Blossom

   Blossom had her calf yesterday.  Farm partner saw her out in the little swamp with the sac poking out of her rear.  He came to find me at the house with the kid and we made a plan to meet back there after his next load of compost.  When we met up again Blossom was licking a healthy little bull calf.  He was all slimy and wobbly like they are, with bright eyes and obvious determination to master his legs enough to stand up and get himself some milk.  Thank God the sun felt warm and it was early in the day, but partner wondered aloud why she had looked so incredibly wide earlier and Blossom’s behavior now indicated that she might not be done.  Twins?  So we made another plan to let her relax and have a good opportunity to move the second baby out, then we would walk her across the road to our primary pasture with the milk cows.  

     Partner moved many more loads of compost from the barn, spreading it on the hay field.  I gathered the garlic to plant for next year’s harvest.  Child did not want to go to the hill garden and I gave us both a pep talk about how we use the garlic to flavor our beef jerky and our pork sausage.  He came along willingly and we brought a cat with us too.  What a gorgeous day.  Then we found papa encouraging Blossom and her new calf out of the swamp and towards the road.  He had seen feet when he first arrived and he guessed they were back feet.  Blossom needed help.  I put a twine halter on the little guy and partner got Blossom moving down the road to the next gate.  I love living on a dirt road.  We let them free in the primary pasture and went home to change clothes and put the tractor away.  

     I found her close to where she was last seen, laying down pushing with feet poking out.  By this time the bulls and young cows had come over to investigate so we started moving her towards the milk house where she could be away from them and we could tie her up.  My anxiety was real high by this time.  It was basically dark and I like it so much better when the calf just comes out all easy and natural and we don’t even participate.  90% of the time we walk out to the pasture in the morning to get the milk cows and there’s a new calf standing up looking at us all wide eyed and full of milk.  That’s how I like things.  And I totally trust partner to handle everything.  He has pulled countless calves in his 40 + years of dairy farming so the pressure to save the cow’s life is not on me.  It’s a strange dynamic.  We work well together in these situations.  Again, thank God Blossom walked to the milk house nice and easy and left her slow, sleepy bull calf out in the pasture.  She seemed to have good energy which was reassuring.  

     The child was so helpful in the process too.  He followed us and then ran ahead to his safe spot in the hay feeder.  When we got up there I told him we’d need the flashlights in the milk house and he proudly ran ahead and met us there with both lights.  We got a halter on Blossom and tied her up real easy.  I massaged her back and cried a little while papa got himself a pail of soapy water.  She was quite calm and receptive to our plans.  Papa pulled a foot out and broke the sac and I got a piece of twine around it.  I held tension on that leg while papa got the second, back foot out.  We put a towel on the twine to protect our hands and we pulled.  Blossom was pushing and it wasn’t long before the calf was out far enough that I let myself breathe and know that we were almost done.  I imagined the calf was dead but I really wanted Blossom to be ok so it made every thing we did well worth the effort.  A few more pulls and then that glorious, fantastic event of the calf slipping out of the mother.  Now she was free.  I was free.  She could go back out to the pasture and care for her healthy bull calf and I could go back to my simple life where things are generally easy and not scary and bloody and life threatening.  That’s how I like things.