I walked over to Mama, taking care to have the fence between us. Yup. Mama had given birth to a little calf. As I got closer Mama got more alert and her head was bobbing up and down. The calf was laying down by a tree stump the cattle had broken off and rolled around the pasture. I couldn't tell if it was a bull calf or a heifer. Also, with my irritated eye, I couldn't tell using if the calf was red like Mama or black like Daddy.
A few hours after I returned from the clinic, and after a few hours of sleep, Donna came back to help me with the calf.
The calf is red like Mama. It is also a bull calf. Normally I want bull calves but the exception would be Mama's calf. Mama doesn't like anyone messing with her calf. A bull calf needed to be banded for castration sooner than later. ...this should be interesting.
Donna and I drove out to Mama and the calf in my pickup for safety.
Earlier I had put some hay into the corral to get the cattle in there. Unfortunately I had shut the corral gate. It was to keep the cattle in the corral, but to get away from us Mama and the calf went to the corral. By the time I got out of the pickup to open the gate they moved away.
They went to the trees close to the river and we had to 'herd' them using the pickup back to the corral. The cattle had finished their hay and some wanted out of the corral. Mama wouldn't get near the gate while I was there. Donna tried to herd them to the gate using the pickup and Mama charged her. Donna thought Mama might come through the window to get her.
I got the cattle a fresh small hay bale to keep them in the corral. While they ate, and once I was away from the gate, Mama and her calf came into the corral.
Then it was a struggle to get Mama and her calf separated. Several of the adult cows starting fighting and I had to break it up before they or their unborn calves could get hurt. More unnecessary drama.
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| Fighting cows. |
I got Mama and her calf in the part of the corral with the yearlings. Once most of the hay was eaten Donna and I shooed the cows and Buddy out of the corral. Then it was a long struggle to separate Mama and her calf. We had to work from outside the corral fence. Mama would charge me at the fence and several times in her anger at me almost stepped on her calf who had laid down by the fence.
Mam also would only go so far away from her baby even though she wanted to trample me. Finally we let them out of the yearling part of the corral in an effort to get them in the smaller loading corral. Several yearlings came out with Mama.
Then it was an effort to separate the yearlings from Mama as the yearlings were very curious about the calf. Mama didn't appreciate them near her calf either.
I tried this and tried that. I couldn't enter the corral as Mama would charge at me. I was about ready to use the pickup again when Donna got her dog out. Mama decided to go to the loading corral with her calf. The yearlings followed of course before I got the gate shut. I was able to get Mama and her calf into the loading chute by themselves. Then it was relatively easy to get the yearlings back with the others in their part of the corral.
The loading chute had one gate dividing it. You'd think it would be easier to separate the two in this smaller area, but no.
Finally I got the calf up and moving and it went through the gate before Mama. I got the gate shut when Mama was distracted by Donna and the dog.
*whew!*
Then it was easy and quick to carry the calf to the loafing shed somewhat out of sight from Mama. Making sure we had both of his balls we put a band on him to castrate him.
Job done we let Mama out of the loading corral and opened the main corral gate. Mama quickly gathered up her calf and they got out of there.
They hightailed to the trees down by the river. Ever since then Mama has mostly kept her calf there. Sometimes she will leave her calf and come closer to the corral to eat from the large hay bale. Sometimes she will bring her calf. If she see me out near the corral she will turn around and take her calf back to the trees by the river. When she gets into a trot her large udder swings hard side to side. Whenever Mama sees me outside, no matter where I am, she will hold her head up and closely watch me. I could be walking across the hayfield and away from the pasture and Mama will watch me.
Me, I try to keep an eye out for Mama whenever I am in the north pasture checking on the other cattle in case Mama is nearby.
Separating Mama and her calf and banding the bull calf took us three hours of non-stop work. Donna calls Mama, "The Witch". Both she and Dan think I should sell Mama but I have a soft spot for her and have no plans to sell her. I'll just have to be on my toes for a month until she relaxes and isn't so ultra protective of her calf.
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