Calving time

It's calving time here in the Sandhills. Our production time, if you will. Mama cows are spittin' out babies. It is my favorite time of year. I never tire of seeing the miracle that is birth. I have probably seen and/or assisted thousands of calves born over my lifetime and it just never gets old. One of the things that is most amazing is the way a heifer (a young female that has not yet given birth) starts out the day as a young, dumb, 2 year old and on the day she gives birth, she ends the day as a "Mom". Probably 98 percent of the time, those heifers jump up and start licking that little calf and coaxing it to get up and have its first breakfast. And I never tire of watching Junior, barely out of his mama, starting to try to get up. It is one of those miracles I referred to yesterday. And I just never get tired of seeing it....

There are occasional obstacles that come with calving. The weather is the biggest one. During this time of year, we become very well acquainted with the television weather man. If a snowstorm is moving in, we need to get the cows that might calve in behind cover in the form of cedar tree windbreaks. These windbreaks are a God send during this time of year. I don't know how many calves we have saved because my family had the good sense to plant trees......but I would venture to guess a lot.

A calf can survive just about anything if it has stood and nursed from Mama's good milk. Another amazing thing about cattle. They are tough. And I do mean tough. A calf's instinct is to stand and suck and then to follow. Very shortly after birth, Junior can and will follow Mama just about anywhere if he has had a cup or two of warm milk in his belly. As long as a calf has stood and sucked before a storm hits, you can be almost certain it will survive. So our main concern is turned to the cows that might calve during the storm. We have to rely on the cows to take care of the babies already on the ground until after the storm subsides. Then we do our level best to make everybody as comfortable as possible. During the storm we are checking on the cows that might be calving and making sure any calf born during the storm has the best chance we can give it to survive. Fortunately, most cows are smart. Their instinct is to be out of the wind and take care of their calf. And that is another miracle in itself.