Omens

It was just one of those miserable days yesterday. Why you may ask? Lost my first calf for the season all ready. The two-year olds should start calving in almost 4 weeks but yesterday morning guess what? One was just starting to try to calve when we got over there to feed. This is not a good thing this far away from calving.

The hired hand, who I knew up front doesn't have a lot of experience calving, was all excited about it. I told him to calm down that I was sure the calf was all ready dead and she was just "sluffing" it. I've seen this happen quite a few times on the cows where just about 3-4 weeks before you start calving you have a few cows "sluff" their calf. Over the years I've had the vet post some and have never come to a definite conclusion why they do this. The most reasonable theory the vet and I could come up with is it usually happens when it's icy so we assume the cows fall down, the placenta becomes dislodged from the uterine wall, the calf dies and then the cow "sluffs' the dead calf. I've never seen a two-year old do this but usually it's not icy at this time frame like it is right now. I figured this is what was going on and told the hired hand that.

We went ahead and fed since the heifer was just starting and I wanted to let her have some time to "sluff" the calve. A calf this early should be small enough it shouldn't be a problem. Well guess what, it was a problem. Once we were done feeding we checked on her and she still hadn't had it and nothing was showing. This is really bad.

We ran home and got a saddle and calf pulling equipment and went back over to get her in. This all took over an hour before I was riding to get her in. Not a lot of fun horse back riding on ice and slick mud. but we managed to get the heifer in. Once she was in the corral I dabbed a rope on her and snubbed her up to a post and started checking the situation out. Tail first, no legs just the tail. No wonder she couldn't have it.

Now from the time I got on the horse until now it had been raining (In January?) right along and now it changed over to a heavy wet snow. Here I am with my shirtsleeves rolled up standing in the snow and mud, cold and wet except for my arm which is in the heifer up to my shoulder, hot and being squeezed to death by contractions, trying to manipulate the calves feet to pull them up so I can get it out wondering if this is some kind of omen about how calving season is going to go. I definitely hope not. I stood there in the snow getting wetter and wetter for a good 15-20 min trying to get the feet up before I finally managed the feat.

Needless to say I got the calf out and it was dead all ready, had been for a day or two in the womb, so I know what happened. I can't help but wonder what this portends though. Is it just things as normal or an omen that calving season is going to be rough? Time will tell I guess, but I'm going to dread finding out.

There is no such thing as an omen. Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that. Oscar Wilde