Roots Ranch

Last half of April calves!

First half of April babies!

The first two calves were born last week Thursday and Friday. And then we had a bull calf born on Monday. We have had a bit of a lull in our calving season as there have been no calves since. We have 9 bred cows left to go and they could calve anytime from now to end of April.

March 16-21 calves. First we had 3 heifer calves in a row then 3 bull calves born in a row. We are just over 75% done calving.

Our cows were kind enough to hold off on calving during last weekends storm. Monday two heifer calves were born. Tuesday another two heifer calves were born. There’s a lot of white tags (females) in the baby pen.

Thursday March 9th we had two bull calves born.

Friday Darren was very busy preparing for the coming storm, putting out extra feed, preparing the barn, etc. Only one cow calved on Friday and she birthed a heifer calf.

Yesterday another two cows calved out heifer calves. Yesterday was Day 17 of calving and we are officially half done. No wonder the bred pen is feeling so empty. Hopefully the next half goes just as well!

Tuesday I found a first time mom with a brand new baby outside in the afternoon. The baby was so wobbly I had to haul it into the barn with a sled. Baby calves instinctively want to crawl out of the sled. They settle in and enjoy the ride after a few times of getting them back in the sled and moving. Mom was a little concerned about the strange black sled but she was respectful and cooperated nicely. That’s always a workout for me. 😂

Later that evening I brought my favourite cow into the barn who was definitely in labor. Just before midnight I checked on her to find two calves at her side. So now our other bottle baby twin has a buddy.

We had 7 calves born between March 4th and March 5th. The barn is empty and ready for fresh new calves….

More calves… and more to come!

Our family milk cow had a heifer calf early Wednesday morning. She was very proud to show her off when Darren checked on her. That cow is a character. 😂

A first time heifer calved a heifer calf all on her own Wednesday afternoon. Thursday a bull calf (orange tag) was born in the afternoon.

It was a very eventful night last night… We went out to check at around 11 to find another first time heifer in labor. We got her situated in the barn and went back out to check again. Darren heard a mama moo and we found the tiniest heifer calf born in the loose housing. Immediately we knew she was a twin calf and there would be another one coming. Mama was very cooperative with the move to the barn and Darren carried the calf in for her. We put mama in the chute and pulled the other calf out. A heifer. She didn’t want this one though. She just wanted the first one. No problem. We needed a bottle calf as we have more than enough milk from our milk cow. In all this time the heifer calved out a good sized heifer calf all on her own. We checked the cows one more time to see if anyone else had ideas of calving tonight and went to bed. At around 4 in the morning Darren went out to check and found another baby outside. A heifer. (I don’t have a picture of that one yet.) Four calves in one night is a record for us.

Tuesday another two heifer calves were born…