The cows come in to be milked on their own. After they are milked they are free to go back into the pasture. On the other site of the barn is no rest for some cows. A cow is getting up and down, she´s restless and is nearly due to give birth to her calf. We always hope for a female calf, then she can stay on the farm and gave milk for Beemster cheese.

But we leave the cow alone by a hutch with clean straw. She then first starts to have the calf naturally by herself. When the natural birth is taking a long time or it seems like the mother is in any kind of pain, then we help the cow and pull the calf with a rope. Then the cow is quickly relieved and clear to meet her child. After the birth we give the cow energy boost with vitamins and goodies which helps the cow to recover. Then the calf is going to his/her own hutch, to prevent any sickness.

The calves are born year round. The bulls are going with a cattle dealer, who takes them to the market for sales. The female calves stay at the farm. When the calves are one year and two months old, they can ‘’play’’ with a bull. So that nine months later they expect their first calf. The first time after they give birth the heifer is hand milked with a small milking machine, after that she can go to the automatic milk machine. I really like to help the cow give birth, so you can see what kind of cow and calf we have on the farm and what the future can bring to us.