We take a very hands off approach to calving on our ranch. Our philosophy is to let nature take its course, with as little human involvement as possible. We don't tag, we don't weigh, and overall we don't interfere unless there are complications with the birth or with the weather. Our cows are very self sufficient and mostly calve themselves. We still check them out in the pasture one to two times per day, but we rarely have any problems. We do check our heifers, though this is only because we can't quite let go of the old habit. This is not to say that we don't interfere when there are problems. However, we've found that the more we keep our distance, the less problems there seem to be.
I couldn't help getting up close and personal with this little baby, though. She was just so darn cute, I couldn't pass up the photo op. Don't mind me. I'm just over here swooning over a baby calf!
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