Tuesday 14 October 2008

Bessie has some exciting news



Our property has been teeming with domestic animals lately. Our neighbours are having a few problems with wild dogs. One of their calves had been attacked and is being cared for at their place. Since they had another 2 calves who were at risk of further attacks and a heavily pregnant cow, it was decided to move all these animals to our property. Gary and I own 2 donkeys and they make good herd protectors. Donkeys. Well there are a lot of dogs in our neighbourhood, who have developed a very healthy respect for Jack and Bonnie and avoid them like the plague ( Wild dogs included). Anyway we have been observing Bessie the cow for a while and yesterday, the big moment finally arrived. Our cow Clover was calling out and was very upset, as she had lost her best friend. Naturally, I thought it was a bit odd as they are always together. I have been reading up, as to what to expect, with calving etc and knew that a cow would look for a place to have her calf away from the rest of the herd. I believed she must have had it already but this was not the case. I decided to move her into a smaller enclosure near our house, to keep an eye on her. A few hours later around 8.20 AM, I noticed a sack hanging out from her behind and I realised, she was about to give birth. Back to the house to fetch the camera and check on time. Apparently if the calf hasn't arrived within the hour she needs assistance. I have managed to capture the entire birth on film and made some photos as well. It was a beautiful moment. The calf is just very cute and like all babies it just drinks, sleeps and plays a tiny bit. Here are the photos of Bessie and calf.

2 comments:

  1. Leuke foto's en wat een verrassing om dit van zo dicht nabij te kunnen meemaken
    groetjes Rob en coby

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  2. nicely presented,tell us more

    ReplyDelete