Friday, February 22, 2008

Mama Cow & Baby Calf, seconds after birth!

Pops came in this morning and told Grandma to give me a call, he knew that I'd been wanting to record a live birth for quite sometime now, but in the last few years none of the cows have really had need for humans to be standing around. He just happened to be checking on them this morning and he saw that this one was pretty close.

I whistled on over there, camera in hand, all ready. I stopped at Grandma's and spoke with her for just a few minutes as we eye-balled up the cow from quite a distance away. You could see her water bag hanging, so I rushed to the gate to get out to the field. The darn gate! If I wasn't so anal about closing gates I would have seen the birth... but I arrived seconds after this Mama cow gave birth... darnit!

It was still quite the scene to see. A brand new calf, barely able to see, and Mama cow prodding and licking her newborn to life. I've included a short video at the end of the pictures.


What a cutie!




The calf doesn't look so impressed in this picture:



A video of Mama taking care of her baby. The calf struggles to stand while another cow comes over to check things out.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The video is so awesaome. watched it 3 times

Anonymous said...

Wonderful photos and video. It is so cool how the animals have there ways and little ones walk so early. Cows are so curious and social so after the big event they like to check things out.

Vickie said...

Kansas, How precious! I love all your pictures. What kind of camera do you have? I need to invest in a better one.

KansasA said...

Hi Vickie...
I have a Canon Powershot SD900 and I love it! It's so tiny compared to my old Kodak, I can slip it into my pocket or hang it with a clip off my purse so I seldom leave home without it. One of the main things I do when taking close-ups is turn off the flash, use a lamp or natural light, and change to tungsten... makes for super nice macro shots. A mini-tripod works wonders too! As for distance shots, really pay attention to what else is in the viewfinder, and keep focus on what you are shooting. Try to eliminate clutter in the background. This comment is getting way too long... maybe I should blog about what I do? ...we'll see :)
Thanks for the comment!

Mikey said...

Love those pics! The first one is perfect :)
Great stuff! Love to see the snow, but those poor calves must think "Geez, the world is SO COLD!"

Oma said...

I want the follow up on this little one walking! :)Loved the video.

Jackie said...

I wouldn't be too impressed is I came out of a nice warm bath into a place that had snow on the ground either! But the new calf is too cute!

Northernlass1 said...

Hi Kansas, loved the photos of the calf...really sweet. Not heard from you on mymuchmor for a while

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is so sweet. That little guy is determined to be right next to his mama, huh? =)

How are the chickens? =)

Misty Morgan said...

I've enjoyed viewing all your lovely pics, video's and comments. You are an amazing gal and very talented. Thank you so much for sharing.

KansasA said...

Thanks Misty!