sidney411
Well-known member
Had to share my experience last night.....
I went to check my cows yesterday after work and found one of our older cows has a new bouncing set of heifer twins. One is solid black and the other is solid black with a white "W" on her forehead. They are both so small and she wasn't letting "W" nurse as well as the other one, and one calf is plenty enough coming into the winter with no grass available so I decided to pull "W" and bottle her. On the way back to the barn with "W" I happened to notice one of our absentee neighbors heifers was trying to have a calf. I noted the time and went back 1 hr later to a heifer with no progress made. There was 1 gigantic hoof sticking out. I went to another neighbors house that had the owners phone numbers (which I had lost long ago
) and called him - he said to go ahead and get the vet out. I called the vet then went to try to get them up in the pens with cubes but only the old cows are cube broke - so no go with the heifers. The vet was there by that time so we ended up roping her from the truck and stretching her out between 2 trucks. The vet said it felt like a C-section but went ahead and tried to pull it. It took 2 guys to pull it but they got it out and alive. Heifer is fine. When we untied the ropes she got up and shot off. I went back this morning and the heifer and calf seem to have bonded now, so all is well. I am worried about the other 3 heifers though, they are crossbred heifers aprox. 800-900 lbs and are bred to a 2000lb + (I'm guessing) brahman bull. There are 2 bulls there and they are absolutely huge! I was real nervous about being in the pasture with these big boys. These heifers are at least a foot shorter at the rump and 2 ft shorter lengthwise then these bulls. I really feel sorry for them. The vet estimated the bull calf at over 100 lbs. I will keep a watch on the other heifers now but if something happens when I'm not around then no one will probabaly notice until it's too late. One thing I am so grateful for is the vets we have here. They are absolutely awesome! Not many vets today will come out at a moments notice for a house call and end up having to chase a cow around the pasture and rope her to get a calf out. I don't even know how to express my gratitude - and it's not even my calf. But I know if they couldn't have come I couldn't have just let her stay out there and end up losing the calf and possibly the cow, it's just not my way of doing things. I offered to help the owner manage his cows, he hasn't got back to me yet. I also noticed one cow that had a huge heifer on her and also a new baby about a week old. There are bull calves out there that are big as their mommas. I wouldn't be supprized if some of the heifer calves aren't bred.
I went to check my cows yesterday after work and found one of our older cows has a new bouncing set of heifer twins. One is solid black and the other is solid black with a white "W" on her forehead. They are both so small and she wasn't letting "W" nurse as well as the other one, and one calf is plenty enough coming into the winter with no grass available so I decided to pull "W" and bottle her. On the way back to the barn with "W" I happened to notice one of our absentee neighbors heifers was trying to have a calf. I noted the time and went back 1 hr later to a heifer with no progress made. There was 1 gigantic hoof sticking out. I went to another neighbors house that had the owners phone numbers (which I had lost long ago
) and called him - he said to go ahead and get the vet out. I called the vet then went to try to get them up in the pens with cubes but only the old cows are cube broke - so no go with the heifers. The vet was there by that time so we ended up roping her from the truck and stretching her out between 2 trucks. The vet said it felt like a C-section but went ahead and tried to pull it. It took 2 guys to pull it but they got it out and alive. Heifer is fine. When we untied the ropes she got up and shot off. I went back this morning and the heifer and calf seem to have bonded now, so all is well. I am worried about the other 3 heifers though, they are crossbred heifers aprox. 800-900 lbs and are bred to a 2000lb + (I'm guessing) brahman bull. There are 2 bulls there and they are absolutely huge! I was real nervous about being in the pasture with these big boys. These heifers are at least a foot shorter at the rump and 2 ft shorter lengthwise then these bulls. I really feel sorry for them. The vet estimated the bull calf at over 100 lbs. I will keep a watch on the other heifers now but if something happens when I'm not around then no one will probabaly notice until it's too late. One thing I am so grateful for is the vets we have here. They are absolutely awesome! Not many vets today will come out at a moments notice for a house call and end up having to chase a cow around the pasture and rope her to get a calf out. I don't even know how to express my gratitude - and it's not even my calf. But I know if they couldn't have come I couldn't have just let her stay out there and end up losing the calf and possibly the cow, it's just not my way of doing things. I offered to help the owner manage his cows, he hasn't got back to me yet. I also noticed one cow that had a huge heifer on her and also a new baby about a week old. There are bull calves out there that are big as their mommas. I wouldn't be supprized if some of the heifer calves aren't bred.
