# FINALLY! It's a girl!!



## amysflock (Dec 2, 2008)

I got a frantic call from my DH on my way home, "You need to come HOME! There are four sets of eyes out there!" LOL

Our much anticipated baby girl is red like her mama, and weighed only 62 lbs...diminuitive compared to T-Bone (80 lbs), but the perfect size for Bridgit's heifer body.

Bridgit was VERY hungry and has been porking out on beet pulp and alfalfa/grain, but that gave me plenty of time to weigh, dry and examine the baby, and even try to get her over to mama to nurse (she doesn't seem interested yet).

She's up on her feet, though, pretty steady, and Bridgit's talking and cleaning her like a good mama.

Bridgit hasn't cleaned yet, so I'll be keeping my eye out for that, and will stay home tomorrow to supervise and make sure the calf gets her colostrum. I can't take pictures in the dark with a flash to save my life, so I'll post photos tomorrow.

As a side note, when DH got home he said T-Bone was completely wound up, apparently trying to play with the baby, and running all over the place like a crazy man. By the time we got out there with our supplies he was worn out and is napping over by the fence!


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 2, 2008)

:bun

Sounds like everything is good! T-bone sounds happy to see a playmate, he just has to wait for her to be ready to play!


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## wynedot55 (Dec 2, 2008)

congrates on your new heifer calf.she will be playing with T-BONE soon enough.


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## Thewife (Dec 2, 2008)

Yea!!

There's nothing cooler than watching baby calves play!!

What's her name gonna be?


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## amysflock (Dec 2, 2008)

Thanks! Not sure on the name yet...I have a couple running around my brain, but DH is coming up with silly ones, like Tilly (he was looking at a package of Tillamook cheese) or Skookie (Skookumchuck's Skookie) or Chuckette (Skookumchuck's Chuckette). Sheesh. So far I have Pixie ('cuz she's so little, although the breeder was shocked by her weight and thought she was pretty big!), Belle, Hope...who knows?? 

Sheila is mothering the baby a bit, too, but the baby's ears and head and underside are still pretty wet in spite of my vigorous rubbing with a towel. (That hair is so thick!) We're going to lock Bridgit and the baby in the stall overnight with a nice layer of hay so they can bond and be alone a bit.


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## amysflock (Dec 3, 2008)

Here she is! Now...I have yet to see Bridgit hold still enough for the baby to nurse well, but we have seen her pee twice (once last night, once this a.m.)...does that indicate she's getting food? I want to be sure she gets her colostrum...she'll be 24 hours old around 5:00 tonight.


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## Farmer Kitty (Dec 3, 2008)

Those pics are absolutely adorable!

The fact that she has urinated twice that you have seen means that she is not dehydrated--A dehydrated animal (or person) isn't going to urinate. So, I would say she is probably nursing. Watch somemore and make sure she is steady on her feet. A starved calf will become unstable. But, if she seems happy and stable and is urinating I would be inclined to think she is nursing.


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## wynedot55 (Dec 3, 2008)

that heifer calf is just to cute.an T BONE  likes his new playmate.


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## Thewife (Dec 3, 2008)

She is a cutee!

T-bone looks like a monster compared to her!


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## amysflock (Dec 3, 2008)

Yikes, I know! He's a giant...but he was at birth, too.

Bridgit is so far much more calm than Sheila was on Day 1. I was able to get past her and the baby just now to let the chickens out into the paddock from the barn, and she laid down (was standing) while I stood there. I was then able to (cautiously, holding my axe handle just in case) check her hiney (can't tell if she passed the placenta) and her teats on the top side (they've been suckled and plugs are gone). THEN I was able to sidle up next to baby, crouch down (watching both Bridgit AND Sheila!), and scratch the baby's neck! She appears to have a milky mouth, so while I didn't see her nurse, she looks like she has recently done so.


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## Imissmygirls (Dec 4, 2008)

What a sweetie she is!  GIve her a hug and rub from me
On names.. try to find something to correlate her name with Mom's: like beginning with the same letter or  Bridget and Gidget. It helps you to remember who belongs to who a few years down the line. 
Ofcourse, you can see what unique correlations you can come up with!!!!! We had Faith, Hope, and of course, Charity- 3 generations.


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## laughingllama75 (Dec 4, 2008)

Oooohhh!!!She is cute! Congrats to you!  She is the same color as baby Chuckie....are you going to keep her for breeding (if she turns out nice) or is she going for sale/beef?  If she is a keeper, she needs a good name. I will think on it.............hmmmmm


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## wynedot55 (Dec 4, 2008)

when i was 7 i got my dad to buy a 12yr old crossbred dairy cow to put in our dairy.an the elderly dairy couple said her name was charity.my dad really didnt want her.but i got him to buy her.we milked her for 4 more years.i loved that old cow.


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## amysflock (Dec 5, 2008)

She is STILL unnamed! I like Bridgit and Gidgit! DH thought we should go Scottish and start with the letter A, and then have next year's heifer calf start with a B, and so on, but it's slim pickin's for Scottish girl names that start with A. I bought a book of 100,000+ baby names last night, and that is VERY overwhelming.

She's doing very well, and we're grateful. I guess I expected her small size to mean she was frail...but really, for a Scottish Highland calf 62 lbs is very respectible...and 80 lb for Mr. T-Bone is excessive! They were both so cute last night, running all around, jumping the hay piles (she tripped herself and went down on her chin, then got right back up and kept on running)!

We're definitely still open to name suggestions...keep 'em coming!

Edited to say: we plan to sell the baby girl in the summer once she's weaned. We will likely eventually want another cow in our tiny breeding program, but since we don't have much room (about 2 1/4 acres, maybe of pasture and paddock), we're thinking it'd be best to pass on the first heifer calf out of a first calf heifer, since she's expected to be smaller.


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