It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
No, it’s not Christmas but as a rancher my most favorite season is calving season. Late August through late November are teeming with fresh baby bovines and we get to see the outcomes of our carefully planned breeding decisions come to fruition.
Previously, I had written about how not being a mother made it hard for me to fully appreciate birth and calving season. Well, a lot has changed since then!
Now that I’m a mother, my appreciation for an uneventful (meaning ‘easy delivery and no complications) birth that ends with a healthy baby is through the roof. There’s just something about watching a mama cow labor to deliver a baby and then immediately hop up (when she is likely still in immense pain or discomfort) and start caring for that baby. She’ll do whatever it takes to protect that calf, because it’s the center of her universe.
I get this. I would do anything to protect my daughter.
I feel so immensely blessed to witness the miracle of life and care for these cows. We have only had to pull one calf this year (thankfully) and it was a very large bull calf that needed help because mama’s hips just weren’t quite wide enough. We let her labor on her own for several hours but she was not making noticeable progress so in order to make sure neither she or the calf were lost, we put her in the cattle chute and pulled her calf. No complications and she immediately began licking the calf and he eventually got up to drink colostrum (the first milk that is chock full of antibodies and nutrients).
Calving won’t be over for another month or so and our pastures are teeming with adorable, frisky calves. I wish everyone could see this part of beef production and ranching because it makes me so freaking happy. It’s impossible to be sad, frustrated or angry when you’re watching baby calves come into the world and take their first steps.
Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~
If you want to receive new posts automatically by email, sign up in the side pane on the homepage. I never use your email for marketing purposes, only for post delivery.