First Calf...(many moons ago)

It actually wasn't our "first" calf, but rather our second. Our first calf was born with no issues, our second one, not so much.

Since, we've had hundreds of calves, but those first ones were memorable.

We didn't know what we were doing; we knew they were ready, but we had no idea what to do.

They said we should check the girls every two hours, and we did. We did for four days straight. In the end we got tired.

One girl gave birth to a nice big steer, but our youngest girl was not ready to push her calf out.

As horrible as it might seem, I got up the next morning at 3am and found that little calf, buried in the ice and snow, he was nearly frozen to death.

I dug him out of the ice and brought him back to the loafing shed. His momma, didn't even know him, she didn't want anything to do with him. She was a 1st time momma, and she didn't even know him, she just gave birth to him and walked away. This was not what we were planning on...I was laying inside the corral, holding the calf, wrapping my body around him...it was snowing.

Our vet showed up around 3am; she was an angel. I was down in the corral, holding the calf, and she came in. Momma was stomping all around all of us. She wanted to kick someone, but she wouldn't step on me because I had her calf, but she was mad as a hornet!

We had to intubate the little guy, and boy was momma mad when we did that. It was incredible, she was just STOMPING all around us. There was nothing she was happy with....but me and that vet were saving that calf's life...and somehow, momma knew it, but she didn't like it.

In the moment, I thought the vet was totally in control. Later, she said, she thought I was in control. I asked her if she was afraid when momma was stomping around behind us, and all around us. She said she was terrified, but she didn't want me to be scared. Brave girl!!

To this day, we have a cattle handling complex that all the Vets in the area come over to. They pay us for our safe facilities. I'm greatfull, we get our vet services for free now, just because of our handling facilities.

Oh, and that little bull calf...his name was "Ike", and he grew up to be a very, very, big boy. He has been a super producing bull and he's a mammoth boy!! He lives on another ranch, and he's produced over 300 steers! Little frozen boy, buried in the ice, couldn't even move...and I had to curl up with him in a loafing shed, in the hay, just to keep that little calf warm! He's a 2,000lb mammoth now!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Thank you for your story as it hit old memories of growing up on Silverado Trail.... The last farm to be converted to grapes, oh yeah, that is in Napa California, where they hate VN Vets which is the Y I spell honourable discharge with a U LOL.... 37 years in England to remove that stain from my life, your kind wonderful words brought back memories from a 6 year old child. Cows, Pigs, Chickens and a victory garden that is soooo burnt into my memories that don't come to mind until a trigger! Your words, a real tomato that you can smell the flavour before biting into it to confirm its true are triggers. Those were the days before organic, but hey, that is why there is good wine from Napa we were all organic in those days!! The world seemed right albeit I was sent to live with a husband and wife who could not have children as my parents had issued me around a few families so that they would not be inconvenience by a child. What I found strange in all of this was Bill had to get up before the rooster and milk feed and maintain the life on the farm then as the sun was rising he would wait on Silverado Trail for his ride share to take him to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for a 10 hour day, only to come back to the farm to continue the mornings work for the evening. I could not believe that someone had to work such long hours. These are the fondest memories of my childhood, I was safe, for the moment!

I have a friend with a cattle farm. They have a system called "heat watch". I was amazed at the system, it's simple, but super effective. I'm sure you already either know of it, or use it.

A patch that goes on the female cow's back, and is tagged to that cow. Then a bull who shoots blanks has the difficult job of screwing any cow who's ready. Once the button responds to multiple bumps, that cow is tagged as "ready", then she is led to the chute, and is artificially inseminated with prize bull spooge.

That part is a bit yuk, and I can't imagine all that fun for the cow either.

Do you have any "I just got pooped on" stories for us?

I love your stories of rural life and the memories they conjure up. They make me smile and long for the simpler times. I lived on my grandparents farm for a good part of my childhood until I was about nine and let's just say I wasn't cut any slack for being a girl when a hand was needed to get things done.

Cows. We had sheep and chickens that were pretty self-sufficient so as a little kid when the world wasn't covered with snow, after the bus dropped me off from school I'd ride my bike down to Willie Adams' farm and help him and Ida hand milk the 3 or 4 cows they had then ride my bike down to brother Dwight Adams' farm to help him hook up his old school milking machines then when we were done, he'd throw my bike in his old 50s stepside Ford pickup and take me back to our farm. I wasn't even old enough to carry the milkers into the milk house to dump them when they were full or maybe they thought they were too heavy or just didn't let me because I was kind of clumsy?

Good memories (mammaries?)

I have one pretty awful childhood memory of a cow giving birth that I hadn't thought about for a long time until I read this. I got shooed off before the whole thing was over because I was only like six but I saw enough that it left a lasting impression. I won't elaborate but I know the calf didn't survive or was stillborn and I don't remember if the mama cow made it or not? I've seen other cows and horses give birth and helped birth about a zillion sheep and a goat or two even though goats and I never got along well.

It's really a shame that most city kids and heck, even most city folks period don't get to live on a farm because you learn so much. I'm handier than a lot of men I know and I wish my daughter and grandson could have had the opportunities and experiences I did.

The first time I saw a cow butchered left a lasting impression too but I don't want to drag your thread down with my unpleasant visual memories so here's a happy cow so we can smile again!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

You always take the best care of your animals. You are a hard worker and a kind and compassionate man. Kudos for saving the little one!

a reply to: Night Star

He wasn't the only one I had to do that with. Last year we had a little bull calf and I noticed he was just getting skinnier by the day. I commented a couple times about it to my wife, but she just said it was nothing. Then I noticed he was getting slower and lagging behind. He was starving to death. Broght momma into the chute complex and the vet diagnosed here with severe mastisis. Her udders had hardened up and the calf was getting zero milk. We almost lost this little boy. I slept in the stock trailer for 4 nights with him and a heat lamp. He was just skin and bones. Fed him every two hours for weeks.

I'd wake up and he'd be over at the door of the stock trailer, barely able to stand. I'd grab him and pull him back into my sleeping bag, and he'd just fall down and sleep, until it was feeding time. When it was feeding time I'd have to get up, go inside and warm up some milk replacer, and come out and feed him. For the first three nights he'd forgotten how to nurse to I'd have to tube him just to get milk in his tummy. Each time I'd squirt milk all over his face with the nipple on the feeding bottle, and eventually he got back on the nipple and nursed. Then he ate like a little pig for the next four months.

It was funny though, after he started to put some weight on, the only person he'd nurse from was my wife. I couldn't go near him, and if I did he wouldn't nurse. Even funnier, I'd bought my wife a pair of $300 gortex bibs for fishing. They were red. She wore those bibs out feeding him, but the funny part was she HAD to wear those exact bibs, or he wouldn't nurse. She wore those bibs to feed him out until the middle of July in the scorching sun. All that calf knew was his momma was red, and unless he saw those red bibs, it wasn't his momma!

Probably put about $3,000 dollars worth of feed and meds into that calf, and only got about $400 dollars for him, and he was a HEALTHY little calf when we sold him. Somebody got a screaming deal on him!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Kudos to you and the Mrs. for being so awesome! I'm sure those animals appreciated all that you did for them.