Calving season 2013 for me

[Nesikep]

Well, it's that time again.. according to my bull release date, I should have a calf here in the next 4 days, assuming none are early. Anyhow, I decided to take a bunch of pictures today

Here's Cenci, a first timer, due in about 10-14 days...


Here's Volta, another first timer... I'm not sure if she's going to calf in 4 days, or 25 days... I think I saw the bull around her at the start of the 2nd cycle, but she's bagging up a bit. Her mother has a huge bag, so it may take some more time yet. I think her calf will be really nice by falltime


This is Ceres, another first timer... she's OK, fairly meaty and comes from a pretty heavy milking line... Due in about 14-18 days


And the last of the first timers, Chroma... Not quite as beefy as the others, but I like her conformation. One of her strengths is feed efficiency... that line always leaves the manger first, and makes competitively sized calves. The all have small looking udders, but do well by it. I think she'll calve in about 24 days.


And here is Mega, a second calfer, and I think she's going to have one that does well come fall... she's not as round and has less pudding-butt this year, so maybe she's having a heifer. I'd like a whole herd of cows like her. She's due in 3 days


And lastly, Heckla, also a second timer.. didn't perform as well as Mega last year, She had a heifer who was a bit small (550 lbs), but really stocky and meaty... and a sucker for attention. she's due in about 5 days I think


So next time I come in I should have some pics with calf at foot

Edit- Had the same picture up 3 times

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Tiniest cows I've ever seen.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Thems some of those low lines.

 

[Nesikep]

click on the pics.. they'll look bigger pretty much all our cows are frame 6-8, and 14-1700 lbs... There's one who's close to 1900 lbs though... a really big mooch, but beware when she rubs on your truck...

While i'm at it, here's some of the heifferettes
This is Durga, full sister to Volta... I find she had good length, but could use a bit more depth... if she turns out like her sister I'll be happy though, I think she's around 860 lbs


This is Roma, full sister to Cenci, and daughter of my oldest cow... I really like the way she's built.. good length and meaty. I think she's around 930 lbs.


I have one more, full sister to Chroma, and granddaughter of the old cow. I think she might be the better one of the two (her sister). Not the best picture, she didn't want to pose.

 

[randiliana]

They look really good Nesi!!

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I have 2 calves to report on.. both from my second calvers, both had healthy little heifers, Hekla's was 80 lbs (She's "Helena") and Mega's was 90 (She's "Sofa"). I had a bit a rough week, so these little guys are welcome. I'm expecting the mother of the last pictured heifer pictured above in the next couple days. After that, it's a bit hard for me to tell at this point... the udders aren't alarmingly big.

Mega's heifer was a thirsty girl, she managed to chug back nearly all the colostrum... I still managed to steal a quart for emergencies... she won't miss it

 

[Nesikep]

So here are some pictures
Hekla with Helena


Just Helena.. 4 days old, and getting playful


Mega with Sofa


Mega, hiding her little one behind her


Yesterday I gave Mega a bit of a trim with the big clippers... When I fired them up, I thought she might be a bit skittish about them, but I guess she has better memory than I gave her credit for... She stretched her neck out to me, and really enjoyed the clipper buzzing on her belly and udder... I think she was waiting to get cleaned up and the corrals demucked to calf... I demucked yesterday as well, and set out some fresh straw for the yearlings... They knew what it was for, I hadn't finished spreading it and Roma laid down.. just for a minute to "test" the new bed

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I haven't had any more over the weekend... Caddy is pretty close, she's bagged up well, so I figure in the course of the week she'll have one, Her sister Cenci should be this week too, and then next week perhaps her mother, and then all the rest of them in a sudden flood... I know I have about 4 of them in the 2nd cycle, and one straggler that I'm dying to get rid of, just never can quite do it.
I've been milking Mega a couple times a day, getting a half gallon each time, but she doesn't want to let her milk down for me. At least I'm depressurizing her. It certainly wouldn't hurt her to have an extra mouth to feed at this point. Oh well, in about a week she'll be far more active and more hungry too, and in the meantime, my mother is going to be making lots of custard, pies, and anything else that can use milk

 

[Nesikep]

Well, we've had 5 bull calves in a row, Caddy had a bull calf which I'm probably keeping intact for a neighbour, 90 lbs (small for us) good slender head, docile, a mom's got way more milk than he'll be able to handle. I've kept her last 2 heifers and I kicked myself for not keeping her other 2 bull calves intact.
The other bull calves we had were 130 lbs, 2 at 110lbs, and 1 at 100 lbs.

here's the bull I'm keeping intact


His full sister all hyped up

 

[Nesikep]

Here's Mega's heifer, having a nap


a pic of the bull calf with momma


I'll have to get my parents to take a pic of milking time

 

[Nesikep]

Well, we've had a couple more calves now, for a total of 8... still sitting at just two heifers unfortunately... Had my old mean cow calf yesterday morning, but she managed to do everything herself so it wasn't an ordeal... she had a monstrous 130 lb bull calf, and skipped the following meal being a good momma and staying with him, so she was really hungry this morning when I fed her a flake of hay I myself would enjoy eating... so she was really busy eating and I banded and tagged the boy... it was uneventful since he was laying down and I banded him without moving him, and he didn't say a word when the tagger hit or I would have had to jump a fence in a hurry.
I wrote up 8 tags for heifers (1V through 8V), hopefully I didn't write out too many!

As for birthweights, the heifers were 80 and 90 lbs, the bull calf was 90, the steers were 100, 2x 110, and 2x130.

I haven't seen a birth yet this year, they've all managed to do it when our backs were turned... seems to be that 7 AM is the time of choice. Anyhow, despite the big weights, things have been good so far, and I pray it continues for the next 12

I really could use more heifers... I have 3 cows showing some vaginal prolapse I'd ship sooner rather than later, and one is a definite, I have the cow I lost to heat stroke last year to replace, I have Tizia that I lost 2 weeks ago, I have my old cow who's on her last year, and then one more who's always late. ... better late than never though at this point. One of my heiferettes might have some udder trouble too. So that's 8 cows on the block, 3 gone for sure, and I have 3 yearling heifers.... the math isn't working. With only 2 heifers on the ground, both linebred and only one i'd even remotely consider, only a couple really good cows left to calves, I'm going to be reducing my herd whether I want to or not at least for a year. Maybe I should think about trading bulls out sooner so I have more available heifers to choose from next year

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I had 4 more over the weekend... first Cenci and Ceres, 2 of the 4 heifers added 2 more bulls to make it 8 in a row, Cenci's was 90 lb and we weren't around when he was born at about 3 am (I checked at 1 and she hadn't lost the water), She was a good mother and licked well, but had a really tender udder and it took a couple days to convince her that having the calf suck would help with that... Seems all is well there now. Ceres had her bull calf (also 90 lbs) at 4 pm that same day, and I helped out a little... she licked well and behaved nicely for the calf.

Sunday afternoon saw the end of the heifer drought, with one of my 9 year old cows plopping out a 90 lb heifer in about 3 minutes (I didn't have time to get 4" of water into a bathtub from the time I saw her lay down to when she was licking the calf), she's a real do-it-myselfer, and as long as things work, that's fine by me.
Sunday evening my old cow Rosie was getting down to business, but I didn't see much progress after a half hour, so I took a feel and found it was a normal reverse position, so I hooked the chains on and gave a bit of a pull, and have another 90 lb heifer (90 lbs seems to be common right now). It's her 16th calf and 11th heifer, it looks just like her but a bit a darker shade... if she's anything like her sister she'll be candidate for a replacement this fall. By 1am Rosie hadn't lost the placenta yet, so I gave her 1.5cc ocytocin and she had it out by morning so I think all's well.. she just has to eat lots now!
When I had checked on them last at 10pm or so, I had given Rosie a big flake of hay, and when I checked at 1, she had her calf under her chin, and all covered up with hay... certainly kept her warm on a chilly night, and it's the first time I see that happen, usually if I try and cover the calf with hay the cow eats it all off... I guess there's something to be said for experience.

Pics forthcoming, waiting for them to upload and it's taking a while...

 

[Nesikep]

OK, here's Rosie and some of her family, a daughter, granddaughter, and forthcoming greatgrandkid are missing from the pic...


And here's Rosie's grandson, which I'm keeping intact for the time being... about 10 days old I think


Here's Mega's daughter Sofa, freshly haltered (she was getting to be a snotty brat and had to put a stop to that)




I don't think I will keep her, or if I do, I'll sell her as a bred heifer

 

[Nesikep]

well, I had one of my 8 year old cows calf last night at midnight.. she was a bit mean with me and I had to watch my back, and adjust her attitude a little, but she had a nice 100lbish bull calf.. seems to be retaining the placenta a little bit, I'll have to keep an eye on that.
All the others are doing well, we're getting temps warm enough for T shirts now in the daytime (20C, 70F), the calves are all getting pretty playful around sundown now, it seems as it takes at least 10 calves to gang up and really start tearing it up.. My other two heifers haven't calved yet, but man are they close... all flabby and udders that have to be kept away from sharp objects... Maybe tonight or tomorrow... I'd like to get them over with and be able to get a better night's sleep again.

 

[Nesikep]

OK, it was a mixed blessing weekend... The aforementioned 8 year old cow didn't look that good on saturday, so I took a feel inside, and there was another calf, butt first with the legs forward, I didn't have much hope of it being alive 30 hours after the first one was born, but the cow had settled down and didn't want to kill me anymore, so I tried to get her in the headgate, but there was no chance of that, so I had to work in the crowding pen... I managed to get the chains on the hind legs and get them righted, and with a whole lot of pulling got it out, unfortunately not alive... I'm not sure how the damage it had came to be, but several of his front teeth were torn out, and he had a big tear at his navel, bad enough the small intestines showed, and an abrasion around his groin. it was 105 lbs. Had the first calf been smaller (80 lbs) I could have thought of twins, but two of them at over 100 lbs each... well, I certainly didn't figure on it. At least I have one good calf and the cow seems to be doing well also... She's the full sister to the one who had twins 2 years ago. The second twin happens to be the 13th calf of the year :O
Speaking of the sister, she calved as I made my last post.. it was there when I got home.. My parents saw it but didn't dare get close to her.. she was absolutely excited... she was so hyped up that she was throwing the calf around while licking it, then turning around and rubbing in the compost pile, grunting, then licking more... Anyhow, all was well in the end, she has a heifer, who's a bit leggy, and might turn out pretty wild.
Finally one of the two remaining heifers calved... Of course just when I wanted to leave and come to town.. so the water broke at 5 PM, calf was on the ground at 5:40 with some help, and sucking by 6:20, good mother, nice to me (her mother is a witch) and gave good lickings.. another bull calf at about 90 lbs which brings my ratio to 10 bulls, 5 heifers.
Now hopefully my last heifer (and last of the first cycle) will calf tomorrow... it'll be quite a relief.
Weather has been really nice these days, trees are really budding out, and for the first time, I didn't have to wear a sweater at any point in the day... I actually fired up the mainline for the irrigation today, and for the first time, nothing blew up on me, though I did have some open hydrants that got me pretty soggy trying to close up with a crescent wrench.
I'll try and get some new pics... Sofa (Mega's heifer) is the prettiest looking of the heifers by quite a margin... she's just bright and nicely built
Oh, I also took the shear over my heiferettes, One of them was a bit scared of it, but the other two quite enjoyed it
I have my late bull calf from last year sold, the trailer is on my truck to load him into on friday, where he can go see his big steer brother Joules and leave my heifers alone... speaking of that, Roma was in flaming heat all day today and driving us all nuts and being a bit too friendly.. She was prying her head through the fence when the heifer cow had her calf.. looked like she *really* wanted the calf, but she's going to have to wait 11 months!

 

[Nesikep]

My last heifer calved, with a beautiful little heifer calf of about 80 lbs, she has plenty of milk, enough that she's always dribbling so she ought to grow well. I put her and her mother with Rosie and her calf so the two babies can play, and the mother and Rosie get along really well, so it's good for both of them

I was looking through some of my old pictures, and found one of Mega when she was 4 weeks old.. Like Mother, Like Daughter.. the two of them are absolutely identical

I had one steer with the number 73... What do you think I call him (think "old TV shows")... Pics in a minute

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Friday from dragnet.

 

[Nesikep]

Nope, Another clue? His name is Quentin

 

[Nesikep]

OK here are pics....

Mega's Heifer Sofa, nearly a month



One of the steer calves from a heifer, 10 days old... He's looking like he will look nice by fall time


The twin who made it.. Had he not weighed over 100 lbs and had a mean mother I'd have checked for a second one a bit sooner... Oh well, he's healthy and his mother is doing well again too, and back to being docile


The bull calf Dinero


No, it's not dead, just sleeping

 

[Nesikep]

And the last one, the heifer calf from the last heifer I had to calf out...



Oh, yeah, All the pics are clickable thumbnails for the fullsize versions