Our first calf!

I mowed paddock #3 late yesterday, and a good thing, because we had a rip-roaring thunder storm late last night. It started at 2:44 A.M. this morning. I jumped out of bed to go check on our dairy cow Darlin, who I expected to go into labor and calf any moment. I had plenty of light to see by since there were non-stop lightening bolts crackling over head. From our upper deck I could see Darlin laying in the middle of paddock #2 in a torrential downpour, and was pretty sure she was in labor. I went into the office/library to pull a book on cattle to verify some calving info. After reading a bit, my mind was at ease, and I finally went back to bed at 3:30 A.M. with the raging storm beginning to subside.

Got up at 6:30 A.M. with S this morning. The first thing I do every morning is look out the windows to check on our animals. Darlin was laying in the grass, and there was a tiny brown spot behind her (you can just barely see it in photo). After watching a few minutes, Darlin and the spot were standing. Sure enough, the Wanch has its first naturally born calf, and in the middle of a storm no less. I was praying non-stop for Darlin. Dexter cows are tough critters. Tougher than my 3-year old, heavily used Canon Sure-Shot camera - it conked out today after taking these pictures.

Pretty little thing. I left Mom and baby alone until this evening when I took some high protein grain out to Darlin. She was so young when she was bred that I have been worried about her health, so I have been supplementing her grass and minerals with grain the past month to help her build up strength and energy. I borrowed K7's camera. Thank goodness Santa brought each of our three younger sons a digital camera last Christmas.

Not sure what the sex of new calf is. Will worry about it during next few days. If it is male, I have to castrate him and fatten up over next 18-24 months for the freezer. If a girl, we will have to sell her to someone as a family milk cow since I can't breed her back to our bull Red. Either way, we get the joy of raising it and then, eventually, enjoy the profit from our labors in the form of food or money. That is life on a farm.