Ha Two Guns, Now that is funny. The steps are short so you might have some 4 legged company before long. 
collie
collie
Calving time on the farm
- Thread starter bordercollie
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D&D Farm
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My bil said the RTV and I looked like the Clampett's on the old tv series.
Yes, it's funny how that works.....I guess it's kinda like the Scout motto of "be prepared". Better to have to much on there and then it just starts accumulating. Might need that bucket, surely need that sterilizer, forgot that knife last time, and on and on........The problem is who cares how one looks and joke with me all you want. One carries all that junk cause sure as the devil, you will need it and have to make the 20 minute round trip for something you need right now and then what you were doing messes up bad.........lol.....old AA saying, "It's His will, not mine, be done".........God bless.....Dennis
True Overszd. He has a 4wlr and can't haul with it. 
Dennis, once I even had a sink with drain board on there. I picked it up from an old shack on the place to use in the garden Ha. . I carry almost every thing in the tool box and then under the hood, I carry a back up tool bag and more fence insulators. I even have a can of sardines in there for emergency hunger pains.
He has a 4wlr and can't haul with it. Dennis, once I even had a sink with drain board on there. I picked it up from an old shack on the place to use in the garden Ha. . I carry almost every thing in the tool box and then under the hood, I carry a back up tool bag and more fence insulators. I even have a can of sardines in there for emergency hunger pains.
Miracle Calf
..The weekend following Thanksgiving we worked cows and it took all day. We looked at the numbers of those worked and realized we were a cow short.. It was getting dark though so we didn't look for her , thinking she was hidden in the woods with a new calf. The next day, we found her- she was standing beside her calf. It was at least a day old and had never stood up to nurse.so we loaded it up and brought it home to the barn and brought the momma on the trailer. We gave the calf some shots and a bottle hoping for the best.. the following happened....
I've been working with the calf the past 2 weeks. In the beginning, it would drink from the bottle while laying down and then plop over and sleep the first couple of days. I had several nights of wideawakes because I knew I had a very short time to get it standing up .. I had the answer when I woke up one morning and went to work rigging up a hoist for the "little" over 100 lb thing. I came up with the contraption in the picture and worked with his legs , turning and keeping him on dry hay daily when he was let down . Up an hour 3 times a day in the beginning and increasing time up as days went on. One day, I was exercising his legs back and forth and had very little response ( no pulling back). I was getting discouraged because I have been on the failure end of this situation more than once in past years. I was already on my knees and I said "Lord what am I to do"? "Should I keep trying or should I give up"? " I need to know Lord ". then, a definite breeze blew over me and I knew to keep trying.At that instant, I looked at the calf and his once half open eyes were bright and full- his head was up. I knew without doubt to try another week .
The vet came by to check our remaining bulls that are for sale and although he didn't look at the calf he gave an educated opinion about it being impossible to overcome such oxygen deprived injury (birth trauma)- no leg movement etc.. . I told the vet I was giving him another week.. He told me" Knock yourself out and good luck". I said again, I'm giving him another week.
When feeding him in the sling I ratcheted him up in the sling with a come a long, I would pull back on the bottle and get him to move his legs and before long, he could lunge for the bottle. Use those muscles I told him.This process has been going on for well over a week.He got stronger and stronger.
I positioned the mother cow's food pan so the udders would be near his sling . I shoved him over to sniff them and she kicked a bit but not too bad. Then he latched onto one and then another and she let him nurse.
Since it had been around 2 weeks since his birth, I wasn't sure how much milk she had so after he was finished , I offered him half a bottle and, as he was sucking it down, I reached over and undone his sling. He gently took baby steps and followed me across the stable. He stayed on his feet about about 10 minutes with no support. He fell and couldn't get up on his own but he is improving every day and there is genuine hope for more improvement. He has come so far. I think with more therapy he will continue to improve
I believe in prayers ,miracles . Yes I do - thanks to the Lord. That wind blowing over me at that moment was amazing ...I knew what it meant and was for me to understand His answer. judy
..The weekend following Thanksgiving we worked cows and it took all day. We looked at the numbers of those worked and realized we were a cow short.. It was getting dark though so we didn't look for her , thinking she was hidden in the woods with a new calf. The next day, we found her- she was standing beside her calf. It was at least a day old and had never stood up to nurse.so we loaded it up and brought it home to the barn and brought the momma on the trailer. We gave the calf some shots and a bottle hoping for the best.. the following happened....
I've been working with the calf the past 2 weeks. In the beginning, it would drink from the bottle while laying down and then plop over and sleep the first couple of days. I had several nights of wideawakes because I knew I had a very short time to get it standing up .. I had the answer when I woke up one morning and went to work rigging up a hoist for the "little" over 100 lb thing. I came up with the contraption in the picture and worked with his legs , turning and keeping him on dry hay daily when he was let down . Up an hour 3 times a day in the beginning and increasing time up as days went on. One day, I was exercising his legs back and forth and had very little response ( no pulling back). I was getting discouraged because I have been on the failure end of this situation more than once in past years. I was already on my knees and I said "Lord what am I to do"? "Should I keep trying or should I give up"? " I need to know Lord ". then, a definite breeze blew over me and I knew to keep trying.At that instant, I looked at the calf and his once half open eyes were bright and full- his head was up. I knew without doubt to try another week .
The vet came by to check our remaining bulls that are for sale and although he didn't look at the calf he gave an educated opinion about it being impossible to overcome such oxygen deprived injury (birth trauma)- no leg movement etc.. . I told the vet I was giving him another week.. He told me" Knock yourself out and good luck". I said again, I'm giving him another week.
When feeding him in the sling I ratcheted him up in the sling with a come a long, I would pull back on the bottle and get him to move his legs and before long, he could lunge for the bottle. Use those muscles I told him.This process has been going on for well over a week.He got stronger and stronger.
I positioned the mother cow's food pan so the udders would be near his sling . I shoved him over to sniff them and she kicked a bit but not too bad. Then he latched onto one and then another and she let him nurse.
Since it had been around 2 weeks since his birth, I wasn't sure how much milk she had so after he was finished , I offered him half a bottle and, as he was sucking it down, I reached over and undone his sling. He gently took baby steps and followed me across the stable. He stayed on his feet about about 10 minutes with no support. He fell and couldn't get up on his own but he is improving every day and there is genuine hope for more improvement. He has come so far. I think with more therapy he will continue to improve
I believe in prayers ,miracles . Yes I do - thanks to the Lord. That wind blowing over me at that moment was amazing ...I knew what it meant and was for me to understand His answer. judy
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God is so good and it is fantastic that HE gives YOU the strength and will to do all of that. We are so lucky to have you here telling us about this and sharing your good nature, knowledge and SPIRIT with us...........God blesses YOU Judy........and HE blesses US through YOU
Yearly calf round up for 2018
We sold the commercial calves this morning. Like the pictures posted last year, this year was almost the same so pictures are similar . Glad to be done except for the weaning of the keeper heifers and registered bull/heifer calves.. They're right here by the house so sleeping with the tv and fan on.
Dixie waited on the RTV at the side of the working pen . She was too excited to be on the ground so left excited slobber all over the steering wheel and seat.. Just wanted to work those calves ...she said . It reminded me of that dog on that Lampoon Christmas movie. Dixie just wants to get in there and show them a thing or two.. collie
We sold the commercial calves this morning. Like the pictures posted last year, this year was almost the same so pictures are similar . Glad to be done except for the weaning of the keeper heifers and registered bull/heifer calves.. They're right here by the house so sleeping with the tv and fan on.
Dixie waited on the RTV at the side of the working pen . She was too excited to be on the ground so left excited slobber all over the steering wheel and seat.. Just wanted to work those calves ...she said . It reminded me of that dog on that Lampoon Christmas movie. Dixie just wants to get in there and show them a thing or two..
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aurthuritis
Well-known member
i see ya'll folks down there use those WW livestock panels too. i have one of there designed sorting and working facility and love it. make sorting a one person job
We like them too Aurthuritis. See thatWW panel gate there where we are moving the calves up ? We put that there so we would have an exit gate if a cow went down. Well , last year I was putting pour on on a chute full of cows and they tried to tighten up and get side by side,... The gate bowed out , the latch slipped as I was standing there, pouring down their backs. The gate popped open,knocked me down swung over me and the cows ( just 2 thank the Lord) stepped over me. I thought I'd had it because blood was everywhere and dripping ... rolled away from the other cows and got right up. I didn't feel too much pain though . God blessed me again because it was only a broken side tooth and a huge cut lip. I spit out the piece of tooth and went back to work . The charge for repairing the tooth was less than $200 . Now though, I keep a piece of chain on the gate's slit . Sorta like a seat belt. collie
collieaurthuritis
Well-known member
yea those gates will pop open if the flex. i always use the chain when i crowd against a gate. i bought the EZ Duz it system many years ago and love it. i welded the posts to a piece of pipe 6 inches in diameter and about 3 feet long and buried that portion in the ground when i first built the system.
Well it 's Calving time 2018. The weather this year has been good for us. Lots of grass going into Fall. Some years in the past ,drought had left us with nothing but mostly dirt. A blessed year for sure.
Calves are popping every where and 2 sets of twins already !
I caught this twin in the picture by the hardest yesterday morning. It was under a tree that had been blown down and was hiding in the underbrush there. It was sorta asleep but I decided to take off my boots when I went to grab it. That way , the noise of crackling grass would be less as I walked towards it. Once they hear you, they can run faster than a hornet can fly. ( I jumped in the edge of a pond yesterday to grab a different twin that took off- after, the bil's revved up 4 whlr scared the day lites outa him) Well, back to this calf- I caught it and loaded it in the Kubota. Sis drove and I held it but before we got to the catch pen where it's mama was, it tinkled all over me. hahaha at least it was warm and not from the other end- now that would be not only stinky but sticky as well. been there and done that too many times.. . bordercollie
edit : The mama has taken the extra calf. That is great because a lot of times, the extra is abandoned (like the calf that ran and fell into the pond. ) that mama tried to smear it in the dirt when we took it to her. She said no way, that s not mine"!
Now, after a good bottle of colostrum(given in the first 24 hrs) , I'm bottle feeding it at the barn. When our dairy animals calf, we will try and put it on her. Those dairy animals have huge bags of milk. The other possibility is if a cow had a dead calf. Sometimes the mama will take another calf in that case. We have a few helpful things for encouraging that such as a product I referred to in the past called O no mo (orphan no more) . more good news later hopefully . collie
Calves are popping every where and 2 sets of twins already !
I caught this twin in the picture by the hardest yesterday morning. It was under a tree that had been blown down and was hiding in the underbrush there. It was sorta asleep but I decided to take off my boots when I went to grab it. That way , the noise of crackling grass would be less as I walked towards it. Once they hear you, they can run faster than a hornet can fly. ( I jumped in the edge of a pond yesterday to grab a different twin that took off- after, the bil's revved up 4 whlr scared the day lites outa him) Well, back to this calf- I caught it and loaded it in the Kubota. Sis drove and I held it but before we got to the catch pen where it's mama was, it tinkled all over me. hahaha at least it was warm and not from the other end- now that would be not only stinky but sticky as well. been there and done that too many times.. . bordercollie
edit : The mama has taken the extra calf. That is great because a lot of times, the extra is abandoned (like the calf that ran and fell into the pond. ) that mama tried to smear it in the dirt when we took it to her. She said no way, that s not mine"!
Now, after a good bottle of colostrum(given in the first 24 hrs) , I'm bottle feeding it at the barn. When our dairy animals calf, we will try and put it on her. Those dairy animals have huge bags of milk. The other possibility is if a cow had a dead calf. Sometimes the mama will take another calf in that case. We have a few helpful things for encouraging that such as a product I referred to in the past called O no mo (orphan no more) . more good news later hopefully .
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Thank you Two Guns . We're up to 3 sets of twins now with only one of them being refused by the mama. It chases me around when I have the bottle though. Don't let it catch you because it butts hard haha. The dairy cows are due next month so looking forward to that. I know this little calf will enjoy having a mama.
We're up to 3 sets of twins now with only one of them being refused by the mama. It chases me around when I have the bottle though. Don't let it catch you because it butts hard haha. The dairy cows are due next month so looking forward to that. I know this little calf will enjoy having a mama.
Calf Delivered Yesterday
We had to deliver a calf yesterday. It was a big calf which was a week overdue and of course from a first calf heifer. It was a close call and had to help it start breathing by inserting a small small piece of hay straw up in its' nose. It snorted and started breathing shallowly. We rubbed on it some and it lifted it's head.
After supper last night,(because it had not stood up) we gave it a bottle of mixed colostrix and it had the strength to stand and nurse after that. bordercollie
We had to deliver a calf yesterday. It was a big calf which was a week overdue and of course from a first calf heifer. It was a close call and had to help it start breathing by inserting a small small piece of hay straw up in its' nose. It snorted and started breathing shallowly. We rubbed on it some and it lifted it's head.
After supper last night,(because it had not stood up) we gave it a bottle of mixed colostrix and it had the strength to stand and nurse after that. bordercollie
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aurthuritis
Well-known member
it's been a long time since i had to pull one. when i have a difficult one like that i usually have a clean tuber bottle near so i milk the heifer before she gets up and just tube the calf.nothing like fresh colostrum and a heck of a lot cheaper.
We seldom have to deliver calves especially with our AI program to get low birth weight bulls. But this has been a strange year. You are right about the colostrum Arthuritis. It's vital to a strong and healthy calf. I was sure glad that he was able to nurse soon after the bottle -so he did get some from his mother within the time period needed for it to work as it should. He's nursing to beat the band today.
One more month and the scale comes off. Then it will be much easier to turn around . collie
One more month and the scale comes off.
Then it will be much easier to turn around . collie