See a first last night, and I'v seen a lot in my life

momagoat61 · #1 05/09/12, 11:36 AM

Yesterday evening at 5:45 p.m. I helped my brother get a heifer due to have her first calve into a small lot by the barn so she isn't somwhere over the entire 100 acres along with all the others, Now my brother and I were raised on this farm and we are both over 50 and we have raised cattle our intire child and adult life's and have 60 plus calves born annally, some we have to help and some not so much, but this was a first. I was walking up the lane to the barn to feed a 12 month old heifer that I'm keeping over that I keep locked up so the bulls don't get with her and my brother thought since the heifer followed me up the lane we would just stick her in a 2 acre lot beside the barn just in the case there was a problem when she dicided to calve, note, this was a 5:45 p.m. and the heifer followed us into the lot and my brother put a quart of feed in the trough and we stood there dicussing when she might calve, she ate the feed with us standing maybe 5 feet from her and we both came to the conclusion that she probably is maybe 8 to 10 days out from calving. My house is closest to the barn and I can stand on my front porch and see the cows we put in this lot without actually walking out there. My brother and I finished what we were doing and we each head to our houses. I got back to my house at maybe 6:15 p.m. and ate supper and showered. At 7:20 I thought I better look out and see the heifer and make sure she settled down in the new lot ok before it get's to dark, and I see the heifer laying flat out and I thought I could see her having a contraction, I thought no way is she calving. I put my shoes on and walk out there and the heifer stand up and the calve fall out. I looked at my watch and it was 7:39p.m. I'm pretty good at judging how far off a cow is from calving but this all happened in a blink of an eye. The heifer wasn't showing in signs what so ever an hr 1/2 before she had this calve. I don't like heifer problems but this just blowes my mind. I'll post pictures this afternoon.

myersfarm · #2 05/09/12, 11:57 AM

I have one also....I had extra time one day and unrolled a bale of hay and this one cow kept looking at the brush grabing a mouth of hay then looking at the brush over and over ...I drove over there no calf 10 minutes later the herd started walking for water...the cow kept looking at the brush just 20 ft over from the path ...she walked right to where she had been looking ... standing there she raised her tail and in three pushes.... pushed out a calf STANDING UP never saw anything like it...this cow never layed down once that I saw...

this cow knew ... when she was going to calf to the minute but missed it.... she did not have time to lay down and also picked out a place before hand

oregon woodsmok · #3 05/09/12, 01:16 PM

If she calves that easy, you'd better put her into your breeding herd and hope she passes that on to her daughters.

willow_girl · #4 05/12/12, 06:52 AM

My white cow, Christine, went from "clearly in labor, but nothing sticking out yet" from "calf on the ground, licking it off" in the time it took me to walk back to the house and get my camera.

I missed it!!!

Baby Lillian ... hard to believe she's 5 already!
See a first last night, and I'v seen a lot in my life - Cattle

See a first last night, and I'v seen a lot in my life - Cattle

Kazahleenah · #5 05/12/12, 07:14 AM

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!
Hard to "complain" about a fast, easy birth though.... but sorry you missed it.

willow_girl · #6 05/12/12, 10:58 PM

The calf before Lil was all Holstein ... a huge bull, her second calf ... she dropped it, licked it off and went right back to grazing, without missing a beat. LOL