A Christmas Calf

Maggie, the oldest and biggest (and fattest) of the Highland Scottish Cattle delivered herself of a tiny brown calf just minutes (apparently) before we arrived with a bag of fruit and vegetable scraps for the little herd.

We had beaucoup snow yesterday and the poor little thing was lying in the snow. She kept trying to push it to it's feet and it didn't stand up, so I am worried about the calf's health. This is not a good time to produce a calf, but Maggie is huge and the farmer says that the cows get fat around their ovaries which causes them to give birth and inopportune times, like December 15th.

We drove in to tell the farmer who was out buying a Christmas tree, according to his wife, but he arrived just as we were leaving with his son and half-blind dog in the cab of the pickup with a tree in the back. 50 minutes later the calf was still in the snow and so I don't know what's going on. We fed the cows a loaf of stuffing bread, having feed the ducks and geese some cracked corn. Maggie kept bellowing, but she wouldn't leave the calf, constantly licking it. It was alive but didn't seem very perky.

So now I have something new to worry about. Years ago a calf was born in March in a big snowstorm and all the cows crowded around to keep it warm, but that wasn't happening today.

These calves are so sweet with their big eyes and long lashes and friskiness and essence of cow. Let's wish the tiny creature well.

Grapeshot