Baby Calves and Buzzards

[Bright Raven]

Talking about buzzards. We have always had red headed buzzards here. They are a good scavenger. But, this fall, everytime I have a cow even "thinking" about going into labor, buzzards have been circling our field. Can they smell?
During one of my trips up into the field to check a calving cow, I noticed a group on the ground and then noticed 3 others in a different area. The big group had red heads - the other 3 had BLACK heads. Is that what you call a black buzzard?
Sure hope not, don't want predator vultures around here.

Buzzards have a keen sense of smell and eyesight.

The the Black Vulture's head is slate colored:

 

[ddd75]

i went a research farm in eastern oh a few months ago. they had hundreds of them. They said when they tagged the baby sheep they would fly in to the pen WITH the people right there and kill them. They had to switch to indoor lambing because they were killing them all.

they finally got approval to kill *2 birds.


here, we had the red headed ones which i don't mind. the black ones came in and killed all the red ones.. I was mowing them in the pastures.

 

[talltimber]

I just went to a meeting a few nights ago that the these vultures were addressed. We have at least a couple of cattlemen in my area that has lost some calves to them. I saw a couple different looking birds about two months ago that I thought could be blacks, but I am not certain. The guy there telling about the process, already mentioned earlier in the thread, was from usda. The permit comes from usfws. The 100 buck "processing" fee is like salt in a wound to someone that's had kills. They are getting paid regardless, what's some "paperwork" on the computer to them. More bs. SSS

 

[bird dog]

The red heads are not aggressive and not really a problem. The black heads are bad and the mexican black and white vultures are the worst. The wife hit a blackhead yesterday with her car.

They see and smell with a crazy good ability. They also seem to know which farms are having lots of calves and come around daily. I hate them with a passion. I wish I had a shotgun with a 300 yard range. They seem to know mine won't reach out more than about 60.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Well, mine are definitely not the Black Vultures, but sounds like the black headed are not good ones. The red headed are good for the environment. They clean up all the carcasses.
I just never had them circling calving cows like that.

 

[SIMMGAL]

Heard the other day that one of the neighbors found a few bald eagles eating a calf they had killed. Something tells me that getting a kill permit for eagles would be pretty darn hard to do.

We have noticed buzzards eating calf waste here for years, especially when they get the runs. More power to em! :lol2:

Years ago we found a calf who had its eyes plucked out by black-headed vultures. Fortunately we've been lucky since. The pinks don't bother them much at all, I don't mind them around.

 

[kenny thomas]

Heard the other day that one of the neighbors found a few bald eagles eating a calf they had killed. Something tells me that getting a kill permit for eagles would be pretty darn hard to do.

We have noticed buzzards eating calf waste here for years, especially when they get the runs. More power to em! :lol2:

Years ago we found a calf who had its eyes plucked out by black-headed vultures. Fortunately we've been lucky since. The pinks don't bother them much at all, I don't mind them around.

Bald Eagles do not kill. Only thing would be fish. They were eating something already dead.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Heard the other day that one of the neighbors found a few bald eagles eating a calf they had killed. Something tells me that getting a kill permit for eagles would be pretty darn hard to do.

We have noticed buzzards eating calf waste here for years, especially when they get the runs. More power to em! :lol2:

Years ago we found a calf who had its eyes plucked out by black-headed vultures. Fortunately we've been lucky since. The pinks don't bother them much at all, I don't mind them around.

Bald Eagles do not kill. Only thing would be fish. They were eating something already dead.

Not sure about that. They have hauled off cats and small dogs - alive - that I have seen on TV

 

[kenny thomas]

Heard the other day that one of the neighbors found a few bald eagles eating a calf they had killed. Something tells me that getting a kill permit for eagles would be pretty darn hard to do.

We have noticed buzzards eating calf waste here for years, especially when they get the runs. More power to em! :lol2:

Years ago we found a calf who had its eyes plucked out by black-headed vultures. Fortunately we've been lucky since. The pinks don't bother them much at all, I don't mind them around.

Bald Eagles do not kill. Only thing would be fish. They were eating something already dead.

Not sure about that. They have hauled off cats and small dogs - alive - that I have seen on TV

Jeanne, let me rephrase my statement. Bald eagles will catch small animals and birds when fish or carrion have became unavailable. I still stand by me statement that they will not kill a calf. Sure they will eat it after it's dead.

 

[farmerjan]

I will have to agree more with Jeanne on the bald eagles. I have watched them come in and carry off live hens when I was running free range layers. Lost 123 that year and that is when I finally gave up free range layers. I know a few were gotten by the fox that had a den but I made sure that they were let out later in the morning and locked up in the evenings and that stopped. I watched them come in and swope down and pick up hens several times. The Eagle actually dropped hens 2 different times in a neighbors yard and came back to grab it back up. They took pictures to prove to me that it really was an eagle.
I also had a young immature eagle hanging with a group of the black buzzards for about a month when I was running the layers, and the first calf heifers were calving. I spent HOURS up there at pasture when they were calving. The eagle challenged me when I went to go into the converted trailer- made into a mobile laying coop- and it had a chicken dead on the ground eating it. Thinking at first it was a buzzard, I went to chase it off, and then when I got close, realized it was not a buzzard but a young eagle. It spread it's wings at me and dared me to try to take away it's meal. The chicken was already dead. I did not have my .22 or it would have been SSS. I'm not saying it would have gone after the newborn calves, but I honestly would not have been surprised. They are so hated in this western part of Va., they are called "white headed buzzards" by many. They have been seen getting baby lambs in Highland county, they hate the eagles out there.
I realize they all have to eat, and I did not begrudge an occasional chicken killed, but to systematically take one nearly everyday, was just too much. They are opportunists, just like the buzzards. There are not much as far as bodies of water that would support a population of eagles, but they are nesting in this area and have adapted to not relying on fish but to take other small animals.

Yes, buzzards do have a highly developed sense of smell. I believe they are the only bird that does.

 

[Supa Dexta]

We get a few eagles around here at times..

 

[kenny thomas]

:cry2:

We get a few eagles around here at times..

What do they kill there?

 

[Supa Dexta]

Killing Cattle is the reason they congregate like that - but local abattoirs waste is what they're after.

I haven't had issues with them though, see them take off with after birth once and a while but thats the extent of it.

 

[elkwc]

I will have to agree more with Jeanne on the bald eagles. I have watched them come in and carry off live hens when I was running free range layers. Lost 123 that year and that is when I finally gave up free range layers. I know a few were gotten by the fox that had a den but I made sure that they were let out later in the morning and locked up in the evenings and that stopped. I watched them come in and swope down and pick up hens several times. The Eagle actually dropped hens 2 different times in a neighbors yard and came back to grab it back up. They took pictures to prove to me that it really was an eagle.
I also had a young immature eagle hanging with a group of the black buzzards for about a month when I was running the layers, and the first calf heifers were calving. I spent HOURS up there at pasture when they were calving. The eagle challenged me when I went to go into the converted trailer- made into a mobile laying coop- and it had a chicken dead on the ground eating it. Thinking at first it was a buzzard, I went to chase it off, and then when I got close, realized it was not a buzzard but a young eagle. It spread it's wings at me and dared me to try to take away it's meal. The chicken was already dead. I did not have my .22 or it would have been SSS. I'm not saying it would have gone after the newborn calves, but I honestly would not have been surprised. They are so hated in this western part of Va., they are called "white headed buzzards" by many. They have been seen getting baby lambs in Highland county, they hate the eagles out there.
I realize they all have to eat, and I did not begrudge an occasional chicken killed, but to systematically take one nearly everyday, was just too much. They are opportunists, just like the buzzards. There are not much as far as bodies of water that would support a population of eagles, but they are nesting in this area and have adapted to not relying on fish but to take other small animals.

Yes, buzzards do have a highly developed sense of smell. I believe they are the only bird that does.

I think that the thing many times people forget about animals is this they "have adapted" . Animals are just like humans in many ways. They adapt to their environment and many are like some humans they learn the easiest way to survive. And so what was true about an eagle 20 years ago has changed today. I've seen it in many animals including coyotes, lions, ect. They are becoming more dehumanized and have developed different habits.

 

[Ky hills]

I will have to agree more with Jeanne on the bald eagles. I have watched them come in and carry off live hens when I was running free range layers. Lost 123 that year and that is when I finally gave up free range layers. I know a few were gotten by the fox that had a den but I made sure that they were let out later in the morning and locked up in the evenings and that stopped. I watched them come in and swope down and pick up hens several times. The Eagle actually dropped hens 2 different times in a neighbors yard and came back to grab it back up. They took pictures to prove to me that it really was an eagle.
I also had a young immature eagle hanging with a group of the black buzzards for about a month when I was running the layers, and the first calf heifers were calving. I spent HOURS up there at pasture when they were calving. The eagle challenged me when I went to go into the converted trailer- made into a mobile laying coop- and it had a chicken dead on the ground eating it. Thinking at first it was a buzzard, I went to chase it off, and then when I got close, realized it was not a buzzard but a young eagle. It spread it's wings at me and dared me to try to take away it's meal. The chicken was already dead. I did not have my .22 or it would have been SSS. I'm not saying it would have gone after the newborn calves, but I honestly would not have been surprised. They are so hated in this western part of Va., they are called "white headed buzzards" by many. They have been seen getting baby lambs in Highland county, they hate the eagles out there.
I realize they all have to eat, and I did not begrudge an occasional chicken killed, but to systematically take one nearly everyday, was just too much. They are opportunists, just like the buzzards. There are not much as far as bodies of water that would support a population of eagles, but they are nesting in this area and have adapted to not relying on fish but to take other small animals.

Yes, buzzards do have a highly developed sense of smell. I believe they are the only bird that does.

I think that the thing many times people forget about animals is this they "have adapted" . Animals are just like humans in many ways. They adapt to their environment and many are like some humans they learn the easiest way to survive. And so what was true about an eagle 20 years ago has changed today. I've seen it in many animals including coyotes, lions, ect. They are becoming more dehumanized and have developed different habits.

I agree 100%. We often read or hear it said that animals like coyotes mainly eat rodents, and small animals and carrion etc., and are solitary animals. When I was a child, there weren't any coyotes here, although they were probably starting to move into the region slowly and steadily. By the time I was in my late teens early twenties they were getting pretty common, seemingly almost overnight. Now we hear them almost any night, and sometimes in daylight, in all directions. Very common to see them now in groups of 2-4, very rarely see just 1. The Dept of Wildlife folks go to great lengths in bear areas to make sure folks are "bear aware" and most of that translates to don't feed the bears, because they will become accustomed to that food source. In other words, just as you said they adapt to their surroundings and will gladly take advantage of an easy meal.
The buzzards are no exceptions either, those black buzzards can be voracious carnivores not just scavengers. I don't know if this is accurate or not but have heard that red headed turkey buzzards have ability to smell but that the black ones don't and that they will often travel close by the red headed ones to find carrion. I have noticed in recent years that on any given day there is likely to be black buzzards flying around. I figure they are looking for an easy opportunity if they spot it. Just a couple evenings ago, I was out in the yard with our 6 week old pups waiting for them to do their business, and a black buzzard came by real low within just what seemed like 2-3 feet above and beside me, between me and some of the pups. The mother dog came running toward the pups, I have noticed her look up quite a bit as around while the pups are out.

 

[farmerjan]

Ky Hills; You are right, the black ones do not have as developed sense of smell as the turkey buzzard. And they will not only "follow" the turkey buzzard, but drive them off a carcass.
Watch your pups closely as they will grab them if they can and destroy their eyes, them go after their rectums and literally eat them alive. Caught them doing that to a baby calf that was in a barn shed that had had scours. I had to destroy the calf as they were literally pecking and tearing it's rectum open. A couple of them never made it out of the shed, I was so mad.

 

[Bright Raven]

The buzzards have abandoned their surveillance of my calf crop. The calves are about 6 weeks old on average.

Most of the buzzards were the "Turkey Vulture". They have a red head but are not properly called "Red Headed Vulture". Altough the cows don't trust them and I don't either, the fact is, the only thing they were after was the calf poop when it was in the "yellow" stage.

The Black Vultures were not eating the calf feces. They were probably attracted by the Turkey Vultures activities. I never saw any attack a calf. So far, I have not lost a calf due to either species of Vulture. I have seen the Black Vultures surround a cow with a new born calf. Either waiting to get the placenta or waiting to get at the calf or both.

I don't like either one around my newborns but I doubt the Turkey Vultures are any threat.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I haven't seen a turkey vulture in many years.

 

[Bright Raven]

I haven't seen a turkey vulture in many years.

You must not be looking!!!! 75 % of the vultures overhead are Turkey Vultures.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

All we seem to have are those Mexican buzzards with the white wing tips.