I’m in charge of the 10:30 pm night check… I’m more a night owl than Vernon, so while he might have been in bed for a couple of hours already, I’m just finishing a craft or watching the news, or reading a book… and ready to take my walk to the calving shed.

Vernon checks them at 2 am.  Johnny checks them at 5 am.

If they are calving, we’ll check them every hour or half-hour… and them help them along if they have problems.  Heifers are like teenage girls… they can have babies just fine, but are more likely to have problems and are higher risk pregnancies.  Some just need a little encouragement in what it takes to be a good momma.  Some larger babies we just help along a tad… though we use chains instead of forceps!  More on that in tomorrow’s video!

It only takes me a few minutes to walk over, depending on the depth of the snow, the presence of ice, or whether the mud is frozen or not!

I usually have a dog or two that comes with me…

depending on the temperature,

their soundness of sleep,

whether Lucas wants to get his sore paw in the mud and poo,

or whatever strikes their fancy.

I’ll share some Tales of Heifer Checking in a few days…

but for now,

listen closely,

and I’ll prepare you for your next professional calling of Heifer Checker!