AHhhhhhhhh!!! That's Good!!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Did you get 232 penned up last night? How is she?

Will you have the vet come out and look at her? Or call the vet when she goes into labor (do cows go into labor? )? I'm afraid it might be too big (the calf) and be dangerous for them both. Can we call the vet?

originally posted by: KansasGirl
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Did you get 232 penned up last night? How is she?

Will you have the vet come out and look at her? Or call the vet when she goes into labor (do cows go into labor? )? I'm afraid it might be too big (the calf) and be dangerous for them both. Can we call the vet?

Yes, I did pen 232 up last night (she actually does have a name "Piper"...though we rarely name cows).

Pipes looked around at her corral, made note and moo'ed her way back out again. She's just not ready.

I've checked on her twice today and she's not in labor. She's close, bu she's not there yet.

No, we are not calling the vet. There's not much the vet can do which won't be more risk for her calf. She knows what she's doing...so we wait.

When we first bought Piper she looked like a damaged cow. She has one ear which is floppy. Someone ear-tagged her way too low and killed the nerves in her ear, so it hangs low. Over the 10 years that we've had her she's proven every single person, including our VET, wrong! She's the best mother we have. She's the tamest cow to humans, but she's fierce toward predators. She'll stand and fight with "Jack" (our Bull) against intruders, but you'd never know it when she comes in a corral.

She keeps her calves until SHE thinks they need to be born, no matter how hard it is on her.

I can't take this away from her. She is, who she is. She's a cow....and she's a good one.

As far as vets go, we can "pull" calves, we can deal with "breach births", we can deal with "re-orienting" calves for birth (aka...pushing them back inside and turning them around for proper head-first birth). We have serious medical supplies for the cows and calves, including colostrum and major trauma kits for the momma's.

KG...we live in the country. Piper knows what she's doing. If something goes wrong, we're here. And, if it gets worse than that we'll deal with it, up to and including calling the large animal Doc.

Don't worry, girl. This is what we do.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

If she has a girl, will you name it Night Star? Asking for a friend.

a reply to: Night Star

If she calves a heifer, she'll be tagged as #124, and we'll name #124 "Night Star"...just for you. (seriously)

Please accept my apologies, because #124 will always be known as "Number 124" when we handle her (or him), but I'll write "Night Star" on her (or his) tag with a sharpie before I tag her ear.

They generally don't like the tags for the first day or so (considering they're a 1/4" diameter sharp stud with a backer through their 1/4" ear thickness), but after a day or so they get kind of proud of their ear tag...like they belong to something.

In another ten to fifteen years you are not going to be working like that anymore. I had lots of energy to do stuff when I was in my fifties, now that I am in my sixties, I would rather just spend my time chilling out, cooking, and feeding the deer, cats, fish, rabbits, and squirrels. None of which I will ever get to eat. I did just make twenty seven half pints and twenty three pints of strawberry jam and that was a lot of work. I might have to go back to building houses just so I feel compensated for my work, I actually give the majority of the Jam away.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Ok, FCD. Thank you for the reassuring post. And I love it that Pipey moo'ed Her way out of the pen. 😂

originally posted by: rickymouse
In another ten to fifteen years you are not going to be working like that anymore. I had lots of energy to do stuff when I was in my fifties, now that I am in my sixties, I would rather just spend my time chilling out, cooking, and feeding the deer, cats, fish, rabbits, and squirrels. None of which I will ever get to eat. I did just make twenty seven half pints and twenty three pints of strawberry jam and that was a lot of work. I might have to go back to building houses just so I feel compensated for my work, I actually give the majority of the Jam away.

You sound a little jealous and envious of FCD.

originally posted by: KansasGirl

originally posted by: rickymouse
In another ten to fifteen years you are not going to be working like that anymore. I had lots of energy to do stuff when I was in my fifties, now that I am in my sixties, I would rather just spend my time chilling out, cooking, and feeding the deer, cats, fish, rabbits, and squirrels. None of which I will ever get to eat. I did just make twenty seven half pints and twenty three pints of strawberry jam and that was a lot of work. I might have to go back to building houses just so I feel compensated for my work, I actually give the majority of the Jam away.

You sound a little jealous and envious of FCD.

I am a realist. When you hit retirement age, a person realizes they did their share already to serve society. Having worked hard the majority of my life, I hurt myself multiple times and all those repairs come back and harrass you when you get old. The joints wear out, the damaged muscles and ligaments are repaired, they are not as good as the original most times. The broken bones ache when the weather changes, the worn out disks and cartilage on the spine causes lots of events. Farming, like construction work, is hard on the body.

Yes, I am envious, I miss being able to heal fast from accidents. I do not miss the chiropractor and doctor visits because of my hips being out of line, my backbone causing nerve pain, my occiput being out of allignment, my muscles locking up because of a pinched nerve, and of course, my cartilage cracked in my ankles, feet, knee, or hands or shoulder at least once a year. At least I had a legitimate thing to complain about back then instead of a wimpy excuse for throwing something out of alignment. I hated pain pills, they made me constipated so I rarely used them.

Clamato, liberal splash of vodka, dash of Louisianna hot sauce and a squeeze of lime with lots of ice.
Light beer? You sure the heat ain't getting to you?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Awww, thank you! Now I'll know that somewhere across the USA there will be a calf named after me. Most people might think that's weird, but I think it's cool.