorn who has had several calves before. She had this little heifer laying to the right of the picture in all that rain we had Monday.  The calf was born on clean pasture which is good, and Sarah managed to get her to the barn that evening.  The calf is nursing and seems to be coming along well. I had put out a big round bale at the barn yard on Sunday after Bramble calved and as usual they have turned it into a bed as well as dinner. All this week the mamas have stayed at the barn with the calves. They have hay and water and shelter and I also give them a few pounds each of a 12% protein sweet feed to help them produce milk.  The other cow with the backbone showing is Lady. She and Sarah belong to a neighbor. Lady is old and crippled and happy to hang out at the barn with the new moms and snag a little sweet feed in the process.

I hadn't seen the Angus herd since Monday night, so last night I tramped back through the property to the back high pasture and found them all munching away (on what I don't know, the pasture is not looking good).  One of the big Angus cows had a nice calf with her, probably born Tuesday night. She is one of those Mamas that won't let you within 50 feet of her calf, so I don't know what sex it is, but it was lively and nursing and the high pasture is dry and protected on three sides from the wind by dense woods.  The only concern is that the calf is a week early.  The Angus herd's owner, who is a veterinarian is visiting this evening to check them out.  We are expecting more calves on Tuesday from the artificial insemination.  Hopefully the weather will break warm and dry for a change.