First calf of the season

[t&d farms]

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first calf of the season, hard core calf.
pretty stout looking,
not the best photos sorry

 

[t&d farms]

(well there is a photo of him and his mamma but cant figure out how to get it. not sure how i got the other one to load..LOL)
heres a pic. of him and his mama
he weighed 90lbs, alot bigger then we like but they are both doing great.

http://www.ranchers.net/photopost/data/ ... 0_3928.JPG

 

[t&d farms]

second calf of the season, born today around noon.
heifer calf, bout 80lbs

 

[1982vett]

Blue eyes or is that just reflection.

 

[t&d farms]

um.. im thinking it must just be a reflection, i didnt take notice of it before.
im afriad to ask, what does it mean? never had blue eyes calf before?

 

[1982vett]

Nothing that I know of, I used to to have some limousin crosses and every now and then I would get blue eyed calf.

 

[t&d farms]

well she is a limo cross,
you had me worried so i went back outside to check, i think its more of the reflections theres a little blue tint but only if you look real close.
but im glad you had me curious,
went back out and all hell broke loose
our heifer was calving
so much for an calving ease bull,
we had to come-a-long the little girl out. (well not REALLY little)
the momma went down and didnt get up for the longest time we thought we lost her too.
her water sak or something came out funny i never seen anything quite like it before. but it broke and everything looks ok now. we think.
but the calf is not getting up
she just too weak,
we got the cattle blower out to dry her off and then i got my hair blow dryer too after the majority of her was dry. had her by the heat lamp and hay and got her all dried off. she just wont get up or suck. dean milked the heifer out. (the benefits of having gentle and halter broke animals, plus she a little tired) a little to get some in a bottle, she just wont take it. we tried everythign we could think of to get her up. she just wont stand. we left them be for now. maybe she'll get up on her own.
we've been lucky have only lost two other calves before. but its still depressing and hurts. i know its life and its happens. my daughter will be heartbroken when she get up and the calf is dead. the heifer is hers. shes six.
tis two am, gotta get some sleep, thanks for letting me vent.

 

[t&d farms]

i went to bed thinking at least i had one healthy calf born today,, well i did until her stupid mother layed down on top of her. killed her. i just dont understand. how can such a good mother be so stupid?
what a kick in the stomach that was finding her. i jsut dont understand. i know things happen. but geeze. the stall is plenty big too. what a blow, two dead calves, and two cows with no calves on their sides. with the price of feed, do you keep them and carry them thru again?? geeze. im just depressed. :cry2:

 

[show steer up]

:cry2: oh noooooooo :cry2:
sorry about your loss, my heart goes out to you and your little girl.

 

[randiliana]

well she is a limo cross,
you had me worried so i went back outside to check, i think its more of the reflections theres a little blue tint but only if you look real close.
but im glad you had me curious,
went back out and all be nice broke loose
our heifer was calving
so much for an calving ease bull,
we had to come-a-long the little girl out. (well not REALLY little)
the momma went down and didnt get up for the longest time we thought we lost her too.
her water sak or something came out funny i never seen anything quite like it before. but it broke and everything looks ok now. we think.
but the calf is not getting up
she just too weak,
we got the cattle blower out to dry her off and then i got my hair blow dryer too after the majority of her was dry. had her by the heat lamp and hay and got her all dried off. she just wont get up or suck. dean milked the heifer out. (the benefits of having gentle and halter broke animals, plus she a little tired) a little to get some in a bottle, she just wont take it. we tried everythign we could think of to get her up. she just wont stand. we left them be for now. maybe she'll get up on her own.
we've been lucky have only lost two other calves before. but its still depressing and hurts. i know its life and its happens. my daughter will be heartbroken when she get up and the calf is dead. the heifer is hers. shes six.
tis two am, gotta get some sleep, thanks for letting me vent.

Hope you get some colostrum in that calf. Tube it if you have to, but it needs the colostrum within 24 hours, preferably within 12 hours. The sooner the better. Good luck.

 

[t&d farms]

we did, my husband milked the heifer, got some out of her, last nite, before we came in, this morning and this afternnon
she was still alive, but she still wont stand.
like she's paralized or something. she looks perky, can stand up, think we damaged her spine or soemthing. not sure if we should keep milking the hiefer and getting milk in the calf or let it. go. my daughter is heartbroke, we wont let her in the barn.

i guess its one of those things your danged if you do or danged if you dont. we had to pull her out or we would of lost both, believe me we tried everything before we got the comealong. tis sad. the hubby went to a couple seminars about it. and he thinks he/we did it right best we could. he's kicking him self in the butt. (its not the first calves he has ever pulled to, he worked on a diary farm for a good 10 years, and had to pull calves alot, probably not the same as beef though)
does any know of a good website i can look at about pulling calves? im too tired to go looking. im sure someone has something off hand.
thanks in advance
jsut sucks to lose two out of seven calves, you know in the same day? one was understandable, but the other is not. thats the hardest. Hopefully the next five come healthy and easy

 

[farmwife]

Sorry for your trouble; been there done that (refused to get the T-shirt because I didn't want to relive it).

I don't have a website, but I'm sure there are some. Though we don't pull very many now with Herefords I have pulled my share of Simmis. Main things for me are to make sure the calf is in position to come out (head and front feet first), otherwise it's a whole different ballgame. Also you have to make sure the cow is ready to calve, and finally pull the calf toward the back feet of the cow (they naturally dive out like we dive in a swimming pool).

There is more technical info out there, but luckily I've never lost one with these things in mind. Sure I've had them come breach, but that's totally different.

Good luck in the future.

 

[CPL]

the stall is plenty big too.

Sorry about your losses,

but I don't think cattle belong in stalls, perticularly one with a calf. Personally I think that was just asking for trouble, try to give them some room. Good luck with the rest of your calves- keep us posted.

 

[t&d farms]

maybe it was asking for trouble, this has never been an issue before but that is how we our set up. this is the earliest we have ever had calves. there's over 2and half foot of snow outside. to me that doesnt seem safe either. i guess we will evaluate the situation.

 

[randiliana]

maybe it was asking for trouble, this has never been an issue before but that is how we our set up. this is the earliest we have ever had calves. there's over 2and half foot of snow outside. to me that doesnt seem safe either. i guess we will evaluate the situation.

Glad you got colostrum in it. Have you given it a shot of selenium, and perhaps an anti-inflamatory would help also.

Don't worry about the stall. We have cows calve in stalls all the time. It isn't perhaps ideal, but it is much better than having one freeze to death. You should have stalls that are close to 10 x 10 feet or bigger, less chance of a calf being stepped on. Mama cows are usually pretty careful.

I would give this calf a few days. If there was nerve damage, it may take a while for the calf to heal. We had a backwards calf last year that couldn't get up for 4 or 5 days. We just worked at getting it up at least twice a day. Even if it only stands for a few seconds, you are helping it. Have had others that took a while to get going, hard pulls are hard on both cow and calf. Imagine someone hooking a come-along to your feet, and tying your hands to a wall, and then stretching you. Unless this calf has given up, and shows no signs of wanting to move at all, give it a few days. It may surprise you.

Here is a good webpage with numerous links to articles on everything calving, should be a couple good ones on assisting a cow.

http://www.alotangus.org/calf.html

 

[t&d farms]

that stall is 12X18

 

[randiliana]

That is a good big roomy stall. Some of ours aren't quite 10x10 and we get by fine. I don't think you having her in the stall is a problem at all.

 

[r and s peckman]

t and d, what bull did you use?

 

[t&d farms]

we used Ali,
what we read he's good to use on first calf heifers and he was also suggested.
things happen.
nervous about the next couple heifers, we've never had so many heifers before. one usually but not ever four,
im sure things will be fine
anyways, have a good day!

 

[r and s peckman]

We are going to try Rocky Balboa on some of our Lims and a Shorthorn cross. He was recomended for calving ease.