Double Trouble, Double Cute, Double Calves!

In like a lion, out like a lamb – that’s just supposed to refer to the weather in March, right?

Well, March dished out some excitement for us a couple of weeks ago, just a few days after we returned home from our spring break trip.

Todd was out at the farm on a Saturday for an on-farm pick up day. Usually on the weekends, we go out and do minimal chores so we can devote time to non-farm aspects of life, but Todd stayed a little longer that day.

He went out to check the cattle and noticed that Bossy (one of our best momma cows) looked like she might be in labor. And she looked tired. She’s never had a problem calving before, but Todd decided to stay and check back on her in half an hour.

When he went back to check and she looked even more tired and maybe like she was struggling, but he allowed her the space to do the hard work of calving by herself, and decided to check back in about 10 more minutes.

And we are so glad that he did! By this point, Bossy was completely exhausted and lying down – and acting like she didn’t have much left to give. She let Todd close to her, and with all of his strength, he grabbed the hooves that were sticking out and pulled hard. He could feel Bossy pushing as he assisted her. Todd tells me his strength came purely from adrenaline at that point.

The bull calf came out successfully, but Bossy was too tired to stand (not a normal thing for a healthy cow after birth!) and tend to her calf. Todd rubbed on the calf, also exhausted from a somewhat difficult birth, until it took its first gulp of air. Relieved, Todd turned to look at Bossy, only to see another set of hooves coming out! While some dairy cows are known for twins, only about 1 in 200 births to beef cattle result in twins. We (well, probably not Bossy) were completely caught off guard! 

At this point, I know that both Todd and Bossy had to dig deep. He grabbed the twin’s hooves and pulled – with Bossy doing her part and pushing – and another healthy bull calf was born. He took his first breath much more quickly. As soon as Todd could catch his own breath, he called me. The kids and I turned on a dime as we dropped everything and began to gather supplies (colostrum replacer being what we thought most critical!).  

We made it to the farm, and aside from Bossy having a limp, everyone was doing ok. Bossy was tending to both babies and kept a watchful eye on us. We managed to move Bossy and the twins to the corral where we could watch them closely and allow them a quiet space to bond. Between exhaustion, pain, and bothersome humans – Bossy was fairly agitated and wouldn’t stand still for the babies to nurse. We put her in the squeeze shoot so that she would stand still and brought each calf up to her. Both calves nursed successfully, and Bossy remained calm the entire time. We turned them back into the corral, gave Bossy a pan of alfalfa cubes and some salt/minerals, and let them be. We had many unknowns at this point – if Bossy could produce enough milk for both calves, if both calves would thrive, if everyone would remain healthy.

I’m happy to report that Bossy has once again proven herself as the best mother we have at the farm. She has tended to both babies, and enjoyed the attention and extra alfalfa from her humans. She also proved my concern that we’d have to supplement the calves completely unfounded – each calf received only one supplemental bottle, and after that, they both seemed to get what they needed just from Bossy.  

We decided that because both calves were plenty strong and that Bossy wasn’t experiencing pain any longer, the time had come to let them out of the corral.  

Their joy was palpable! Bossy led the romping, kicking calves straight to the rest of the herd. Everyone is where they should be – grazing on grass and among the other cattle. 

Farming often presents difficult moments, and we are incredibly thankful when the outcome is as good as the birth of these twins. It is always a joy to be able to share these special moments with you.