We love our cows at Clonalis, they instil a great sense of peace and calm lying in our fields in the warm summer sunshine, eyes dreamily gazing into the distance and slowly chewing the cud.
At this time of year they are calving so times are a little busier.
A close family friend is an obstetrician who had worked for many years in the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin and shared with us their philosophy of childbirth namely a natural and as far as possible, noninterventionist approach. We thought that what was good for Ireland’s beautiful babies was probably good enough for our calves. With that philosophy in mind we implemented a “watchful waiting” approach and cows in labour are allowed to take their time in as far as possible calm and quiet conditions. The tractor cab parked near the calving box allows the “watcher” a good vantage point and when the time comes enables him to give a little assistance with a gentle pull as the calf’s front feet and muzzle appear. Spray Iodine on the cord and a good drink of colostrum if possible milked from the cow is ideal.
It is one of the great pleasures of farming to assist in helping new life into this world and to watch a mother lovingly lick her new calf while she makes little looing noises to reassure the calf that she is there and creating the maternal bond.
We have been rewarded and take pride in our clean sheet and no calf deaths in the recent past. We still a have a few remaining cows to calve this season but we are hopeful of a good result this year too. While the incidence of twins is about 1% of bovine pregnancies we are running well ahead of that at the moment.
We have had two set of twins of mixed gender. Our grandchildren have named them , Harry and Hermione and Sophia and Conor.
Pyers O’Conor Nash
