Baby Swimmer

I helped deliver a baby boy the other night!  It was a very intense delivery and my first time helping to actually deliver the calf (I've watched a bunch of times before).  A first-time mother was having a very big boy, it took us a little over half an hour to get him out and we weren't sure he would survive such a long birth.  But he did, and he could be one very special baby boy.  We're hoping that he tests well genomically.

Trying to stand up already

Didn't quite make it, maybe next time.

You may wonder why we separate the calf and it's mother so soon after birth.  There are a few answers to this question: 1) the mother cow can pass along a disease to her baby, 2) she could accidentally step on or lay on her calf and injure of kill it, and 3) we also want the cow to eat and drink to gain back her strength after the delivery.  So we want to keep both mother and baby safe and comfortable.

After the baby is born we also feed it 2 bottles of colostrum (a new mother's milk).  They are always really hungry after they're born.  And this is easier and safer to do for the human and calf when the mother is separate.

A few days later, he's still cute and is walking very well.