Yesterday Leslie and I go over to check on a few heifers having their calves. We see one is off by herself and in the process of having hers. Leslie thinks she may be having problems so we drive on down for a closer look.
There's another heifer who's noticed that '11' is in trouble. She moseys on down to stand beside her, apparently lending moral support. If cows could hold hands I imagine this one would have offered hers to the laboring mom.
There are three jennies in that pasture who have also noticed the commotion and come over to investigate. They stand around in a tight threesome at the heifer's hind feet watching the action as it plays out.
Leslie sneaks up in front of the jennies and behind the heifer and places a plastic hay string around the calf's leg.Giving a gentle tug the calf plops to the ground and lays there. I see the ear twitching so know it's alive as Leslie is moving it's head around trying to get a response out of it.
The other cow and the three jennies all gather closer and give the calf a good sniff. All of a sudden the three jennies start belting out what sounded like a yeehawing rendition of "Happy Birthday To YOU!". All three of them are going full blast with the noise...there must have been more stanzas in that song than I remembered 'cause they simply didn't appear as if they were thinking of winding down any...
Leslie runs the jennies off since their 'song' has brought the mom up and she's not recovered yet. We leave the two alone so that mom will lick the calf dry and get it started in it's brand new world.
The jennies are up on the hill, finally played out and probably gearing up for the next birth....
I think that's one of the times I really wish I'd had a video camera with me...to catch those donkeys standing by the calf and apparently welcoming her into the world...do animals actually sing? Well, these did!
2 comments:
That's amazing! Nope, we never have our video cameras out at the right moment.
Well, in all honesty, I think it's just their way of announcing something is up. But to watch them, it looked for all the world as if they were singing in unison. They continued to look at the baby while yehawing.:-)
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