Calving season 2014 for me

[Nesikep]

OK, here are pictures!

Mega getting down to business.. 10:05 am


Whaddya know, 10:09 am, the big boy is there and getting licked.. a whole 4 minutes.. though I did help a touch with no chains, with that kind of time you know she'd have done quite alright herself


Here's one for BrangusCowgirl... though I kinda failed to get the calf in the picture... Mega is absolutely a doll to work with


10:44, a half hour old, I got him connected... He's got a bit of contracted tendons... he'll get over it, he's a strong and willfull guy


2 hours old




I saw him next to Chroma's heifer that was 90 lbs at birth, and he's about 4" taller at the hip... Considering Mega's first calf was a steer, and she weaned him at 675, I can be reasonably certain that this boy will be into the 700's somewhere..

 

[Nesikep]

Here's some others...

Chroma with her girl Tifa, and Volta and her bull.. Chroma's was born yesterday morning, Volta's in the evening


Chroma was an *excellent* momma... (Comes all the way down from her great-grandma, each one was exceptional), MMmming at every little mis-step the calf made, and wanting to be *really* close... Too close for MY comfort in fact


And little Tifa looking pretty sleepy


And here's Mega's calf Sofa from last year... after a fresh clipping


Here is the first calf Springy getting a petting.. she looks pretty good I think.. nice and wide
[youtube]vXgwM0LugSE[/youtube]

 

[Nesikep]

I finally decided on a name for Mega's big boy... Going with the theme she's had, the first one was Divan, the next was Sofa, and this one... well, no name suits him quite as well as 'La-Z-Boy'... he spends most of the day spread eagle sleeping in the sun (if we have any), and not much changes during the rain.. he could care less, the belly is full. Mega's milk production is excessive, and she didn't mind me milking out the two back quarters out one bit...

Got another heavy bull calf today, from Yanka.. she can't make a decent looking heifer to save her life, but she makes bomber steers.. I weight this one in at about 115 lbs.. He as about an hour or two old when I went up to him, and he'd scream bloody murder as I approached, but wasn't scared.. did this a couple of times. He's #11, so we're pretty much halfway if you include the 3 late ones.

 

[highgrit]

Looking good and no problems is the best part. Sure some pretty country.

 

[strihafarms]

You have some very good looking cattle. What breed are they?

 

[Nesikep]

The ones younger than about 5 years are all Gelbvieh crosses, The older ones being shorthorn crosses. Next year we're going to be having Limo calves, and the jury will be out on that

 

[Nesikep]

Well, one heifer calves today, watched her for a bit, decided I might need the chains, so I get them, a few minutes go by and I come back, she's all upside down, calf is out, I run over, and good thing I did, the membrane was very nicely over the calf, so I took it off, and he gasped and sputtered to life.. cow tried to get up a couple times and her back legs weren't doing what she was asking of them, but with a little help I got her up and standing, a bit wobbly in the back for a couple minutes, I gave her a 1cc of ocytocin and 3cc dexamethasone just to give her a hand. she was fine after a couple minutes. Not a great mother... a bit of licking.. followed well when I took the calf and brought her to the pen, and stood nicely for him to suck, and didn't kick, so I do have to give her credit there! Left them in the pen most of the day, and though she knew which is her calf, "mothering" certainly hasn't kicked in.

LaZboy still has contracted tendons, but really works hard, he does run and play, but gets tired in his elbows.. his mind certainly doesn't, because he'll be there collapsing and pulling himself back up again, and watching him walk when he's tired is hilarious! Tifa, Chroma's little heifer is a bundle of trouble... loves to stir the pot and get the others riled.

Mega let me get 2 quarts of milk a day, we're making yogurt! and it sure beats the store bought stuff... LaZboy has a meal out of any 1 quarter, and is unhappy about the milk flow rate.. if it's anything less than spraying into his mouth, he gets mad.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Nesi, I am just now getting caught up on reading your thread. You have some great girls!! I love the disposition of your Mega cow also! Your calves are huge! Keep the pictures coming, lots of fun seeing what you are up to!

 

[Nesikep]

With people saying you should never turn your back on cattle, well, I do agree to an extent.. there's tame cattle and tame cattle.. the ones that'll tolerate getting pet, and the ones who WANT you to be around them, There are cows I have that despite coming from docile lines, I see something in their eyes I don't like... Mega isn't one of them.. Most stampedes around here are for attention..
I'm not too sure you'd like Mega's disposition in person... VERY particular about who she keeps as company... A real one man cow, and I have no idea why... just doesn't like people

11 left to go, probably 4 in the next week or so and then the 2nd cycle starts, and I think I have about 5 in the first bit of that... So far so good.. though this morning was a close call with the membranes over the calf.

I know you were closely watching Wisteria's granny, as was I...

 

[Nesikep]

Well, I had 2 more yesterday, and one is really close too.. The first one was from a 3rd timer, she had it all by herself, a 100ish lb bull calf... was found dry in the morning, my mother must have missed it on the early morning check.. he's already really playful and strong.

Second one was from a second timer, she had it just fine, but I found she was quite short of milk... the little guy did get a meal out of it, but it took all 4 teats to do it... Today he seemed a little fuller, so perhaps she's turned up the wick on milk production now...

Lazyboy is starting to get over his contracted tendons... he will stand until he absolutely can't stand anymore, and he's doing a lot more running around now... And he can count to 4 (teats) now, so before long I'm going to have to fight him for milk! I think he's up to 160 lbs or better already, and he's only 8 days old... growing like a weed... I think he's at the point I'd be up for a heck of a challenge lifting him.

Chroma and her girl Tifa got kicked out of the 'maternity ward' yesterday.. Tifa was very excited and immediately started to terrorize all the other calves... definitely going to be a little shyt disturber for sure... I just have to try and keep her tame a little... she's a bit distant already, but momma's really quiet so when she wants milk I'll go bug her

Forgot my cell phone when I went to town yesterday so I didn't get to post up more pics


Edit: Soho just calved, a monstrosity once again, I'm sure he's about 130 as well... 100 feet was the best I could do to carry him, but that was as far as he needed to go... Really strong calf, but a bit slow on the sucking reflexes.. my fingers meant nothing to him, and his mouth was warm, so I was wondering if he had already had his first drink, but he didn't look dry enough for that, and when I checked the teats they were all full.. FINALLY I got him to start sucking my finger, and from there got him onto a teat.. and it was like plugging him into a light socket.. suddenly he knew what to do, and man was he hungry... Soho is a heavy milking cow, and he finished off 2 quarters, which I'm thinking is pretty darned close to a gallon of colostrum.. Safe to say, he's good for the night, and he's going to sleep *real* good! That one is certainly going over 700 by fall time

 

[Nesikep]

Well, Roma just calved.. but there's a couple things up... I think she's been milked of her colostrum already by some thief, and she'll let them suck (in the future, that could be good, but not for now). Her calf is a spitting image of her with the white face... it's about a 65 lb heifer (smallest I've seen in YEARS), and she's really sluggish.. she can stand OK, but doesn't want to suck... I forced about a quart and a half of colostrom (a quart from Soho that calved last night, and half a quart from her mum) into her, and I'll see if I can get some more into her in a bit. Roma was a good mother for a first timer,... licked, but doesn't have the right technique yet... kinda like trying to wash a car with a Q tip... she was doing it with the tip of her tongue... Only later when she was washing ME did she use 'the whole washcloth'. I certainly don't need to worry about her being mean... she's just such a doll.
She seems pretty tired, though it wasn't a hard birth... she just wants to lay down and rest it seems now.. I gave her a bucket of grain and some hay, and put an old jacket on the calf (nearly forgot my cell phone in the jacket too).

Caddy is probably going to calf in the next few days, and I'll see if some O-No-Mo will convince her to let Roma's calf get a few meals from her if Roma's not ramping up production here soon.

 

[Nesikep]

Well, "Tina" is 2 days old now, and I've been supplementing Roma's milk with Mega's milk, and this morning I gae them a bucket of grain, Mega wanted to hog it all, which was fine with me, since she wasn't paying much attention to her "udder end", and I got Tina to nurse from Mega a little bit. Mega and Roma get along really well together, and I was giving Mega a hearty back rub later in the day, and Tina got a little more milk, then was looking around Mega's front end, and Mega even gave her a couple licks. Guess I might not need the O-No-Mo after all... Just have to get Tina used to steal milk

I had Durga's calf come down with some scours yesterday, he looked pretty good and was still nursing, so I gave him a scour tablet... This morning he was less energetic and didn't really feel like nursing, so I gave him another, then gave him a quart of electrolytes,.. I had the tube, but he was happy enough to drink from it and swallowed well... I've been giving him a half quart every few hours now. He seems to be a bit bloated, hopefully by tomorrow he will start to feel better again... might have to milk his mother out tonight though, she might like that.

 

[Nesikep]

Tina has gotten the hang of stealing milk now, and Mega seems to be putting up with it

Just so you can get an idea of how small Tina is, here's a picture of her behind her mother (she may look big to SOME people)

And here is Mega with 2 suckers

The calf with the scours is still under the weather, but pooing solid. Still needs electrolytes though, and is feeling a bit warm. His back legs seem particularly weak, and he falls quite often, so I help him up to go nurse. I gave him about 2-3L of electrolytes through the day, especially in the afternoon when the sun is out, he drinks it quite happily, and I give it to him cool, though not cold.

 

[inyati13]

Nes, I don't know why I missed this thread. It is a testament to your love of cattle. Fantastic pictures that document a calving season. I love that wee little white face heifer. Keep them coming. This provides the best communication of how someone else does it. Thanks.

PS: I thought it was always muddy up there? Looks dry!

 

[Nesikep]

we can go from snow to dust in a matter of days... it has been a dry March actually... We certainly do get mud.. nice gooey stuff that leaves ruts made of concrete, and the corrals do take a little longer to dry up. Remember, a wet year here is 12" of precipitation

 

[Nesikep]

Tina is doing just fine, Mega is putting up with the occasional theft, and the scours calf is up and about, still a little weak and sluggish, but stands for extended periods of time now.

Caddy is getting really close, I figure in the next day or two, she looked mighty uncomfortable today and did a lot of tail swishing

And just because they're too darned cute, here's a couple more pictures

Lazyboy, as king of the mountain... he's just a little over 2 weeks old and I think he's closing in on 200 lbs pretty quick... Mega still is making more milk than he can drink, and when he does, he kinda just noses the teats and sucks for a couple of minutes.. he has a lot of snacks and never is hungry enough for a real meal... suits me fine, Tina is a hungry soul and is happy for the leftovers


And here's Tina, on the real momma.. hopefully I didn't post this pic already


And here's Tifa, just around 2 weeks old as well, and her mother Chroma was leaking milk yesterday still, so I think she may turn out to be nice in the fall.. her sister last year looked really nice, but just didn't have the weight to keep... Chroma's mother is Caddy, and I think she's fixing for another bull calf.. which is fine by me... her last one which I kept intact turned out picture perfect, and I'd keep this one intact too

 

[inyati13]

Nes, I have not had a single case of scours since 2010. That was my first year back from Colorado. I had four cows that ranged from about 1750 to 1940 pounds. I got those cows from my brother. Dad managed his herd. Dad and my brother were an odd pair. They had tons of experience with cattle but most of their practices were uneducated. For example, they did not believe cows need minerals just white salt! They didn't like any calf that did not weigh 180 pounds. My dad told me he had to pull almost every calf they had. The list goes on.

I almost lost a calf to scours. The vet gave it an IV, etc. He saved it and I took over with my first tube feeding. But every calf had scours. My dad told me that is just the way it is.

I started vaccinating my cows with calf-guard. Thay protects them from corona and rotaviruses. Knock on wood, it has eliminated my scours.

Your pictures are great. You are a good photographer. I enjoy watching the calves play that King on the Mountain game. Thanks for the show!

 

[Nesikep]

I like that my new phone has a pretty respectable camera in it!

We vaccinate against scours too, and it's rare we get one come down with it, but it does happen on occasion... We had our first calves in 1992, and they were all good (the ones that were born alive at least), the next year, we had 8 of them come down with scours at the same time, lost a couple, and had a heck of a hospital going... We've vaccinated since then and had only a couple.

Having a good pile around encourages them to play.

I want to get Caddy on video this time calving... she is really good at it, and last time I ran to the house to get my camera but was too slow, she had it and was licking it when I got back (5 minutes tops)

 

[Nesikep]

Well, Caddy just calved... from the time the nose poked out to when it was all over was 3 minutes, yes, I did get it on video!, it was just dusk, so it's not going to be the greatest quality though.

As suspected, it was a bull calf, probably in the area of 100 lbs, lively and strong, and got good lickings... very excited mother. I penned them together once he could stand and it took no time go get those teats.. put my finger in his mouth and 'dragged' him to the right end of the cow, and he latched on right away. For the first time, Caddy has thrown a calf with some white.. he's got ankle high white socks on his hind legs. I'm going to see how he looks in a week or so before I decide on if I'm going to keep him intact... maybe I'll even wait until I see how his brother turned out when I see him the first weekend of may... Now I need to figure out a name for this guy..

 

[kucala5]

Beautiful babies.