I went out to look. The calf was laying by one of the feeders. Mama was protective and trying to block me. Eventually I made it to the feeder and jumped inside just before Mama got to me. The calf slowly got up. It was raining and the calf was wet and cold. She was shivering. But she was able to walk around. Mama was keeping me inside the feeder. Nothing more I can do. I was able to slip out of the other side of the feeder. Since I was moving away from her calf Mama did not follow me.
A short time later Mama moved her calf to be under the trees and out of the rain. I got Donna, my neighbors Curtis and Rusty to help me, and we rode out in my pickup to check on Mama's calf. My intention was to dry the calf off using towels.
When we arrived Mama start to move her calf away. Curtis, Rusty and I jumped out of the pickup. I handed my sorting stick for Curtis to use and I attempted to go after the calf. Mama turned and charged me in full fury. Donna later said she thought I was going to be tossed up in the air and trampled by Mama. Fortunately, after handing my sorting stick to Curtis, I had picked up a small tree branch.
I hit Mama really hard on the top of her head and she stopped and then turned back to her calf. They both ran off. Curtis and I started to chase them. By now Rusty had my pickup door open and was ready to jump inside. Rusty told Donna that I needed to eat Mama and get rid of her. Rusty never moved away from the safety of my pickup.
The calf was easily keeping up with Mama and I called off the chase. The calf was fine. No sense risking Mama's anger any more. And the rain has quit for a while.
Then I turned my attention to Buster. I hadn't done anything with him before now - 10 am. I had hoped he would now start drinking from Big Red. Buster was trying but Red kept moving or brushing him away with a back leg. So Donna and I got Red into the loading ramp. It was much easily this time as we learned to bribe Red with a small bowl of grain.
Buster was hungry. He drank and drank and drank. He drained milked from all four of Red's teats.
After Buster was done drinking we poured some molasses on his back. While we were there Red wouldn't go near Buster. When we were gone she went over and licked him. Later in the afternoon when I came outside she was licking Buster again. Once Red saw me she left Buster and pretended not to be interested in Buster. Typical female... she doesn't like to be told what to do by a male, even if it is for her own good.
Otherwise Buster is doing better. I just need Red's attitude and stubbornness to change. Donna used to be fond of Red Angus cattle. After Red's attitude Dona is no longer as fond of Red Angus cattle.
In the afternoon, after helping Buster drink a second time, I noticed Panda was off by herself. She was showing signs of giving birth soon. I grabbed my camera and my stick and went out to check on Panda.
From the video you can see Panda giving birth just as I arrive. Watch the first few moments of the video. You will see the calf enclosed in a thick membrane. I went over and poked my finger through the membrane and tore it apart. Once I did the calf was able to open his mouth and take his first breath. The membrane hadn't torn apart as the calf slid out into the grass.
In other calf births I have witnessed the calf was slimy in goo and not enclosed in such an all encompassing membrane. I wonder if Big Red's calf who died was also enclosed in such a thick membrane covering her head. If Red didn't lick and break the membrane the calf may not been able to breath. When I found the calf no membrane was in sight. Was there a membrane and Red licked and eliminated it?
The membrane reminded me of something like the pods out of the movie, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
The calf was standing within a half an hour and soon after was sucking milk from his mother.
In the evening when I checked on them Panda had gotten rid of most of her placenta as a long thick length of it lay in the grass.. Some placenta still was trailing out of her. Panda didn't appear to have eaten any of it.
Here is a 2 minute video of Panda giving birth: https://youtu.be/9dOrRNr0wfM
No comments:
Post a Comment