GUINEVERE OF TATLAYOKO

Guinevere came to us from from the west coast on August 22, 2024, a five year old heifer, bred to calve in February. Two strikes, but I couldn’t resist her. She’s a big bodied girl, with a set of beautiful horns and good feet. And her coat, she has the most gorgeous Highland coat. She loves her bread slices and anything else she’s offered. She’s well liked in the herd and has settled in nicely.

Guinevere delivered a beautiful bull calf with some assistance February 10, 2025. She was bred as an older heifer, and was almost six years old when she calved. We were worried about her because with older heifers, the pelvis is less pliable, which means of course there is less flexability when the calf passes through the birth canal. That was not our only worry, to give birth in the Cariboo in February is a risky thing. This was a case of shall we intervene, or not. If not, would we regret it, and wish we had. In the end, when advised by two vets, the worry being she was an older heifer, we got Guinevere in the chute and helped deliver the calf.

It was -18c that day, which meant we had to warm the baby up before we could introduce him to his dam, who was still in the chute. In the warm vehicle he went, with the heat on high and getting dried vigorously. When he was warm and somewhat dry we introduced both mother and son. While Guinevere showed a little interest and gave the little guy some licks, she ended up walking away. We couldn’t leave him on his own as he wouldn’t have survived the night in that cold, so in the house he came. We tried again the next day but what little interest she had in him was no longer there. He was destined to be a bottle baby. Guinevere has recovered, and will be bred again this year with hopefully a better outcome. Click here to see the beautiful Nugget.