Violet Has Her Calf

Last Thursday Violet had her calf. You might remember Violet as a member of the heifer Maternity Ward. She’s the one who:

“asks if everyone will be getting a spa day when the calving is over. We said no, but warmer weather is on the way followed by a long summer spent at the pasture with shade trees, running spring water, and plenty of room for their calves to run and play. Violet is happy to hear this and looking forward to the coming months.”

Harland noticed Violet had gone into labor last Thursday evening, so he put her in a pen in the barn and left her alone for a while. Cows don’t like to be watched when they calve. I’ve seen cows stop their labor, get to their feet, cross their arms, and with a determined look on their face say,

“Get lost woman! I’m not going to do this while you’re watching!”

Alright already. Touchy touchy.

So Harland checked on her after he came back from doing the chores.  He watched from outside the barn while sitting in the truck and told me later that she didn’t even lay down to have her calf like most of them do, but had hers standing up. He said the calf, “squirted it out like a watermelon seed and hit the floor.”

At the sound of a THUD behind her, she turned around to see what was going on.

“Oh….. for me? And it’s not even my birthday.”

She cleaned up her calf, and let it nurse from her. They spent the night in the barn, and the next day Harland released them out into the small pasture near our house.

A couple days later, I paid her calf a visit. Or I tried to. I could see Violet, but didn’t see her calf anywhere. So I started walking the perimeter of the pasture, and made it all the way around and back where I started and still hadn’t seen it.

“Where’s your calf Violet?”

“Laaa dee da dee da”, she replied.

Then I spied it curled up in the grass not ten feet from where I had started looking. AHA, found it!

Little squirt was resting so I left it alone.

Yesterday evening I visited the pasture again. By the way, this is the view from my kitchen window. I love this time of year when I can look out while I’m doing dishes and watch the cows and calves.

Here’s Violet standing patiently while her calf nurses.

“I’m ready for my spa day now.”

Little squirt finally came up for air.

“Mama, what is it?” asked Squirt.

“It’s a human…I’ll tell you about them later. Now can you stick your tongue back in your mouth and wipe the milk off your face? You’re not making the best first impression you know,” said Violet.

“She’s funny looking, all pale and standing on only 2 legs like that.” said Squirt.

“Yes dear,….please pull your tongue back in,” said Violet.

“FLPPFLPPFLPPTHFLLPPP….” replied Squirt.

“I need a spa day,” said Violet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s 3 heifers down, and 7 more to go. Stay tuned.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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14 Responses

  1. Doe in Mi says:

    Oh how neat that you can do dishes and watch the cows and their babies at the same time. I would so love that. Those babies are just way to cute for words. That tongue is funny. Your stories about them are fun to read. Thanks for leaving me grinning.

  2. Teresa says:

    They are so cute when they have those milk mouths!

  3. Karen says:

    I love your hilarious animal dialogs! You cheered me up on a gloomy and wet day. It must be so wonderful to see the new calves right outside your kitchen window! I would look forward to doing the dishes! Wait a minute, did I just say those words? I must be coming down with something…. Spring Fever? xx

  4. Tina says:

    That is the view from your kitchen window? How cool is that? I look at a cinderblock wall!! I love the calves and Mama’s. Babies are so cute no matter what species. I see the big tree outside your window has little leaves or maybe just buds too. Happy spring!

    • Suzanne says:

      I think that’s a mulberry tree. It usually doesn’t bud out until May, but we’ve been getting 80 degree temps for the last couple weeks, which is about 20 degrees higher than it should be.
      Happy Spring to you as well Tina.

  5. Alica says:

    I love the squirt’s milky mouth! Next you’ll have to tell us all about Violet’s spa day! 🙂

    • Suzanne says:

      The closest she got to a spa day was tht it rained on her and her fur was fluffier the next day. No manicure or pedicures for Violet sad to say…

  6. Louise S says:

    Baby looks just like momma, so precious! I have a question, tho. Do the babies cry when Harland tags their ear? (please say no)

    • Suzanne says:

      No, I don’t think there’s much feeling there, they get upset more from being handled than the actual eartagging. But it’s all over in seconds. Like an ear piercing. They need the eartags so if something goes wrong with any of them, we can identify which calf belongs to what mother and also is essential in record keeping. Most of them look alike to us, so there’s no other way to tell them apart.

  7. Debbie says:

    I sure can relate to looking for a calf in the pasture!! We don’t have our cows very confined (none are heifers) and many times I’ve sworn something MUST have happened to a calf. But mama cows acting so unconcerned? I picture her saying “Keep looking fool, I’ll never tell where I hid it!” Eventually I always spy them curled up in a tight ball in some tall grass, still as can be. I love that cows are so good at finding safe places for their babies to sleep. And when I do find them (Darn it human) they let me know that they are keeping an eye on me!

    • Suzanne says:

      Yeah, they are not helpful when it comes to finding the calf are they. And YES they are definitely watching and waiting to warn us if we step out of line.

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