Another ... Little Calf

Calf number two came yesterday afternoon with no problems (this seems to be the trend with Dexters from what I've experienced and heard). This little girl (yep, it is a heifer) picked a great day to be born with a temperature in the mid 50's and plenty of sun. In fact there was even some dry ground for them to get out on. It was nice to watch this little girl bound around the pasture so quickly after she was born ... it never ceases to amaze me how quickly they get going.

I've include the picture here because people often ask about the size of our Dexters. As you can see the newest calf is just a bit over knee high and probably weighs between 20 and 30 pounds (I'm just guessing). The black cow in the background is the mother and this was her second calf. She is pretty much average sized for Dexters I would say ... maybe on the slightly taller end of the scale. We have a couple cows bigger and a couple cows that are smaller. This calf was from a smaller bull, but I would say that she is pretty much average in her size and weight compared to the other calves we have had.

I'm expecting four or five more calves this spring. It seems like I should have a better idea of how many calves we will have, but there is one cow that hasn't had a calf on our farm yet and I think it's been a while since she had a cow period. We bought her with a group of cows, but if she doesn't calve this year she is gone ... I gave her a pass last year because of some issues we had moving animals around and exposing them to the bull.

Hopefully we'll throw a few more bull calves as the calving progresses so we can start building some beef inventory!

Not Exactly Spring

Last year for various reasons there were a couple cows (although one cow hasn't had a calf for a few years as far as I know and I'm still not convinced she is bred) that did not have a calf. Because of that (and the joys of setting up a farm on the fly) our calving has begun already. We were shooting for calves when the grass was green, but I guess now we are having them when we are dreaming of green grass! Nonetheless, cow and calf seem to be doing fine and I hope things continue down that direction.

The little bull calf was born early this afternoon inside the shed. As I was doing chores this morning I noticed some tell-tale signs that she would be calving soon and guessed that today was going to be the day (I had know she was getting close for a bit now). So, I decided to separate her from the rest of the herd inside and throw in plenty of bedding for the cow and the soon to be calf on the ground. It seems like it was just another carefree Dexter birth!

I am still amazed at how little these calves are when they come out ... and so very cute looking! As you can see this little guys is black and in the picture he was still getting his cleaning from momma. Also, while I was out there I was able to see him eating. I'm always glad to see that when we have a bull calf because for some reason the few bull calves we have had haven't been as smart about the whole eating thing! But, this guy has it figured out.

Hopefully we'll have a few more calves to come ... But, I'm perfectly okay for them to wait until it is a bit warmer out!