This calving season hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start in my neck of the woods. Although I’m not out in the middle of it, I get to hear the (at times) harrowing stories of survival, unexplained death and heartbreak from my husband. Oh, and there’s the lack of sleep from the middle of the night phone calls and his getting up at 3 a.m.
He takes care of cattle for a local farmer and is able to care for our small herd at the same time. This job came at a time when he needed a change, and the partnership has grown into something that makes it worth it.
The bunch of heifers they’d purchased from central Kansas last fall were supposed to start calving at the end of January/early February. By mid-January some of the heifers had lost their calves early. It often happens when they’re relocated at the end of their pregnancy. We hate to see it occur, but it sometimes just does with heifers.
They had several others that were out on stalks also lose their calves and resorted to getting the feed tested and even sent in a tissue sample of an aborted calf to a diagnostic lab for testing. Nothing really conclusive came back, and my husband had many conversations with the veterinarian at length, and he’d never seen anything like it before either. They did move some cows around after the losses, and we’ve had decent luck with weather, so maybe we’re on the uphill climb as far as health and freak deals go.
My husband has been checking the heifers multiple times a day and looking after the cows that are a little more experienced, a little closer, too. He feeds them at certain times of day to help them calve during the day. Not always the case, but it makes sleep a little easier when they have them in the daylight. We do live 40 miles away from the farm, so it’s hard to just pop out there and see what’s going on. His boss has taken the late-night check around midnight, and my husband will get up at 3 a.m., and leave here by 4.
Since we’re more than a month into calving season, I’ve been trying to make his life a little easier. It’s not always possible, but when I can, I do. That means things like having a plan for supper or supper done when he gets home. I loathe meal planning and cooking any more. That means making sure the boys’ showers are coordinated, so he has plenty of hot water when he does get home. That means making sure the boys are quiet when his 8:30 or 9 p.m., bedtime rolls around.
I try to not bother him with the trivial things that interrupt my day and don’t often call or text him unless I need to. That’s pretty normal though in our relationship anyway, but he knows when I do call something must be up.
Only a few more weeks to go, so hopefully we can get through the rest of calving season relatively unscathed. Both in the calving pasture and relationship! Ha!
