Calf number 10 was born Wednesday morning between 9 am and a little after 10 am. The cattle were in the corral as I fed them there in the morning as I planned on putting a large hay bale out for them that afternoon. At 8 am in the morning all the cattle, except for 110, were waiting outside the corral for me to put some small hay bales out for them to eat. 110 was at the west end of the pasture. She preferred to be alone and wasn't real hungry. She was acting like she was going to calve later that day. I herd to herd 110 to the corral. When she got close to the corral and saw the other cattle already eating she then ran to the corral.
So I checked on 110 again after 10 am and found her standing over her calf in the middle of the corral. The calf was still fairly wet. 110 is known as the "bad mother" as she initially rejects her newborn calf every year. I have to put her in the loading corral runway and then put some boards around her so she can't headbutt her calf or kick it as the calf drinks from 110. After a time or two of nursing the calf then 110 bonds with her calf and will accept it and become a good mother.
Once again 110 was acting as a bad mother. In the corral she would lick the calf or sniff it, then would push it with her head. Usually I keep the calf and 110 in the loading ramp area so they could bond. But this day was cold, rainy, and windy. So once the calf drank and got his - he is a male - fill of milk, I put some straw in one section of the loafing shed. I put up a couple corral panels and then put the calf in there to lay on the straw to be dry and warm. The corral panels were to stop the rest of the cattle in the corral from taking over the straw area and kicking the calf out. And it prevented the mother from the calf. I had another matter going on for the afternoon so I couldn't keep an eye on the mother and calf for a few hours. I didn't want the mother to headbutt or push the calf around. When I let 110 out of the loading ramp area she spent the time at the opposite end of the corral, away from her calf.
So bonding took longer this time. At 5 pm I put 110 and her calf in the loading ramp area so her calf could drink again. I also put out a new large hay bale and let the cows out of the corral to go eat. But not 110 and her calf. I kept them in the corral to bond and so I could keep an eye on them. I took the corral panels down so now 110 could be with her calf. I had put hay out in the feeder by the barn and 110 preferred to go over and eat hay and had no interest in her calf. It was a mix of rain and snow by now so the calf was warm and dry in the loafing shed.
At 7 pm I checked on them again. 110 was standing in the loafing shed but not near her calf. 110 was mooing at the world, and not to her calf. I put 110 and her calf in the loading ramp area. 110 was not keen on letting her calf drink so I put 110 in the area with boards so her calf could drink again. 110 would moo and moo. She looked around. It seemed like she wanted to go join the other cattle. Nope. You two are going to stay in the corral together overnight. You need to bond.
At midnight they both were in the loafing shed. They were close together. It didn't seem like the calf was hungry, so I let them be. In the morning after 7 am I checked. The rain had quit. Both 110 and her calf were standing right next to one another in another part of the corral. 110 seemed protective. The calf wasn't hungry. By early afternoon they were still close to one another and this time I saw the calf drink from 110.
Since they bonded, I let them out of the corral so they could go join the rest of the herd at the feeder. Off they went together. And they have been together ever since.
Here is a 45 second video of the calf after he finally learned how to get milk from his mother: https://youtu.be/G0iU6uTHeTA
No comments:
Post a Comment