Labour Day lived up to it’s name for our fourth moma cow “Charlotte” (because she’s a Charolais breed) as she gave birth for the second year. Last year, for her first time around, Charlotte had twins, which is quite rare for cows. This year she had a solid little heifer calf.

Charlotte & her 2009 heifer calf

She gave birth completely unattended, perhaps as much because I was a bit late getting down to check on the state of things.

Charlotte & 2009 Calf, early feeding

I can start to breath easier once I’ve seen a new calf have a good feed. The first milk is critical as the colostrum contains anti-bodies to get the new calf’s immune system jump started. One last picture:

Charlotte & Calf settled in

Back June 3rd, Marigold had her second calf:

Marigold's newborn 2009 heifer calf

And later in the day as very much a going concern.

Marigolds 2009 Calf, 8 hours old

Along with Ella and Squiggy’s calves these girls are growing up fast.

4 Moma's & 3 Spring Calves (June 13, 2009)

All of this years calves have been female, after a run that started with 5 male calves.The herd is now up to 13 right now (4 mothers, 4 2008 calves, 4 2009 calves and one bull) and we’ve had 10 successful births.  I’ll have to decide whether to keep any of these calves as future mothers.

All in all, it’s still a little surprising for a guy who’d never been next to a calf in his life until 4 years ago. But as boatbuilder Pete Culler said “Experience starts when you begin”. We decided we would have a small beef farm, so we got started and learned as we went.