No calf tonight

Just a quick update on our Jersey cow, Dandelion.  We decided to separate her from the rest of the herd last night because I noticed that she was dialated some and her tail was lifted up in an odd way.  We're not really sure what to expect since we've never had cows before, but we have read up on the process, and as far as we can tell, it should be very soon now.  I was really expecting her to calve today, so we've been keeping a close check on her in the barn.  Matthew noticed a bit of discharge earlier today, and her vulva is definitely swollen and looks ready for a birth! 

But, the calf will not be born on December 10th after all, because the day is now just about over.  I had been watching her for the past hour or so and finally gave up at 11:25pm.  I was really hoping to witness the birth, but the sound of Dandelion's rythmic chewing, the cool night air, a quiet dark barn, and a lack of sleep the past two nights, all combined to create a scene of me nodding into dream-land and almost falling off the inverted bucket I was using as a seat!  When that happened, I knew it was time to head back to the house.  Now I'm ready for bed and looking forward to re-visiting dream land!

But before I go, I'll throw in another bit of farm update in the disappointment category.  Somehow we loss one of our White Rock pullets yesterday.  All 11 were there when I let them out of the coop in the morning, and everything seemed fine when I let them out to free range at 3:00 that afternoon.  But when I took the count last night, there were only 10 White Rocks.  We hadn't lost any chickens for many months, so loosing one now, just weeks before they should start laying, is a real bummer.  I hope whatever got her will not come back for a repeat meal!  Right now we have one rooster, the 10 grown White Rock pullets ready to lay, 3 mature Buff Orpington mixed hens ready to start laying again, 1 Red Star hen ready to lay again, and 10 11-week-old chicks that seem to be a majority of cocks.  I hope we get to the spring with all 14 hens and maybe a couple of those chicks will be pullets as well.

Now it's off to bed for me, before I fall off this chair I'm sitting in right now!