Minnie.

 I'm very late in sharing the news of Lavender's new calf Minnie. I hope you were not holding your breath in anticipation.
The event took me by surprise last Wednesday morning.  (April 17th)
At feeding time Lavender's udder did not look large enough for imminent calving, but two hours later there was a small black shape on the ground, being licked by her mama, almost to the point of being rubbed out.

Honeysuckle watched with increasing interest as Lavender welcomed her new baby.

Honeysuckle moves in for a closer look....

....and closer.

The heifers in the adjoining paddock were fascinated with the proceedings. 

The most frustrating part of watching our animals give birth is observing the clumsy attempts of the newborn trying to locate and latch onto the teat to take its first nourishment.  I decided to leave them alone for an hour while I attended to other jobs, and hoped the new calf would have found the teat during my absence.

In my experience, I will intervene if the calf has not had its first drink within two hours of birth. It is a simple matter of putting a halter on the cow, one person holds her still while the other person guides the calf to the teats. 

When I returned - without my phone to capture the moment- I found the calf suckling on Honeysuckle, who wore a blissed-out look of love on her face.  Lavender was standing next to them licking her calf.  

Great suckle Minnie, but wrong cow! 

With the aid of a feed bucket I lured Honeysuckle out of the paddock and walked her over to join the other cows. 

The poor girl was visibly upset, pacing the dividing fence and calling out to the calf for nearly four hours until she settled and joined her new paddock friends. 

Lavender's instinct was to stay close to her calf and although her water trough and hay rack were only ten to fifteen metres away she would not walk that far to drink. Calving is thirsty work;  I filled the bucket three times before she was sated and returned to munching the pile of hay that I placed close by.

This is the second time I have witnessed Honeysuckle allowing a strange calf to suckle her, so it seems she may become a good foster mother to future brought in calves.  

And in future I will separate her from other calving cows as her maternal instinct appears to be exceptional. 

But don't feel too bad for sweet Honeysuckle, her own calf is due to arrive in October, and because she is a Jembella cow, she will keep her baby. 

According to the details from her previous owners, she has given birth to one calf last year, but as she was part of a commercial dairy herd, her motherhood was very short lived. That is just too sad to contemplate and I am grateful everyday that we choose to farm naturally, to consume dairy products from cows who provide milk with love for their offspring.

Lavender and Minnie have been kept in a paddock separate from the other cows for five days so I can feed her a special food mix of chaff and minerals to boost her calcium and magnesium requirements. Today she was ready to join the other cows and show off her new calf.
After opening the adjoining gate, I watched closely as Minnie and Lavender joined the other cows, and wondered if Honeysuckle would try to kidnap the calf again.

Whilst Lavender's udder appears to be very full right now, and the calf is not drinking all the milk she is producing, I will let nature guide her to adapt to supply and demand.  However, when she walked into the dairy and stood waiting for me yesterday morning, it was a sure sign that she wanted me to take a bit of milk to ease the pressure.  I took three litres of lovely fresh Lavender milk and she looked more comfortable.
Our milk needs are small at present with no pigs to feed and cheese making taking a back seat, so I will milk her once or twice a week. This is how adaptable we can be with managing a dairy animal.
If we plan well, leave the calf with its mother, and have no need for copious quantities of milk, we are able to manage the milking to suit our requirements. This will not work for all breeds of cows, but it has been successful in managing our mixed breed dairy/beef cows. It is another reason why I love the mixed breeds.
I am enjoying a break from everyday milking, (the outside milking) and all of the tasks involved with using the milk (the inside milking).
There is more time available for replanting and revitalizing our sad drought affected gardens, some house renovations, and holiday plans for spirit and energy renewal.
I hope you all had a wonderful break over the Easter weekend. We swore off chocolate this year, but I made a huge and delicious batch of Easter buns which we are still eating.
House renovations are ongoing, and I will tell you about that next time.

Cheers,
Sally XX