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Yesterday, loud cow mooing woke us up at about 3am. It sounded close. We thought it was one of our girls having her calf. I didn’t want to move, but Becky leapt out of bed. Pregnant belly and all, she started getting ready to go out there. If it wasn’t freezing outside, it was damn close. And it was wet. And dark. And muddy.

I managed to convince her to let me go and see what was happening. I started stumbling around, getting dressed, grabbing my Maglite and donning my headlamp. Jacket. Socks. Gumboots. And camera. Check. Ok. I set off into the blackness…

There are cows out here somewhere…

MOOOOOO!

It echoed throughout the valley. I thought for sure that it was one of our girls because it seemed so close. I headed in the general direction of the bellowing moo.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Yep. It was getting louder. I swept my light across the paddock, looking for eyes reflecting back at me.

I remembered going out on a farm bike with Becky’s cousin, Paul, to check on his herd of very in-calf cows last season. I asked, “Are you looking for anything, in particular?”

He said, “Yeah, legs sticking out of bums.”

So, there I was, meandering through the darkness, trying to prepare myself for what I might see.

I eventually found Coco beast. She was very tired and didn’t seem too concerned with who or whatever was shining bright lights at her. She obviously wasn’t having a calf right now.

MoooooOOOOOOOO!

Still further away. I kept going… And going… Until I bumped into the fence that separates our property from a large bush block to the north.

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

False alarm.

It wasn’t our cow. It was coming from that bush block.

That cow was so loud, it sounded like it was right outside our window. It just must have been the dead stillness that amplified the call. I trundled back toward the house. Becky was up by this point and she turned on the lights. I saw her headlamp heading towards me. She couldn’t help it. She just had to come out and have a look. I was a bit disappointed to report that it was some other cow wailing away… maybe in heat. Some cows go fully nuts when they’re in heat.

But we don’t have long to wait now… Esmerelda should be calving any day.

Esmerelda, our Friesian cow, is growing incredibly large. I’m beginning to wonder if the Ambler’s calf, growing inside her, is going to spring forth fully formed!? We don’t think Esmerelda is due to calve until July, so how much bigger will she get?

I was out the other day, inspecting the boundary fences, and I snapped some images of our glorious (and strident) beast in the evening light.

In photography school, I learned how to use the evening sky as a massive softbox. Just wait for the sun to go below the horizon in the evening and you’ll have several minutes of warm light that flatters most subjects. Glossy car brochure photos are the most common examples of this technique. Let’s see how well it works on a cow the size of a minivan.

I’m ready for my closeup

Will that lens make me look fat?

This morning, Ronnie came to move The Ambler on to his next assignment. Esmerelda looked rather upset to see him go, but Rosie and Coco seemed as if they couldn’t care less. We hope that the Ambler has left lovely little Angus-cross calves in the bellies of our three cows. To judge from the behaviour in the paddock, our cows seem to be in calf. We have seen no indication of any of them being in season for ages. (Even inexperienced cowherds like ourselves can often tell if an animal is in season, since they start mounting each other and acting all silly. If a bull is in the paddock, then his interest in the cow makes it even easier to see what is going on.) Two of the Ambler’s offspring have been born recently on Ronnie’s farm, and she is delighted with them. They were small calves, and easy for the cows to deliver. She says the calves look strong, healthy, and sleek, and have their father’s easy-going disposition. We are very hopeful that we will be able to say the same about the calves that are born on the Farmlet in July of next year.

Spring grass, pregnant cows

Cow gestation is supposed to be 282 days. (Thanks to Auntie Linda for that information.) If Esmerelda got in calf when we think she did, then her calf should be born on the 3rd of July, 2007. We expect Rosie and Coco’s calves to be born not too long after Ezzie’s. We are hardly experts at making such predictions, so it will be interesting to see how far off the mark we are!

In the afternoon, it was time for us to move our cows into a new paddock with lots of fresh green grass. They know the routine for shifting paddocks by now, and watched us avidly as we set up the electric tape. We think they look very happy in their new paddock.