Warning: This is LONG!
Well, we'll probably shorten it to Stewie.
Just before 9am yesterday, I headed out to do chores and prep for chicken butchering. I glanced up at the barnyard and saw Buttercup lowering herself to lie down. Less than five minutes later, I came out the basement door and saw her get up and walk around, seeming very agitated, so I went up for a visit. While there, she had a contraction, so I knew we weren't too far off.
I went ahead and fed all the animals and Buttercup heartily ate her breakfast, but I could tell she was really uncomfortable. She would eat, but then walk away, stop and hunch up for a contraction. The pigs needed a heated water bucket installed, so I went ahead and worked on that, but she hadn't advanced much by the time I was done. Frank got home at about 11am, so I changed into my tennis shoes to help him bring groceries in. As I got to the truck, I could tell that something was going on, so I went back up for another peek at the cow and could see one little hoof and a bubble of the amniotic sac poking out.
I hollered at Frank and he let Rachel know. I could see that the calf was turned a bit, as the hooves were coming out on the side of her vulva, rather than at the bottom, so I called my friend for some advice. At that point, I couldn't tell if they were front or back hooves, so Amy said I should reach in and feel for the nose. Butter wouldn't let me anywhere near her back end, though, so I had to wait.
After about ten minutes of hard pushing and not much advancement, I approached her again and she allowed me to help. The hooves appeared crossed, so I uncrossed them, she gave a push and a tongue and nose appeared! She pushed 3-4 more times without advancement, so I decided to give her a little help, pulling firmly but gently down toward her hocks. It took a few more pushes for his shoulders to come free of her pelvis and then I knew she didn't need any more of my help.
Poor little guy was born in 20 degrees and wind, so I towelled him off while Butter was indulging in three! buckets of molasses water. He was still damp, even after towelling and being licked by momma, so after about 30 minutes, we gradually moved him up to the barn. I bribed Butter with a bucket of sweet feed while Frank carried the little guy. She'd get to the barn door and get suspicious, so Frank would quickly put him down and back away.
Eventually, though, we got him in under the heat lamp that Frank hung. We put alfalfa hay in the barn to encourage Butter to stay there with him, then we left them, as she didn't want to stay in the barn while we were there. About an hour and a half after he was born, I looked up to see him nursing.
I milked out about six cups of colostrum last night, just to relieve her udder just a bit. Her left front quarter didn't have much in it, so he is eating really well. I checked on them a couple of times during the evening and noted that every time he got up, so would she, he'd work his way around to his favorite spigot and get a tummy full.
She's such a good momma and I'm so thankful that the Lord brought us such a sweet cow. She gets agitated when she can't see him, but she's never been aggressive towards us for helping. I can't ask for much more than that.
BTW, he is named Stewart because he was due on Grandma's birthday and that was her maiden name. He was born two days late, but I still wanted to honor her with this calf. If he'd been a heifer, he would have been named Marie.