Never scroll my camera roll, but especially not during calving season.
Piece of advice – the camera roll on my phone should have ‘graphic image’ warnings – if I hand you my phone to show you a picture, please resist the temptation to swipe. Maybe it’s because I’m older and getting near-sighted, or maybe it’s because I am indecisive (no, I’m not. That’s not it), or maybe it’s because I hate making mistakes and want to be 1000% sure…but, I have a habit of taking pictures of animal genitalia if I am unsure of the sex. Now, you’d think that sexing animals would be obvious. And at some point, it is. And to some people it is probably clear much sooner than it has been for me. For example, bunnies and chicks – these new born babies require an invasive examination to make a determination. I will often (gently) flip babies over and snap a quick pic of the undercarriage so that I could examine at my leisure and with a significant zoom. I know, I’m a creeper.
Bull or Cow?
I’m embarrassed to say that I was actually wrong about the sex of our first calf, Laoghaire, for 3 days because it was just more confusing than I expected! In the first hour after birth, while Ace distracted the mama with a well deserved snack, I rushed in on the brand new calf for a quick inspection. I rolled her over and saw udders and announced “She’s a girl!” Ace very quietly replied, “everyone has nipples.” So then I was unsure again.
Two hours later when she was standing up, I announced, “She’s a boy!” In the sweet picture above of her nursing at sunset, you can see the little bulge on her belly, which I thought was evidence of bull-ness. However, that is just a swollen belly button that sinks back in after a little while.
We were thrilled to have a healthy first calf that didn’t require us to remake the scene from City Slickers. But for our registered Highlands, females are in demand and we are all good on bulls, so we were slightly disappointed. Then he peed. Out from under his tail. Confidently, I announced, “He’s a girl!”
Now that we’ve had more calves, I’m getting better at knowing sooner. And our sweet little guy in the top picture (Highland Angus cross born last night – Confetti aka Connor) is all bull. No doubt.
Why does the sex matter?
Ok, but does the sex really matter? Yes. Yes! Reproduction – that’s why. One of the biggest mistakes we have made across the farm is not planning matings. At first it was with bunnies. Yeah, planning bunny mating proved so difficult for me that we are no longer raising rabbits at all (That’s a different story with a whole lot of pictures on the camera roll that I was apparently dead wrong about!). Chickens too – we have 3 breeds of chicken on the farm that we thought were separated appropriately – until the eggs hatched. We have some unexpected, crazy mixed breed babies that look hilarious.
And then the donkeys – we had three donkeys and definitely didn’t need any more donkeys – but now have 4 and one on the way. Our 20+ year old jack, Elvis, was castrated last month so that we don’t end up in this situation again! These mistakes get expensive fast!
So the cows, we try to plan. They are pregnant for around 9 months – they also nurse their calves for 9 to 10 months. So deciding when to start the cycle over again takes some thought. In our area, heat and flies also play into the equation. Calves born too late in the spring or into the summer can be truly infested with flies – we haven’t experienced that yet but I’ve seen pictures – and that is tragic. Also, the heat can be very hard on the mothers and the milk supply. And we have some pressure from our bulls to jump into the next mating sessions quickly! We also want to be present (like literally in the pasture watching) for births and that is much easier if we have all of our girls on a similar schedule.
But when are the babies coming?
Ok, so why do I care when the babies are coming? First of all, new born farm animals are amazing. I could watch them all day (if I didn’t have a job and a family and a whole farm). But also, we love and invest heavily in our mothers. Ensuring that we know if one of our girls is struggling or if we need to call the vet is a top priority. And of course, we need those babies to be born healthy too. A year of feeding a non-productive cow is a nightmare!
That’s why calving season is when I start to accumulate the really embarrassing images on my phone – the pictures I take when I’m trying to figure out exactly when babies will arrive. Whenever we are within a few weeks of when I think babies are coming, I can be found stalking the back side of my pregnant girls, camera out and using phrases like ‘do you think that vulva is springing?’ (which no one enjoys).
So, how do you know when birth is imminent? First of all, the udder gets full, like really full. But that can still be a couple weeks out. And, forgive me for typing it again, but the vulva does spring. Under the cow’s tail gets swollen and bounces around when she walks (I have some videos on my phone…).
But the most reliable sign I’ve seen for action commencing in the next 24 hours is the lowering of the hip bones in relation to the tail. Normally, a cow’s tail is settled somewhat in between her hip bones, but as she gets close to delivering a calf, everything loosens up and the tail sits higher, a soft gap appears around the tail and the bones are lower
We have been lucky so far and have not had to assist with any of our births. Last night’s delivery was the closest I have come to trying to jump in. No one wants to see those pictures! Sparkle would be mad at me for showing people her business!!
All so interesting. What a learning experience! Congratulations on your new addition!