Curiousfarmer

A robin’s nest, with fledglings, in our cattle catch-chute.

I realized I needed to post this picture when WSB asked an astute question: “If the breeding season is short, will you get any sleep during calving season?”

Yes, and this picture explains why.

This is my proudest cattle picture.  I’m striving to breed problem-free cattle.  We aren’t there yet, as my post, “A Weekend During Calving Season” illustrates, but if birds can successfully nest in our catch-chute…

We pulled two calves coming breach, (backwards), in April.  We helped one calf nurse a cow with too-large teats.  We transferred a twin calf onto a cow that had lost her calf in the creek.  We pulled one large calf out of a heifer on May 7^th. But that was it, out of more than 130 births. We didn’t use the corral from May 7^th until the middle of June when we corralled some cattle for grass-finished beef.

Calving problem-free cattle in April and May should be fun.  I’ll keep you updated.

Breeding isn’t going as well as I planned.  Soon I’ll post about the problems we’ve already experienced early in this breeding season.

Citygirlfriend helped us move the herd to the next pasture.  The young calves are slow to move unless they are at their mother’s side.

Citygirlfriend did fine.  I didn’t go far from her, though.  I worried she wouldn’t recognize dangerous body language in the mother cows.

The cow above is protective of her new calf, but neutral.  When I approached her, look at how her body language changed.  She is telling me she won’t back off and I better.

What do you see? 

We had a cold, hard rain last night.  249 wasn’t with her calf that was born yesterday.  She was looking in the next pasture.  I drove around in the next pasture.

Sure enough, the little shit had gotten separated and went throught the barb-wire fence in the storm.  He was smart enough to find this cozy spot in the bushes.  I caught him and carried him over to the fence and put him under.

He went right to nursing.  I stuck around long enough to see him take a healthy milk poop.

The insect on the manure is Scathophagidae, or Common Yellow Dung-fly.  I have known this insect my whole life;  but until I researched  this post, I didn’t know its name.

“We don’t have a problem-free herd yet,” I said.

Dad and I locked 534 in the catch chute in the corral.  We opened up the side gate and put the calf up to its mother’s teat.  It was 24 hours old and no longer had a great desire to nurse.

Dad worked 534’s teat with his hand. He squirted milk onto and into the calf’s mouth, which he held open with his other hand.  The warm milk stimulated the calf and this time he latched onto the tip of the over-large teat when Dad placed it into his mouth.

—–

“I’ll bring the 4-wheeler into the corral if you open the gate,” I said.

I was moving 672 into a side pen with her twins so that we could get 619 into the catch chute and pull her calf, which was coming breach.  672 was a protective mother; which also made her difficult to move on foot.

—–

“How’s everything,” I said.

“Fair,” Dad said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, 3127 had a calf yesterday afternoon.  I swear it had white on its legs.  Tismorning 3127 had a red calf with her.”

“You think she had twins and left one?” I said.

“Yeah, I was just looking for it.  But maybe I saw the placenta and it looked white on the calf’s legs.”

“Which was it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s go look again.”

The calf with white on its legs was laying alone in the woods where it was born.

“I’ll pick it up and you can carry it on the 4-wheeler.  Are you going to take it to the barn or to the corral?”

“The barn.  I’ll tube it first.  Then we can decide what to do with it.”

—–

“We lost a calf in the creek last night,” Dad said.

“Shit.  Which one?”

“103.  She walked all around the pasture yesterday and had to have it next to the creek last night.”

“And that cold rain didn’t help.  Do you want to put the twin on her?”

—–

Our corral was full.  103 was in a pen with her foster calf.  672 was in a pen with her twins.  534 was in a pen with her calf.  619 was in the alleyway with her calf.