Calving 2012

[bknthesdle]

Two of our heifers decided to calve at the same time. Heifer 1 calved first and Heifer 2 thought that she had calved too. So both of them are fighting over the same calf. Then a third heifer decided she wanted the calf too. Finally got Heifer 1 & 2 (the one that calved and the one that was trying to calve) separated. Heifer 2 quit pushing and was calling to the other calf for a while, but we finally have 2 brand new heifer calves.

Heifer calf 1


Heifer calf 2 (my favorite as far as markings. Wish the picture showed them better.)

[rancher1913]

always a god idea to have some pens to make sure they have some alone time to pair up. got to really watch twins as the mother will forget about one. isn't calving time great, as long as we don't get a rash of bad deliveries its my favorite time.

[bknthesdle]

We always have the barn prepared for calving time. (usually due to the fact that we're in ND and March isn't always the nicest month as far as weather is concerned.) We have up to 7 stalls for them in the barn. These girls surprised us today as their due date was still about a week away, and they weren't showing any signs of labor. (pretty sneaky of them)

[bknthesdle]

So the total as of today:

Calf #1-Heifer-natural birth (appx 70 lbs)
But she wants to claim everyone's calf.


Calf #2-Heifer-hard pull (appx 100 lbs)
Calf must have been cramped in uterus as left back leg still seems a bit weak and she's not that good on her feet yet. She doesn't get up to nurse often and to top it off, Mom seems to not have alot of milk.


Calf #3-Bull-csection (appx 90 lbs)
Mom was moaning in a off way last night at 8 p.m. After checking her, thought calf was maybe off to the side, so we load up and go to the vet. Vet checks her and says calf ain't coming out naturally. Ended up with a c-section.

[bama-newsteader]

I love calf#1's face - beautiful!! Congrats on the new babies!!

[rancher1913]

your lucky to have a vet to call on. lots of posters on here bemoan the lack of vets in their area's. ours still make farm calls but only if they know you have a working shoot and pens--to much danger to the vets otherwise.

[bknthesdle]

Yeah..we have a decent cattle vet about 20 minutes away.

Calf #4- Bull calf-Born this morning appx 80# with just a bit of assistance. (Same cow also got her head stuck in a panel this morning at 4 a.m. so we had to try soap..before driving to the inlaws and getting a jack to get her head out.)



Calf #5 is on it's way now.

Better pictures in a little bit.

Why oh why couldn't they calved yesterday when it was near 50* verses today when it's 18* with a wind chill of 3. Brrrr.

[rancher1913]

just had one in the main heard calve that was unexpected, not supposed to start for another couple weeks. been calving the heifers and so far haven't had to pull one yet(knock on wood)