New boys :)

[DroppedAtBirth]

Went to pick up two Holstein bull calves this morning. Got there and find the two boys they needed me to take bright eyed and wonderfully started (on mamas for the past 3 days) and to make the deal even better, a very large bull calf pulled via the tractor this morning was GIVEN to us. They were even apologetic that he hadn't yet had colostrum and happy to find out that we have a few gallons of that gold in our freezer here. Just didn't have time for the big little guy since they have their hands full with his mama. Got him home, got a quart of 1st milking colostrum in him within an hour of getting him home, so 2 or 3 hours after we picked him up (keeping my fingers crossed that this will be fast enough) have another quart for later this evening after the introductions of the other 2 to their new foster mom Thinking he may need a brace for his right front foot, acts kind of sore in the area that the chains would have been wrapped but I can't feel any breaks or swelling so hoping that he'll feel better in a day or two.



freebie is the hulk on the left, the middle and right calf were born on the 6th, brownish one is jersey/holstein cross, one on the right is pure holstein, and I think the freebie might be a holstein beef cross (he said he had a few of those due when I talked to him a couple of weeks ago but I didn't ask this morning when he said "free"). I'll try to get a better profile pic of the freebie loaded later and see what you all think

Oh, given his rough introduction would you all recommend an antibiotic to ward off infections at this point or just keep a close eye on him? temp has been in the mid to upper 60s today and not much for wind a little rainy but he has been in a barn or the back of my Jeep since birth.

[myersfarm]

I would wash him off if I had a way to dry him he will licks himself and that will cause problems also......Banamine will help with the swelling......and others will not agree but if I had a lot of colostrum I would give it to him for 5 days in stead of 3

I would not think antibotics at this time...this early in life he should not have any YET

[DroppedAtBirth]

We have colostrum frozen with 2 quarts per bag labeled by milking all the way out through number 10 or so after she calved (after the color/consistency changed to look more like regular milk, I stopped numbering them). Mama J has been consistently giving a gallon to 2 gallons every milking since she calved so we have tons of colostrum so 3 days worth for him it is I have no banamine on hand and the feed stores are all closed now, but will ask the neighbors, they just might.

[Dreamfarm]

Gorgeous! Congrats!

[tinknal]

What kind of farmer pulls a calf with a TRACTOR!!!

[gone-a-milkin]

Originally Posted by tinknal

What kind of farmer pulls a calf with a TRACTOR!!!

You never seen that one before?

I have even seen vets do it that way off the back of a truck.
Hopefully they let the puller do the work, not just start driving off with the chains.

Depending on the terrain a solid bumper or something to tie to can make all the difference.



To the OP, good luck with all those little knuckleheaded bully babies.
I would go ahead and use up that colostrum. Why not. Good thing you kept it all.

[G. Seddon]

Originally Posted by tinknal

What kind of farmer pulls a calf with a TRACTOR!!!

I thank you for saying this, tinknal! The things people do!

I hope your boys do well! And how wonderful that you have frozen colostrum for the big guy! Good luck with them, Dropped at Birth. Post their progress please?

[PaulNKS]

Sometimes a pickup or a tractor is the ONLY way to get a calf out.

As far as the colostrum goes, after 24 hours, any additional colostrum is just wasted. They get no additional benefit from it. All their colostrum should be within the first 24 hours.

Good luck...

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

Sometimes a pickup or a tractor is the ONLY way to get a calf out.

As far as the colostrum goes, after 24 hours, any additional colostrum is just wasted. They get no additional benefit from it. All their colostrum should be within the first 24 hours.

Good luck...

They make a calf pulling device that will pull any calf that can physically be pulled. You have no touch and no feel with a tractor or truck.

I have pulled literally hundreds of calves with a puller. The times that I aborted the attempt were not because the puller was not powerful enough, but because I knew that to continue to pull would kill the cow, the calf, or both. This happened to me twice. Once with a heifer with a huge bull calf, and once with a cow with a backward presentation, again a huge bull calf. Both cows and calves were saved via Cesarian section.

[PaulNKS]

Originally Posted by tinknal

They make a calf pulling device that will pull any calf that can physically be pulled. You have no touch and no feel with a tractor or truck.

I have pulled literally hundreds of calves with a puller. The times that I aborted the attempt were not because the puller was not powerful enough, but because I knew that to continue to pull would kill the cow, the calf, or both. This happened to me twice. Once with a heifer with a huge bull calf, and once with a cow with a backward presentation, again a huge bull calf. Both cows and calves were saved via Cesarian section.

Yes, I have one and know how to use it. But, there is the rare occasion that it may not work..... rare.

[ksfarmer]

Originally Posted by tinknal

What kind of farmer pulls a calf with a TRACTOR!!!

Old time extension vet at K-State told me one time that the WC Allis tractor had killed more cows than any other equipment on a farm. The WC had a hand clutch that could be reached from the ground by a farmer trying to pull a calf.

[tinknal]

Originally Posted by PaulNKS

Yes, I have one and know how to use it. But, there is the rare occasion that it may not work..... rare.

If it doesn't work then it is time to go in from the side.

[springvalley]

Originally Posted by tinknal

What kind of farmer pulls a calf with a TRACTOR!!!

I don`t think I know a dairy farmer that hasn`t done it some time. Last resort is all I can say, we have done it once, maybe almost forty years ago. Dad had a big ole holstein calving in the pasture, trouble written all over it, worked on her for over an hour. We always used the block and tackle for years to pull trouble calves, this one would not come out. We used enough lube to get a cat threw a keyhole, no go. The calf died while trying to pull it, and sure enough cow died shortly after. We hooked tractor on both cow and calf and pulled the calf just to see how big it was. The calf weighed 150 lbs., looked half grown. Shortly after we bought a regular calf puller, Dad said if you have what you need, you will never need it. Well we have used it a few times, but not many. So you see Tink, while maybe a bit unconventional, sometimes things happen. < Thanks Marc

[tinknal]

Marc, I never seen a puller before 1980, don't know how long they have been around. Dad and grandpa did things that we would never do out of necessity. I'm betting that cow would have been worth the price of a C-section though.

[willow_girl]

That is a huge calf!

[opportunity]

Any idea how much that calf weights it looks huge. As for pulling with a tractor I cna't see that being good for the cow or calf if my puller can't do it I'm gonna loose them both no reason to casue extra pain and suffering.

[DroppedAtBirth]

All three were up and doing well before I left for work this morning. The hulk has to be 100ish pounds but I haven't officially done any measuring. I'm 5'6" and keep his bottle nipple level with my belly button to have his head in the proper position. With his head up he's almost chest high at the top of his head...withers are just a touch higher than my hip or right at anyway. He is MASSIVE. I can't wait to see how he grows

[Karen in Alabam]

Nice looking babies. Best of luck with them.

All this talk about trucks and tractors. I think I would freak out if it came to that. Thankfully we had 2 vets come out when Liza was having problems. He used the jack on her as he couldn't pull her.

[DroppedAtBirth]

Update on the boys

Got the tape on "the hulk" aka "shortbus" less than a week after I brought him home and it had him at 136 pounds O,O Talked to the dairy owner I got them from and Hulk is pure holstein and supposed to be out of one of "the up and coming holstein bulls" in their area but it sounded like he had bought the cow already bred (he will still be wearing some form of band as soon as we are out of fly season here...if that bull throws that size calf routinely, I'm thinkin he's destined for freezers and not pastures). Watching him out with the others and some of the things he does makes me certain he suffered a little bit of an anoxic brain injury which has lead to the nickname "shortbus." Also found out his mama didn't make it Oh, and we didn't have to splint that foot. He was up and around on it within 48 hours...never did get any banamine for it...prescription only stuff.

The others are all doing well also and growing like weeds. They have all been taken away from Mama J. at this point because with the three of them on her, they were getting a little too rough with her udder for my liking. Figure preventing the cuts she was getting is worth an extra half an hour of chores for me a couple times a day.

We treated them a couple of weeks ago for probable coccidiosis that started up right around the time the stupid turkeys started hanging out in their field again...I really hate those birds unless they're well done and served with gravy lol.

[tinknal]

I really wouldn't blame individual turkeys for cocci, the stuff is in the soil and endemic nearly everywhere.