This is Peanut's 2022 birth story. We suspected Peanut was a first time heifer, and she pulled out the full drama mama to make sure we all knew. The last 2 weeks before calving, Peanut regaled us with her uncomfortable preggers poses. On one hand I could relate, on the other ... come on Peanut!
Once labor started, Peanut was very dramatic. She paced and paced and paced, squatted during contractions instead of lying down, and pressed her nose on the water trough. (Nose pressing #WhatIKnowNow) Our mentor from RCM Miniature Cattle said sometimes first time heifers have trouble committing to the birth. Not sure what exactly that means, but it seems about right lol.
After almost 3 hours total, Peanut did one pregnant flop on the ground and baby popped out in one fell swoop! The bags were both still intact so we rushed in to strip them off of baby's face. Peanut just lay there. Stunned. Exhausted. Disinterested. Who knows!
Peanut eventually got up. And went straight to cleaning up ... the area, not baby. But baby did all the right baby calf fish flops, and eventually Peanut got down to business cleaning him up and getting all the meconium staining off of him. (Meconium staining #WhatIKnowNow)
Baby Thor (named because he was born in a thunderstorm), was up and nursing within 30
minutes of being born, which is perfect timing! It's quite amazing to me how animals are born with the right instincts. Peanut may not have quite known how hard to lick her baby's rump to stimulate nursing (she licked him really hard and knocked him down more than a few times), but she knew she was somehow supposed to nudge him into position and lick on him.
Peanut still has a bit of learning to do. We have the luxury of keeping our cow calf pairs in the maternity pen for a bit. And one day I guess Peanut was ready for a break. Somehow, she convinced Marianne to swap places with her!
In the end all is well. Peanut has successfully bonded with Thor. And Thor loves his mama. We're so grateful for another healthy, happy calf at Bossy Boots Ranch!
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