You can definitely tell what time of year it is because the posts on Cattle Call have been real thin lately.  Most of us are calving and I guess the college kids are gearing up for spring break.  Calving is going well here so far.  With all the blizzards we’ve had here this winter I am calving in the most insane mud I’ve ever seen.

We had this one birth that caused me to reflect back to years ago.  This cow was acting funny most all morning.  My dad decided to get her in and palpate.  What he found led him to call me. I was at the other place feeding cattle and when I answered my phone and he said “I have two heads and two feet.  Come help.”

When I got over there I felt three feet and two heads.  I found a fourth foot after reaching around for a bit and figured out whose appendages went with the first head.  We pulled that one out and when I bent down to get the straps off the first calf, the cow pushed the second out on top of me.

My dad congratulated me on a job well done.  This for some reason made me realize how good my skills have gotten.  I remembered the first time my dad had me pull a calf on my own.  The details are a little fuzzy now, seeing how it was about 17 years ago.  The calf had an abnormal presentation, and dad figured it was dead and would make a good learning experience for me. 

This was the first time I ever had to put my hand inside a cow.  I was nervous, and a little apprehensive.  But dang it, I was a cowboy after all and I couldn’t back out right?  I put the sleeves on and felt around while dad talked me through what I should be doing.  It was a lot of work to get everything aligned just right.  My arms were burning from being so worn out.   After getting the straps on the calf’s feet dad helped me pull the calf out.

I remember feeling so relieved to have that over.  Having my arm inside a cow felt weird.  We were both amazed when the calf started to shake its head and gasp for air.  I felt a special pride every time I looked at that calf, knowing that I helped to save him.

The new twins are doing fine.  All of us here feel some kind of attachment to them.  I took this picture of them on my Blackberry just moments after they were born.