We Have a Boy!!

I came home tonight to see Bridgit at the paddock fence looking intent, and Sheila no where to be seen...but softly mooing. On a hunch, I made up their beet pulp buckets and walked out in my boots, and there was Sheila, standing protectively next to a good sized calf! I could have jumped for joy! I went out to say "hi," but sensed Sheila was feeling protective (and the head-down step she took toward me said plenty, too), so I coaxed her to the hay pile for her bucket of beet pulp and left her.

Paul came home shortly after and we went out with our supplies, deciding to go around the back of the paddock through the pasture to the back fence. We dropped our supplies over the fence next to the baby while Sheila talked to us annoyed-like with her mouth full of placenta (they usually eat the placenta to destroy the scent of birth...not a bad idea given we could hear a coyote off in the distance).

Paul roped Sheila's horns and got her into a barn stall while I dipped the baby's navel in iodine and toweled him off a bit. He wasn't sopping wet, but not dry, either...he felt kind of soapy. All that hair! He's got wee little ivory hooves and a pale nose. He's probably red, although he could get his dad's mahogany coloring, which won't show up for several weeks. I weighed him: 80 pounds. Not bad!

He's not named, and in fact we're not even sure he's nursed yet, which has me worried as they are born without immunity and need their mother's colostrum (or a good substitue) within the first 24 hours or they are likely to succumb to illness. We're on high alert. But oh, so excited!!

It's too dark for photos, but I'll post some when I can!

Wonder what Bridgit will have??