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Breeding / Calving Issues
Very Aggressive Heifer
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<blockquote data-quote="Katpau" data-source="post: 1409329" data-attributes="member: 9933"><p>I have had a few cows that make a bunch of noise and appeared a bit aggressive with their calves immediately after birth, but not to the extent you described. I even had one who acted aggressive towards her own calf if we approached it too close. She was weird. It was like she was angry at us for handling her calf and would take it out on the calf. Never to the point of acually doing any damage, but she would knock it over and push it along. I guess that was her way of getting it away from us when we were trying to weigh and tag. Those cows never hurt the calf and would settle down by the time the calf got ahold of a nipple, but I would not take the chance on a cow who acts like you are describing. I should know, because I made that mistake once. </p><p></p><p>I had a first calf heifer that I found standing over her dead calf. The calf had white eyes and was in a puddle. It appeared it had been born up the hill aways and a struggle had taken place to it's final resting ground. I made excuses for her. Perhaps it was born dead and she pushed it around trying to get it up. Maybe something had tried to get it, and she was defending it. Maybe it had died of hypothermia after falling in the puddle. She was a beautiful AI sired heifer and I had been very excited about her prospects, so I gave her another chance. She even allowed some other calves to nurse on her starting a few days later. That included a set of twins being raised by the same mother. That allowed me to rationalize that second chance.</p><p></p><p>The following year I called the cows and calves up to give them hay and she did not come. I found her walking around in the pasture calling. She had calved, but there was no calf in sight. My husband and I began to search over the 20 acre calving pasture, beginning where she was first seen calling. She continued to move about calling from one end of the pasture to the other. After an hour, I was standing on a hill looking down at an area on the opposite end of where we first say her pacing and calling. I was about ready to give up when I saw her cross a flat area below and go to what looked like a large puddle. I went down and saw an ear and a bit of the body peeking out from the water. She had made a hole in the sod that was now a large puddle of water and mud while she beat that calf to death.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Katpau, post: 1409329, member: 9933"] I have had a few cows that make a bunch of noise and appeared a bit aggressive with their calves immediately after birth, but not to the extent you described. I even had one who acted aggressive towards her own calf if we approached it too close. She was weird. It was like she was angry at us for handling her calf and would take it out on the calf. Never to the point of acually doing any damage, but she would knock it over and push it along. I guess that was her way of getting it away from us when we were trying to weigh and tag. Those cows never hurt the calf and would settle down by the time the calf got ahold of a nipple, but I would not take the chance on a cow who acts like you are describing. I should know, because I made that mistake once. I had a first calf heifer that I found standing over her dead calf. The calf had white eyes and was in a puddle. It appeared it had been born up the hill aways and a struggle had taken place to it's final resting ground. I made excuses for her. Perhaps it was born dead and she pushed it around trying to get it up. Maybe something had tried to get it, and she was defending it. Maybe it had died of hypothermia after falling in the puddle. She was a beautiful AI sired heifer and I had been very excited about her prospects, so I gave her another chance. She even allowed some other calves to nurse on her starting a few days later. That included a set of twins being raised by the same mother. That allowed me to rationalize that second chance. The following year I called the cows and calves up to give them hay and she did not come. I found her walking around in the pasture calling. She had calved, but there was no calf in sight. My husband and I began to search over the 20 acre calving pasture, beginning where she was first seen calling. She continued to move about calling from one end of the pasture to the other. After an hour, I was standing on a hill looking down at an area on the opposite end of where we first say her pacing and calling. I was about ready to give up when I saw her cross a flat area below and go to what looked like a large puddle. I went down and saw an ear and a bit of the body peeking out from the water. She had made a hole in the sod that was now a large puddle of water and mud while she beat that calf to death. [/QUOTE]
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