Is this normal behavior? Calf/mama question

[boondocks]

Hi All!
We have our first 2 (heifer) calves on our little start-up beef farm. They are both born to first-time mamas. (The mamas are about 3 yr old black Angus from good lineage; they weren't bred last year as we were just getting ramped up). The first cow gave birth about 2 weeks ago and has been nicely protective, keeping her calf nearby, bellowing at it when it gets too far afield, etc., and mooing periodically to let it know where she is, when she goes off to drink, etc.

Mama #2 gave birth this past Monday, and seemed to be acting similarly the first day or so. However, yesterday and today her calf was not with her and her udder looked fairly engorged and the teats didn't look recently nursed. She didn't seem in any big hurry to find her calf (there are open areas of pasture but also one big "island" of dense brush and trees). Whereas Tuesday she took me directly to her calf (tucked away in the brush), yesterday she nosed up to Calf #1, looked around a bit then just stood. Over several hours, she did not go to her calf, even after she finished eating and drinking. Oddly, cow #1 bellered and acted like she was the search party! I looked high and low and saw no signs of calf #2. A big storm blew through, and once the worst was past we went back out to look more. The other cows (about a dozen) were all holed up together in a different wooded area, but still no calf #2 with them. We looked more in the brush and eventually found it. It got up and we were able to coax it out of the brush and down to mama. It latched on immediately and nursed for a very long time. Mama mooed contentedly while it nursed and didn't seem to be rejecting it, or aggressive at all...

Today, all the cows were together eating (with calves nearby) EXCEPT for our calf #2. We found her in the brush again and she then went out and eventually hooked back up with mom.
I know newborn calves sleep a lot and aren't always with mom 24/7, but isn't it a bit odd that this newborn is often totally by itself, for very long periods, while the rest of the herd is elsewhere? I should add that it seemed to have energy tonight and I saw no scours, eg. Am I just expecting mama #2 to be as protective as mama #1??? Mama #2 does have an extra pair of small teats in back (which I understand is common) but they appear to not be impeding nursing. Only other factor is that we've had our first 2 real hot days yesterday and today.

Does this situation bear close watching or am I a worrywart? Thanks for any thoughts on range of "normal"!

 

[dun]

Not abit unusual. Some cows keep their calves alwasy nearby, others will stash them in the brush or hidden away somewhere. They almost alwasy know where the calf is hidden unless it sneaks away after she gets it put away. Calves typically don;t nurse much or very frequently the first week or so. After a while they start spending more time with the others and nursing more often. The hiders always drive me nuts!

 

[boondocks]

Thanks! She seems to be sticking a bit closer today. The brushy stuff is good for hiding from coyotes up here but that makes it hard for us too!

 

[M5farm]

Dun is correct. Some cows will stay with the calf for the first week and some don't. Just the way it is sometimes.

 

[chippie]

dun and M5farm are correct.
Our daughter's Beefmaster will hide her calf and act like she doesn't have one. She is very protective. If one of the dogs or anything else gets close to him, she is on it like butter on bread.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Cows mother up differently, and there are some breed tendencies, but not a normal. We have had:
- not so interested in motherhood (some continental crosses tend to be this type, and I now cull for it)
- loves the calf but hides it for a week or so (very different from not interested)
- stays close to the calf all the time but is calm (our herf and sh influenced cows tend to be this type)
- protective to the point of being aggressive (neighbor bought co mingled black cows out of the sales barn and 40% are this type )

We have a simi cross heifer that does not pay much attention to her calf this spring, and the calf seemed very weak. I was tempted to feed the calf but let nature take it's course. After about a week the calf mothered up with a fresh wf cow who licks and feeds them both. :nod: Calf seems to be smarter than the simi cross heifer, who is going on a trailer ride.
We also had a nervous hider this spring, who hurdled two fences on the run to get back to her hidden calf, after a dog followed us up to the pasture gate. I have not seen moves like that since we were buying nut job stockers.
Our calving % has really gone up since we started Hard Cull'in for mothering ability, and moved the calving start date to Mothers Day :cowboy: Folks that calved during all the wet snow in March and April had heavy losses this year.

 

[Floyd]

I have a second calver that stashes her calves. Took me 2 days to find the calf last yr.IShe was in the 40 AC woodlot Different pasture this yr. She stashed it in the tall grass on the other side of the fence.

 

[boondocks]

Thanks all! There sure is a wide range of typical behavior, I guess! It's been very interesting to start to learn "cow"!

 

[dun]

Thanks all! There sure is a wide range of typical behavior, I guess! It's been very interesting to start to learn "cow"!

You've just barely starte learning cow. I've been at it almost 60 years and I'm barely out of basic cow 101

 

[boondocks]

Oh yeah, I'm in "remedial cow" for sure! If you've been at it 60 years and are just out of cow 101, that puts me in cow .000000001! We do have some experienced folks around us, which is good, but it's nice to have the benefit of everyone's experience on here--much appreciated! The calving pictures sure helped a lot--I knew what looked kinda normal and what to watch out for.

 

[Wyattc02]

:drink:

Dun is correct. Some cows will stay with the calf for the first week and some don't. Just the way it is sometimes.

It's smart to keep a closer eye on ccow 2 some cows will forget where baby is. I have some experienced cows and thee a always a few that forget from time to time where junior has been put down. :hat:

 

[boondocks]

Just thought I would update. Calf 2 is about a month old now. She is still hiding out a bit more then her 3 fellow calves (two are a bit older and one a bit younger but they are all within a few week's spread). She seems to be nursing well and mama is pretty mellow. I'm surprised how quickly they start to nibble grass! They are also trying to nudge open the loose mineral feeder some.

Now I have to figure out what we're breeding mamas, and a few yearlings, to!