Speaking of Pregnant Animals....

We now have inherited a cat, named Moley. Pronounced, "Mow-lee" Cause she has a black spot on her face, like a mole. Get it?

Anyway, she's quite the fertile cat and has had many kittens. And once again she was pregnant. My father-in-law had hoped to put it to a stop. I think he said he got the ol' tom-cat with his shot gun not too long ago, but apparently another one found his way to beautiful Moley.

Well, my mother-in-law had been telling us that she though Moley was close to delivery. Boy was she right. Tonight we walked into the living room and she was pushing her first kitten out! It was amazing! As my MIL and the rest of the family were worrying about the carpet, I grabbed my camera. I'll have you know that I'm used to this stuff. I'm a doula, and videotape births all the time. This one was not much different. Okay, well, it was different. A lot different. Still, Moley told me that she was honored to have her very first doula, after all the births she's been through...

And if you want to see a part of what we were seeing, here you go!

Moley Birth 1 from Farmer's Wife on Vimeo.

Moley Birth 2 from Farmer's Wife on Vimeo.

We Might have a Calf Tonight!

Him: SO we might get another calf tonight.

Me: Oh yeah, how do you know? Is she in labor or something?
Him: .....No

Me: Well, then how do you tell?

Him: Well, her bum starts to swell up and her udder gets tight. I'll probably go check her tonight.

Me: Uh.....like, check her dialation?

Him: No. Just check on her. (I think he rolled his eyes here.) I think she'll probably have it in the morning though.

Me: Poor cow, that's a long labor. Or...... is she a heffer? Should I be saying "Poor heffer" or "Poor cow?"

No answer...

Pregnant Cows

As my cowboy and I were driving along the highway the other day, we passed a field where our cows were grazing. This was our conversation:

Me: So how many cows are pregnant, total?

Him: Oh about 80 ish

Me: Wow, that's going to be a lot of babies!

Him: Yup

Me: Geez, how many bulls does it take to get 80 cows pregnant?

Him: Oh we usually put three bulls in a group with 80 cows.

Me: .....Oh wow. And they just go at it and do their job huh? Like how long are they together, a few days or something?

Him: Um....No...the whole summer.

Me. Ah, I see. That makes better sense. And they impregnate all the cows they are with? Holy cow!

Him: Um.....No, we put them in a few groups of cows and then end up with 80 pregnant cows.

Me: Okay, I see. So the bulls still pick and choose. Poor cows that don't get chosen.........so if male cows are called bulls, then what are female cows called?

Him: Cows.

Me: Hah hah! What? They have to have a name, that's not fair. Then where does "heffer" come from? Is that a bad name or something?

Him: No, we call the virgins, "heffers."

Me: So the virgin cows are called "heffers." So what about "steers?" Are they young males? Before they become bulls?

Him: No they are neautered males.

Me: Oooooo. Steers are never to be become bulls. Steers meet their fate at castrating at branding time. Can't wait for that this year!

Here We Are!

Well, here we are! We've moved from the city to the country. At least I'm pretty sure that is what has happened. It still feels like a big, long, vacation to me. I'll let you know when reality sinks in. In the meantime, I'm being very entertained and amused by all the things I DON'T know about farming, and living in the country. Hopefully some of you will be amused too. The rest of you can roll your eyes and smile. One thing you'll all agree on, is that I definitely don't know a THING about living in the country! Here goes nothin!