We’ve been busy….

…both on and off the farm.  But here’s our pre-occupation right now at Thistle Hill:  welcoming new calves to our world.  It’s the most special time of the year.  This is our seventeenth calf so far, a heifer, by one of our best cows.  The sire is U2, which means she has Rotokawa 974 in her blood.

The calf is still wet and a bit wobbly.  Wobbly is good when you have to tag a new-born.  A few more hours and she would have been too “mobile” to catch and we would have had to wait to catch her sleeping.  A tag snapped into your ear comes under the heading of “rude awakening”.

At least with Devon cattle you don’t have to deal with a defensive mother.  In fact, most often they seem to be encouraging their newborn to hold still.  It only hurts for a moment.  Like a shot for a baby.

We’ve had a preponderance of bull calves so far this year but the recent births have begun to even the ratio.