What a way to spend three and a half hours!
Had spent most of the morning doing odds and ends of little chores. One unplanned side trip was to the feed mill to pick up some mineral and salt blocks for a couple pastures of cattle. One pasture is roughly a square of about 4 to 5 acres so there are only a few cows there. All of them should start calving soon. We've had an overabundance of rain this past week so I grabbed a 50 lb block of salt and walked about 700 feet to the nearest side of the pasture. I was greeted by the little herd. All of them but one, that is. So began the thrill-packed next three and a half hours.
In typical fashion, when calving time arrives, the cow will try to find a lonely spot as far from the others as possible. Yep, she was in the far corner with two little feet sticking out beneath her tail. Only a few inches, so the rest of the calf was still tucked safely inside with it's nose only a couple inches from daylight. Do big deal. Give her a chance to let nature run it's course, but meanwhile try to determine how long she has been in labor. I gave her an hour and a half. No progress. Whipped out the cell phone to start searching for talented reinforcements.
Thirty minutes later cowboy number one arrives in his little 4WD pickup with a rope and the special tools to assist with getting the entire calf to daylight fairly quickly. The biggest problem was that the cow was able to move faster than we were through the tall grass and scattered weed patches. Around and round and round she goes but no chance to get the loop over her head. This bunch has never seen a horse. Had we brought one in, the whole herd would have headed for the next county. He whips out his cell phone to get his son to join the fun. Thirty minutes later we still haven't been able to capture her so cowboy number two arrives to help. Eventually, they pin her in a soggy area along one of side of the pond where cowboy number two snags her hind legs in his loop. He starts maneuvering her out of the water and mud with skill and human power to where cowboy number one gets his loop over her head. Cowboy number two ends up with both ropes wrapped around his waist as he keeps her hobbled. Cowboy number one runs (slowly because he's over 50 and been at it for long time already) to his little pickup to back it near his son to tie off the hobbling rope to guarantee the capture. These guys do this kind of work every day for a local rancher so watching them in action is a treat. We get the young lady to the ground and proceed to intervene with her intentions. In a matter of minutes we have mother and baby separated safely. There were five of us very, very tired, but all were alive............barely. As quickly as possible we removed all restraints, got out of the way and waited for the cow's maternal instincts to reminder her of what she needed to do next. Trust me, none of us were going to handle that part of the process. (Those who work with cattle regularly know what I mean. It's not something for squeamish people to witness.) Fortunately, she began doing what needed done. I'll return tomorrow to check on them.
Holy Cow, post: 394492, member: 50 wrote: What a way to spend three and a half hours!...I'll return tomorrow to check on them.
" And hope springs eternal! "
The calf will probably know how to run by tomorrow afternoon. 😉
What? No pictures?
:scream:
To paraphrase from a Jack Nicholson movie.................You can't handle the pictures.
Besides, some stuff is tougher to get off your cell phone and you definitely want to get it off your cell phone.
Thank you Holy Cow for reminding me why I lost interest in keeping up with any cattle or other farm critters of my own for the last 40+yrs.
When the call would come, I was up to help a few out with their calving, roundup, finding escaped bulls, dehorn, cutting and separating, dusting, gathering calf fries and many other various cowboy clown activities.
Helping those guys gained me access to some of the best hunting lands in this area and a fellowship with some of the best friends a man could have.
I have several ropes to remind me and I don't want to see the pictures either.
That is on the list of things that you can not unsee, ever.
Cowboy life like survey life is not a hobby, they are a way of life................
Holy Cow, post: 394492, member: 50 wrote: What a way to spend three and a half hours!
Had spent most of the morning doing odds and ends of little chores. One unplanned side trip was to the feed mill to pick up some mineral and salt blocks for a couple pastures of cattle. One pasture is roughly a square of about 4 to 5 acres so there are only a few cows there. All of them should start calving soon. We've had an overabundance of rain this past week so I grabbed a 50 lb block of salt and walked about 700 feet to the nearest side of the pasture. I was greeted by the little herd. All of them but one, that is. So began the thrill-packed next three and a half hours.
In typical fashion, when calving time arrives, the cow will try to find a lonely spot as far from the others as possible. Yep, she was in the far corner with two little feet sticking out beneath her tail. Only a few inches, so the rest of the calf was still tucked safely inside with it's nose only a couple inches from daylight. Do big deal. Give her a chance to let nature run it's course, but meanwhile try to determine how long she has been in labor. I gave her an hour and a half. No progress. Whipped out the cell phone to start searching for talented reinforcements.
Thirty minutes later cowboy number one arrives in his little 4WD pickup with a rope and the special tools to assist with getting the entire calf to daylight fairly quickly. The biggest problem was that the cow was able to move faster than we were through the tall grass and scattered weed patches. Around and round and round she goes but no chance to get the loop over her head. This bunch has never seen a horse. Had we brought one in, the whole herd would have headed for the next county. He whips out his cell phone to get his son to join the fun. Thirty minutes later we still haven't been able to capture her so cowboy number two arrives to help. Eventually, they pin her in a soggy area along one of side of the pond where cowboy number two snags her hind legs in his loop. He starts maneuvering her out of the water and mud with skill and human power to where cowboy number one gets his loop over her head. Cowboy number two ends up with both ropes wrapped around his waist as he keeps her hobbled. Cowboy number one runs (slowly because he's over 50 and been at it for long time already) to his little pickup to back it near his son to tie off the hobbling rope to guarantee the capture. These guys do this kind of work every day for a local rancher so watching them in action is a treat. We get the young lady to the ground and proceed to intervene with her intentions. In a matter of minutes we have mother and baby separated safely. There were five of us very, very tired, but all were alive............barely. As quickly as possible we removed all restraints, got out of the way and waited for the cow's maternal instincts to reminder her of what she needed to do next. Trust me, none of us were going to handle that part of the process. (Those who work with cattle regularly know what I mean. It's not something for squeamish people to witness.) Fortunately, she began doing what needed done. I'll return tomorrow to check on them.
I've had to catch a few, but around here there's usually a tree in the vicinity to get the rope around. That usually would involve some variation of snagging one as you were being dragged by it and not getting caught between the rope and tree.
On a somewhat related note, here is a video my daughter sent me of her recent rodeo experience. That's her in the white vest, and her sister in the striped hat.
[MEDIA=youtube]Bpgn-3fcjj0[/MEDIA]
One visit to the delivery room cured me from EVER wanting to see ANYTHING born EVER AGAIN.
[USER=501]@eddycreek[/USER]
That was a great video. Thanks for posting. Was her boyfriend cutting line all day?
Ps: Good looking Daughters! 🙂
FL/GA PLS., post: 394513, member: 379 wrote: One visit to the delivery room cured me from EVER wanting to see ANYTHING born EVER AGAIN.
being a county boy I have witnesses and assisted many births. and I also had the honor of assisting Two human births. It is a thing of beauty.
FL/GA PLS., post: 394521, member: 379 wrote: [USER=501]@eddycreek[/USER]
That was a great video. Thanks for posting. Was her boyfriend cutting line all day?
Ps: Good looking Daughters! 🙂
He had worked out of town all week and drove home to go to the rodeo. Commercial diver.
eddycreek, post: 394509, member: 501 wrote: On a somewhat related note, here is a video my daughter sent me of her recent rodeo experience. That's her in the white vest, and her sister in the striped hat
Thank you to you and your daughter for sharing this. A hard working man, and a good lady, I do hope he was in good humor about it afterwards.
Stopped by to check on the situation this afternoon. As I walked from the road to the little pasture I saw an owl sitting atop a water tank watching me. Mrs. Cow believed every old wive's tale her parents ever told her, so, to her, this would have been a sign of death. As I got closer I could see a white heron at the edge of the pond within a hundred feet of where the calf was born. I took that as a sign of life as I had always called them storks until someone finally educated me on that. Again, the little herd came to greet me except for the little one's mother. I saw her bright yellow tag, though, as she hid among the trees on the east side of the tract. Black cows and black calves are hard to see in the shadows. As I slowly approached she kept looking to the northwest towards where the calf had been born. I started thinking negatively. It didn't help when she strolled off to join the rest of the herd. Finally found the little guy almost directly beneath where she had been standing, tucked between a tree and the fence line. I looked at him and he looked at me. With a little encouragement he stood up, looked at me again, and let out a bellow saying, "Mama, come get this weird looking monster away from me." I could envision him crashing through the fence onto the neighbor's land so I was very careful with him. Eventually we were about 10 feet from the fence when some sort of primal instinct kicked into his little brain and he began bouncing on all four legs, lowered his little head, bellowed loudly and tried to take me out at the knee caps.
As Paden said yesterday, " And hope springs eternal! " "The calf will probably know how to run by tomorrow afternoon. ";)
my old man kept sheep for a little bit, not long I think. with 4 kids and both parents working 7 days a week the mini farm dream was so damned much work he scaled back...
one early morning when I was 5+/- he rousted all of us kids, had us put on our boots, then we were tasked with hunting out newborns still in their sacks.
Darn sheep are so domesticated that the mamas did not have sense enough to break the sack! They just pause, drop, then walk away.
Our job was to open the sack and see if it would survive. I believe all of them did.
Mr Cow, a newborn calf, is super cool. We expect one soon. Our milk cow is getting dried up now, in anticipation of a new calf, to be born.
Watching a calf get born, and whatever else gets born, is just one of the commentaries, from heaven..... Life goes on. I like it.
N
For our operation, the rope NEVER comes out, unless there is a problem. They see that SOB and they all get stirred up. I've found having them cube broke to a strange call is much more efficient, until calving time and then, well, get the rope. 🙂
eddycreek, post: 394509, member: 501 wrote: I've had to catch a few, but around here there's usually a tree in the vicinity to get the rope around. That usually would involve some variation of snagging one as you were being dragged by it and not getting caught between the rope and tree.
On a somewhat related note, here is a video my daughter sent me of her recent rodeo experience. That's her in the white vest, and her sister in the striped hat.
[MEDIA=youtube]Bpgn-3fcjj0[/MEDIA]
Gotta love Flint.
[USER=29]@Kris Morgan[/USER]
"I've found having them cube broke to a strange call is much more efficient, until calving time and then, well, get the rope. :)"
You are 100 percent correct. I keep a little feed in front of them year round to keep them coming to me and my distinctive call. It's that rare need to get up close and personal that takes a rope.
Holy Cow, post: 394604, member: 50 wrote: [USER=29]@Kris Morgan[/USER]
"I've found having them cube broke to a strange call is much more efficient, until calving time and then, well, get the rope. :)"
You are 100 percent correct. I keep a little feed in front of them year round to keep them coming to me and my distinctive call. It's that rare need to get up close and personal that takes a rope.
I actually pour feed into the trailer and they load themselves most of the time. 🙂
I keep cow cake in the work truck, in case I need to lead cows away from the area I want to set up the base! most everyone I know makes sure their cattle are broke to cubes for quick and easy handling, in case of fire, or broken fence, or whatever emergency. The common call around here is a siren, with a few air horns thrown in.
