Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Duffy's First Calf


On February 20th at 3:00 in the afternoon I checked on our heifer Duffy who was due to give birth to her first calf in a few days. She was laying down when I first saw her and as I got closer I heard her breathing very irregularly. I could also see that she was having contractions. I continued checking on her throughout the day and night. Sunday morning at 4:00am I checked on her again and noticed that her belly had shrunk, indicating that the calf moved into the birth position I watched for a little while longer until I was sure that nothing else was happening. I went back to bed and woke up at 6:30am. I went outside to do chores but before I started I went in again to check on Duffy. Only this time when I checked on her I saw two little hooves protruding out.
Warning, the pictures below may be somewhat graphic.



The feet have just emerged

Now the head comes out.




Soon the whole calf came out and Duffy excitedly began licking her new baby dry



This calf turned out to be a girl, we picked the name Hunny for her. In this picture She seems to be saying, “Whew being born is hard work”



Duffy and Hunny are doing great despite the cold weather. I hope it warms up soon.

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