Soule: First Calf of 2021 Gets Off to a Shaky Start

Our first 2021 calf, Virginia's daughter, arrived on May 1 and almost met with a tragic end. Here's what happened:
After my calf check turned up empty that morning, I decided the grass was tall enough to move the cows into the adjacent field to graze on the tender, green shoots. The plan was to move the cows and the hay feeder later that day. The hay feeder is a heavy metal contraption that keeps the hay off the ground but accessible to the cows. Because there was still some hay in the feeder, we would move the feeder to the new field so the cows could choose to eat hay or grass.
This calf must have been born right after my calf check. Was Virginia waiting until I left the field to give birth? Did she want privacy? The ways of pregnant cows can be mysterious.

Tragedy Averted; Barely
That afternoon husband Bruce started to move the feeder with the tractor as planned. I was opening the gates to the new pasture when he bellowed my name. I ran, sort of (at 69, running is not my jam), and saw Bruce standing over a muddy lump on the ground, just in front of the feeder. It was a calf, wet and weak, but alive. The calf must have slipped under the feeder when Virginia was eating and could not get out, nor could Virginia reach her.
We put the calf in the tractor bucket and drove her to the holding pen with her concerned mother following along.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, N.H., where she raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products.