Calf 6 - Holstein Day 2

It rained overnight.  In the morning I found the calf laying in the same place along the corral fence.  He was wet. And sometimes he shivered.

After 7 am Donna came over and we got the calf and the mother back into the loading corral so the calf could drink.  I put up four temporary corral panels to form a corridor between the south side of the corral and the loading corral.  it is good that I did so as the mother was in an excited mood.  She wanted to leave the corral to join the other cattle out in the far pasture.  Or maybe go look for her dead calf.

The calf drank some but did not drain the cow's udder like he did yesterday.

I still had some work to do on the loading ramp.  I added some vertical boards to four sections of the ramp's path.  With the vertical boards I can slide cross boards through the ramp preventing the cattle from backing up in the ramp.  This was something on my 'to-do' list for a while.  I only need it when loading the cattle to go to auction in the fall, so I usually forgot about it.

I also added a wire to the ramp's side gate.  When I first built the ramp I had the railroad tie post straight up and down.  So when I left the gate open, it stayed opened.  Now some years later the gate no longer stays open.  The wire allows me to hook the gate open.

By the time I finished these fixes I noticed the calf walking after the cow like she wanted to drink.  The cow would move her leg to brush the calf away.  After a few times of this the cow laid down on the ground.  Still, several teats on her swollen udder were accessible and the calf timidly went for them.  But the cow turned her head and gave the calf the 'stink eye' and the calf moved away and then laid down.

So I put the cow back into the loading ramp area and then brought the calf in there.  The cross boards kept the cow from moving and the calf drank.  He also had a good bowel movement, though the color was not as bright yellow as it usually is for new calves.

After 8 pm Donna came over and we put the cow back into the loading ramp and I brought the calf to the cow.  Unlike most calves over a day old this calf has no fear of humans.  He also wasn't interesting in walking.  In the morning I pushed him from the south corral to the loading ramp.  That was a chore as the calf didn't want to move its legs.  In the afternoon and evening I resorted to carrying the calf to move him.

The calf wasn't hungry.  The last I knew he drank after 3 pm.  I had seen the cow near him several times in the corral since 3 pm and she would sniff him or stand or lay near him.  Maybe he drank on his own and she didn't brush him off?


Buddy was curious as to what was going on.  He wanted to sniff the calf.  I wonder if he realizes the calf is not his.

The cow still has not sloughed off her placenta (after-birth).  This is a concern as the cows usually do so within 12 hours of birth.  Often the contractions to expel the placenta are kicked off when the calf drinks.  I don't know if the placenta hasn't slough off because the calf was stillborn, or whether too much time occurred since a calf first drank.

I'll have to call the veterinarian tomorrow.  If the placenta doesn't come out the cow can get a bacteria infection and maybe have fertility problems in the future.

It is always something.


Oh... by the way.  Donna suggested we name the calf: Buster.   This is not to be confused with the Buster named by my Uncle Larry and Aunt Diane some years ago for one of Beulah's calves.  That calf is long gone.

Calf 6 - Holstein

This morning I called the local dairy, Hedstrom's, and asked if they had a bull calf they did not want.  As it happened they had a bull calf born several days ago - Thursday, the same day my calf died.  The price for the calf was $150.

I got Donna and we drove over to the dairy.  The owner lifted the calf onto my pickup's tailgate and I tied it legs together to keep it from jumping out of my pickup bed.  I rode in the pickup bed sitting next to the calf as Donna drove back to the ranch.  I petted it's back as we rode and the calf liked that.  The calf is fine with humans touching it.

Once I got the calf home I banded it to castrate it.   Then I went to get Big Red.  She was still out in the pasture grieving over her dead calf.  I loaded the dead calf onto the pickup bed and slowly drove to the corral.  Big Red followed.

Once in the corral Big Red saw the Holstein calf in the loading ramp part of the corral and was interested.  We got Big Red into the loading ramp area.  She was interested in the calf and ok/friendly with it.  But when the calf went to drink from Big Red she would kick it away.

I went to move Big Red into the narrow section of the ramp with the gate.  I discovered I had forgotten the gate was broken.  Last Fall when I loaded the calves to take to the auction the gate's bottom lag bolt came out of the railroad tie.

So I had to fix the gate.  Simple, right?  Of course not.  This particular railroad tie had a rotted section - that is why the previous lag bolt came out.  A longer lag bolt was too large in diameter for the gate hinge.   I found a long bolt I could use.  I had to get a drill and bit to drill through the railroad.  The bit was too short.  I got a longer bit, though wider.

Then I found this bolt was a hair too large for the gate hinge.  I tried to hammer the bolt into the hinge.  The bolt broke at the bend.  *Argh!*  Then I found one other bolt long enough.  I drilled the hinge large enough to just fit the bolt in.

A few other annoyances and eventually I had the gate fixed and hung.  Well over an hour later.

While I worked on the gate Big Red came to see what I was doing and would get in the way.  Once I was done she had no interest on going to that part of the loading ramp.  After some effort we got Big Red into the gated area and then also the calf.

With no room Big Red tried to turn around to look at the calf and possibly get out.  I had to get and lift a wooden pallet in this area to eliminate the chance Big Red could turn around.

The calf went to work and drained one side of the Red's full udder.  After some effort and pushing and shoving I got the calf to the other side of Big Red and the calf then drained that side of Red's udder.

I let them out into the overall loading corral.  They were friendly enough but didn't lay together and Big Red didn't lick or clean the calf.   She knew from smell it was not her calf.

It was now 3 pm.  At 6:30 pm Donna and I checked on the calf.  Big Red's udder was again full of milk.  The calf hadn't drank from Red.  When the calf went for the udder Red would kick to keep her away.  We again put Red in the loading ramp with the gate.  This time had Red go up one additional section and then placed several boards behind her.  She could not move forward or backward.  This section was too narrow to put the calf beside Red but the calf immediately went to work and drank from the back.  With the boards Red couldn't kick back at the calf.

The calf drank Red dry again.

For the night we moved the two over to the corral side south of the barn.  I put out hay for Big Red in the feeder and they had shelter if they needed it.  When I last checked several hours ago the calf as laying next to the corral fence and Red was elsewhere in the corral.

Most likely in the morning I'll have to move Red and the calf back into the loading ramp and repeat this for a while until Big Red allows the calf to drink all the time.

Awfully relaxed after just having his balls banded.

Finally drinking

Jumping and kicking up his heels.

Friendly, but not friends.

A 36 second video of the new calf:  https://youtu.be/VyivlAGCdwY

Dead calf photo

A photo of the dead calf is at the end of this post.


I found a dead calf this morning.  My "Big Red" cow had given birth this morning.  She was laying next to her calf when I checked on the cattle this morning.  I could tell something was wrong as I approached the cow and calf.  The calf was stretched out when young calves are usually curled up.

The heifer calf was licked off and clean.  There were no signs of how the calf died.  I don't know if the calf was still born; whether the calf's nose and mouth were covered for a time in birth mucus suffocating her; whether the calf had a genetic defect; or whether something else happened to the calf.   If this was the position the calf was born, and not moved this way by the mother's cleaning of her, then the calf was most likely still born.

The calf's mother was by her side.  I left the calf there all day allowing the mother to grieve and come to terms that her calf is dead.  If I immediately removed the calf the mother may think I did something to her calf.

In the evening the mother was still grieving.  Donna gave me the idea of seeing if the local dairy creamery has an unwanted bull calf.  Dairies have no use with male cattle.  If the dairy does have a calf I may try to get "Big Red" to bond with the calf and allow it to suck from her.  If I can rub the dead calf's scent on the bull calf, it may work.

This has been a rough year cattle wise for me.

Discing again on the hayfield

Yesterday and today I disked some more on the hayfield.

First I had to put the hydraulic cylinder back on the disc.  If you remember I broke the cylinder last year and had to fix it.  Once I did Winter came.

Once I tested the newly installed cylinder it had a leak.  I took it apart to find the cylinder was missing one of its seals.  Once I put the seal in the cylinder worked perfectly.

Working on the cylinder to find the leak.

Fixed and installed cylinder

Starting to disc the field.

I think I only have a hour or two of discing left before I am done.  I'll see tomorrow.

Proud Papa

Yesterday when I was checking on the cattle I came across Buddy, one mother and the two first born calves.

Calf 5

Tuesday calf 5 was born.   After 11 am I had checked on calf 4, who had been born at 4 am.  Donna and I went out to put an ear tag on calf 4 around 1:30 pm.  At that time we discovered that cow 40 had just given birth.  Probably around noon.

This new calf was a bull calf.  So I had to go get a bander to band him for castration.  He was so newborn that it was hard for me to find his little balls to make sure they were on the 'right' side of the band. Donna had to find the balls as they kept moving up into his body when I searched for them.

Newly born.  Newly banded.   Boy, the sun is bright.

Tuesday afternoon when I went uptown for errands I also bought new tags for the steer calves.  Last year I had only orange tags for heifers and didn't tag the steer calves.  A main reason for tags is to link the calf to its mother.  So I bought blue tags for the steer calves.

Today I put an ear tag on the new steer calf.  As the calf was only 24 hours old I was able to catch him.  That is why I will not tag the first born steer calf.  He is old enough that I most likely wouldn't be able to catch him.

The calf's mother was not happy about me handling her calf.  Once I reunited the new tagged calf with his mother she immediately took him to the far end of the pasture, the farthest place away from us.  I could feel her eyes burning a hole in me as she stood back there staring at us.

Newly tagged

Calf 4

The 4th calf was born at 4 am on the 4th day of the 4th month.  The stars had to align - that must be why it has been so long since the third calf was born.

I had checked on the cattle at 9 pm last night.  One cow was off on her own, and looking at her, I had a strong feeling she would give birth by morning.

At 3:15 am this morning I woke up and went outside.  Outside I could hear one cow mooing mournfully on a regular basis.  I put on a coat, grabbed a flashlight, and went out to the pasture.

One cow was by herself. She was standing and mournfully mooing.  She was circling a wet spot.  It appeared her water had broken and she would give birth soon.

I kept my distance and turned off the flashlight as it would bother her. I looked around for any other cows nearby.  I didn't want to get rushed by either Mama or Buddy.  One cow (Mama?) was laying under a nearby tree.  The other cows were further away under other trees or by a hay feeder and eating.

The cow's mooing turned into mooing that appeared to time with her contractions.  She was up. She laid down.  She got up.  She laid down.  She got up and circled.  She laid down.

At one point I heard a wet sound, then I heard her slurp.  With the flashlight on it appeared she was eating a water "balloon", one of a few that can come out prior to a birth.

She laid down.  Up. Down. Up. Down.

The contraction mooing was turning into grunting.  That turned into heavy breathing timed to the contractions.

The night/morning was cold.  The temperature was in the low 20s.  I should have worn a heavier coat.  I have a nicer heavier coat but I didn't want to potentially get blood on it if I had to assist the cow.

I was getting cold standing there waiting. 

I couldn't see well with the flashlight so I couldn't see if the calf's were coming out okay. The cow was uncomfortable but not in agony.   I continued to wait.

Finally I heard the calf slip out of the cow.  The cow immediately got up and began to lick the calf clean.  I waited a bit and then got close to check on the calf. The calf was sitting up with her head off the ground.  She hadn't stood up yet, but she appeared to be ok.

I was cold so I left and went to bed after 4:20 am.

While I said 'she' earlier, I didn't check the calf's sex until after I got up later in the morning.  The mother was not happy with me touching her calf but the calf laid there and let me look to see if it was a heifer or bull calf.

A few hours later Donna came with me and we went and put an ear tag on the calf's ear.  The mother is cow #90.   The calf is a beautiful, all black, long heifer.

Cattle and fence photos

Still no more calves.

Cattle relaxing this morning

Calf 1 from a few days ago.

The rest of the calf photos are of calf 2.  I took the photos the day (March 30) after her birth when I put an ear tag on her.

The correct way to fix an ear tag.

Also today I fixed the fences broken over Winter.  Here is one fence I fixed that was broken when I dumped snow on it.

Squirrel and trimming

The squirrel came back yesterday.  In the morning I found the squirrel wrapped around the bird's suet cage.

I got out a ladder and moved the suet cage over a foot.

I also trimmed the shrubs around the house.   Normally I like to trim them in the Fall just before Winter.  However what usually happens is that I run out of time before the first snow and then I wait till Spring.  Come Spring I delay as I have all Spring and Summer before Winter.  Then it is Winter again.

Since I had the ladder out I spent the afternoon trimming the shrubs and bushes.

One down, one to go.

One down, one to go.

Not shown is the large shrub south of the house I also trimmed.

Buddy at the fence

When I put the ear tag on the third calf, Buddy stood at the fence and watched.  Good thing he doesn't realize that he can easily walk through this fence.

As I watched calf 3 and her mother I scratched Buddy's neck and head.  He stood there loving it and moving ever so slightly at times so I would scratch the right spot.

Scratching his chin on the steel fence post.

Making a face at Donna.

Calf 3

Thursday night, before 9 pm, the third calf was born.  Another heifer.   The calf was born to cow #110.  This is the cow who initially wouldn't let her calf drink last year.    Last night the cow was acting the same way.  She had licked the calf off after birth and was attentive to it.  She constantly mooed at the calf to do something.  But whenever the calf tried to walk back to the cow's udder the cow would back up and push the calf with her head.  Then moo at the calf.

This cow is as dumb as a rock.

A few times I rapped the cow on her head after she head butted the calf too hard.  The cow would walk a short distance away.  When I moved away she went back to her calf.

I may have seen the calf the first time she stood and walked as she had the drunken sailor routine down well.

The cow and calf were in the trees close to the river.  It was getting dark.  No chance of getting the cow and calf into the corral loading ramp like last year to hold the mother so the calf could drink.

There was still time to wait till morning.  The calf would have until 8 or 9 pm (24 hours) to drink from her mother and get the colostrum needed to get her immune system going.

The next morning before 10 am Donna and I went looking for the calf.  The mother was eating hay from the feeder.  We eventually found the calf laying under a tree near the middle of the pasture.

Since it was a heifer I would put an ear tag on the calf indicating the mother's number.

The calf was sleeping.  But as I slowly and quietly approached the calf it jumped up and began to run.  I ran after the calf and finally caught it.  The calf was bellowing loudly and most of the other cows came running.  Mostly importantly: the calf's mother, Mama, and Buddy.

I carried the calf and stepped over the old 3-wire strand fence and into the middle pasture.  There Donna and I were able to put an ear tag on the heifer without having to watch our backs.

Now you'd think - not being rushed - I would put the tag on the 'correct' way. But I didn't.  I had trouble getting the tag's clip all the way through the ear.  I also didn't want to tear the ear.  Somehow I put the tag on 'backward'.   That is, the main part of the tag is in back of the ear and not the front.   This does not hurt the calf, but looks odd.  And to see the tag's number you have look at the calf from the back.

I didn't see the calf drink from the mother.  Judging from it's strength at only 13 hours old, I think it had drank her mother's milk.  Donna and I watched the calf after we let it go.  Her mother was attentive and didn't appear to push the calf with her head.  The calf wasn't thirsty and she laid down and then the mother also did so next to her calf.

In the evening when I checked on the cattle and hay, the cattle and calves were just outside the corral.  When I check on the hay in the feeder the cattle came also.  The calves had no problem keeping up with their mothers.  The third calf stood next to her mother and the mother no longer insisted on keeping her calf in front of her.

Ranching doesn't pay well.

The tag is back of the ear!  Really?!

Mother checking her baby after I released the calf.

Let's get out of here before that mean old rancher does something else!

Septic system

If you remember, the kitchen and mud room's gray water septic system froze over Winter.  As time went on the water would drain very slowly, then a little faster, a little faster, until a week ago I heard both sink drains gurgle as water quickly drained down the pipes.

So Wednesday I washed clothes.

Well... the septic system was still not completely open.  As the washing machine drained, the water backed up through my broken dishwasher and spilled out all over the kitchen floor.

What a wet mess!

Before the washing machine could reach its rinse cycle drain, I dug up the septic system.

I found ice still covered much of top of the water.  Also the drain pipe from the house was partially blocked from grass roots that grew though the crack between rings that made up the concrete holding tank.  The grass roots were screening/partially blocking the free flow of water.

I broke the ice and scraped the roots away and the rinse cycle of the washing machine drained perfectly.

As you can see the lid is not far below the ground surface.

The white material is ice.

The small pipe is from the house.  The white pipe goes out to the drain field.

This is the original septic system from the 1940s.   An annoying feature is that the house pipe is barely higher than the drain field pipe.  Fortunately with the soil type here the water drains quickly.

Calf 2

This morning Number 07 had her calf, a heifer.

As you can see, the birth was not long before I arrived.  While the mother initially cleaned the calf you can see there is more cleaning needed.

Before doing the second calf cleaning the mother was busy eating her after-birth.

In the evening when I checked on the cattle the calf was standing near her mother and Buddy.  The mother had given birth under the protection of several large trees so the calf was not wet from the rain that fell off and on today.  I am not sure if the calf and mother had made it all the way over to the hay feeder so the mother could eat.


Mama is close to giving birth.  Every year she is always the second cow to give birth so this morning I expected to see her with calf.  But no, she has not calved yet.

Hay head

Still only one calf born.   A few other cattle look close to giving birth.

This morning when I checked on the cattle I interrupted Panda who was eating.