Cowgirl Up

February marks the beginning of calving season on the farm when all the momma cows are having lots of baby cows. Because momma cows sometimes have trouble birthing the baby cows, Josh is constantly out in the fields checking on the cows to try and minimize any losses. Well, the other day one of the cows gave birth to an 130 pound calf which is HUGE (normal is around 70 pounds)!!! This calf was it's momma's first baby and she had a lot of trouble having it - Josh had to "pull it" in fact (i.e. pull the baby out of the momma with his hands - yuck!). The night after she had the baby calf, Josh and I went out to check on the momma only to find that her lady parts had prolapsed (e.g. her uterus fell out). So, we had to load up the momma and the baby on the trailer and haul them up to the barn so Josh could try to keep the momma and baby alive. Sounds simple enough right - wrong!!

Josh's dad usually helps him with tasks such as these, but he was out of town for this particular fun so I was the next in line as the designated farm hand. Josh picked up the momma cow with the tractor - lady parts hanging out and all (this made me gag) - and put her on the trailer. But the baby calf who was moving around pretty good at this point, had to ride in the back of the truck with someone sitting on top of it so it didn't go crazy and try to jump out of the truck while we are driving down the road. Do you see where I am going with this story? Who was nominated to sit on the baby calf as we drive down the road? You guessed it - ME!!

Now, keep in mind that this calf weighs almost as much as I do. I like to think I am pretty strong, but let's face it I am a girl and am not into wrestling baby cows. But, I suck it up and try my best anyway. I plop myself down on this calf as we bump along down the road praying that this calf does not go crazy and buck me out of the truck! As it turned out, the calf stayed pretty calm and only tried to get up a couple of times. It did, however, pee all over me which was pretty gross, but at least I lived to tell the story!

Sadly, both the momma and baby died after a few days. We pretty much expected the momma to die after she prolapsed - not much you can do for that, but we were hoping the baby might live if Josh could get it to bottle feed. He was pretty weak after a day without food and just wouldn't take the bottle so he eventually died as well. Sad, but that's life in the cattle business unfortunately.