Well, there are cow patties and there are liquid stools, which are not the greatest. A good cow stool should be sort of like a stack of soft pancakes in the field, sort of slumped to one side. She is getting there but still a little too liquid for my liking. She is on some pretty new and fresh grass, so this makes her a little runny....too much sugar levels in the feed.
Free, they couldn't tell me exactly when she got bred but were pretty sure they were shooting for mid-May. She is very bagged out, loose vulva, sometimes she passes mucus strands and she's pretty dished at the tail head...but the ligaments aren't soft enough yet. They say they soften up to 12 hours before calving.
I'm still waiting on the cuteness also....got a storm system moving in and they say calves are born more often during a low barometric pressure time and 2/3 of all calves are born at night....so I probably won't get to witness it anyway...but it would sure be neat!
Got our first "hot" day here in the mountains! Bring on those warm soils!!!
Inchy, scads of butter cups here in the fields....far as they eye can see and its just lovely! Black cows and calves in the butter cups. This is the time of spring that is so beautiful that it hurts your heart!
Haven't had much time lately, but I 've been checking in and reading, waiting for that calf to get here! Praying for a safe and trouble free delivery, and a healthy calf for you Bee!
Thank you, Morel! I am praying for the same and I have every confidence that it will turn out alright. She's an old hand at this calving thing and she's never had a problem.
This evening she got her first mineral block and you've never seen a poor animal so eager to get to something good. I was trying to hold out until my kelp meal order came in but I felt sorry for her and decided to go ahead and get her a block. They are so cheap and I knew she really needed it.
She got one glimpse of that block and came thundering down the orchard and was actually trying to gnaw it to get some of the salt/mineral off. The field she was in previously didn't seem to have mineral stations, so I don't know how long its been since she has had any....apparently too long!
I think a slow build on her nutrition and health status should bring her along well and, by the end of the summer, I expect she will be looking much better. She is loosing her winter coat and getting slick and soft. I groom her each night and she will close her eyes and lean into the brush. If I stop, she shoves her head up under the brush! Big ol' baby!
I am going to start mixing BOSS into her sweet feed and maybe even some raw eggs. I have plenty and it sure would boost the protein levels in her feed.