Our second house cow named Mao, just gave birth in our orchard today. It is her first calf - a heifer whom we’ve named Cinnamon. A delightful little jersey x dexter. She is the consequence of Mao running with a dexter bull prior to our collecting her last year. Happily, labour was almost completely non-eventful starting and finishing within 30 minutes. We watched on gratefully from the distance (and comfort) of our dinning room table.

Naturally, Mao’s inseparable relationship with another soon-to-be house cow Apple will mean Cinnamon has an aunty. Apple was right up close watching over her friend during the birthing and was immediately curious, helping to clean up Cinnamon.

The little calf was on her feet within the hour and feeding for the very first time. Tomorrow, I will milk Mao to relieve her swollen udder. Jersey cows are bred to produce milk and as such require milking right away. Our milking crush has not yet been fully upgraded. We’ve set some concrete under the crush for better cleanliness, but it still requires several additions to make it winter proof for milking in the cold and wet weather.

Cinnamon is a delightful calf. To her mothers distress and to our amusement, she was soon running circles around Mao - only to see what her new legs can do. Poor Mao turned hopelessly to catch up. A little later we watch Mao eating the calf’s placenta for extra nutrition. She is certainly going to need it - with winter beginning the demands on her body will be considerable.

This birth reminds us once again of the delights of owning a house cow - Mao and her calf Cinnamon are a true gift to the life of our family, and we look forward to caring for them both and especially towards raising Cinnamon to be a house cow also.