Spring calving

[Pat]

Here are the first of the calves from my herd of first timers. They were born as decreed by Murphy, in a cold windy rain but at least in daylight. They are a day and a half old in this sorry picture. (Wife is gone shopping all day and I have no clue where her Kodak is and used a cheap BinoCam.)

Of the 4 most ready looking heifers I confined in a maternity observation area, 2 of then calved within minutes of each other two days after being put in the pen. They will be put out with the rest of the herd if the calves are still looking good at a week of age and a couple more (whichever look closest) candidates will be put in the maternity ward. I like to have at least 4 in there so they have a little herd and aren't too lonely.

Pat

[Pat]

Here is what happens when two calves who are curled up in the sun have a guy with a camera walk up to them and say (relatively quietly) psssst, to get their attention to get a better picture.

First time I ever did that. I had no idea they could go from nearly napping to running away faster than I thought possible for a day and a half old babies in a fraction of a second.

Live and learn.

Pat

[Bird]

Looks like those calves thought if you weren't a rattlesnake, you were at least related to one. [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Bird, As I'm sure you know, for the first couple days you can just walk right up to them and pick them up or whatever. Hopefully this "grace" period will last with the little bull (one bull and one heifer) until well into tomorrow morning when we will affix a tight band on him to convert him from a him to an it. My friend who has the band applicator couldn't make it today and will come tomorrow morning. I could have tagged them both today but was afraid that would make them wary and a lot harder to catch.

I prefer to "brutalize" them the least possible commensurate with my needs and goals. Along those lines we will just do it all tomorrow. I like to tag early so there is no confusion on my part about pairing up moms and calves. I try to avoid unnecessary stress so I won't be like the guy who didn't want to stress out his puppy by just cutting its tail right off and instead opted for a kinder gentler solution and just cut off a quarter inch each day.

Pat

[Bird]

Just cutting off a little each day would really be tough, wouldn't it? [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] The neighbor I had caught his bull calves and banded them as soon after birth as he could do so without the momma cow catching him. He'd go on his Kawasaki Mule and try to get between the cow and calf, with the calf on the driver's side, so he could get out and grab the calf while momma was on the other side of the Mule. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Some he caught right away and some were several days old before he succeeded. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Some of those old range cows were pretty protective. And he never penned them up for birthing; just left them in the pasture and sometimes they were a little hard to even find.

[egon]

Seems I can recall "CowboyDoc" saying that six weeks old was the optimum time. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

The original Texas longhorns running in open range were pretty much wild as they get. The year I spent in New Mexico on open range the stock were pretty wild.

I just got back from banding the bull and tagging both the bull and heifer. We could still walk up on them if we took it easy. We distracted the moms with some feed figuring the moms would stand at the trough and the calves would not stray too far. The first day or two anyone can just walk up on the calves and pick them up or whatever (if they are smart enough to not hiss like a snake! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) They are likely to be a little suspicious of people after being tagged and or otherwise molested.

Two more are real close and another three soon after them. Then a short breather before the rest. Got the bull back in with them so they can breed back ASAP.

I got my duct design email and if a phone session works out to our mutual satisfaction the ductwork will be shipped soon.

I'm thinking this is a big enough project that I might get some duct hanging help.

Pat