Stealing baby from momma?

[Z&J Cattle]

We had the first calf that has been born on our farm Monday. We have been in the cattle business less than a year and have always bought cow/calf pairs that were already ear tagged. Anyway, my question is, how do most of you go about nabbing the new baby away from his momma long enough to ear tag him/her and to steer the calf if it is a bull? Some folks have told me that they have one person drive a pickup and another person will scoop the calf up and get into the bed of the truck to tag/cut the calf. What do most of you folks who tag/cut at an early age do? Thanks,


Zach

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

Do it as soon as possible.The pick up thing would be safer....especially if the mama cow has an attitude! If he is over a day old you may have a hellava time catching him! ;-) :cboy:

 

[Aero]

we just walk up to the pair real easy and weigh, tag and sex.

my uncle got rolled bad a few months back when the cow couldnt see her calf. apparently, she assumed my uncle had taken the calf even though the calf was on the other side of her.

his broken ribs are still unhealed and is in obvious pain. Be Careful!

 

[denoginnizer]

Do it as soon as possible.The pick up thing would be safer....especially if the mama cow has an attitude! If he is over a day old you may have a hellava time catching him! ;-) :cboy:

You might not want to use your "go to town truck" for this procedure . Sometimes a momma cow will leave a mark on it.

 

[Saltydawg]

I do the same as Aero...just walk up and do what I need.

Think each person has to find what they're comfortable with as cows disposition can vary a lot.

Some cows will give you trouble and others just stand there watching.

My cows are very familiar with me....I'm in the field with them everyday so it makes it a bit easier. Some still don't like it but none have tried to run me down.....yet :lol: .

 

[msscamp]

We just snag 'em and tag 'em. Most of the cows are cool, occasionally one takes exception so we seperate her from her calf to tag. They are generally pretty easy to snag the first time, after that it can get interesting.

 

[Beefy]

its not worth it to me. we have done it in the past, jumping off the truck and grabbing the calf. While 98% of our cows would stand there and moo, you just never know for sure how they will react. You can read them but how fast can you read? we tag and stuff later. eartags are pretty useless to me though, i just know who belongs to whom.

 

[Ryder]

Walk up to them keeping the calf between you and the cow. Watch how she acts. If she is docile you are probably ok to catch the calf. If she begins to get agitated, :stop: you better be careful. Some of them will try to bluff you. Some of them mean business.

Sometime back someone said rope her and if you don't have a way to get her tied,run over the rope with a trucktire to hold the rope while you catch and take care of the calf. Of course you have to get the rope back off :?:

Also, I would carry a strong stick.

 

[rc]

My first year in the business I bought priefert panels and a head gate. That's probably the best move I think I have made as far as being able to work my cows safely. I work all at the same time, tagging, banding, vacs, etc. Some cows get kinda crazy bout the babies. I hate getting hurt!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Well, I calve everything in the barn, and I don't risk getting hurt, so even the sweetiest cows get moved out of the pen before we weight, tag, shots & iodine.
But, I saw an interesting way to do it out in the field, with non-trustworthy cows. The guy rigged a round hay feeder so that he could pick it up with the tractor. He would set it over the calf, and then process the calf with the cow outside the hayring. I thought that was a good idea for pasture processing.

 

[SimmAngus]

Within 24hours, we walk out, grab the calf tag it, weigh it and let mom have it back. Our cows are pretty good temperd, they watch, maybe get a little agitated, and I never turn my back on them!

 

[milesvb]

Some of them will try to bluff you. Some of them mean business.

The trick is knowing which is which. One thing for certain, if the calf bawls you're fixin' to have momma in your pocket and maybe a couple other cows too. I can afford to wait until we pen for those types. It's much cheaper to wait than hospital bills or funeral expenses.

Also, I would carry a strong stick.

A six foot piece of rattan seems to work wonders in gaining the respect of a cow.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I band the bull calves the day they are born and tag them too. Load the band and load the tag before you get near the calf. Band it first, weight it, then tag it. They usually don't get excited about the band but the tag will draw some expression that gets maw's attention. By then, you're done. Since I cube the cows regularly, they are okay with me being around them. Nevertheless, I remain warry.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

I band the bull calves the day they are born and tag them too. Load the band and load the tag before you get near the calf. Band it first, weight it, then tag it. They usually don't get excited about the band but the tag will draw some expression that gets maw's attention. By then, you're done. Nevertheless, I remain warry.

I pretty much do it the same way here. Most of the time they've calved in the "maternity lot/area". With the couple of upitty cows I have, I drive them and the calf into a small pen, drive the cow out, then I process the calf with momma at the calf's nose with me safe being behind the the gates.
Where I work they use the pick-up truck method.

Katherine

 

[Susie David]

Depending on weather we usually calve in the barn or in the calf pen. We put a little grain in the feed bunk and grab the calf. We handle all the calves every day from the time that they hit the straw...mamas know that we give them right back.
Yeah...make one beller and you will have a possee heading your way. This works for us.
DMc

 

[Victoria]

Most of our calves at birth only get tagged. We castrate later as we don't band. I get out of the truck walk up and tag them, there's only a couple I can't tag and I know who they are. We've got a couple old ones that get away with being grumpy. The new rule here though is if I can't tag them right away the cow is shipped at weaning time. I won't deal with bad temperments, they don't have to share with the dog or with anyone else but with me they better share!
For the purebreds that need to be weighed as well, same thing except I bribe the cow - give her a bucket of oats and she considers it a fair trade for torturing her baby. ;-)

I don't want to tell you to just wander up to the calf as I don't know your cows. I do think though that if you have a cow that won't let you easily tag her calf get rid of her. Years ago we put up with that kind of garbage but it's not worth it. There are time that a calf may need your help and if the cow is good with you it's much better. Who wants to take the chance of getting killed?

 

[jcarkie]

some i want a fence between us, i have mine in a lot so i let mom out and shut the gate and do baby. i had one last week first calf with me, i didn't know how the cow would react and the calf layed down by the fence i reached through the fence and tagged it. that doesn't happen very often good timing.

 

[cedar]

tag weight shoot cow if need be

 

[Bama]

If I find them in field I tag there. If I dont I run em through the chute. I have a cutting gate that I attempt to cut calf away from momma before the catch. If they slip in with momma past the cutting gate I just reach into the alleychute and tag em in there. I,ve taged several 300+ pounders in the alley chute, I give most of my shot this ways also. Trick is to crowd them in there. If they don't have anyroom to go anywhere you can do pretty much whatever you want.

 

[kaneranch]

We work all of ours at the same time. First we sort off the cows from the calves (or the calves from the cows, which ever is easier), then we rope the and drag them to the fire.