Calving Season at Hickory Hollow

Big News!  It calving season at Hickory Hollow.

After waiting all summer the calves finally began to arrive Monday evening!

And the big surprise….two came at the same time!  57 went first and had a whopping 100 lb baby boy!  But 3 went into labor at the same time.  This was a huge surprise since 3 wasn’t scheduled to deliver for another two weeks!

So the girls started showing signs they were in labor during the afternoon check.  We ate dinner in a rush and headed over to the outdoor “waiting room” to keep a watch on their progress.

Cows and heifers (cows are called heifer if they have never given birth – for all you city folk like myself:) tend to deliver on their own unless there is a problem.  57 and 3 wandered off by themselves, which is supposed to be typical.  Of course, we have one cow, nicknamed “Eeyore” for her slightly sleepy look, who kept checking on them occasionally.  Cows are herd animals and enjoy hanging out together.  Eeyore must be the resident nursemaid as she kept following the delivering cows.

57 Junior arrived pretty quickly.  Mom set to cleaning him and bawling at him.  I’m not sure what all the bawling was about.  Perhaps she was announcing to the other girls, or maybe she was telling Junior to try to get up.  57 Junior soon struggled to his feet!  What a wonderful sight!  Mom soon had his coat cleaned up and shining!  And the other cows gathered around to see the calf!

3 kept progressing on her labor and then seemed to stall.

This concerned us, especially me as I don’t exactly have labor and delivery skills!  And by that time it was dark.

We , or rather Country Boy, started coming up with a game plan to help 3 if she required assistance for her safety and the safety of the calf.  We went to go get some more supplies and discovered that she had delivered when we came back!  Yay!

We sat outside in the cool fall air keeping watch as she cleaned up her calf.  3 and her calf seemed more worn out so it was way more tense this time.  Little 3 didn’t get up for a long time so we held our breaths.  Little 3 finally got to his (yes, another boy!) wobbly feet after the 5 or 6th try.

We sat there waiting to see if mom would let him nurse.  Our flashlights were turned off and suddenly we heard that sweet sound!  Little 3 was nursing. Big sigh of relief!

I wasn’t able to get pictures til the next day when my daughter and I checked on them.  Everyone is doing great!

And Rosie…well Rosie fans, she seems to be content and in no rush to deliver.

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