When the Cows Come Home

A good friend of ours raises cattle on his land. The other night I was told one of his cows had a calf. She was having a difficult time with the birth so he went into the field and delivered the baby. He said he had to tie a rope around the legs of the calf and help pull him out.

The next day we were having lunch at his house and visiting for a few hours. When it was time to leave, I saw him preparing a needle of antibiotic to give the calf. I asked if I would be able to go out and see the calf and he told me that I was welcome to tag along.

The closest I have ever been to cows before was looking through the farm fence. Sure sometimes they come up to the fence and see you, but you always know that fence is there.

On this day I found myself walking across their field. It was late in the afternoon and it was getting colder. We passed through one gate and around another. About five cows walked toward us. They were mooing. They were getting within fifty feet and still coming. When they would moo, you could see their breath in the cold. It looked like steam coming from their nostrils. As we walked along the fence line toward the calf, I could feel that a cow was following us. I must have been visibly anxious about it because my friend laughed a bit and said that they wouldn't bother us. We stopped and I turned around. This is what I saw:

You can see that more were on the way. They probably were hoping we would feed them. That wasn't going to be the case for that visit.

He gave the calf her shot and then tried to determine if he had been eating yet. We had carried a bottle of milk out there, but the calf refused to take it. The baby was sitting under the mom's chin and she was very protective of her baby. Everything we did, you could see the mom watching us. She would use her head and push Bill's hands away a bit.

After we determined the calf was doing pretty good for his first day of life, we headed back to the house. Of course, the cows turned and followed us. About half way back they lost interest and we were walking across the fields alone. I told Bill that I'm sure it's just an every day thing for him to walk out there with those cows, but it was so exciting for a city guy like myself.

He told me maybe some day I could come out and help with a birth. THAT would be incredible. But if I'm really going to help, I'll leave the camera back at the house.