Calving seaon 2016 for me

[Nesikep]

Well, it looks like Tifa (C section heifer) is taking a liking to the little milk thief now... Thief can go nurse without Tifa eating hay, and I was surprised yesterday when Tifa was even licking the calf...
A little bit of persistence (Both mine and the calf's) seems to have paid off

 

[lithuanian farmer]

Well, it looks like Tifa (C section heifer) is taking a liking to the little milk thief now... Thief can go nurse without Tifa eating hay, and I was surprised yesterday when Tifa was even licking the calf...
A little bit of persistence (Both mine and the calf's) seems to have paid off

Nice to hear good news!
Now we never give another calf for a cow which had a dead calf. The last time we tried, probably, the most calm cow in the herd started behaving like crazy and kicking to all sides when she just saw a new calf. Well, the calf ended up being bottle fed and cow milked. However, the calf was from a dairy farm and died at ~one year age, because had ill lungs.
Now if have a cow with a dead calf just leave her. Usually, she breds back within a month and have another calf next year.

 

[Nesikep]

If I didn't have a calf that was a kleptomaniac and short of milk, I'd have let her dry up, but this way Tifa can contribute a little bit while she heals up, and she'll be on a truck after that.
If she was aggressive with it, I wouldn't have pushed the idea.

 

[Nesikep]

Come home from town tonight and Prada had had her calf while I was gone... Nice medium sized bull calf, evidently unassisted... One more straggler to go, I figure a couple days to a week for her, then they'll go down into a small field for a short while, then with the bulls.. should both be pretty caught up by next year

 

[cowpunk'd]

What were your prices like at the sale, Nesi?

 

[Nesikep]

What were your prices like at the sale, Nesi?

They kinda sucked.. not break-the-bank bad, but nothing great either, I'd have definitely made more money (excluding feed costs) selling them last fall.. The bull went for $1300 (would have been $1500 in the fall), the steer was 650 lbs (sure looked bigger) and got about $1.50 or something.. The cow was $.90 at 1500 lbs.. the heifer was about 700 lbs @ 1.40.. all ball park figures, I can't remember it exactly.

New baby is doing well, managed to sneak through the corral rails and was on the wrong side, momma wasn't too concerned, he'd laid down by the fence and I brought him back over.. he was hungry and nursed until he was round

 

[Nesikep]

Well, it looks like Tifa (C section heifer) is taking a liking to the little milk thief now... Thief can go nurse without Tifa eating hay, and I was surprised yesterday when Tifa was even licking the calf...
A little bit of persistence (Both mine and the calf's) seems to have paid off

Nice to hear good news!
Now we never give another calf for a cow which had a dead calf. The last time we tried, probably, the most calm cow in the herd started behaving like crazy and kicking to all sides when she just saw a new calf. Well, the calf ended up being bottle fed and cow milked. However, the calf was from a dairy farm and died at ~one year age, because had ill lungs.
Now if have a cow with a dead calf just leave her. Usually, she breds back within a month and have another calf next year.

This cow wasn't aggressive with the calf, just knew it wasn't hers... nearly 2 months later now, and she takes good care of it, calf looks pretty nice now.

With what looks to be about 6 replacement heifers coming up, I might do a fair bit of culling in a year... I'll keep a bunch over the winter and see how they turn out, as well as what kind of heifers I get in the spring time..

 

[Nesikep]

Here's the two latecomers.. both bulls, first about 80 lbs, second about 100

Prada (4 year old)


Alma (12 year old)