Howdy folks! Well, anyone who has kept up with this blog for any period of time, has probably come across mention of our beautiful cows, one of which I also mentioned is expected to have a calf. Considering that we were expecting the calf’s arrival to be somewhere around two or three weeks ago, some of you may be wondering what gives. Seeing as how our lovely Charlotte was not showing any of the tell-tale signs of approaching calving, we decided to have a vet out. As much as I love a good surprise, I was ready to know what was going on and I was also starting to get a little worried. Maybe something had gone wrong or maybe we just had a really chunky cow.
I can tell you, we do have an official answer. Drum roll please……… Charlotte IS in fact pregnant and everything seems to be absolutely fine. The only thing is, the vet predicts she isn’t actually due until more like February or March. Sooooo, the folks who had her previously, were a little bit off on the time, but as long as everything seems okay, we can live with that. Truth be told, I am actually very relieved about how the calving date is falling. As time went on, I was worried that we might end up with a calf mid-January, in the bitter cold and during the one week we plan to be away from the farm. With February or March as the new arrival window, I feel confident that we will be home and the temperatures will hopefully be trending toward warmer, not colder. It was really interesting to see the vet checking her out, too. The only way to check the status of a cows pregnancy out on the farm, is apparently from the inside. That means a rope, a really long glove and a very patient vet, who actually knows what she is supposed to be feeling “in there”. I have a lot of respect for that vet. I mean, gloved hand aside, standing behind and animal that size while it swings its back end around in protest is a pretty courageous thing in my book.
Also, in our world of cows, Rosie is warming up to us nicely. That is a pretty big deal for us. When we first took over the care of these ladies, we came in knowing that Charlotte was bottle fed as a calf and super friendly, but Rosie on the other hand, was very stand-offish. She is much younger than Charlotte and presumably pretty unhandled. In the past month and a half, we have gone from her turning tail and running if we so much as looked at her, to her happily accepting pettings all over. We really looked forward to that moment, because she has super soft fluffy fur and we were dying to pet it. Don’t get me wrong, she is still pretty goofy, but I would say at this point, it is more a matter of her being young and playful than being fearful of us. She is a hoot to watch when she gets jazzed up. She runs and hops around and kicks up her hooves. She’s like a puppy. Only cow sized, so we do have to be a little more careful. Even as a young, small cow, she has a good deal of weight on me or my husband so we keep an eye on her especially when she is feeling frisky. But all in all, as this year draws to a close, that ranks pretty high on our list of accomplishments. So, instead of dwelling on the not as pleasant parts of this past year, I think here at Gentle Breeze Farm, we shall deem it the year of the cows. That seems happier to me. 🙂
Happy New Year everyone!
Moo!