Other than outdoor plumbing, Reverse-A-Bull is just about perfect. His belt is "straight enough", as opposed to one of Delight's early babies whose belt looked like Idaho, really skinny on top and a big square on the bottom. What a great name was suggested by LeeAZ, we just have to go with it:) Sometimes a great name can make it just a hint more likely to put a bull calf on the path to bull stardom rather than the far more likely alternative.

Well, the story of little Reverse goes like this. Bill put Delight out Sunday morning in the sunshine and she ate breakfast as usual. Seemed content and not too restless. Around noon Bill noticed a heavier discharge and put her back inside. We were eating lunch with the kids when he saw the sac start to show and we had to hustle all three kids into boots, coats, "glubs" and run to the barn. It was only a few minutes longer than our normal run to the barn, but it seemed like forever. Then our cell phone would not work in that barn. Like the sound on the streaming cam, there is some kind of intermittent interference. We figured the alarm would sound, though, and we hoped a good number of Buddies would see the birth. As we watched quietly, it appeared that Delight was not working at the delivery very hard. She did not often lay down and I'm sure we were not bothering her. Her contractiosn did not seem strong and we became a bit concerned...but gave it time as Delight is an experienced mom and has had no birthing trouble in the past. A few more minutes passed and I went in to check hands-on, as the pads of the feet that we could see looked as though they were upside down, indicating a breech position and potential dire consequences. It was obvious that I was feeling the back legs inside Delight, but my arm was not long enough to feel the rest of the calf to see how it was positioned. I was relieved to feel the calf move when I did this. We got Dr. Donna on the phone and she said it was a tough situation but not an immediate crisis as we had caught it early. The sac was intact and we were to leave it intact as long as possible so that the calf did not need to be pulled before we were ready; once the sac ruptures the calf in this position starts to gulp fluid and may die quickly, and/or the cord gets pinched or broken in the birth canal and the calf can die quickly while the cow is trying to deliver the larger front end of the baby. We were very fortunate. Bill also called our neighboring dairy farmer friends and Phyllis came over right away. She was reassuring but also said some calves in this position make it and some don't. Dr. Donna arrived a few minutes later and got right to work. Her husband Keith did the pulling as he could put alot of muscle into it and once you rupture the sac the calf needs to be delivered ASAP. It is amazing how much strength this requires. Delight was relatively calm and not bellering or anything. In fact, after the critical minutes were over Dr. Donna said that she thought Delight may have been able to deliver this calf on her own, but that the chances for a stillborn calf would have been much greater for the reasons mentioned above.

Once on the straw, Reverse was lively and oh-so-cute. It was really cold so we got busy with towels and Joseph helped to rub him down and get things going. Delight looked real good after all the handling and delivery she'd had so Dr. Donna placed some medication inside her to help expel the afterbirth and tighten up her uterus. Delight is what you'd call an "aggressive licker". (that's a good thing) She took to her baby instantly and did not let him alone. He stood quickly, seemed strong, but she kept knocking him off balance with her mothering! She moo-ed gently to him right away and was pretty content until Dr. Donna said she'd better check for another calf just to be sure. Dr. Donna said she knew Delight was the Beltie with "extra conditioning", (read "fat"...) but she had not gone down in size as much as Donna would have expected. Delight now did not want to be caught and haltered but Bill got it done and Donna could not feel another one inside. So Delight packs on a few extra pounds, so what?!?

Our philosophy always is that the mother-baby bond is most important. So while we made sure Reverse had his umbilicus treated and was drying nicely, we let the two get to know one another without a lot of interference. That bond is the best bet for survival and we try to always take a back seat and not get carried away with a lot of petting, noise and so on. With foals we do some basic imprinting, but with this calf and the rough way he came into the world we kept a watchful distance and very low-key. The calf and Mom rested more at first than I would like so we just kept on observing. Eventually the little one got more hungry than tired and has been vigorously going after the udder. We didn't take any chances though, and even though Bill checked things out up-close and personal he still did an evening feeding of colostrum and will do so again in the morning to be sure Reverse has gotten what he needs. Then close observations will be needed for several days to ensure Reverse is actually nursing and not just nuzzling.

In other news...oh wait, there is no other news today:)

Thanks for your company, Buddies! Life is good:)