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Thank you all so much for your continued advice and counsel. We are at a little over a week now, and all of the patience and time we put in has finally paid off. We ran into so many more issues with this calf beyond the first challenges... I took the rest of the week off from work to stay home...

Thank you! The local Beltie guru came and actually said 125 lbs., but I thought that just could not be possible, so I "edited" it down to 100+. He is HUGE! We've got a yearling that is not much bigger than he is. His tongue is now normal-sized, and the swelling in his head/jaw seems to have...

***UPDATE*** Well, this certainly was "interesting." Baptism by fire for us with our first calving. We decided to keep all three heifers together in the large grassy pasture away from the pond, shed and sloping area. (In the feed store on Sat., we overheard a farmer say "the calf was fine when...

Thank you all. tncattle, as mentioned, we've been breeding horses for 20+ years, so this ain't my first rodeo as far as stock goes. (And YES, we have had dead stock too.) I've got the Storey book somewhere in the mess of our home office. I'll track it down tonight. I guess if I get too...

Thanks! I did some searches and found pics of udders and pelvic ligaments and mucous plugs and the like. Seems there are a lot of similarities in the final stages of horse/cattle pregnancies, but one thing is true of both, and that is that they do it all the time without help! Also that you can...

We bought our first cattle in November - now they are a yearling heifer, two year old heifer and a three year old due to calf sometime within the next 2-3 weeks with her first calf. We have owned and been breeding horses for 20+ years, but this is our first calving. All three are registered...

Thank you very much Chippie! (And everyone else.) I'll bet that "showmanship steer" is quite an attention-getter, lol. All very good information to have. We've had them now for about a week, and all are getting a little more used to us. We feed 2 to 1 sweet feed to pellets every afternoon...

Our dogs are indoor at night, so they are not much of a deterrent. Bez, this lady already certainly has been a problem. We bought this place a couple of years ago trying to get away from it all. We built our house back in the back of the acreage, and then she bought right across from us and...

Thank you all so much. This is really helpful information to have. I just REALLY don’t want to get a dog – even though I am sure that would be a better bet as far as protection goes. We were out every day over the holiday putting up the run-in for the cattle, and the neighbor’s stupid...

Thanks all. I had read the jennys were better and not to use a jack. Red bull, thanks. I was not sure of the terms for mules. I am forever trying to explain the differences between colt, filly and foal, so I get where you are coming from. (Some people even think a pony is just a young horse.)...

Thanks bobby! Do you keep them in with the cattle even during calving season? (I read somewhere this is not a good idea, but it seems to me that would be the BEST time to have them in there to keep predators away.) Are yours jacks or jennys?

Thank you! That is all very good information. Do you tie the calf while you are going over the body, or do you leave them free in the pasture while you do this? I think it is going to be very important for me to remember that fear is more of a motivator with cattle. Young horses usually have a...

As I mentioned on my other thread, we're new cattle owners and will have only a small herd of no more than 6-8 (all cows/calves/young stock - no bulls). Right now, we have a weaned heifer, a yearling heifer and a bred 2 year old. All are Belted Galloways. The neighbor across from us had a...

We are first time cattle owners (have been breeding and showing Quarter Horses for 20+ years), and they delivered our first three Belted Galloway heifers yesterday. One is a weaned heifer, one is a yearling, and one is a bred 2 year old. The two older heifers are show cattle, and they are well...

Wow. This is all such helpful input. I truly do welcome cynical and brutally-honest advice and suggestions. I don't want to have too many times where I say to myself, "Gee, I wish someone had told me that!" I like a person to tell it like it is, and I am not at all offended or scared off by...

Thanks so much, everyone, for the input. I had a friend tell me weaned heifers were not such a good choice. I am assuming it is for the same kinds of reasons you would not want someone new to horses to get young ones for their first venture into it? Bez, I will search for your posts. I was not...

Good morning. We're in the last stages of planning for our first cattle purchase, and I have a few questions. This is such a great resource - especially for those of us just getting our feet wet! We've got about 20 acres - 80% in good lush pasture, and the other 20% in woods and a small pond...

We spent several hours yesterday with a local breeder. He took us around to feed the various sex/age groups in their pastures, and we toured his facilities for breeding, feeding and housing/care. His father is the most experienced bovine AI practicioner in the area, and we got a lot of great...

THANK you very much for the input Davis. I used to bounce. Now I just break! I've decided for sure that we need a headgate. Safety is important to us, so I am sure we will add a squeeze too. We live in a county in N.C. with more cattle than people, so I should be able to find something used...

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. It looks like having a few head and getting them young and spending time to get them halter broke might go a long way toward being able to avoid having to get a lot of equipment - at least initially. I plan to make sure we want to keep them in the long run...