Real Men Pull the Calf and the Cow !

[tex452]

What is the deal with cows and heifers having calves in creeks all the time on this board? We have creeks and tank on every single property and not one cow has ever had a calf in or on the edge of one and needed our assistance in my lifetime.


Is that the only place there is cover? Trees, brush, etc? Are yalls fields wide open?

I had one have a calf just as I was looking for her.
She was behind a tank dump and the water washed about 10' wide hole above 4' deep.
I hid back and watched to make sure the calf would nurse.
They eased towards that hole and just like that the calf fell in it and no way it could get out on its own.
Lucky I was there.

 

[Brute 23]

That's crazy. I rarely see a cow calve. I try to make it by once a week during calving so I can keep good records on when calves were born but I don't sweat ot of I don't make it.

They need an epd for that nonsense so it doesn't spread.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Is that the only place there is cover? Trees, brush, etc? Are yalls fields wide open?

Some cows like a lot of space for privacy and hiding their calf. Heifers even more so. In an open lot or paddock during the spring - - low areas or standing water often provide the most privacy.

The problem is we calve during the wet on open hillsides that border moving water, and newborn calves don't swim or climb banks well.

 

[Brute 23]

Some cows like a lot of space for privacy and hiding their calf. Heifers even more so. In an open lot or paddock during the spring - - low areas or standing water often provide the most privacy.

The problem is we calve during the wet on open hillsides that border moving water, and newborn calves don't swim or climb banks well.

I get it. Our cows and heifers may not bring a calf out of the brush for a week or more but they aren't trying to kill them either by doing stupid stuff. We don't have special spots to calve heifers either. They calve with the rest of the herd in the pastures. Maybe that is the difference? The older cows tell them not to do stupid stuff?

If a woman walked out in the middle of the interstate and tried to give birth we would all agree she has some thing wrong in the head.

Why would you calve in that spot if you know its always going to be an issue?

 

[TCRanch]

newborn calves don't swim or climb banks well.

They can definitely swim! 2010, our first time calving. One cow calved in the woods up from the watershed lake. We went out to check the calf, who was all of a few hours old, and she jumped up, took off, stumbled all the way down the hill and into the lake - where she proceeded to swim (more like dog paddle) towards the middle. 60 acre lake, 40 ft. deep, March 11th and the water was COLD. Yelled at Mr TC to go in and get her. He looked at me like I was nuts and took off in the Polaris to get the boat while I watched the calf, who by this time had made it to the middle, turned, and started swimming north. I could tell she was starting to struggle, so I dropped trou and jumped in. Yowza!!! Calf turned again, towards me, and I was finally able to reach her. She was so tired she didn't struggle and I got her back to the bank and carried her up the hill. I was barefoot and my feet were numb, so didn't realize I cut 'em up on the rocks. Got her to a leafy area and basically wrapped myself around her, rubbing her & trying to get her warm. Mr TC gets back w/the boat & doesn't see me or the calf, but sees my coat, bibs & boots on the bank. Minor heart failure ensues. He eventually hears me calling, banks the boat, gives me his coat, and carries the calf back to mama - who appeared to have no clue her calf was missing.

That calf is now boss cow, 12 years old and had her 11th calf in March. And she's still a diva!

 

[tex452]

They can definitely swim! 2010, our first time calving. One cow calved in the woods up from the watershed lake. We went out to check the calf, who was all of a few hours old, and she jumped up, took off, stumbled all the way down the hill and into the lake - where she proceeded to swim (more like dog paddle) towards the middle. 60 acre lake, 40 ft. deep, March 11th and the water was COLD. Yelled at Mr TC to go in and get her. He looked at me like I was nuts and took off in the Polaris to get the boat while I watched the calf, who by this time had made it to the middle, turned, and started swimming north. I could tell she was starting to struggle, so I dropped trou and jumped in. Yowza!!! Calf turned again, towards me, and I was finally able to reach her. She was so tired she didn't struggle and I got her back to the bank and carried her up the hill. I was barefoot and my feet were numb, so didn't realize I cut 'em up on the rocks. Got her to a leafy area and basically wrapped myself around her, rubbing her & trying to get her warm. Mr TC gets back w/the boat & doesn't see me or the calf, but sees my coat, bibs & boots on the bank. Minor heart failure ensues. He eventually hears me calling, banks the boat, gives me his coat, and carries the calf back to mama - who appeared to have no clue her calf was missing.

That calf is now boss cow, 12 years old and had her 11th calf in March. And she's still a diva!

You do love your cattle.

 

[simme]

They can definitely swim! 2010, our first time calving. One cow calved in the woods up from the watershed lake. We went out to check the calf, who was all of a few hours old, and she jumped up, took off, stumbled all the way down the hill and into the lake - where she proceeded to swim (more like dog paddle) towards the middle. 60 acre lake, 40 ft. deep, March 11th and the water was COLD. Yelled at Mr TC to go in and get her. He looked at me like I was nuts and took off in the Polaris to get the boat while I watched the calf, who by this time had made it to the middle, turned, and started swimming north. I could tell she was starting to struggle, so I dropped trou and jumped in. Yowza!!! Calf turned again, towards me, and I was finally able to reach her. She was so tired she didn't struggle and I got her back to the bank and carried her up the hill. I was barefoot and my feet were numb, so didn't realize I cut 'em up on the rocks. Got her to a leafy area and basically wrapped myself around her, rubbing her & trying to get her warm. Mr TC gets back w/the boat & doesn't see me or the calf, but sees my coat, bibs & boots on the bank. Minor heart failure ensues. He eventually hears me calling, banks the boat, gives me his coat, and carries the calf back to mama - who appeared to have no clue her calf was missing.

That calf is now boss cow, 12 years old and had her 11th calf in March. And she's still a diva!

Some of the guys here like to talk tough. But I think you are the one that actually does the tough stuff. Water rescue in winter in a 60 acre deep water pool, lancing an abscess on your bull in the pasture - that's real work and dedication.

 

[faster horses]

A navel infection can turn into a joint infection. Usually it take a few days to turn into Joint Ill. We had one get it in the front leg and it would just drag the front leg around and hobble on three legs. He was over a week old before this started happening.

We have had navel ill in the past. It's awful. We didn't know how to treat it successfully so those calves didn't pull through. The calves get so lame it is sad to see. We were treating them but not every day which was a mistake. We have learned that the bacteria goes to the joint because the circulation is poor there and the bacteria is hard to kill. So you have to be very diligent in treating it. We learned to give 10cc penicillin for 5 days and 5cc for 5 days. 10 day treatment. Maybe today some of the new 'wonder' drugs would be more effective, but we never saved one until a veterinarian told us to treat it like this for 10 days.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Why would you calve in that spot if you know its always going to be an issue?

Because a dry ish hillside beats mud. Some years we have a nice April. Once in a while we get a blizzard.

Other question is why calve at that time of year? I am moving back a couple weeks into May for 2023.

 

[faster horses]

Because a dry ish hillside beats mud. Some years we have a nice April. Once in a while we get a blizzard.

Other question is why calve at that time of year? I am moving back a couple weeks into May for 2023.

Rancher friends in SE Mt moved their calving back to start April 18 2022. That's when they got hit with 2 blizzards. He said, "we moved our calving back and the storms moved with us."

When we bought our place in SW Montana, May 15 there was 14" of snow on the ground. The Colombian ground squirrels were dying on top of the snow because their holes were full of snow.

At least calving in April or May, the bad weather doesn't last as long. Spring storms can be devastating for sure.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We use the Minnesota Hills calving system, so Lucky is behind the herd movement, but Mom keeps coming back and licking him. He is our cleanest calf now. Today he learned today how to hop and tried to follow Mom, but he cannot make it up steep grades. So I carried him over the hill and thru the gate.

 

[MurraysMutts]

We use the Minnesota Hills calving system, so Lucky is behind the herd movement, but Mom keeps coming back and licking him. He is our cleanest calf now. Today he learned today how to hop and tried to follow Mom, but he cannot make it up steep grades. So I carried him over the hill and thru the gate.

Poor lil fart.
I hope he comes around for you. The sooner the better!

 

[WFfarm]

We have had navel ill in the past. It's awful. We didn't know how to treat it successfully so those calves didn't pull through. The calves get so lame it is sad to see. We were treating them but not every day which was a mistake. We have learned that the bacteria goes to the joint because the circulation is poor there and the bacteria is hard to kill. So you have to be very diligent in treating it. We learned to give 10cc penicillin for 5 days and 5cc for 5 days. 10 day treatment. Maybe today some of the new 'wonder' drugs would be more effective, but we never saved one until a veterinarian told us to treat it like this for 10 days.

I think we treated with penicillin for 2 weeks. Vet said to ignore the directions on the bottle and gave him a larger dose. Poor little "pin cushion" we called him. He got better that had a relapse of it about a month later and had another round of daily shots. He finally got better and sold in the fall with the rest of the feeder calves with no apparent limp.

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

They can definitely swim! 2010, our first time calving. One cow calved in the woods up from the watershed lake. We went out to check the calf, who was all of a few hours old, and she jumped up, took off, stumbled all the way down the hill and into the lake - where she proceeded to swim (more like dog paddle) towards the middle. 60 acre lake, 40 ft. deep, March 11th and the water was COLD. Yelled at Mr TC to go in and get her. He looked at me like I was nuts and took off in the Polaris to get the boat while I watched the calf, who by this time had made it to the middle, turned, and started swimming north. I could tell she was starting to struggle, so I dropped trou and jumped in. Yowza!!! Calf turned again, towards me, and I was finally able to reach her. She was so tired she didn't struggle and I got her back to the bank and carried her up the hill. I was barefoot and my feet were numb, so didn't realize I cut 'em up on the rocks. Got her to a leafy area and basically wrapped myself around her, rubbing her & trying to get her warm. Mr TC gets back w/the boat & doesn't see me or the calf, but sees my coat, bibs & boots on the bank. Minor heart failure ensues. He eventually hears me calling, banks the boat, gives me his coat, and carries the calf back to mama - who appeared to have no clue her calf was missing.

That calf is now boss cow, 12 years old and had her 11th calf in March. And she's still a diva!

You're amazing!!!

 

[faster horses]

I think we treated with penicillin for 2 weeks. Vet said to ignore the directions on the bottle and gave him a larger dose. Poor little "pin cushion" we called him. He got better that had a relapse of it about a month later and had another round of daily shots. He finally got better and sold in the fall with the rest of the feeder calves with no apparent limp.

Good for you and for your calf. We had one we doctored so much that I said it was a wonder when she sucked that the milk didn't come out the holes. She wasn't as lucky as your calf and her mother was my favorite cow to boot. I just hate navel ill. Luckily (and I don't mean to sound like a broken record) when we got on a year-round mineral program, we had hardly any navel ill. I think the calves immune system was just that much better.

 

[TCRanch]

My one and only case of naval ill - so far. Swollen the size of a tangerine. Lucky for me, he was already at the barn with his mama because I was treating her for mastitis & supplementing him. Perfect storm, right? Texted pics to my vet, follow up call and listed which antibiotics I had on hand, which included penicillin (Pen-G). He said to hit him with a hefty dose of Resflor Gold and give a 2nd dose 2 days later. Worked like a charm and never segued into joint ill. But the calf was always a dink and sold him private treaty; he's now 2.5 years old and a pet/yard art.

 

[TCRanch]

You're amazing!!!

Not the first words outta Mr. TC's mouth when he found me! But thank you!

 

[TCRanch]

Some of the guys here like to talk tough. But I think you are the one that actually does the tough stuff. Water rescue in winter in a 60 acre deep water pool, lancing an abscess on your bull in the pasture - that's real work and dedication.

Thank you!

 

[TCRanch]

Because a dry ish hillside beats mud. Some years we have a nice April. Once in a while we get a blizzard.

Other question is why calve at that time of year? I am moving back a couple weeks into May for 2023.

We started out with calves dropping in late Jan/early Feb. Moved it back to mid/late Feb. Moved it back to early March. But there's always a few that'll calve end of Feb and Mother Nature has not been kind - or predictable - the past few years. Move it back any further and we're dealing with mud, rain, heat, etc. There's never a perfect time to calve! You just have to be prepared and deal.

 

[Silver]

I know a couple of operations that give every calf born a large dose of antibiotics in an effort to eliminate joint ill. They claim it seems to do the trick. They also are big on minerals.