Month: February 2020

A True Crime story

Help! My baby has been stolen!

The morning started out like any other morning during calving season. We loaded our gear and headed out on the beat. First stop will be the North Bottom pasture which houses 60 bred heifers. We had noticed a heifer acting like she was going to calve last night so we are expecting at least one new baby.

The victim, a distraught mother.

We find and tag a new calf as soon as we go through the gate, but not the one we were expecting. We find another new one, but not the one we are looking for. Finally there is number 4, but she doesn’t have a calf. She doesn’t act like she is trying to have a calf and she looks “empty”.

The missing baby wearing the wrong ID!

Hmmm, this is a puzzle. Detective work is never easy with cattle since you can’t question the witnesses. We do a routine search of the neighborhood, but don’t find any unidentified bodies dead or alive. The next step would be checking outside the pasture in case the calf had somehow gotten under the fence, but maybe we need to take another look at the heifers.

The perpetrator of this heinous crime, #14. She was found guilty and sentenced to solitary confinement until she has her own calf.

This time through we find #4 staring longingly at the first calf we tagged this morning, #14. We took a closer look at #14. She does not look like she has calved. Could it be that she has taken #4’s baby? We sit back an watch for a few minutes. Every time #4 tries to get close to the calf #14 circles in front of her. Now the clues all make sense. #14 thought she could take #4’s baby and we fell for it. The calf is wearing #14 in his ear!

Time to straighten this mess out. We settle for the ATV team instead of SWAT to force #14 to release the kidnapped baby. As we drive #14 out of the pasture and to the pen #4 rushes in and starts licking her baby. It’s a joyful reunion.

#14 will do her time in the house pen where there are no babies for her to steal until she has her own.

The happy family reunited!

This story is actually not that unusual, particularly with first calf heifers. Remember they are all close to calving so hormone levels are high and that urge to “mother” is a strong instinct. That instinct means survival in all species. These girls will all make good mothers, but sometimes it takes a little help from us.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate!

Calving season has begun!

We headed out the door at daylight to see what had happened overnight. It’s 57 degrees, an extremely balmy February morning in Missouri. Checked on the heifers first. All quiet except for the heifer walking around with her tail up and a bag of waters showing. We’ll give her some time. Time to check on the older cows. Surprise! The first set of twins. Two nice little heifer calves. We worked one and loaded the other one in the ranger. We never leave twins with a cow, even one who takes both of them, for two reasons; cows can’t count so we would have to make sure the calves stay together for a couple of weeks and it’s hard on the cow. She might raise two 400 pound calves, but she would probably be open in the fall so we let her raise one and put the other one on a nurse cow. Then we have two 600 pound calves and she will be bred next fall.

  • Twin heifer calf waiting to meet her new family.
  • Drinking breakfast with her new brother and adopted mom (Pumpkin).

We start back through the cows and immediately spot a problem. There is a cow walking around with a calf leg sticking out of her. Two feet with the bottom of the feet pointed toward the ground and the head laying on the front legs would be a correct presentation. The bottom of this foot is pointed toward the sky meaning the calf is trying to come back legs/butt first and there is only one leg showing. This is not good.

Back to the house, put the twin in the warming box, set the gates, and grab the four wheelers. We get the cow pulled out of the pasture and to the barn as quickly and calmly as possible. Mitch gets the other leg up,chains on and hooked to the calf jack. It only takes a few minutes and we have a live calf. Time is critical with a backwards calf. The cord breaks as a calf comes out, but because he’s coming backwards he can’t breathe so you have to get him out quickly.

He had a rough start, but you can see he is getting along great now!

Back to check on the heifer. No progress there. We give her about thirty minutes and check her again. Still no progress. It’s time to see what the problem is. The heifers are in a pasture that is not easy to pull from, but she is very cooperative. In the chute we find that the calf is positioned correctly, but he is bigger than we like for a heifer. It’s a tight fit, but another live calf!

Looking happy and healthy the next day out in the pasture with mom.

Okay, now we can go in and eat breakfast! Welcome to calving season where you never know what might happen.

Until next time.

Don’t forget to close the gate!