Worth The Wait

Worth The Wait

Article and Photos by Patina Thompson

In addition to hauling water, feeding, counting calves, worrying about predators, checking calendars, watching weather reports, repairing equipment, water lines and whatever else is broke, during calving season ranchers become investigators, doctors and obstetricians. It’s a very stressful and exciting time. Heifers kept close and checked to make sure they don’t have any problems, cows tracked down to see if they have calved or not, and a good count on your calf crop can make a person anxious.

As investigators through the years we have experienced a few types of mommas; some will lead you right to their calf as if to say, “look at my new baby!”, some will intentionally lead you on a goose chase in the opposite direction, and others will get you close, then act nervous and you feel as if you’re on the ultimate Easter egg hunt. It is really incredible that newborn calves are typically dried off, nursed, and left for up to 14 hours on day one . . . what a way to be welcomed into the world! Typically, the calf will be strong enough to really keep up with mom after about seven days. I have found that those extra proud mommas that lead you right to their calves are most times the ones that end up as “babysitters”. As calves grow up, they stick together and usually have a babysitter watching over them. These babysitters will fiercely protect a whole herd of calves as if each was their own.

Growing up, I had my favorite heifer bred and we brought her up to a pen at the barn about two weeks before she was due. The barn was located down the hill from the house, so we could use binoculars to see what was happening, but that wasn’t close enough for me. I slept on a cot in the barn, night after night waiting for her to calve. After night 23, I was done and I questioned whether she was even bred at that point. But sure enough, when I woke up the next morning and looked down the hill, there was a little black calf standing next to her!

More recently, my kids got to be involved in a similar story. We have one special cow that was bred late and we had been waiting and waiting for her to calve. There was stormy weather over this particular weekend, and we knew she had to have calved on Saturday. On Sunday we saw her at water and could tell she had calved and been nursed. On Monday, we saw her feeding near the road so I walked out with my camera. She just kept grazing, with not a care in the world and absolutely no concern for my anticipation. Same story on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, we found some tiny tracks near water. By Friday late afternoon, I just couldn’t wait any longer so we saddled up and chased the sun, knowing that mom would find her calf by evening to nurse. She led us on one of those wild goose chases I mentioned earlier. Just about the time it was almost too dark to see, the low bawl from the mom, and reply from her calf was the best sound ever. There was just enough light left to see a little black calf stand up out of the bushes, and that was good enough for me. Yet another example that all good things are worth the wait.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Contributor Patina Thompson earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife, Watershed and Rangeland Resources from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. She works in the agriculture insurance field. She is a wife, mother, rancher, hunter, photographer and conservationist in southeastern Arizona.