The 2023 Spring calving season did not start or end as predicted. Sometimes I must be reminded that I am not in control at all. That is a tough concept for an organizer and perfectionist such as I. This was the first year we have ever had the cows pregnant checked by bloodwork versus the old-fashioned way of physically checking them.
With this new technology (at least for us because it’s been around awhile) how could the facts not be correct? Well, to error is human, right? This was the case for us when the cows #2101 and #2102 somehow got swapped on the check-in paper when the blood was drawn. Barley was bred and Millet was not.
I spent the winter months being a tad disappointed that one of my two of age heifers had not been bred. This was the first time in five years I had integrated in new heifers and would be the last time for quite a long time. I decided that perhaps she was just not ready, and I would give her another year despite losing the productivity of her for a year. This decision was not taken lightly as I had to weigh it against the expense of keeping her fed and cared for during another year without any production of calves from her.
With the five older cows and one heifer being bred this would be the smallest calf births on the ranch since my days began back in 2010. It would also be the first time in many years that we would be expecting calves in later springtime versus winter. I had planned this cycle out so that we would avoid the harshest of the cold months. It was more for us humans than for the cows. They seemed to do fine during the cold snaps but us humans were getting older, and our joints didn’t work as well in the cold.
My main concern by February was my oldest cow, Brownie, who seemed to be ailing. My heart ached as I watched her deteriorate with each passing day. It became quite clear that she had cancer, and her body was failing. She was bred and almost to term and so I sat by her side daily feeling helpless. I just prayed that her pain was low and that she would bounce back after having her calf. My prayers would not be answered, but that is a story for another day.
By April First I was beginning to think that the joke was on me and there would be no calves born at all. The technology of the pregnancy bloodwork is great for a fast simple yes or no, but it doesn’t tell you what the calf due date is. With the physical cow pregnancy checks you have a roundabout notion by the size of the calf head and how big the calf feels. When you stack up the “feel” test with the breeding records I keep you can often get within a few weeks of accuracy. But this new bloodwork technology leaves you in the dark until one morning you look out at daybreak and there’s a fresh calf on the ground.
April 3rd was one of those dates. Ginger was born. A couple days later out popped Pepper. Then lo and behold a week later, early one morning, I looked out the window towards the swale creek and there was Millet with a calf! I did a double take. She must be watching Ginger, or another cow had given birth and was at the creek drinking water and I couldn’t see her. I ran outside without my jacket or muck boots for that matter and down the path I jogged.
I was in complete and udder amazement. Millet the non-bred heifer cow had just given birth to a healthy full-term calf! However, did this happen? The technology of the pregnancy bloodwork tests is 99% accuracy only 14 days after conception. So even with those small windows for error the dates would not have aligned with her giving birth to a full-term calf in April if she was not bred by November 1st.
I named the smudged face calf, Nutmeg, and just smiled all day long at the miracle.
It wasn’t long before calves Sage and Parsley were born. At this point I spoke with the veterinarian, and we determined that tag numbers #2101 and #2102 had been reversed on the pregnancy bloodwork papers. The heifer Barley was not bred. And so, calving season was done.
The month of May sped by. All the calves were healthy and strong. When June arrived, it was time to begin the breeding season again. I decided to put Barley in with the bull again too in hopes that this year she would be bred. If she was not bred over a second year, I would have to sell her. This was upsetting to me as she was the last of Brownie’s line to carry on.
On July 27th, I walked out to the barnyard to feed the barn cats and horse and I was flabbergasted to find Barley next to the barn with a newborn calf in tow. The calf was upright and nursing. What a happy surprise on a hot and sunny morning during the peak of the summer. And so, a little Paprika, topped the calving season. It’s a good thing she’s a little spit fire. She’s three months younger than any of the other calves and must be quick and agile to keep up with them.
I’m still pondering whether to use the cow pregnancy bloodwork tests this year. Was the knowledge helpful? Yes, but it wasn’t without fault. What if I had not chosen to keep both Millet and Barley one more year to see if they could get bred? I would have missed out on both calves. Yikes! Technology is wonderful. I’m sitting in my living room typing wirelessly on a super-fast WIFI connection in rural America as I roll this blog out. But technology isn’t without fault and sometimes you just must do things the old-fashioned way to be foolproof.
What happy surprise-twice.