could this day have gotten any better???

[rockridgecattle]

We are so close to being done. as of 3am 5 to go. Went out to check the cows this morning wouldn't you know it...dead calf.
We have these three bottle fed twins (in the beginniers post) Thought we would graft the youngest (a little over 5 weeks old)on the mommie. You would thing we would have learned our lesson after good friday. Went home for lunch and went back out because...
We have to check on a heiffer cause she has been walking around looking for a spot with her tail up for a few hours..no water bag though.
We decide to check the heifer to make sure all is well. WELL, we get her into the mat. pen and My husband looks in the barn to see how are grafting is going.
:shock: the dumb cow decided to jump over the pannel and get her leg and foot caught in the rungs. Run go find the hack saw and cut the pannel to get the foot out before we have another cow with a broken foot because we decided to graft a calf on her. Not our year.
Well the cows leg is abit sore, the heifer checked out soon to be calving, will need help but she has to get down to work and the twin calf, daisy, is so confused i'm not sure if this is worth the effort. The one good thing is the cow with the sore foot is mooing for daisy. You don't want to know how we kinda got this cow thinking this is her calf so quickly.
on yeah with the cost of steal so high, we now have a pannel for parts (go figure) cause that's the second time its been flattened, and straightened and cut up because of a cluck. OH WELL who said farming is...the yellow finches have come wow the day is getting better! :nod:

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Sorry to hear of the dead calf. When I read that my thought was to the youngest of your bottle-babies and the possibility to graft it on to that cow. Good going. Glad she is bawling for the 'new' baby.

As for the rest of the not-so-fun stuff, its all part of the business. Life's little challenges. Sounds like you have a handle on it.

Good luck with the rest of your calving.

Katherine

 

[rockridgecattle]

here is an update,
daisy is still confused If a calf could think and talk i ting it would say "if i get this big and act this crazy, shoot me!".
The heifer calved, unassisted. the heifer was a little crazy, one would thing this right of passage never happened before. She would not let the calf suck. It was like watching the meri go round. So into the head gate of the mat pen, and worked with the calf. Also gave the cow 1/2 of the recommended dose of atrevet to calm her abit. Starting to work.
All in all the day has improved

 

[rockridgecattle]

Update,
Mommy heifer has calmed down and let the baby suck and both are doing well.
the adoption process is progressing. the mother has taken to the calf like white on rice and the baby is still pretty confused. Thank God for the safety of a maternity pen though. It has kept us all safe.

 

[livestock101]

The one good thing is the cow with the sore foot is mooing for daisy. You don't want to know how we kinda got this cow thinking this is her calf so quickly.

Okay, I'll take the bait....Can you tell me how you got that cow thinking that was her baby so quickly? Something I might need to know someday.

 

[rockridgecattle]

i dunno.
The best i can do is ask you to look in the old testament and find the story of Joseph...that is all i will say.

 

[rockridgecattle]

i was telling my husband how i did not want to say what i did to get this mother to accept a month old calf. He told me how to say it without hopefully offending anyone. Here goes...she, Daisy, temporarily got a brand new coat. Pushed the calf butt end first into the pen and now she is back to her original color and mother loves her. Please do not be too disugsted with me and my back 40 method.

 

[sidney411]

I've heard from a lot of people to use the skin from the dead calf - not offense. I personally don't see the need for it, have never used it. But, if it works for you then that's great! There are tons of 'ways' to get a cow to accept a graft calf. It really comes down to the cow, either she will or she won't.

 

[rockridgecattle]

Thanks Sidney,
This is not norm for us, infact in 10 years the first time. We only did it because the twin was so old and we wanted a quick bond to form.
We usually use time, patience and calf claim

 

[hillsdown]

Rockridge I have heard that way many times especially from the mentors around me.I am glad you had the guts to do it and it worked.I don't know I just could not skin one of my calves even though it is dead.I don't think my husband could either; maybe he could but would know that it would bother me too much.Who knows maybe I am too soft to be in the business but the thought of doing that? I think I would try every other means possible and if none worked that calf would be bottle fed and the cow would be dried up until next year.

 

[rockridgecattle]

I don't think i ever want to do it again. this season has had a few hard knocks. I think the ony reason i did it was because we had just lost a cow trying to graft a calf on her. She jumped a pannel and broke her leg. And i was not willing to go through that again. the cow we lost was a gentle cow wth a name.
I have helped butcher animals that we raised specificall for our own consumption and it to was hard. This was harder because i love our little ones so much.
Will i do it again? Hopefully not, time and patience are the best measures in things like this.