Her First Calf

Yesterday morning I had the enormous privilege of seeing Sadie give birth to her first baby.

This is not the first birth I have witnessed; but for each heifer, it is the first time they have delivered a calf and you never know how it could turn out. Just about a week ago we saw little Brownie's mother abandon her immediately after the birth and then turn on her violently when the Good Rancher tried to get them to bond.

What made this particular birth of even greater interest to me is that Sadie is the offspring of Sage, my very first bottle calf. The GR - seeing how attached I was to Sage - allowed him not to be turned into a steer; the result has been some pretty amazing calves!

But because of the connection, my heart pounded a little bit harder and my throat tightened, and words failed me as I watched this little scrap of cuteness slide out of his mother and into the big world.

Fortunately for occasions like this, there is Wendell Berry. No one describes the birth of a heifer's first calf like Wendell Berry. No one.

This poem has become one of my favourites, and certainly my very top one for this time of year. 

(Pictures and videos of Sadie and baby after the poem.)

Her First Calf

Her fate seizes her and brings her

down. She's heavy with it. It

wrings her. The great weight

is heaved out of her. It eases.

She moves into what she has become,

sure in her fate now

as a fish free in the current.

She turns to the calf who has broken

out of the womb's water and its veil.

He breathes. She licks his wet hair.

He gathers his legs under him

and rises. He stands, and his legs

wobble. After the months

of his pursuit of her, now

they meet face to face.

From the beginnings of the world

his arrival and her welcome

have been prepared. They have always

known each other.

Wendell Berry, "Her First Calf," in The Country of Marriage (Berkley: Counterpoint, 2013), p. 11.

Sadie lay like this for about three hours.

I was beginning to get anxious...

I didn't capture the birth itself because when I went to check, the baby's head, smothered in grey membrane, was all I could see. No little front feet leading the way ... The baby plopped out and Sadie didn't move. The GR's voice was in my ear as I gave him updates, saying that I had to get in there and pull away the membrane or the calf would die in seconds. I ran up to the pair, and that was all it took for Sadie to remember what she was supposed to be doing. Besides which, a mother is entitled to just a moment right after giving birth, isn't she?! (Background sound in the videos is the brisk wind. But worth having the sound on to hear Sadie talking to her baby...) 

Literally seven seconds after
 the baby was born

After about 10 solid minutes of licking her baby clean, 
she pushes him to his feet... 

So close... 

A little rest and a murmur of encouragement

Success at last! 

The thing that moved me beyond words was this: once the calf was able to stand by himself, Sadie stopped her licking and pushing and talking and stood very quietly, allowing him to get to know her:

I checked on them again in the evening, and I could feel the deep connection they already had forged. Sadie had remained with her baby even during the feeding time, and the baby had been up and nursing. He was steady on his feet. And he loves his mum!

“They have always known each other."