Joy Continued...

Wednesday Morn:
I have class in an hour, its 8 am, and I absolutely can't be late. You see, my WR 214 prof. put this lovely little addition to the grading of our final presentations. If we are late, she will dock points from our individual grade for the presentation. LAME!

I quickly changed out of my pajamas and dress(see previous post for an idea of this outfit). I chuck some hay into the wheelbarrow and grab a 5olb sack of grain and head towards the pasture. Once inside I must trudge-not walk-through mud about 6 inches high after freezing almost entirely towards the trough/hay rack. It's a way to burn calories in the freezing cold, let me tell ya. While in the pasture I do my normal round of checking for mucous on rear ends, enlarged/elongated nipples, softening of the vulva(the area on the outside), and bagging of milk. Anne checked out ok, nothing out of the norm. Penny and Pansy; same thing.

Ebony however; entirely different story. Her nipples are swollen, she's walking incredibly slow, and holding her tail as if she is trying to prevent the calf from coming out. I HAVE CLASS IN LESS THAN AN HOUR NOW! The world is not always so nice to us. I deliver the news and delegate to amazing sisters. I hightail it to WR 214, half an hour late to a 50 min. lecture so I can turn in the papter I worked so hard on. Was it worth it? Iuno.

From what I was told the calf was born around noon on December 2 in the mud that was icy. After my sisters getting stuck in the mud three different times carrying, what they didn't know was an 8o lb bull, calf out of pasture. They are amazing I must say.

When I got home all I had to do was deliver some colostrum to the calf, and halter mom. She's a pasture cow and hasn't had a halter on in about a year. We managed to get here tied up to the side of the barn and calm, with feed, hay, water, and her healthy baby bull.

Despite the physical exhaustion, frustration, and cram studying for next week's finals all is well on the farm. It's days like the past two that put joy back into the hardwork of tilling a garden, driving t-posts into the grown, getting shocked my hotwire, and landing ass backwards in mud. I don't mind how crazy it all seems, because I am a little crazy and I'm really enjoying this. Till next time!

Btw: His name is Buddy Holly, after a rock legend!

-Goose