new calf

[mary,tx]

I had written on my calendar that the number 2 Wagyu was maybe due to calve the end of July. Yesterday when I checked her, she was bagged up and loose. So in the evening we went looking for her to check again. Found her with two hooves hanging out, not making any apparent progress, but not wanting us anywhere near.

When DH went to look again before dark, he could not find her at all, and found this morning that she had finally calved in a completely different area of the pasture.

This is the cow that rejected a calf last year. Last year we penned her in a small area with the calf, and after getting kicked in the face lots and lots of time, but remaining persistent, that calf finally nursed. And nursed for a good eight months or so, growing into a good looking heifer.

I kept that cow on hoping that having finally gotten used to nursing, she'd do better this year. So far not. So we will be trying, as soon as she comes back around to water, to get her through the gate and into a smaller area again, where the calf might have a chance, with persistence.

As far as I can tell, all he's had so far is the goat colostrum I gave him this afternoon.

Dam is my number 2 Wagyu. Sire is Angus. Calf is a bull.

[G. Seddon]

Looks to be a good sized calf! Good luck getting her going with it; hope it all works out okay!

[mary,tx]

Thanks, G. I think the camera angle maybe makes him look bigger than he is, but I'm not much of a judge of it. I do know she had trouble getting that head out, and he is a bit swollen under his jaw.

With DH's help I managed to get them over into the pen where I put her with her calf last year. So far they've had nothing to do with each other. I gave him another bottle tonight because he didn't want to get up and try. After he took it, he got up. But still no luck.

Maybe tomorrow she'll realize she needs nursed and he'll realize he can get milk from her if he tries. I really don't have time to be bottling a calf right now. since I am spending every other day/night taking care of my mom.

[G. Seddon]

Do you have a chute/headgate to restrain her so that he can nurse? I don't remember what you did last time. But I hope you'll be able to get her to raise this calf.

With this cow's history, I think I'd consider sending her to the great pasture in the sky.

[wannabfishin]

or atleast somebody elses pasture

[mary,tx]

My dad also told me I should "get rid of her first chance you get." And I'd lean that way, but we don't need any more meat in the freezer for a long time, and this morning I am feeling much more optimistic.

Cow was much more tame this morning. The calf wouldn't get up for me until I had gotten some goat milk in him, but once he got up, I pointed him in the right direction and he nuzzled a little. Cow only resisted a little. So if he becomes persistent, he'll win.

[G. Seddon]

Yay! Please keep us posted!

[CJBegins]

What calf? I didn't see a calf. All I saw was 2 absolutely adorable little girls.....

Oh, wait a minute, there he is!

[nosqrls]

Find someone that wants some meat in their freezer when he is weaned. Set a date and drop her off they pay you for her and the butcher. That or bottle feed them.

[mary,tx]

As long as I can get her to nurse them, that's what I'll do. I don't need any more meat and am not yet interested in selling her. Yet.

[haypoint]

She may just be a bad mom. But in the future or as a caution to others, wouldn't a bit more handling over the past year made it possible to assist if she was having birthing difficulties? Could her rejection be a reaction to this increased human interaction? I know I'm assuming a lot. Colostrum is essential to the calf's survival and is available a short time. If you can't corral her and either restrain her so the calf can nurse, you should milk her and get that into the calf. Maybe you have tried to work this cow and her disposition won't allow? That is freezer camp attitude.

[mary,tx]

I hate to repeat myself, but I guess I will. We got her moved into a pen with the calf the first evening. She has tamed up considerably, and is allowing the calf to nurse. Hard delivery, rough start, and they are both doing fine. The calf has gotten colostrum. Please refer to the fact that I have already posted a picture of him nursing.

[haypoint]

Sorry to have hit a nerve. It wasn't meant as a criticism of your lack of cattle handling, more directed to those that seek to avoid or reduce birthing disasters as yours almost was, IMHO.

Here is what I read and what it meant to me.

"Found her with two hooves hanging out, not making any apparent progress, but not wanting us anywhere near."
I want to be able to assist if there are problems. Two hooves might not be a problem, if there is a head right behind it. But if you have two hooves and the head turned away, you will have a dead calf by morning, if not a dead cow.

"When DH went to look again before dark, he could not find her at all,"
OK, it wasn't dark but she was gone. To me that speaks trouble. So you didn't get her in a pen that first evening, she was somewhere from before dark, with hooves hanging out, until you discovered her, with calf, in another part of the field the next day. Am I reading this wrong?

"So we will be trying, as soon as she comes back around to water, to get her through the gate and into a smaller area again, where the calf might have a chance, with persistence."
So the only way you can get close to her is corner her when she gets thirsty enough? I want tamer cattle than that, but that is just me, I guess.

"As far as I can tell, all he's had so far is the goat colostrum I gave him this afternoon."
From this, it sounds like the little guy hasn't nursed and all he has gotten came from a goat.

"The calf wouldn't get up for me until I had gotten some goat milk in him, but once he got up, I pointed him in the right direction and he nuzzled a little. Cow only resisted a little. So if he becomes persistent, he'll win."
I understood this to mean the calf couldn't get up or was so weak that getting up was too much effort. That makes sense, since he hasn't been fed since he was stuck in the birth canal the day before. I was concerned that his nursing instinct was fading fast. You said he nuzzled a little and showed a photo. I guess I can't tell the difference between nuzzling and nursing from a photo. OK, you meant nursing.

The main thing, now, is he is nursing The birth went without a hitch. Congratulations. WE enjoy homesteadingtoday because of what we can share and what we can learn. Today we both learned something.

[mary,tx]

I've been pretty tired lately with this not being my only challenge, so I might not be expressing myself well. (Side note I am spending every other night and day with my elderly parents with a lot of disturbed sleep.)

Calf nursed, however tentatively the first day, and is doing great now.

I knew it was a concern that the cow was showing hooves and not making progress, and was very concerned that I might lose them both. But as it turned out leaving them alone and praying for the best, in this instance, was the only thing I could do. I have pulled calves in the past when the situation warranted it and the cow allowed it.

Here is a picture taken this evening. I am very pleased with their progress, and no longer worried about them.

[wannabfishin]

id send her down the road, its not something i'd want to deal with every year. there are plenty of cows out there that wouldnt give you any problems. or maybe raise a heifer out of one of your other cows

[mary,tx]

I know that's what most people would do. But I only have a few cattle and I know which one she is. Both times I was able to get the calf nursing by putting them in a small pen together for a little while. Hopefully next year I'll do better and get her up close before she calves. I'm not getting rid of her yet. I'm happy with the progress she is making.

[mulemom]

Mary thanks for the happy update! We're watching a mother daughter pair-daughter's first calf and we're worried there'll be a problem. Our first calf ever was a first calf, labor started in the morning and the lady we bought her from just kept saying leave her alone she'll be fine. Seven hours later we put her in the barn and hand pulled a huge live bull calf. We were lucky we finally ignored her and did what our guts told us to do. Forty years of raising horses and I don't think I was ever as nervous about them as I am about these cows!! Congratulations!

[mary,tx]

Congrats on saving that bull calf! You did good.

[mary,tx]

Yesterday I took a notion to move this momma cow and the skinny cow up to the front fields where the little heifers are. I didn't have any problem getting them to follow me, but the calf did not follow his mom like I thought he would.

I finally got him there with help from Eldest. We actually gave up and pulled him in the garden wagon the last bit. I gotta admire all those 4H kids teaching calves to lead.

[Bret]

That calf and I have something in common.