cow pollinater
Well-known member
Milk?! At his size he's ready to wean. :lol:hillsdown":2f5bgloz said:
My new baby
- Thread starter hillsdown
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Workinonit Farm
Well-known member
My goodness! He's a beaut!! Glad he's alive and mother is okay. I sure hope, for your sake, that weather warms up a bit soon.
Katherine
Katherine
LazyARanch
Well-known member
WOW! That's gotta be a record of some kind... Told my husband about your calf Hillsdown and he said " I sure as HE!! hope we don't have any that even come close to a hundred pounds let along the size of THAT bugger!"
But from the sounds of it, lots of folks having big calves this year!
Congratulations on your big baby!
But from the sounds of it, lots of folks having big calves this year!
Congratulations on your big baby!
MO_cows
Well-known member
Holy moley! I thought the bugger looked big. I think that's the biggest live calf I ever heard of. Hope you can get him up and going. Cold weather? Mating combination? Fluke? Wonder why so big?
Backbone Ranch
Well-known member
I have never heard a calf of that size being born alive either. That sure is a good cow if she can deliver that calf.
Named'em Tamed'em
Well-known member
Monster calf HD, we only pulled one in23 years.
He was128 pounds .
My wife joked he was big enough for his learners permit.
God luck with the pair.
Scott
He was128 pounds .
My wife joked he was big enough for his learners permit.
God luck with the pair.
Scott
Nesikep
Well-known member
The bigger cows can handle that pretty good usually... Remember that adding 20 lbs to an 80lb calf makes a far greater difference than adding 20 lbs to a 120 lb calf... but they have to be about a frame 6 or so to even think of weights over 120... Shape of the calf can make all the difference too... the long ones are like noodles, it's the blocky ones that are like passing bricks.
Hope he's up and going now...
Hope he's up and going now...
OP
OP
hillsdown
Well-known member
Thanks everyone . :tiphat:
I think this guy is just a fluke ,because I used his sire on heifers and 2nd calvers last year with zero problems and he has over 25 calves on the ground this year and all were moderate size and popped right out. That is why I loved him as a bull ,the calves came out as bricks and were on the run as soon as they hit the ground . Abbey had Anna out of him last year ,she weighed 90lbs and I have retained her for a replacement .
Well, the big fella was up and standing when I went to feed him this morning and the swelling in his tongue is completely gone now so he was able to down his bottle without too much problem . So things are looking up.
My mom said , shouldn't he make the newspaper and I said H#ll NO , how the heck will I ever sell any bulls again. :lol:
The main thing is that Abbey carried it and delivered it without problems ,she had a ton of room still as I could reach my whole arm around the calf when I checked to make sure he wasn't going to be locked up anywhere. However , I will be AIing her to a very low BW bull this spring as I really don't like to have to fiddle with a monster , and I am still sore from moving him in and out of the calf sleigh .:devil2:
I guess there is not too much difference between him and some of my girls carrying twins that weigh 90lbs each . When you have to feed them in -40 weather for weeks at a time and they are in their 2nd-3rd trimester most of the feed goes to the baby . There is a really good link that I think Dun posted on the breading/calving board about blood flow to the calf and how they develop an extra layer of fat specifically to be born and survive in cold weather .
It was +4 at 6am today , down right balmy out there .
I think this guy is just a fluke ,because I used his sire on heifers and 2nd calvers last year with zero problems and he has over 25 calves on the ground this year and all were moderate size and popped right out. That is why I loved him as a bull ,the calves came out as bricks and were on the run as soon as they hit the ground . Abbey had Anna out of him last year ,she weighed 90lbs and I have retained her for a replacement .
Well, the big fella was up and standing when I went to feed him this morning and the swelling in his tongue is completely gone now so he was able to down his bottle without too much problem . So things are looking up.
My mom said , shouldn't he make the newspaper and I said H#ll NO , how the heck will I ever sell any bulls again. :lol:
The main thing is that Abbey carried it and delivered it without problems ,she had a ton of room still as I could reach my whole arm around the calf when I checked to make sure he wasn't going to be locked up anywhere. However , I will be AIing her to a very low BW bull this spring as I really don't like to have to fiddle with a monster , and I am still sore from moving him in and out of the calf sleigh .:devil2:
I guess there is not too much difference between him and some of my girls carrying twins that weigh 90lbs each . When you have to feed them in -40 weather for weeks at a time and they are in their 2nd-3rd trimester most of the feed goes to the baby . There is a really good link that I think Dun posted on the breading/calving board about blood flow to the calf and how they develop an extra layer of fat specifically to be born and survive in cold weather .
It was +4 at 6am today , down right balmy out there .
Nesikep
Well-known member
It is really warm here too now, south wind is getting rid of the snow and ice in a big hurry. Good to hear he's on the the up and up.
OP
OP
hillsdown
Well-known member
3waycross":38gxcmp7 said:
I will take some pics of him standing later ,hopefully by another calf so you can compare .
Too crazy busy today , now that it is warm I had to tag calves and remove toques finally .The sucky thing about having a uniform herd is that the babies all look alike . There are 7 girls still without tags that I cannot catch anymore and when they stand together cannot tell any of them apart . :roll:
wacocowboy
Well-known member
3waycross":1ge8mfd5 said:
that's what I want to know in a few months his WW
tamarack
Well-known member
Hills that is a great calf, my neighbour had a cow calf a while ago that weighed 173lb that he had to pull it had came out to head and the ravens had pecked its tongue half off it lived but never did well it lived but wasn't great in the fall.
OP
OP
hillsdown
Well-known member
Well, the little fella spent a lot of time by himself . I alos almost lost him to bloat when he was a week and a half , but managed to get him fixed up and back as good as new . Just had to deflate him a couple of times.
His mom had already adopted another calf by the time he was ready to go back out with the calves so I had to get a little cratove . Miss Keen calved and unfortunately I was not quick enough to save her breach heifer calf but now she has a new baby and Big Boy has a mom finally (well besides me and I am really sick of bottle feeding by the time I grafted him he was already up to 6 pints 3 times a day and he is only a month old ) :???:
Not a pretty graft but it did the trick and it was the first time I have every done it this way .
To add a little extra incentive I covered him with some molasses and calf starter . ;-)
The next morning it was evident she had claimed him as her own .
Back in the pasture with their herd . His real mom came up and started licking him and bawling at him but she has no intention of taking him back . I guess she hasn't forgiven him for being so darn big when he was born . :lol:
His front leg is still a little wonky but I am hopeful it will get much better and stringer now that he is moving around a lot more .
His mom had already adopted another calf by the time he was ready to go back out with the calves so I had to get a little cratove . Miss Keen calved and unfortunately I was not quick enough to save her breach heifer calf
but now she has a new baby and Big Boy has a mom finally (well besides me and I am really sick of bottle feeding by the time I grafted him he was already up to 6 pints 3 times a day and he is only a month old ) :???:
Not a pretty graft but it did the trick and it was the first time I have every done it this way .
To add a little extra incentive I covered him with some molasses and calf starter . ;-)
The next morning it was evident she had claimed him as her own .
Back in the pasture with their herd . His real mom came up and started licking him and bawling at him but she has no intention of taking him back . I guess she hasn't forgiven him for being so darn big when he was born . :lol:
His front leg is still a little wonky but I am hopeful it will get much better and stringer now that he is moving around a lot more .
TN Cattle Man
Well-known member
Thanks for the update HD. Looks like he is well on his own way now!
Great job by the way! It is always nice to work hard with one and see some positive results.
Great job by the way! It is always nice to work hard with one and see some positive results.
OP
OP
hillsdown
Well-known member
Thanks TN !
He did lose a little ground during his bloat battle as I had to really cut milk back for a week and I was just getting him back to fat and sassy again when I grafted him so he has lost a little ground again as he has to now work for his milk and not just stand there and drink .
I think the calf in front of him is going on 6 weeks old and Miss Keen is a very big girl . She is 14 years old, the herd boss and probably weighs about 1700 lbs .
He did lose a little ground during his bloat battle as I had to really cut milk back for a week and I was just getting him back to fat and sassy again when I grafted him so he has lost a little ground again as he has to now work for his milk and not just stand there and drink .
I think the calf in front of him is going on 6 weeks old and Miss Keen is a very big girl . She is 14 years old, the herd boss and probably weighs about 1700 lbs .
What is the purpose of the orange twine?
TN Cattle Man
Well-known member
TT... that looks to be holding the graft in place.TennesseeTuxedo":1fa7xhmw said:
Now I see what's going on, thanks Cattle Man.
Very creative.
Very creative.
slick4591
Well-known member
:clap:
