Makenzie Had Her Calf

Monday, August 24, 2020
Hello friends,
              The days are getting shorter.  Yes, it’s still summer as evidenced by the warm weather, but there are cooler nights.  We finish evening chores about 7:30 and there is not as much daylight now to play in the yard before dark.  When we get up in the morning, it’s not light yet like it was just a month ago.  The kids are going back to school in some fashion and everyone is getting ready for fall.
              Makenzie had her calf on Saturday morning!  A cute little heifer we have been calling Kelce.  We were already on calf watch since her due date was Sunday, so when we went to get the cows out of lane 7, Madison and I were looking for any cow not with the group.  There was Makenzie laying down resting, or passing her placenta, not sure which, and Billie Jean is standing by a wet clump of calf with perky little ears.  Billie Jean is due in about a month and her maternal instincts kicked into high gear.  We could not convince her that it was not her calf and she should follow the herd back to the creamery.  It took three of us chasing back and forth as she kept doubling back and trying the end-around to get past us.  Then she mooed and mooed most of the day.  She had it bad.  Things have settled down now, but even the real mother was not that attached to that baby.  Makenzie is still giving transitional colostrum and I have some of that first rich stuff in the fridge if you want some.  If things go as planned, she should be milking on-line by Thursday!…….