Night Check

We couldn’t sleep. Again. As usual.

Might as well go check cows. No point in laying here not sleeping as long as we’re also calving.

It was warm, for an early morning in March. Above freezing. The sun was starting to peak over the horizon. Summer is nearly here, getting light so early. But not quite light enough to be able to see the cows clearly. We brought along lights anyway.

Nothing new in the heifer pen. Just cows laying around sleeping or chewing their cud.

One cow looking like she’s getting ready to start in the cow pen. A lot more to check here. Bigger pen, more cows. A calf born yesterday here. A cow standing around there. A cow laying down that gets up as we go by. Some are more nervous than others about us walking through. A pile of poop behind her as she stands. Cows can build mountains of poop if they lay in one spot long. Eating, chewing, pooping, and the mountain grows.

But. This pile was wet. Slimy. It reflected back the glow of our lights in sparkles. It was a calf! They can be hard to tell from the poop sometimes. A brand new calf. She must have had him seconds before we walked through and the cow hadn’t gotten up yet. Now she was up and she wasn’t cheerful.

In the quick flash of our light over her ear tag I recognized her. Number 2 317. The heifer to commemorate 317s 10th year. 317 was a good cow, but never a quiet cow. Although she is settling with age her calves are getting crazier each year. The last one I didn’t keep, not even as much as I love the cow. The heifer was crashing into fences and on the fight just from the light pressure of me sorting as I chose heifers. The others stood quietly and calm.

The shine pool of calf laid there on the ground still and unmoving. The cow bellered relentlessly pacing around it. Upset by the lights. Upset we were there. I wanted to bad to make sure the calf was alive. That the bag was off his nose and he could breath. That his neck wasn’t kinked causing him to suffocate under his own weight. The cow made it clear that wasn’t happening.

Lights off I moved for a better view. Again and again, trying to see some sign he was alive. Trying to stay far enough away not to be eaten. Finally the glow of his eyes reflecting back at me flashed. He had blinked. Then again. He was alive. We were not sticking around.

In the far corner another new calf. This one older, up and moving around. A white spot marked his forehead. Moving a bit too much. Spooked by us he jumped and crashed into the fence with a resounding clang. His mom bellered. The cow behind us with the new calf bellered. The white face calf bolted crashed into the fence again. His mom took after him in coyote mode. We were in the middle. In the dark, mostly. A cow on each side screaming loudly.

I admit to cowering against my husband. In the flash of lights through the dark, noise and commotion from each side and not sure if there was a threat or where it would come from it was hard to figure out where to run too.

He took my hand and walked calmly forward. The white face calf stopped bouncing off the fences. 2 317 stayed over her calf calling frantically for him to get up. We walked through the rest of the cows quietly. Most of them seeing no reason to rise from their comfortable positions.

I swung over to make sure 2 317’s calf was alive. He had his head up and was starting to come alive. We would very happily leave her in peace.

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