Note: This post is VERY graphic. If you do not want to see unedited pictures of birth including blood please do not look below.
February 9, 2012 was a pretty important day for our cow and our farm. We welcomed our first baby calf who does not have a name yet.
Once Momma went into labor she was gated off in the barn. This kept the steers from bothering her and ensured that the baby stays in the barn where it is warmer. 
Poor Momma was off to a bad start from the beginning. She spent quite a while with one hoof out while the other was no where to be seen. Calves should be born with their front feet first. If one foot is backwards it can cause a lot of labor complications. Please remember going into this we knew she could have a very big calf and she is still a small cow. We expected intervention to be necessary and it was. Thankfully we were all there when she was in labor.
My mom stepped up first to feel out the situation. She was able to navigate in and find the other leg and nose/mouth. The legs were twisted a bit making it a little more difficult for effective pushing.
We used chains to help the cow move the baby along.
Getting the chains situated in the right spot (behind the hooves) was difficult because everything was very tight.
Once situated we spent a lot of contractions pulling while the cow pushed. You can see my mom was stretching her to prevent tearing and Jon and my dad and cousin were switching turns at pulling. This calf was a big calf and we have no doubt that without intervention the calf would have been stuck too long to survive.
At this point I had to put the camera down so that I could support the head. The baby started to moo before she was even all the way out! I know she looks a little floppy in the picture but as soon as she was born she started breathing and was very alert. We cleaned out her nose and wiped her down a bit. Poor Momma was exhausted but she did a great job!
I got the fun job of holding her hemorrhoids in while her body slowly contracted them back in. We joked about how “shitty” my job was 
Thankfully her body pulled them back in and we didn’t have any issues with complications or prolapse. That was another strong fear that we had with a big baby.
We carried the baby up by Momma’s face and she went to town sniffing and licking the baby. It’s so amazing to see the maternal instinct kick in instantly.
We spent some time helping to dry the baby off. It was a pretty warm day but she was still shivering so we helped her dry off.
Once Momma was back up on her own feet she helped the baby stand and she took to nursing very quickly. For being such a young mom she is off to an excellent start! She is well tempered and so sweet to both her baby and us!
We’ve evened the score, 2 boys and 2 girls in our herd 
Our baby girl weighed in at 80 pounds and we’re thankful she wasn’t any bigger! She was already running around a jumping a few hours later. We can’t wait to get to know this little girl (and name her)!
Love this! I never get tired of seeing a birth, especially when the outcome is happy like this one. So glad that you were all there to help her and that things went well!
That’s absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Yay! Congratulations! Thanks for sharing the pictures! I love them!
Absolutely the best pictures, yesterday was the day the twin goats were born on our home stead. Didn’t have time to get the Mama goat back to the shed she had them both in the pasture. They are fine it took a wheel barrel ride to get them back to the shed, they are beautiful one female brown and one male white. The Mama goat is brown and white and is a very good Mama. Ellen
Thank you for pictures! How awesome to see!
Congratulations on the new addition to the herd, and yay that Momma’s okay.
Congratulations! You all did a great job! It’s always scary when there’s a birth~so easy for complications. When I got Maxine, I bought a set of chains, and I’m so grateful, I’ve never had to use them. Of course, I still have them…
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