Cry with me New heifer calf GONE!!!

[myheaven]

Its my birthday today and my husband worked long and hard (many months) to get me a dairy heifer calf for my birthday. I have wanted a milk cow for the longest time. We just could not afford the high price for a calf. WEll dh made a deal and secreatly paid for a calf. The guy that brought her out (wasnt suposto I guess) let her go when the kids startled her. She is only a month old and still on milk. She is gone.We were hoping she would come back due to all our other cattle but no such luck.
I cried so hard for all his hard work in every aspect of the situation, was just wasted all that money gone.
Why cant things ever go right for this poor man.
Life has been so hard for him the last couple of years. He didnt leak one biit about the suprise. I got to see her for about 35 seconds. She was so pretty. She was solid black. She was 3/4 holstin and 1/4 angus. Perfect home cow. She came from an organic amish farmer. Im just beside myself with greif for this poor man. Its not fair. With how hard he works he should have so much to show for his efforts. But yet he has nothing. This sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Danaus29]

I am so sorry. I hope she shows up, poor scared little girl.
You really shouldn't be the ones out of pocket. If the person who brought her had handled her properly she should never have been able to run off.

[sandc]

Had something like this happen once and we found her down in high grass kind of like a deer fawn. I would get everyone I can out looking first thing in the morning. She will either get up and start wandering looking for food and may come to a metal bucket getting banged or stay hidden until she can't get up. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I've been on the slope where nothing goes right. It eventually ends.

[houndlover]

Get a couple of friendly dogs to help. Just about any dog will show excitement over a strange animal in the grass or woods.

[Ronney]

What a disappointing birthday - but don't panic yet. I had a look in your profile to find out how many acres you have and what sort of fencing there is but didn't come up with anything. On the plus side I gather she has been hand reared(?) so will possibly come to the call. Ring the chap you got her from and ask if he had any special call to bring his calves in - I call all mine bubba and yell out "c'mon you lot" and by a month old they recognise dinner time, breakfast time and any other bloody time that might hopefully involve food.

On the minus side, she will be frightened and disorientated so may well go to ground as Sandc said. I don't know what time it is there but first thing in the morning do a paddock by paddock seach and look carefully. She is black and will just disappear into her surroundings. Also, watch your other cattle very hard - they will tell you if there is something strange in their paddock.

I agree with Houndlover, if you have a quiet biddable dog, take them with you. My dogs have a nose for things being out of kilter with the result that I've found sheep stuck in drains and the river, an aborted calf I would never have seen, a sheep caught in blackberry that would have starved to death, a stray kitten in the pig pens that is now a house cat, and yes also a neighbours yearling heifer that they knew wasn't one of ours.

I also agree with Danaus to some degree - a stockman worth his salt would not have had the calf in such a position is could have run.

I'm sorry you've had such a lousy birthday and hopefully it will have a positive end. In the meantime, give your husband a hug fit to suffocate him for the lovely thought. That in itself is worth gold.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[myheaven]

she is standing in my driveway bellering. Im bellering back. She is soscared and flighty you cant get close enough to lasso her. mY dog knows how to herd cattle but she is so scared I dont think she will go the right way.

[bee]

Well at least you know where she is! Now you can get a plan to catch her. Don't run her until you have a place set up to direct her into..either a paddock(or other fenced in area) or even a small shed or barn. You say you have other cattle; can you get a halter on a cow and use her to draw your lost baby?

BTW, something HAS gone right for your husband; he has you to love, support, help and appreciate him.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Go out as near as you can and lie down. Seriously. She'll get curious and come look at you. Take a bottle with you. MOVE SLOWLY!

[Ronney]

That's good news and half the battle won Is your drive gated at both ends and if so, can you quietly circumnavigate the the drive by walking through the paddocks, and shut all the gates then leave her to settle down?
Then look at your options on handling the situation. I have a farm that is very well set up for this sort of thing - permanent fencing, three gates on the drive, the drive has the house at one end and a large yard at the other end with cattle yards and milking yards off it so one way or another, there is nowhere for escapee calves to go and eventually they can be herded to where they are supposed to be. I don't suppose everybody is so lucky.

However, I very pleased for you that she has appeared and I'm sure that it will all pan out in the end. You probably need to calm down as much as the calf does but keep on bellowing at her, it does help. And in between times, have a wine to wet the throat Happy Birthday!

Cheers,
Ronnie

[7thswan]

Yes, you are going to have to calm down and stay quiet. You Alone, go out without anyone else, get as close as you can and be still. This animal has at some point been around humans and probably knows ,Humans=Food. Patience is the only thing you should be working with, and a bucket of whatever the calf has eaten before coming to your house.Keep the dogs,kids everyone away from the calf until it settles down in it's new home. Later it will get accustomed to it's surroundings.

[Ronney]

Originally Posted by 7thswan

Yes, you are going to have to calm down and stay quiet. You Alone, go out without anyone else, get as close as you can and be still. This animal has at some point been around humans and probably knows ,Humans=Food. Patience is the only thing you should be working with, and a bucket of whatever the calf has eaten before coming to your house.Keep the dogs,kids everyone away from the calf until it settles down in it's new home. Later it will get accustomed to it's surroundings.

Ah yes, good point and one I should know enough about to have mentioned.

Cheers,
Ronnie

[myheaven]

she took off down the road again. The loose blind rooster scared her.
The guy My sweet husband got her from is amish so has no way of calling him.
I have a 5 line barbed wire fence. 4 lines are hot. I have the fence off now.I only have beef steere and have one seperated from the rest of the herd to make a racket.
So here I sit and wait.
I think I will build a pen where she likes to stand.
Back to square one.

[MOgal]

Great that the baby found its way to your house! Agree with still, quiet and the feed bucket or bottle!

We had a similar situation this past spring. When two sets of kids got separated from their dams along the creek and didn't follow them back to the barn, the first pair took shelter from the storm that night under a fallen tree. DH, a neighbor and I scoured the neighbor's place as well as our own but I couldn't imagine those 10 day old kids getting so far as the neighbor's place. On Friday evening, I took our 10 y/o GSD out to look but no such luck. After chores, I looked again and more after lunch. This time I took Sassy with me again and it was she who found the babies. They were used to Sassy having been in the house for a couple of days. The second set of kids were not missing so long as Sassy had figured out the game. She found them within 45 minutes of beginning the search huddled in a cleft between roots at the base of a large tree. Due to their coloring, I would never found them by just looking. It took Sassy's nose. We've changed her name to Sassy the Wonder Dog. She's had obedience training but no herding or tracking.

The feeling when you see the lost one and know your eyes aren't playing tricks is great, isn't it? Glad she found you and give that man of yours a hug. Sounds like a keeper.

[julieq]

So glad she came back! Won't add to all the great suggestions here, but I know you can befriend her. She's got to be hungry and looking for that bottle. Prayers going up!

[myheaven]

I spent an hour on my belly. I tried my back but with being 9 mts pregnant i was blacking out to lack of blood flow. She went and laid down by my apple trees. I got about 100 feet from her. A whole bunch of cars came by and scared her and she took off into the woods again.
I have grain sitting out where she keeps coming and standing. I just have no way to prop her a bottle.
My place is not set up for loose animals. I have my pasture fence garden fence and goat dry lot and that is all.
I have hugged my husband so hard and told him over andover just how amazing and magnifacent he is. I did end up crying with the sheer sadness on how hard he works and how his labors bear so little fruit (in my eyes). It hurt him to see me cry and said he lives to see me smile. I gave him a huge smile and told him he is wonderful and she is beautiful and im am greatful for all he has done for me.
For some reason our breaks went out on our truck yesterday and the radiator started to pour fluid. Or else we would go take our stock trailer and see about getting a herd mate locked in the trailer to try to get her to go in there. my boys(beefers) are being silent. But they are staying by the gate so I hope that luers her in.

[chickenista]

Happy Birthday!
And you will get her back in
and the story of how she came to be with you will add to the story of your lives together.
It will eventually be funny and you will laugh.
But the best gift of all is the love and kindness of your husband and your appreciation of all that he does for you.

[fishhead]

I've never raised cattle but it sounds to me like she wants to come home.

Can you leave a pen open with a pan of milk in it? The smell should draw her into the pen when she gets close enough.

Maybe even just put a pan of milk out where she stands so she starts to associate her new home with food.

[Allen W]

She seems to keep coming back so I would leave her be. Maybe leave a pen open close to the other calves or tie the wires on the fence so she has a hole or several she can go through to get to the other calves. Doesnt have to be big just something she can work herself through. The best thing you can do is leave her alone and watch for her to get with the other calves.

[SpaceCadet12364]

contact the guy you got her from and see if they will bring a herdmate over.....appropriately haltered though. Good luck!

[Lazy J]

If you pussyfoot around much longer she might be hit on the road or leave for good. I'd get some help to get this calf back in your control.

Jim