During the past few weeks our visitors have been amazed of the size of Doris our large Simmental cow, as she is quite a large cow and carrying a 47kg calf inside her, she seemed just too large to move, well at last she has produced a good strong calf, she did need some assistance, so Tim and I gave a little tug with the calving ropes.
There were about 50 visitors watching, all pleased to witness the birth of a strong boy, one lad who stood there watching the whole process very patiently was Mason, so we named the calf after him.
The calf had quite a lot of fluid on it's lungs so we put a piece of straw up it's nose to make it sneeze, which is the quickest way to clear the lungs, then within 30 seconds it's head raised up, and he was breathing naturally.
Mum stimulated him by licking him all over, and within 20 minutes he was up on his feet, a little bit wobbly ( a bit like Farmer Tim on a Saturday night) but soon he was drinking from his mum.
The first milk that the cow produces after calving is called Colostrum, which is vital for the calf to drink in the first few hours after birth, as it's natures way of protecting it from illnesses.
Only 2 cows left to have their calves now, for this season any way.
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