Calf Ran Off

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Silver_Knight

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Went out to check on new calf that came yesterday and momma was clear on the other side of our place which is about 3/4 mile away. Went to pick up the calf to take to a holding pen to pen her and momma. Calf ran through 5 strand fence and into the brush. By the time I got thru the gate I lost site of her and now cannot find her. The property that she ran into is about 500 acres of brush and is not mine so I cannot let momma in there. Any suggestins on finding the calf?

Lee
 
Herd the cow over tothe fence it went through and then leave. If the calf can;t get back through the fence you may have a real problem. I've rarely seen a 5 wire fence that a determined scared calf can;t get through.
 
Jumped on up myself once with mama just a few yards away. Wanted to know if it was a bull or heifer. Two pastures and 3/4 miles away (it did 3/4 miles I did about 4 trying to get ahead of it) I finally caught up to it on a county road. Remember this next time. No meddling. You can be sure mama knew where her calf was. It does irritate me when mama does stash a calf and leave like that. My trick us to leave the calf alone and go mess with mama. Usually, and you can tell, the first thing she thinks of when she sights me or my dogs is her calf. She will get to it pretty fast after that.

But the problem at hand. She might be able to call her calf back, hopefully. But I'd start making plans to contact your neighbor and tell them of your problem, ask if you can turn her in if the calf doesn't come back.
 
Problem is she isn't trying to call and does not seem interested that the calf is gone. All she wants to do is stay with the herd so if I did put her in that pasture I think she would just hang out at the fence.
 
I would get that cow to the fence line asap, maybe once she hears the calf balling she will respond. If you wait much longer you won't have to worry about is as your calf will be dead if it isn't already..
 
hillsdown":3oz7lsyp said:
I would get that cow to the fence line asap, maybe once she hears the calf balling she will respond. If you wait much longer you won't have to worry about is as your calf will be dead if it isn't already..

Momma is on the fence line, I put a round bale there. Calf hasn't made a sound since she went through the fence. I searched for almost 4 hours in the brush and never once heard the calf or cow.
 
i have done the same thing, a couple of hours old and they can run faster and farther than you can imagine. i had one run through the fence and mom said nothing, it is a defense to protect the calf
she will go look when you leave. leave for about 2 hours and come back. the calf will go lay down if you stop chasing it. i found mine laying under a rock over hang and ran it back through the fence it went as far the other way to the woods.they go back to the last place they have seen mom. i left and came back and it was with mom.
 
Calf didn't run off you chased it natural defense, that cow knew where that calf was. Right where she put it.
Why does everyone want to mess with cows and calfs wait a couple of days and she would have brought it to you.
 
The calf is holed up and won't make a sound, even if you walk right past it. Search with dogs, preferably hunting dogs. Good luck.
 
Caustic Burno":8u7ximho said:
Calf didn't run off you chased it natural defense, that cow knew where that calf was. Right where she put it.
Why does everyone want to mess with cows and calfs wait a couple of days and she would have brought it to you.

I've read and learned a lot on these boards and appreciate all of the help. I knew prior to posting I would probably get caught in someone's cross hairs. But I bet if I did nothing and posted a question tomorrow about finding calf dead then people would have criticized for not doing something.

You are right that I chased the calf, I thought at the time I was doing what was best for the calf since momma was so far away without showing any concern and in no hurry to return.

Lots of great information on this board. I'll keep you guys posted on what happens tomorrow, and I'll be listening tonight just in case baby starts to holler.
 
It is the cows job to have, feed and defend the calf not mine. Mine is to supply the forage if the cow can't do her job she is fired. The Jack Ass in the pasture will tell the Jack Ass in the house if she needs help in the defense department.
 
Our very first calf did something like that. He was 2-3 days old; when we turned the pair out of the corral, our horses came running up to check out the new addition. Calf spooked, ran thru a 5 strand barb wire fence like it wasn't there. That put him out on the road. He ran down the road to the corner, hung a right and kept right on going. Almost a mile away, he veered off the road between two plowed fields and got tangled up in the brush or we'd have had one heck of a time finding him. When we caught him, he was panting hard and you could see the whites of his eyes like they were rolling back in his head. We just knew he was in shock and about to die. We brought him home, mom collected him and all was good. He didn't have a scratch on him from the fence. Hope yours has as good an outcome.
 
Caustic Burno":9lob4kv8 said:
Calf didn't run off you chased it natural defense, that cow knew where that calf was. Right where she put it.
Why does everyone want to mess with cows and calfs wait a couple of days and she would have brought it to you.

yep..time is yer friend most of the time..or maybe its just patience if you can afford either. my wife gets the same way sometimes and i tell her that if they werent right at the house youd not even know she had had it and theyd be fine.....i made a post one time bout meddlin...man did i get some folks riled up...neglect and meddling aint the same so dont go jumpin on me.....cows know thier business better than we do...
 
Took my two chocolate labs out in the brush this morning right after dawn and started looking the last place I saw her run into the brush. After about an hour of back and forth, big circles I happen to see Rowdy chasing something. I could here my kids back at the house calling the dogs, since they didn't know I had them. I thought rowdy just heard them and was running home, but then I heard him bark as he was running and knew that wasn't normal. I loaded up the other lab to head back to the house to get Rowdy again and tell the boys not to call the dogs. When I got back to the house I saw rowdy chasing that little calf and when I caught up with them he had her pinned up in a small thicket area.

I picked up the calf and took it over to where momma was and all seems fine now. Mental note to self: Be real sure before stepping in to help that help is needed.

Thanks again for all the help. Not sure if I would have thought to take the dogs with me if I hadn't read it here.

Lee
 
good job
next time you might wanna push the cow to the where the calf is and leave the calf alone ;-)
 
Silver_Knight":3un07amq said:
Mental note to self: Be real sure before stepping in to help that help is needed.

Field glasses/binoculars are a handy item to have around for those occasions where one wants to check/keep an eye out/ etc without posing a 'threat' or interfering unnecessarily. Easier to keep a watchful eye without 'driving' momma or baby away.

Glad all is well with the calf.

Katherine
 
Silver_Knight":229graie said:
Took my two chocolate labs out in the brush this morning right after dawn and started looking the last place I saw her run into the brush. After about an hour of back and forth, big circles I happen to see Rowdy chasing something. I could here my kids back at the house calling the dogs, since they didn't know I had them. I thought rowdy just heard them and was running home, but then I heard him bark as he was running and knew that wasn't normal. I loaded up the other lab to head back to the house to get Rowdy again and tell the boys not to call the dogs. When I got back to the house I saw rowdy chasing that little calf and when I caught up with them he had her pinned up in a small thicket area.

I picked up the calf and took it over to where momma was and all seems fine now. Mental note to self: Be real sure before stepping in to help that help is needed.

Thanks again for all the help. Not sure if I would have thought to take the dogs with me if I hadn't read it here.

Lee

Glad things worked out. You might keep an eye on that critter now - bet you find it is fairly high headed into a year or more in age. You taught it a lesson that it will not soon forget.

Lesson learned - but beware of this one in the chutes when it is larger.

You might be selling that one soon.

Regards

Bez+
 

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