Worry Wart Syndrome

[sme.misfit.farms]

My name's Melissa and I'm a worry wart :lol:

I'm blaming it on lack of experience and a preference of having plans laid out. I know we're puny compared to majority of you but...

How do you guys patiently wait for calves from cows that are on the bubble of keeping or not? We only have a couple acres so I'm trying to be super picky on what we keep or cull.

Current situations:
Heifer didn't take her calf last year, she's nice enough that she got a second chance.
Crazy heifer gets to pop one out and she'll go to the butcher, timing depends on if she mothers or not.
Older cow (9) I'm watching her milk production this year.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Cows only job is to raise a calf.
I've never had one that would not take her own baby.
That one would make her gone like yesterday!

Round here anyway...

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

Cows only job is to raise a calf.
I've never had one that would not take her own baby.
That one would make her gone like yesterday!

Round here anyway...

She rejected hers yesterday so she has a date May 11th.
She cleaned it, was concerned of it, but then pushed the living daylights aggressively out of it.

Weird thing we noticed is her bag is hard and you can't get much milk out of it. Same thing happened last year so something isn't right with her anyways. Live and learn! Only three heifers left to go

 

[CG1]

Cows only job is to raise a calf.
I've never had one that would not take her own baby.
That one would make her gone like yesterday!

Round here anyway...

She rejected hers yesterday so she has a date May 11th.
She cleaned it, was concerned of it, but then pushed the living daylights aggressively out of it.

Weird thing we noticed is her bag is hard and you can't get much milk out of it. Same thing happened last year so something isn't right with her anyways. Live and learn! Only three heifers left to go

I had one with a hard bag once like that. She also was a bad mother but also kinda a good mother. She would aggressively nudge at her calf in the field and her calf would cry out to her all day and she would just dance around it. Turned out she had no holes in her teats! She only had one tiny hole for milk to come out. I ended up bottle feeding her calf and she ended up jumping a fence and getting hit by a car. But, she was a bad mother yes, but there was more going on

 

[MurraysMutts]

Least u got a live calf to care for.
That's a plus I reckon.

Hey, good beef bottle calves are bringing around 250-300 at the barns here.

 

[76 Bar]

Heifer didn't take her calf last year, she's nice enough that she got a second chance.

Any female that rejects her calf needs to be disposed post haste.

 

[TCRanch]

I've had one heifer that easily calved, took one look at her baby & hit the road. Penned them together for a week and she found the love - and bawled the most at weaning. Against my better judgment I gave her a 2nd chance. She's due in 2 weeks with her 8th calf and I've kept most of her heifers.

The only other time I had a cow reject a calf the cow had twins. Initially claimed them both but ditched one after 3 days and I ended up with a bottle calf (still have her). Had every intention of selling the cow but she ended up with lymphoma. Karma's a bi***! Heifers are the equivalent of teenage girls so I'll give them a little leeway but not with an experienced cow.

 

[SBMF 2015]

If it was my cows, the two hfrs would be gone, and that nine year old that has done her job year after year would get to stay until she doesn't do her job.
I calve 20-30 hfrs a year 99% of them are hard wired to be a momma, but every once in a while you'll get one that just fights motherhood all the way. If I have a cow loose a calf I'll graft the hfrs calf on the cow and stick the hfr in the feedlot.

 

[Brute 23]

I dont play that... I'd sell them all and start over.

 

[greggy]

Well thanks very much Melissa.

Your worrying, has given my yearlings warts !

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

Sorry - it's been a bit hectic around home. So I'll reply all in one

And thank you for everyone's thoughts. Definitely helps with the learning!

She was super aggressive, and I was out right after it came out so I went inside and figured she needed space. She was alone in the pasture so no other cows were bothering her.

Thanks MurraysMutts! That's the plus, she's spunky. Waiting on the other that I assume will be a bottle calf and do some dealing.

TC - she was penned up for a week and a half last year and tried to make the love happen, but she's got some screws loose. She knows the baby offers some relief, so she's not dumb, just doesn't like to love apparently. She's gonna love being in the freezer :lol:

SBMF - they're definitely leaving. no questions, my patience is tried.

Brute - just trying to figure out if I'm worrying too much or not. Although I feel like I'm on the right tracks with stuff to watch for in future momma's and what to watch for culling.

Welcome greggy :lol: ! my worry paid off cause I had to pull a calf yesterday. Had a big ol' head and wasn't positioned quite right. Also was a real feel of 7 degrees, so didn't monkey around too much. Now off to watch if it was her or him that's the problem and go from there.

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

Little heifer. 56 lbs which is decent for this breed.



After doing all I could to get it out, as my dad pulled in I got it. She's taking good care of him.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Good job!
I've found that a watchful eye cures a lot of problems. Gotta catch em early and know what to look for.
Good on ya!

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

Good job!
I've found that a watchful eye cures a lot of problems. Gotta catch em early and know what to look for.
Good on ya!

Thank you! Luckily they're close enough to the house I can use a camera to watch while I'm at my desk job

 

[littletom]

I don't worry much. Just get up every morning deal with it best i can. Had 14 calves since Sunday pulled 2 one heifer one cow. Heifer didn't take hers will be evicted from here. Don't really know what deal was with cow. My Dad worries and don't have to deal with it. Different personalities i guess. Sure am glad I married a vet though, takes off alot of stress.

 

[sme.misfit.farms]

I don't worry much. Just get up every morning deal with it best i can. Had 14 calves since Sunday pulled 2 one heifer one cow. Heifer didn't take hers will be evicted from here. Don't really know what deal was with cow. My Dad worries and don't have to deal with it. Different personalities i guess. Sure am glad I married a vet though, takes off alot of stress.

Maybe that's why I extra worry - we're just out of the zone most vets will go to, let alone getting a hold of one. There's a vet right down the road from me but he's working on retiring so he's hit or miss for coming out (can't blame him), and the other vet that can get there in a timely matter hasn't really shown she's capable.

Hopefully all your others go well!

 

[cowgirl8]

Black Vultures make me a worrywart.. We almost lost a cow the other day because she was having trouble getting up, had a few bites taken out of her. I DO NOT WANT TO DRIVE UP ON A HALF EATEN COW.... They were swarming a cow yesterday because her afterbirth was flapping in the wind behind her. She had just had twins. Husband and son were doing my job yesterday because I was stuck inside babysitting grandkids...(luckily, this time all healthy and not with the flu like last time, them not me)…. but it drove me crazy that I was not out there taking care of my new calves.....

 

[greggy]

Can you bring them into a small holding area close by when calving ?

I see a few people talk about vultures, we do not have them, but maybe they need thinning out ?

 

[cowgirl8]

Can you bring them into a small holding area close by when calving ?

I see a few people talk about vultures, we do not have them, but maybe they need thinning out ?

We have our heifers at the house and surprisingly, the birds will test us there too.. But, no, I cant babysit every cow out here. We had one swarmed yesterday and she held her cool... If the cow doesn't freak out and trample her calf once its out, things turn out better. But, if there is a delay in the calf coming out, the birds have her where they want her. They seem very vicious this year though, so anything struggling wont live long... Its against the law to kill them but you can get a permit. They are smart and very hard to shoot. They have to be trapped but, they are smart....

 

[TCRanch]

I stand corrected. Now have a 2nd heifer that won't claim her calf. How do you like the chute, wench? And yet even that and copious amounts of Orphan No More aren't working so it looks like I have a bottle calf and she's taking a ride - no second chance with her. :devil2: