Birth of a New Red Poll
May 13, 2011
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On March 14th, 2008 we were welcomed with a brand new Red Poll heifer calf. Our cows were in our bottom land at the time eating on the stockpiled tall grass forage and the new tall grasses that were just starting to come up. The calf and cow were doing very well until a few days after the birth. The cow inexplicably died–we still are not sure what happened. When we found the cow, her calf was not with her so I set out to find the baby. Tall prairie grasses are just that, tall, and with the old stockpiled grasses from the year before the dead grasses were about four feet tall. Until the calves are a few weeks old, they will lay down in well hidden areas while their mommas go out to graze–they have an instinct that will keep them hidden and completely still unless you practically step on them. I scoured the field for the calf for well over an hour (about 10 acres) and did not see any sign of her. I don’t know that I ever would have found her except that she was hungry and decided to call for momma. She bawled from her hidden spot mere feet from where I had been walking. She was a small calf–about 65ish lbs or so–and I carried her up out of the bottom field in my arms to a vehicle where we could drive her up to the house. We named her Beth and for the next few months we fed her with a bottle and over the next few years she grew into a nice, although small, cow. Because she was small, we did not breed her when we usually would but gave her more time to mature. So, a few days ago, on May 4th, 2011 when Beth was a little over 3 years old, she had her first calf!
Most of the time we are not around when the cows have their calves we are not around but I happened to be out checking on the cows that morning and was able to take pictures and video the birth. I stayed at a good distance so as to not make her nervous, but since Beth is more or less a pet, she had no problems with me being around and actually got up and came closer to me while I was watching.
If you watch the video you will have to forgive the sound and shakiness–it was a windy day and I was trying to keep Ada happy on my back (she slept through most of it). It always intrigues me watching how the other cows react to a cow in labor and a new calf–they are very curious and also will sometimes act concerned for the new mother. Harry, the milk thieving Dexter calf, actually came up and tried to nurse her while she was laying down giving birth and I had to run him off–the other cows however just wanted to see what was going on. Our donkey, Noel, was also very interested in the new calf–the next day we had to move her to a separate pasture because she decided that she was going to keep the calf herself and would now let Beth anywhere near it. The only way we were able to get Noel away from the calf was with a bucket of dog food (she loves dog food although we try to keep her away from it.) I hope you enjoy the pictures and video :)
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