Last weekend we went out to the Circle Field on the ranch to see the heifers. Heifers are first time moms, and they are starting to calve. In fact, quite a few had already had their babies. I always feel a special connection with the heifers right around Desert Girl's birthday (also this last weekend), because both cows and humans are pregnant for nine months. We don't have too much else in common (oh my, that could be the subject of another post!).
We drove around, checking out the heifers and their calves.
This little calf--reddish in color, caught my eye. Most of the heifers are artificially inseminated with black angus semen, as the black angus do well in our climate. Some red angus genes may be mixed in with this calf.
It was a cloudy day, and the whole scene was a little surreal.
Many of the calves were nursing.
We even found a newly born calf (no ear tag). The mama was licking the calf, cleaning it and stimulating it to breathe well and soon to eat. Those little babies (about 40 pounds) sure are cute!
This older calf was a little frisky, running through the snow.
Run, little calf, run and play!
I was following along with my camera, not looking ahead, so when I saw this reunion between the calf and its mama, it caught me by surprise. The little calf knew exactly where to go!
Every few days the cowboys move the calves with their mamas to a different pasture so that it's easier to take care of the newborn calves.
1 comment:
Looks cold!!
I guess they are up to it.
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