Calf photos

I took some calf photos this morning when I fed them more hay.  Some calves laid on the hay - the better to keep it for themselves and not share with others.

For some reason Panda's calf was hanging around Diamond this morning, as seen below.  At one point the calf tried to drink from Diamond but Diamond has no udder and no milk.

The youngest calf was content just to watch the others.

Still no new calves. It's been over two weeks since the last calf was born.  I have two cows and two heifers left to calve.  The photos below are of the two heifers left to calve.  The following photos were taken last week.

Snow

It's the end of April and Spring should be here.  But it snowed overnight.  Oh joy.

The snow finally melted by late afternoon.

Corral panel breakout and electric fence

This afternoon when I walked out to the middle pasture to trim more trees I saw Maria nosing around the corral panel fence and eating the green grass trying to grow along the fence.  An hour later after coming down from trimming a tree I saw that the cattle were out in the north pasture.  The cattle (Maria!) had tipped over the corral panel fence and all were excited to be out eating green grass starting to grow.

Calvin came over and helped me unhook some of the panels and tip up the remaining panels to be standing again.  I had to use a sledgehammer to straighten several panels that got bent.  By the time we got the panels up and were ready to herd the cattle back into the corral enclosure Donna arrived.  I had to walk almost all the way to the river to turn the cattle around and herd them back into the extended corral.  Then Calvin and I reconnected the last of the panels.

I checked with Curtis and he still hadn't found his solar electric fencer.  Donna has a plug in electric fencer that she used sometimes when she had horses and she got that for me to use.  I needed something since having learned how to tip over the panels the cattle (Maria!) would soon be at it again.  No, they were not interested in the hay in the feeder after getting out to the green grass.

Donna's electric fence

Of course the cattle wanted to get back to the corral panels.  The electric current made them step back when they touched the wire.  It took some of the cattle several attempts before they got the idea of staying away from the fence.

Salt feeder fix

Today is Saturday and - surprise! - no newborn calves.  I still have two cows and two heifers left to calve and they all look very pregnant.  Tomorrow is the last day of the second heat cycle period after the cows and heifers were exposed to the bull last year.

Beulah was in heat today.  When she was in the corral Toby the bull would always be just on the other of the fence as Beulah.  When Beulah drank from the water trough this evening Toby put his head through the opening and smelled Beulah.  I had to 'shush' him away from the opening as he was straining to get closer to Beulah and I could see the fence strain.


When not licking salt from the wooden salt feeders the cattle like to scratch their itch against the corners.  The other day they broke one of the feeders.  This evening I spent some time fixing and strengthening the feeder.

Fertilizing the hayfield

This evening I put Little Red in the corral and the other two heifers back with the cows.  Red had no reaction to Little Red being in the corral - which is good.  Earlier Red was being a helicopter mom as she kept gentle warning moos at her calf as she walked around exploring.


The other event from last Saturday was that I fertilized my hayfield.  I wavered a bit but then decided to spend the money - fertilizer is expensive.  But I don't fertilize every year so I decided to spend the $$$.

I also rented from the CHS co-op a trailer to spread the fertilizer.

If I remember right from when I lasted fertilized two years ago, it would take a couple hours to spread all the fertilizer.  I ran out of fertilizer in a little over 30 minutes and I had only covered half the field.

What??!!!!

I took the trailer back to CHS and told Andy I had a problem.  When I had picked up the trailer and had the fertilizer loaded I asked if the trailer was set properly for the correct rate. They assured me it was. When Andy then checked after I brought the trailer back, the latch in the back that opened the opening was set correctly.  But on another lever, the one attached to the drive shaft that turns as the wheels turn and therefore runs the conveyor carrying the fertilizer out back, the bungie cord was not secure.  The conveyor apparently ran at double speed as the trailer wheels turned.

Andy reattached the bungie cord and then asked another worker if it was ok to also add a plastic zip tie in case the bungie cord comes unhooked again.  Yes, it was ok.

In the following photo you can se the bungie strap re-hooked and the added zip tie.

Since the fault was theirs they gave me more fertilizer free for the remaining 8 acres I had to fertilize.  This time the trailer worked correctly as I had enough fertilizer to cover the 8 remaining acres.  It took me a little over an hour to spread the rest of the fertilizer.

The timing was right to fertilize.  The ground was dry enough to drive on but wet from this last week of rain to help the fertilizer dissolve.  The rain that began when I started to fertilize also helped. Fortunately the trailer and fertilizer in it was covered.  If water doesn't help dissolve the fertilizer much of it will dissolve into the air and not the ground.

It will be interesting when I cut my hay.  I think half my field will have more hay than the other half.  And I will see if fertilizer really makes that big of a difference.

Calf 70 and leaning fence

I watched off-and-on all day to see if Red would let her calf drink from her.  The calf mainly slept.  She slept in the larger corral loading ramp area near Red and Red checked on and sniffed the calf several times.  No head butts.  Good.

Finally after 6 pm I saw the calf drink from Red.  No kicking by Red.  So when I let the cattle out to eat from a new large hay bale, I also let Red and her calf out to join them.   Red was more concerned with her calf than she was in eating hay so that was another good sign.

That simplifies life a bit.  Now I am down to three groups for hay and water: the cows, Toby and Mama, and the three heifers in the fruit tree area.  I don't trust letting Little Red back with her mother just yet.  I may move her to the loading corral tomorrow..  we'll see.  I want to move the heifers from the fruit tree area so I can leave the driveway gate open.


This morning I discovered the cows had pushed against the corral panels overnight.  Fortunately I had wired the end panel to the fence post in four places so the end panel did not completely tip over.

Curtis has a solar powered electric fencer that I want to borrow.  But he can't find it.

I tipped the panels back upright.  I raked some manure to the fence line so that may discourage the cows from pushing against the panels to reach the green grass on the other side.

Calf 10 - Red's

Another Saturday.... another calf.  Seriously, it is going to take forever if the cows only calve on Saturdays.

Red had a heifer calf overnight.  An all black calf.  I wondered what color the calf would be.   There are no black and red calves so it would either be all red or all black.  I expected an all red calf as all of Red's previous calves were all red.

I found the calf this morning laying next to the hay feeder.  The calf was all clean and all alert.  Red was on the other side of the feeder.  Red started mooing.  I figured she couldn't find her calf and I herded her over to her calf.  She was sniffing the calf as I left.

I ran errands uptown the rest of the morning.  At noon when I got back Donna came over to help me tag the calf's ear.  The calf was laying next to the feeder and Red was laying across the corral pasture.  She was laying next to her calf from last year, "Little Red".

The ear tagging did not go well.  The tag only went halfway through the calf's ear.  It was a struggle to remove the puncher from the tag.  The white tip came off and I had to put it back on the tag.  After a struggle I got the puncher off the tag and the tag off the calf's ear as I was unable to push it all the way through the ear hole by hand.  The second attempt to tag the ear worked as it should.

Of course the extra effort got the calf riled up and it started to squirm which made safely removing the partially entered tag and the puncher harder to do.  I was straddling the calf and eventually Donna had to block the calf from squirming from back and out under me.  By the time I was all done my hips were sore, especially my left hip which I think has a touch of arthritis.  I am not used to kneeling while my legs spread apart, especially with a squirming calf I had to squeeze and hold.  By the end of the day, and even a little bit now, my left hip is bothering me.


Once the calf was tagged I decided to walk it over to her mother.  When the calf approached Red, Red pushed it away and then walked off.  She wanted nothing to do with her calf.

What?!!   Red never acts that way to her calf.   Time to put Red and her calf in the loading ramp corral so the calf can drink from Red.

But Red wouldn't go into the corral.  Around and around I went.  Little Red kept getting in the way.  Finally I herded Little Red into the corral and then Red went in also.  It wasn't too hard to get Little Red back out of the corral.  Then I got Red and her calf into the loading ramp corral.

The next problem was Red would kick at her calf when the calf went to drink. I got a rope and tried to tie her leg to the back gate to stop her from kicking.  That didn't work as Red kept trying to kick her leg.  So I got another board and put it in front of her legs and braced the board to the corral fence.  Then the calf could drink from Red without getting kicked.  Once the calf started drink Red settled down.  After a while I could remove the extra board and Red wouldn't kick.

Why was Red acting so strange?  The calf - while hungry - had energy and she went right for the udder and nipples when able.  So she had drunk from Red before.  And she was all clean.   Why did Red change and now reject her?   Then it came to me.  "Little Red".   She is a stinker and troublemaker.  I think she saw the new calf drink from Red and then realized milk was on the menu again.  She took over and Red welcomed her and didn't kick her off like she should have.   All the other replacement heifers' mothers have calved and none of those replacement calves were trying to drink from their mothers.  Either they didn't think of doing so or their mothers kicked them off.

So I had to separate Red from Little Red.  I put Little Red in the loading corral next to the loading ramp corral.  Initially Little Red hung next to Red then went to eating the green grass in the loading corral.  Once Little Red was near Red, Red got all worked up and focused on Little Red.  I had put water and hay in the loading corral for Little Red.  But I realized I needed to separate those two even more.  So I put Little Red and two of the replacement heifers (to keep Little Red company) out in the fruit tree area of the NE pasture.  They would be far enough away and behind buildings that Red couldn't see her anymore.  After I did so Red calmed down.  Donna poured a little molasses on the calf's back to have Red lick her to get more of her scent on the calf and further cement the bond between the two.

I still didn't trust Red. I know how stubborn she is.  So I left her in the loading ramp corral with her calf.  I had spent three hours on these two and I had another project I needed to complete this afternoon.  At 6 pm I checked on Red and her calf.  Red was restless and her calf was sleeping.  I gave Red some hay.  This bothered the rest of the cattle as half came over and mooed they wanted this hay too.

*Sigh*

At 8 pm I checked on Red and her calf.  The calf was up.  She bleated a few times.  She appeared to be hungry.  I walked the calf over to Red.  Red would kick once and walk away.  After several instances of this I put Red back in the holding part of the loading ramp and put her calf in next to her.  This time Red did not kick when the calf began to drink.  I don't think the calf had drunk since early afternoon and she drank and drank.  Afterwards I put water and more hay in the loading ramp corral for Red. It had been raining since afternoon and I placed a larger sheet of metal tin over the loading ramp area as a roof where I had boards blocking Red and the ramp narrowed and where the calf laid.

I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Molasses on the calf's back.

Several replacement heifers were fascinated in what we were doing with Red and her new calf.

She had her own hay, but the replacement heifer insisted on reaching through the fence to eat Little Red's hay.

Laying under a gate

This morning I found another calf laying under a gate.  I checked later to see if she got up on the correct side of the gate, and she had.

Another photo of little 'appaloosa'.  Today the cows had pulled some hay down from the feeder for him to lay on.

Hayfield harrow and 'appaloosa' calf photos

I have started harrowing my hayfield and pasture this year.  It is later than usual due to the late snowy Spring.  I have been harrowing off-and-on the past week working around the rain.  This afternoon was dry and I was able to get more work done.

It took me longer this year to assemble my six harrow sections. That is because several harrow pieces had missing bolts and broken bars from my harrow work of last year. I re-bolted the missing and broken items together to help prevent further breakage.  This all worked fine for harrowing the hayfield.  But when I started harrowing the south pasture today I apparently snagged the harrow on several tree roots and caused two bars to break on one side.  Tomorrow's repair job before further breakage can occur.   The goal is to break up cow manure and unfortunately the cattle leave lots of manure around some of the trees, and those trees have roots near the surface extending outward from the trees.

Because my alfalfa hayfield is still young and the roots are not deep, I didn't extend the harrow spikes down.  I usually always have them down.  One harrow section was rusted and/or stuck and it took lots of effort to retract the spikes.  That section didn't retract 100% and I ended up digging up some dirt with that section.

I had the cattle in the corral today while I put out a new larger hay bale.  When I was done with the hay bale I found that Speckle's little 'appaloosa' calf was in the loading area part of the corral.  I think he must have laid down next to the gate (not the gate in the following photo) and then rolled under before getting back up.  The calf wanted to get out of the loading corral but couldn't figure out how to do so.  I let him out to re-join the other cattle.

Here is a 28 second video of the calf in the loading corral before I let him out to go back to his mother:  https://youtu.be/x5G_OteUjFo

Trailer wires

The calves were at it again this past Winter when they were in the NE pasture.  They chewed on and ripped apart the wires for the stock trailer's back lights.  Last year I had fixed the wiring and lights when the calves abused them.  This time I found the plastic screws that held two wires together were all ripped off, some chewed up, some missing.

One of the lights they took out of the trailer mount and then took the light out of the rubber ring.  I had to search before I found the two pieces over by a fence.

I can't wait until I have my equipment building built and the trailer inside it away from the cattle.

Hay head

It was a rainy day all day today.  I can't complain, as while Donna wanted more snow this past Winter, I preferred to have the moisture as rain once the ground thaws.  That is what is happening today.

This morning Beulah came to drink water after stuffing her belly with her head buried in the large hay bale.

Diamond

Calves eating hay photos

In between large hay bales I put out a few small bales in the corral to distract the cattle while I get another large hay bale.  I also toss a few pieces of hay on the ground so the calves have a chance to eat some hay.  In the back ground is calf 80, the newest calf who sleeps more often than not.  The other calves are older and more energetic.  This evening when I let the cattle out to the latest large hay bale the calves raced around the extended corral area while their mothers ate.

Other calf photos...

Fixing the corral fence

When I cleared snow from the corral last month I accidently broke two boards in different parts of the corral fence.  I fixed both boards.  But yesterday I noticed a board on the ground south of the corral.  I thought I forgot to take the old broken fence board away when I fixed the fence last week.  Nope.  Toby apparently liked having the fence board missing from the fence as shortly after I fixed the fence he broke the new board. I forgot that bulls don't forget when they find a weakness in a fence.  The 'new' board I had used was a used board that, while strong, was not completely solid on one end.  The board would have been fine if Toby hadn't focused his attention on the board.  So I had to get another board.  This board is stronger.  And for extra strength I also added another board tying this newer board to the older corral fence boards.  After a couple days the boards are still on the corral fence.

Calf 9 - 80's

Cow #80 finally had her calf last night.  She has looked like she was about to give birth for two weeks now.   Last Wednesday night, after I put out another large hay bale, cow #80 was acting like the birth was about to happen any minute.  While the other cattle ate the hay cow #80 was in the corral circling and sniffing the ground.  Then she was by herself under a tree outside the corral.  I would check on her almost hourly up until I went to bed after midnight.   At one point she was laying and her birthing canal was open the size of the width of my hand.  She was moaning like she was having contractions.  I couldn't see any hooves of the calf's.   I even called Donna for advice and ended up waking her up.  She was half asleep when I described the situation.  At one point I said I was probably paranoid about something going wrong.  I got no response from Donna.  When I asked her if she was still there, she said yes, she was just laughing.

"Ok Donna.  Go back to sleep.  I'll talk with you tomorrow."

The next morning Donna asked if we had spoken the night before as she had a vague memory of us talking about something.

In the morning cow #80 was back to acting how she usually acts.  The previous night she must have had a false labor pains.

I wondered if cow #80 was ever going to have her calf and this morning I finally found she had a calf.  A little black bull calf.  That makes 7 out of the 9 are bull calves.

I looked back on cow #80's history and I found that last year she was second to last to give birth, and previous years she was in the later group to give birth.  That's her history.

I have 5 cows left to give birth.   It has been 6 days since the last calf was born.  The remaining cows don't look imminent.  It may be a number more days before the next calf is born.

Calf 8 - 90's

I'm liking this.  Most of the cows this year have been giving birth late morning or early afternoon.  Today cow #90 gave birth during this time.  Yesterday when looking her over Dan and I both thought she was pretty close to giving birth so it was no surprise she gave birth today.

The new calf is a heifer.