I decided to bring in some new blood. Bought a half dozen bred second calvers (my favorites since they've already had one calf but are still young). Different genetics but all from the same place. Very well known place selling a bull or two a year to ai studs. Have been great people to work with. No issues.
My issue:
As soon as they calve the are all EXTREMELY excited and almost freaked out about their calf. Screaming at it and rolling it around. I've even felt compelled to step in to "save" a calf or two from its momma and let it figure out how to stand up and such without its momma pushing it around. Once the mommas settle down (couple hours), they are great mommas. When my normal cows calve, they moo a little. Clean off the calf. Mother up. But stay sane. What's odd is that EVERY ONE of these six cows from this other place did the same thing even from different genetic backgrounds. This did NOT seem to be a difficult birth dilemma. I did have to pull twins out of one of them - but she ended up being the least freaked out. The rest just squirted right out. They weren't brand new to my place either. I bought them last October and they've been at my place all winter and calved in May. I feel like one of these freak shows is eventually gonna kill its calf (even though after an hour or so, they really are owning it and being great). If one does kill its calf, it won't be because she hates it, it will be because she's just lost her mind.
Is this normal? It must be genetic even though the cows all have different blood lines? Am I just used to my cows and mine are ABnormal?
My issue:
As soon as they calve the are all EXTREMELY excited and almost freaked out about their calf. Screaming at it and rolling it around. I've even felt compelled to step in to "save" a calf or two from its momma and let it figure out how to stand up and such without its momma pushing it around. Once the mommas settle down (couple hours), they are great mommas. When my normal cows calve, they moo a little. Clean off the calf. Mother up. But stay sane. What's odd is that EVERY ONE of these six cows from this other place did the same thing even from different genetic backgrounds. This did NOT seem to be a difficult birth dilemma. I did have to pull twins out of one of them - but she ended up being the least freaked out. The rest just squirted right out. They weren't brand new to my place either. I bought them last October and they've been at my place all winter and calved in May. I feel like one of these freak shows is eventually gonna kill its calf (even though after an hour or so, they really are owning it and being great). If one does kill its calf, it won't be because she hates it, it will be because she's just lost her mind.
Is this normal? It must be genetic even though the cows all have different blood lines? Am I just used to my cows and mine are ABnormal?