Excitement as we wait for our first calves to be born

The excitement is building as in the next few weeks we expect to see at least 4 of our cows deliver our first calves. The second group of cows we bought had ‘run with the bull’ before coming to us and according to the vet back in January at least 4 of the 5 are pregnant.

Cows are pregnant for on average for 40 weeks same as humans. It can vary depending on several factors, such as the breed of the cow (we have Dexters) and the sex of the calf. A cow officially becomes a cow after it has had its first calf before that it is a heffer.

One reason we chose Dexters was that they are said to give birth easily with little intervention needed so we hope to look over the field one morning and find a new arrival or two.

Currently all the expectant mothers seem happy and untroubled. By mid March the fields had recovered enough that we were able to get them back out enjoying the occasional bought of sun and some new grown grass and cover crop.

In the lead up to the births we are checking them at least twice each day and have our ‘midwife kit’ ready should we need to intervene.

Our grandson has a list of names ready for the new arrivals.