Tia has given birth to a beautiful little baby bull. The vet was here working with Aunty Del, who is still struggling, so she was on hand. 
And all went well. The calf was up and drinking very fast.
This morning I will milk Tia a little. The calf and I will share.
Below you can see the results of the flooding. The fields are covered in water, my basement is full of water, the creek/ditch is terribly high, up to the bridge actually and all the surrounding ditches are at the level of the road. This will take a while to drain. Until the rivers go down this water has nowhere to go. 
Because of the high waters the cows on the other side have no pasture and I have no hay. So I have opened up the middle of the barn and they can roam where the hay was stored, there are quite a few broken bales and dropped hay. Hopefully this will keep them going for two days then I will lead them down into the lesser wet field and lock them in.
Having animals living with lots of space means lots of mud at this time of year.
Also the ducklings have arrived! I had no warning of course. But I was kind of ready.
With Del sick with high temps again and mastitis and then collecting the chicks – my car, planing out on the wet roads because I was driving too fast, and then Tia going into labour with her placenta coming first, and then both Vets arriving all in a morning with fog and loud torrential rain – I was a little overwhelmed.
The ducklings are all quite busy and good. I also have six Easter Eggers as a special gift to me from me – if all goes well, these chicks will lay lovely colored eggs that will jazz up the egg trays I sell to the chefs. There are lots of eggs going up to Chicago and I want mine to stand out. Pretty and nutritious. Already I make patterns from my dark brown and light brown and white eggs.
All the chickens and ducks roam free so by the middle of summer our landscape will be interesting!
I milked Del again at nine last night – I will milk her three times today – though I have to get some work done at the Mill too. But hopefully we start to get on top of her problems today.
Let’s hope.
Ok! Time for work.
Celi
How did it get to be a Friday already!
The Kitchen's Garden 
27 responses to “BABY BULL”
Lovely to have new arrivals after such a sad loss recently. Fingers crossed for auntie Del!
Christine
Of course the water is there too. Holy smokes!! Seems this has been a spring to beat all springs. They have declared states of emergency just north and west of us, Loved the shot of the barn with the cows in cleaning up the droppings. What a perfect solution. Hang onto your hat Celi!
Great news, but oh my goodness, what a day you’ve had…
No doubt the babies bring some cheer. I’m sure you can do without the flooding – I hope it adds nutrients to the fields to make up for it.
It says something about you that you want your eggs to be more eye catching than others competing for the same dollar. It sounds fun, too. That barn looks huge in the photo. Hope everyone is happy there for a few days. And I hope Del had a turn for the better today. It is worrying.
Oh boy, placenta first! Does the cow wait to eat it until after the calf comes if it comes out first?
So glad to have good news and a cute calf and ducklings! Thoughts and prayers for dear Auntie Del’s quick recovery!<3
WHOOOSH! Another week zipped by!
I don’t know anything of udder anatomy but I know curing my recurring mastitis with my second took some tricks. Do you massage the udder and try for different angles like you do with humans?
Yes. I am not new to mastitis- we will beat it.
I knew you had it down. Only curious. Del is lucky to have you!
I massage with a hot cloth too – she seems to like that. Plus I have a peppermint cream that seems to be soothing.