A Memorable Birth

It's that time of year again!

Calving time.

Jimmy loves farming and he says that the calving time is the most exciting because you really get to see the full circle of farming as his mamma cows bring forth new life.  Last year one of Jimmy's faithful cows (he's had her since he was 14) had a calf and I got to document it all with my camera.  You'll see below that she practically had the calf right on top of us.  It was a birth I'll never forget! 

We started out the afternoon smiling as it was cold, but not windy and we were bundled to the nines!  Pictured, is my favorite Will cat, Miss Kitty and I think she's pretty smitten with me too :)

This was a boots kind of day, as my husband keeps his cows in one area of the farm for the winter.   The feeding pad is where the cows eat...and they also discharge there as well. 

You may be asking why I'm detailing this, but you'll see as you scroll! 

Many cows go off by themselves to have their baby, but not this one.  

She wanted to be front and center for her birthing show!

Meet our brand new baby!  

The mother is on the left and she and her cow friend try to lick the baby dry.  

As you can see, the left handle of the four-wheeler is in the photo too.  

That's how close we were!

Jimmy cleans the calf off with some hay, because as you'll remember my detailed description of the feeding pad, she had her cave right in the muck!  Let's just say even a mother couldn't lick this cave dry with its' outer contents!  

I'm sitting on the four-wheeler and this is how close I was to the whole experience! 

And these gals and babies were lined up, front row, and center, for this special mamma's show!

A calves first instinct right after it's born is to eat.  Jimmy was trying to get this calf to suck, but he wasn't having much of it.  This can be an issue with new babies and they just need a little help from Farmer Jimbo!

Because there was an sucking issue and such an audience standing around - plus, not to mention the area of birth - Jimmy decided it was best to get this baby on clean ground and try to work with him there.  His mother....well, she knows Jimmy well, but wasn't happy about her baby being taken away.  All documented below :)

Now again, this calf was born last year and the cycle of farming for my hubby is to birth in the winter and sell in the fall.  In all his years of farming, this calf - even with its' weird bulging eyes (look at above photos) - sold for more than any of his other calves ever have.

We know how to grow them on the Will Family Farm!

Clean of the boots and wait for the next round of calves!