May
1
Written by:
Sherri
5/1/2010 8:58 AM
Announcing the arrival of Sir Galahad, 
ahem....Lady Daisy born 5/1/10 about 9:30am after a VERY easy delivery for mom Buttercup.
We've missed the last two births on our farm, so we were very anxious about Buttercup's new arrival. As soon as her udder began to swell a few weeks ago, we started keeping track of her several times a day...looking in the pastures to find her.
We awoke this morning to thunderstorms and a brief rain shower that ended just before our milking time was over. Shortly thereafter, we noticed Buttercup out in the field, away from the herd. She had positioned herself in a perfect spot for us to watch from the house...right outside the south windows. James' bedroom window was THE place to see with a pair of binoculars. We watched Buttercup lay down and get up many times. After consulting with our local "midwife/cowwife" friend, Rachel Hale, we learned that she might work through her contractions like this for a couple of hours before delivery. So I left the boys in charge of watching upstairs while I went to the kitchen to finish breakfast. Ted decided to leave for his Ladonia Chamber of Commerce meeting. Jonathan was the one watching when suddenly he yelled in the walkie-talkie...she's had the calf! I ran upstairs to verfiy and sure enough I saw a little head bob up in a few minutes. Buttercup was dutifully licking the calf. After calling the Hales' back to announce the delivery, I found out there were still 2 more goals to accomplish; 1) making sure the umbilical cord and sack weren't causing a problem for the calf, and 2) making sure the calf starting sucking. I called Ted and asked him to come home. Buttercup is our only registered "mini-Jersey cow", and with so few in the country we were taking extra precautions.
Just as Ted was arriving home, the calf stood up. Goal #1 accomplished 
. In the course of conversation with the Hales, we were advised to give Buttercup some calcium. Buttercup is not a people-friendly cow, so this task would have been quite daunting. An alternative, we were told, was to mix up some molasses and water and give to her. This was an easy thing to do and we knew she'd love it! So Ted headed out to the field with camera and a bucket of molasses sweetened water. She didn't hesitate with the molasses. Soon thereafter, Ted witnessed the calf sucking for the first time, Goal #2 accomplished. He came back to the house with several pictures...we were all anxious to see since we knew Buttercup wouldn't allow us close in the field. Mom and baby seem to be doing just fine.
Copyright ©2010 Sherri Maines