Birth on the farm…..A Dairy Cow’s Birth Story

On a sunny Sunday morning…

The second the light came through my window, I started my day the same way as I had the past 4 mornings. I threw on my jacket and bolted out the door to check on Belle. Nope…no calf at her side. By this point I had googled “signs your cow is in labor” at least 1000 times. The signs were all there, but not the calf. I climbed back in bed to savor a few more moments of warmth while my husband made us a fresh cup of french press coffee before getting breakfast together and picking out clothes for the children to wear to church.

While I was getting the kids into the car, and checking to make sure they both had the right shoes, Trent let the animals into the back pasture for the day. He came back and noted that Belle had a little clear discharge, but I lightly dismissed it saying she’d had that a couple of times before in the past few days. She was acting totally normal this morning and went right to grazing beside the sheep just like she does everyday.

After church we stopped by the grocery store for a few things and headed home to make lunch and have a rather relaxed day. As soon as we turned the corner of the driveway I could see Belle under the trees in the back of the pasture. I thought I saw her tail up so we quickly jumped out of the car, Trent grabbing the binoculars to check. I didn’t even wait for him to report back what he saw. I was already in the house taking off my clothes and throwing on sweat pants and a sweater. A whole 30 seconds later I came out of the house with camera in hand, slipped on my boots and ran towards the back field. Trent would probably say that I didn’t really run, but being 7.5 months pregnant I think I went pretty fast.

I kept yelling at him to hurry up ” I think Belle is in labor!” Being that it probably rained for the past week straight, the fields were incredibly wet and ankle deep in some places. Getting to her really was not the easiest thing for a big pregnant lady but when I made it to the dry clearing behind the trees, I saw it. A tiny glistening calf who had just slipped out of her mama.

Belle was doing a great job licking and stimulating her calf. We must have just missed the actual birth by a minute or so. I didn’t want to approach Belle too quickly so Trent and I stood several feet away from her for a while as she was licking and nudging the newborn calf. It was truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and amazing how strong the maternal instinct is. After twenty minutes or so, or maybe it was even less than that, the calf started trying to stand.

Belle was nudging her along and it was the cutest thing ever! It only took a few tries and falls before soon she was standing quite well on her own!

At this point I felt brave enough to approach them and see how Belle would react. She did great and was totally trusting of us being near both her and her calf. The calf started bumping her nose all along the underside of Belle’s belly, looking for a teat to nurse. With a little help and guidance, she quickly found the teat and was sucking away. It all came so easy and naturally!

She got the hang of it real quick!

That night they spent the night together in the barn and have been together every moment since. Both mama Belle and her sweet heifer calf Camille are doing great! Today, four days later Belle’s milk is coming in well with no signs of any problems.

We are so incredibly blessed!