Lucky for me, Herb got up feeling okay this morning and turned off my alarm so I was able to catch up on the sleep I lost over Sara last night. Someone goes out to check on her every hour or two, and I'm beginning to think that she's like that proverbial watched pot that never boils!
Here's Sara at about 3:00 this afternoon. It's funny to think that at the beginning of this week we were worried because she didn't even look pregnant! As I uploaded the photo and clicked on "Extra Large" to choose the size, I chuckled to myself. It's a pretty good description of Sara right now!
She let me walk up to her and feed her some apple and take some pictures. She didn't get up until after I went and put more hay in her manger.
Sara walked over to eat the new hay and obligingly let me get some photos.
I think I see some progression in springing (swelling of the vulva); softening and prominence of the tail head; and more prominent pin bones, but it's nice to have previous photos to compare.
When Sara walked over to her manger, the ducks followed her in a line like "Make Way for Ducklings."
It took me a minute to figure out why until I saw their necks snaking out and heard their hissing. They're dining on the flies that took off when Sara moved!
I left Sara peacefully munching hay with the chickens pecking and the ducks gently hissing as they did their job de-flying.
About an hour and a half later, I went out to check on her when Herb went down to check the water tank in the pasture. Sara saw him go by and knew where he was going, and she started bellowing. T-Bone and she carried on quite a conversation for a while.
Springing, though not dramatic. Still a bit of mucus, not alot.
Arching her tail . . .
and mooing back and forth with T-Bone.
When I compare photos from Thursday, her pin bones are more prominent. Here's a cow anatomy diagram.
Lashing her tail (of course, it's hard to know how significant that is during the summer with the flies).
Waddling around. Sorry, no video, you'll just have to take my word for it. It makes me feel sorry for her, poor girl! But right now, Baby is the boss, and everyone has to wait till Baby says "Go!"
She let me walk up to her and feed her some apple and take some pictures. She didn't get up until after I went and put more hay in her manger.
About an hour and a half later, I went out to check on her when Herb went down to check the water tank in the pasture. Sara saw him go by and knew where he was going, and she started bellowing. T-Bone and she carried on quite a conversation for a while.
So nice to see someone else raising bovines with horns.! Your photo essay of signs of impending birth...well done. Hope you catch the actual event
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna. I would LOVE to catch the actual birth, but I'm not holding my breath. Last time Sara calved, my husband was building a fence about 10 feet away. She kept mooing and looking at her side, but she waited till he went into dinner and popped the calf out in less than 2 hours. I just know she was waiting for some privacy, and hey, as a woman I can understand that! :)
ReplyDeleteI know you guys are excited about the new calf that will soon be there. I know I will be when one of my cows has one, I really look forward to that day. Thanks for the cow anatomy diagram, I had no idea what a pin bone was or where it was.
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