Da Cows

We have started calving on the ranch. And by we, I of course mean our ladies. So far we have 1 baby girl and 2 baby boys. It always AMAZES me how quickly they are up on their feet and bucking around testing out their little legs. There is a period of time when they are much more agile and much quicker than their mamas who are as slow and clumsy as can be. It is SO funny to watch the mama cows come running at feeding time as they trip and stumble over their own feet. Anyway, back to the babies. Last year the first calf just didn't have much will to live at first. Keep in mind that this was my very first experience with calving. Grif and I spent an entire afternoon out in the field bundled up to the max trying to warm up 107 (that was his tag number), unfreeze his little legs and get his mama to come take care of him. We ended up loading him up in the back of the truck, me sitting in the back holding the baby boy and taking him to the house to give him a warm bath. G carried him into the bathroom and we massaged his little body with warm water. Once he started to warm up a little he realized that he didn't like being in the bathtub inside the house. We dried him off as best we could so that he didn't freeze back up and took him back to his mama with the hopes that she would still want him since we had washed off all of his natural scent and surely by now he smelled like dryer sheets from the towels. Luckily, she took him back and pulled through. It was quite the experience for me. This year, so far so good. Once the babies are born they get tagged (one ear pierced with a number) and the boys also get banded. Then in May or so we will brand.