Second Thought

On second thought we should have moved #47, Donna, into the nursery field when we saw her moving slowly off the hill on her way to eat with the rest of the herd at the outside feeders.

During the night the herd swam across the river and #47 was with them. Either she was in labor as she did so or began labor shortly after alighting on the road side pastures. Around 5am we heard the bulls in the bull pen making noise to announce that something was going on. We found #47 with a brand new baby comfortably snuggled in the deep underbrush along the river. The rest of the herd were busy grazing and not paying much attention to the new family.

We fed in the outdoor feeders and the main herd abandoned the grazing to re-cross the river to eat hay.

Mike drove the Gator to #47 and her calf. I got in the back of the Gator and Mike set the calf in with me. My job was to hold the calf in place in such a way that #47 could see the baby but not let the calf stand up or scrabble out from under me. We bumped along the pasture, down the slippery road, along the rocked road and onto the bridge. #47 stopped at the bridge and turned toward the crossing.

The Gator took us over the bridge and down toward the crossing on the far side of the river. #47 had just finished getting a good drink of water and saw me holding her calf as I got off the Gator and swam to get to it. The calf bellowed and slipped out of my grasp and took a few steps toward the cliff at the river.

I had thought that my tackle techniques were long gone, but I took a swooping dive toward the calf and was able to subdue it until the mother showed up. We then walked the pair into the barnyard so they could spend some quality quiet time calming down and getting reacquainted.

After an hour we moved the pair into the nursery field where they will be able to graze contentedly and we will not have to worry that someone will try to cross the river. Tomorrow’s story will be a welcome to the farm for our newest addition.