Mexican Vultures Try to Kill Newborn Calf

[Williamsv]

We got to the pasture just in time to save a newborn calf. The mother cow and another cow had the calf between them doing their best to protect the it .There were at least fifty buzzards flying over them and several on the ground around them. This is the second time this year that this has happened. We saved another calf from them in January. Shooting at them runs them off for a while. We can't watch them every minute of the day. This is really getting to be a problem in our area of GA. All of our last calves were born at night, but this last one came this morning around ten o'clock.

I just wondered if any of you are having a bad problem with these vultures ,and is there anything else you can do other than shoot at them? Any help will be appreciated. I surely would hate for them to kill a calf.

 

[B&M Farms]

I had an uncle that had some problems one year. They were roosting in some dead trees in his pasture. Cutting the trees down and shooting a few seemed to help. They finally left.

 

[Nesikep]

Semi auto 12ga would be my weapon of choice... If I could get a coyote carcass or such as bait I'd set up a blind and let them have it when they came... Perhaps you could trap them too? That would probably be the most effective... The design of a crow trap but a bit bigger perhaps

 

[chippie]

We have a Great Pyrenees dog. He keeps them at bay and they leave.
Last month he was in our neighbor's pasture protecting a cow and her calf. He is a great dog.

 

[cowgirl8]

FIrst off, talk with your local GW and make sure you arent breaking any laws on killing them.
Shotguns are useless against these birds. Sure you may get one, but you teach the others. Anyway, they've probably been shot at before so they are wise to the range of a shotgun. They have peeps posted to warn of humans coming and i SWEAR they know if you have a gun or not. My choice if it comes to it would be a sack of pennies, a pound of tannerite, a dead cow and a sharpshooter.....if i were going to do anything, its a dream only right now
I get out before the sun just in case someone had trouble overnight during calving season. Get a cow who goes down in dark, wait a few hours after the sun rises, you'll find a bigger problem.
Keep all afterbirths picked up, this is what attracts them in the first place. They want fresh easy food. Find a cow eating her afterbirth, take it from her, move it far off and hide it from sight. I put them down animal holes. They are slippery and slide down easily.
I'm going to guess that a afterbirth or pieces of one was sitting around while they were after the calf. I've never had one try to get a live calf unless the mother is trying to dispose of the afterbirth. What usually happens is the cow will fight off the birds and inadvertently trample her calf in the process....win win for the birds.. This year i've discovered another way the birds can win...Get a bite on the calf as its coming out and then wait for infection to kill it.
These birds are spreading like fireants. People have no idea what they are in for. Small operations have it easier, my cows are spread out over 2600 acres. I keep hearing how ranches around us are losing so many calves and cows to these grim reapers. This year my loss was a big fat 0, but, i spend my life in the field and keep them at bay. A pir would be good, but not for our business. We are too spread out.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Don't shoot at them, shoot them. Carry a rifle at all times and shoot them when you see them. Don't ask the game warden, you have the right to protect your property.

 

[cowgirl8]

Don't shoot at them, shoot them. Carry a rifle at all times and shoot them when you see them. Don't ask the game warden, you have the right to protect your property.

This is ok if you own whats behind the direction you're shooting a rifle. And, its been my experience that just shooting one is pointless.
I've watched these birds for years. They have scouts, usually a pair of them watching a field. I believe they can tell a young calving herd and a older one. I always have 2 scouting my calving heifer pasture. This year, we brought in the 'close to calving' girls and had them calves in the corrals where i can watch them and its close to our house where human activity is going on all the time(but they still come in, they know when we are in the yard and not). When the scouts see a problem, they call in the roving hoard that flies so high you cant see them. They can summon in up to 50 birds that will swarm a struggling cow in a matter of minutes. If you want to control them, you have to get the roving hoard. A neighbor had a horse that went down while they were out. They came home to a skeleton that evening.
The way i've controlled their damage is by never leaving any afterbirth anywhere. If i see someone calving, i babysit them, and then i wait for the afterbirth. I pick it up and carry it about a mile or so away and then dump it in the first animal hole i find. Once the birds learn that this easy food is never around, they tend to find someone else who doesnt keep their pastures clean. The birds want easy food and fresh afterbirth is their fav.. The glistening tissue and glittery blood draws them in. And if the cow tramples her calf in the process, another fresh meal. The worst scenario is when the afterbirth hangs out and blows in the wind like a flag...It can signal them from very far off..
10 years ago this was not a problem. We'd see one or two and thats it. Now, there are more of them than the Turkey vultures. I've put 9000 miles on my 4wheeler since August and its because of these birds..I breath a sigh of relief when calving season is over...

 

[jerry27150]

you got it red bull :banana:

 

[highgrit]

I agree with the after birth part 100%. We gather the after birth up and put it on the pond dam. When you find a dead buzzard put it out in the pasture where the after birth came from. It works real good, before long they get the massage.

 

[Limomike]

Don't shoot at them, shoot them. Carry a rifle at all times and shoot them when you see them. Don't ask the game warden, you have the right to protect your property.

I agree.

 

[inyati13]

Cowgirl8, I would not be deterred by the GW. If they are hurting my cattle or property, I will kill first and sort the consequences out later. I do pick-up the afterbirth. Maybe killing them does no good but I feel like that is where I got to start. I have killed them here and it appears to have decreased the frequency that I see them.

 

[branguscowgirl]

We have a Great Pyrenees dog. He keeps them at bay and they leave.
Last month he was in our neighbor's pasture protecting a cow and her calf. He is a great dog.

:clap: :clap: :clap: Agree, great dog chippie!

 

[branguscowgirl]

Sound like horrid creatures, glad that we have not seen them here!

 

[Atgreene]

Shoot, shovel, shut-up.

 

[Nesikep]

Yep, That's exactly what I'd do. and you do have to wait for the hoard. Around here we have pest crows, and they have their scouts and lookouts too, and know when you carry a rifle too, they know the range, and that you can't shoot from a moving vehicle!

 

[Deepsouth]

I caught a baby sasquatch (bigfoot) about 20 years ago. I raised him in the woods behind the cow pasture. Over time the cows got use to him and he got attached to the cows. He got really protective of them which really was great for me. No dogs, coyotes or anything else would go near my cows. He would also chase the buzzards away. I always kept him hid the best I could because I didn't want the game wardens to take him away. One evening a strange dog was crossing the pasture during calving season. The cows got after the dog and was chasing him across the field when big boy spotted the commotion. Big boy is what I called him. Big boy began running after the cows to help them Chase the dog off. About that time a hunter was driving by my field and saw a dog and a herd of cows being chased by a bigfoot. He jumped out of his truck and shot big boy dead. He then came to the house and told me what had happened and that he had saved my dog and cows from the creature. I didn't even try to explain to him what had happened. I thanked him and told him I would take care of it. I buried big boy and have been fighting buzzards, coyotes and dogs ever since.

 

[chippie]

That is so sad Deepsouth.
Deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved Big boy.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I agree with the after birth part 100%. We gather the after birth up and put it on the pond dam. When you find a dead buzzard put it out in the pasture where the after birth came from. It works real good, before long they get the massage.

Why the heck would you give them a massage?

 

[Deepsouth]

That is so sad Deepsouth.
Deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved Big boy.

Thank you Chippie. He was extremely camera shy but I got this one picture of him.

What ever you do never let your bigfoot Chase dogs with your cows.

 

[branguscowgirl]

That is so sad Deepsouth.
Deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved Big boy.

Thank you Chippie. He was extremely camera shy but I got this one picture of him.

What ever you do never let your bigfoot Chase dogs with your cows.

Great memories Deepsouth.......Maybe some of his offspring will show up one day and your cattle will once again be safe!