calf handling "cage"

[uplandnut]

Being new to the industry I am constantly learning and finding things I never thought would be an issue are an issue. A gentleman I bought hay from this year said he has a "cage" made that hooks into his quick tach on his loader for calving season. He drives up to the calf sets it over top of the calf and then he is able to get into the "cage" and do ear tagging and banding, also has a basket on one end so he can carry a calf back to the barn if he needs to. I had not had this problem this last spring with the bred cows I had bought, but since have bought more and can see the possibility for real bodily damage if momma gets pissed off about somebody harassing her calf. This all leads to my question which is what do you guys and gals do for a little piece of mind when handling newborn calves? Thanks in advance Josh

 

[bird dog]

I don't mess with mine until they are older and then run them into a squeeze. Life's to short to do them one at a time and to me, all you are doing is asking for trouble messing with a new mom, cage or not. One of the three of you is going to get hurt.

 

[ddd75]

i've had pretty wild cows try to get me while tagging / giving scour shots to the new borns. usually about 5 beers give you the strength to fight them back. haha.

I would neve rbe able to 'cage' a calf by dropping the loader over it. they take off the second you get 10-15 yards around them.

I usually have soemone sit ont he UTV and the noise makes them not hear me sneaking up from the other way.

 

[J&D Cattle]

I'm with Bird Dog, I don't mess with them until I get them all up for a working.

 

[Bigfoot]

Not sure that I could personally catch a calf with a cage on my front end loader, unless it had literally just been born. At that point, I'd rather leave it alone. I would also be afraid of squashing it. I have seen the cages that mount on the side of a 4 wheeler. My terrain wouldn't work for them though. If Mamma is very bad, I just let her do her thing, I'll vaccinate, and castrate the next time he's in the chute.

 

[Rafter S]

I'm with Bird Dog, I don't mess with them until I get them all up for a working.

Same here. Of course mine are commercial cattle, so maybe the registered folks need to catch them to get birth weight, etc? Other than that, as long as they look okay (and they almost always do) I don't touch them until I vaccinate, tag, castrate, etc. when the youngest is several weeks old.

 

[littletom]

Neighbor has one, seems to work well for him. I just go out there and tag them. My dad and I run several together. So lets everyone know whats whose. And it is nice to know which calf is what in a group of 30 black. No it is not safe I always take someone with me. At times it gets real western real fast. Get calf from behind work fast never ever get right between them. I pull up to them in Tacoma or utv.

 

[lavacarancher]

Don't know what kind of cattle you are trying to work but mine will not come within 20' of a tractor so I would have to chase them down in order to get a "cage" over them. If you're talking about a newborn I would be more worried about the momma than the calf.

There is an old sage on this board who has the philosophy "Put grass in front and a bull behind" and let nature take over. Leave them alone unless something is wrong. Works for me.

 

[pdfangus]

i bought one of those calf hooks a few years ago and it was the best money I ever spent....I can snag a hind leg pretty easily and if the calf ball he and mama are still ten feet away and she has time to look him over....then I reel him in and tie and tag and weigh...

I used to select against real aggressive cows at calving but coyotes have gotten so bad that I now like a cow who is a little tough.

I don't fool with them at all until at least 12 hours after birth...rule of thumb is if I find one in the morning I will tag in the afternoon or vice versa...gives them time to bond and mother up...wait more than 24 hours calves can be tough to catch.

having said all that ...as I get older and slower I never take my eye off mama....lately I use my tractor with a loader to tag calves and weight them off the loader bucket....gives me a place to get away from a cow that decides to go protective. have never had to crawl under it but gives me a sense of security. When I was younger I was rolled several times by tough cows..and nearly hurt bad one time....I could not take that today....my safety is the most important item on the tagging list...

I feel the need to tag today mostly because my few cows are in a herd with three owners and I want to make sure there is no discussion of whos calf is whos.... I had a cow this year who lost her calf and immediately claimed another calf....that calf was nursing two cows and until I pulled my cow for breeding it was the fastest growing calf in the herd....

 

[lavacarancher]

i bought one of those calf hooks a few years ago and it was the best money I ever spent....I can snag a hind leg pretty easily and if the calf ball he and mama are still ten feet away and she has time to look him over....then I reel him in and tie and tag and weigh...

I used to select against real aggressive cows at calving but coyotes have gotten so bad that I now like a cow who is a little tough.

I don't fool with them at all until at least 12 hours after birth...rule of thumb is if I find one in the morning I will tag in the afternoon or vice versa...gives them time to bond and mother up...wait more than 24 hours calves can be tough to catch.

having said all that ...as I get older and slower I never take my eye off mama....lately I use my tractor with a loader to tag calves and weight them off the loader bucket....gives me a place to get away from a cow that decides to go protective. have never had to crawl under it but gives me a sense of security. When I was younger I was rolled several times by tough cows..and nearly hurt bad one time....I could not take that today....my safety is the most important item on the tagging list...

I feel the need to tag today mostly because my few cows are in a herd with three owners and I want to make sure there is no discussion of whos calf is whos.... I had a cow this year who lost her calf and immediately claimed another calf....that calf was nursing two cows and until I pulled my cow for breeding it was the fastest growing calf in the herd....

I'm not doubting what your saying, Mr. Angus but I'm sure having a hard time visualizing how this contraption works. You have some sort of cage that mounts to the FEL pod on the front of a tractor. You chase a calf around the pasture with the tractor and just about the time you think you've got the calf lined up you drop the cage over the calf? What happens if the calf sees this "cage" coming and just as you drop it the calf moves. Do you ever break a leg on a calf or worse, kill a calf? What happens when the calf makes a sharp turn towards the momma, turn the tractor over trying to duplicate the calf's movement? I think I'm missing something here. Can you send a picture of the thing? You know what they say, "one picture is worth a thousand words". Thanks in advance.

 

[Bigfoot]

my dad has what I think he's talking about. It is long fiberglass pole. It has a clevis type hook on the end. When the claf's leg hits it, the thing swings around and has a grasp on the leg. I got three kids. They could run down a deer. I just use them.

 

[JMJ Farms]

[/b]

i bought one of those calf hooks a few years ago and it was the best money I ever spent....

I bought one of these too. Mine is called a Calf Catcher. Ordered online. $85. Great tool. Mine has a telescoping metal pole that locks at about 6 feet and extends to 10 feet. Has a shepherds hook on the end. I can pull up close enough to snag a leg. Calf is still standing. Mama can smell him and I keep the calf between me and mama. Works like a charm.

 

[lavacarancher]

OK, I just went out to the inter web and looked at the "calf catcher" product and can see where that might work (key word "might") without harming the calf too much. The ones I looked at were mounted to an ATV, not a tractor. With my calves this would only work until about two weeks old otherwise they will out maneuver you in a heartbeat. And you still have to watch out for momma because she will do you harm if you're messing with her baby.

So back to the original issue, why don't you just walk up and do your business with the newborn and keep the gadget in the barn. JMO

 

[pdfangus]

[/b]

i bought one of those calf hooks a few years ago and it was the best money I ever spent....

I bought one of these too. Mine is called a Calf Catcher. Ordered online. $85. Great tool. Mine has a telescoping metal pole that locks at about 6 feet and extends to 10 feet. Has a shepherds hook on the end. I can pull up close enough to snag a leg. Calf is still standing. Mama can smell him and I keep the calf between me and mama. Works like a charm.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE THE DEVICE i HAVE....i don't have to do a lot of chasing....drive the tractor close enough that the cow and calf do no take off and then grab the pole and catch the calf usually as it stands up.

 

[JMJ Farms]

I called it the wrong thing. Google Kalf Katch. It's a handheld pole with a shepherds hook. Not mounted to anything. The reason I don't walk up to newborns and do my business is bc I have to work full time to afford to be in the cow/calf business. Lol. So I usually find the calves when they are several hours to possibly a day old and they usually won't lie there and let me grab them if mamas ten feet away mooing at them. It works really good. My son who's only nine can hold the pole after I catch the calf if he's with me. And he's a little fellow. He's safe. I'm safe. Worth every penny. I used to have to run them down and sometimes that leaves you too far from the truck and way to vulnerable. Try to hold calf, tag, band, and keep mama off at the same time! There's an adrenaline rush. If I have a cow that's real protective and I can't catch her baby alone I just wait till the next time I get them in the lot. I used to think I had to tag every newborn immediately. But it's not pretty safe it ain't worth getting run over or worse. If I'm in the ICU then none of them are getting tagged! Lol