This first time mama had her work cut out for her. And we had another new homestead experience this week. Taffy is a strong girl, but her small frame made this birth a little more difficult than others we’ve seen.
She labored normally for about 5 hours, pacing and pawing at the ground, but when the time came to push out her calf, she struggled tremendously.
Taffy seemed to be getting tired very quickly, which made me think her small frame was giving her trouble moving this calf out.
After an hour of letting her get up, lay down, and reposition herself throughout her labor, I decided it was time to help her. At one point, she lifted her head and looked into my eyes with an expression of “help me!” written all over her face.
All we had were two little hooves, but we got ahold of them and started pulling. Little by little more of the calf would emerge. Finally, I was able to see a little bit of face appear. One of my girls pulled on Taffy’s backside to help the baby inch out a little more and that helped a lot.
And once the head started coming out, the rest came out in one push. But we were really worried about the baby. It wasn’t moving and needing a few seconds of rubbing before we saw movement.
He’s a sweet little guy who has been appropriately named Coal by his adoring fans. Taffy is an amazing mama, and after she took about 5 minutes to regain a little strength, began licking him gently. They are quite the pair! Their bond is sweet and strong, and we are grateful to have another healthy cow on This Humble Homestead.
