Non Discus related but, I am a Grandma!!!

[jmf3460]

Our first calf born 1/30/2017!!! a little bull calf we've named LeRoy. I guess technically he's on his way to being a steer since we've already banded him. His mom is registered Shorthorn cow and his dad was a Angus/Hereford cross that looked almost exactly like this little guy. This little calf did get the long curly cowlicked hair of a shorthorn though. He is cute, there is a dirt pile in our pasture and he likes to climb on it. I am trying to stay detached but it is really hard. Just wanted to share with my SD members, some of you know my husband and I are trying to start our own little herd, this is our first round of calves. We have 4 more (hopefully) to come in the next 2 months.

106653106654106656

here is what the dad looked like
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[brewmaster15]

Jealous!!!!

That is so Cool Jacklyn. If I had the had acreage I would have Cows here as well... at least some Dexters. I guess I will just have to settle for watching your herd Grow!
Congratulations!
al

[Second Hand Pat]

He is cute Jacklyn and looks like he took after his dad. Congrats on your first calf :)
Pat

[RogueDiscus]

Very cool and congratulations Jacklyn. One of my regrets in life is that I never made the move to a farm. I just try to squeeze a lot into my half-acre. No livestock though.

[rickztahone]

Very cute little one. Congrats.

[pitdogg2]

mmmm brisket :evilgrin:

[Willie]

Discus people are so weird...

[jmf3460]

Discus people are so weird...

that wasn't very nice Willie.

[Willie]

You don't think we're weird? Larry is building his house around a fish room. I get up at 4 AM everyday to change water in my fish room. And you're grandmothering beef! :p

[jmf3460]

You don't think we're weird? Larry is building his house around a fish room. I get up at 4 AM everyday to change water in my fish room. And you're grandmothering beef! :p

I digress, you're right we are weird :) but I like it

[Second Hand Pat]

Any one who frets over fish like we do are weird and yes, I like it too. :D
Pat

[Lido]

HA LeRoy is AWESOME!!! Congrats!

[jmf3460]

Jealous!!!!

That is so Cool Jacklyn. If I had the had acreage I would have Cows here as well... at least some Dexters. I guess I will just have to settle for watching your herd Grow!
Congratulations!
al

thanks al, yes we are very fortunate to be able to have the acreage we have for our hobbies


He is cute Jacklyn and looks like he took after his dad. Congrats on your first calf :)
Pat

thanks Pat, one down, 4 to go hopefully


Very cool and congratulations Jacklyn. One of my regrets in life is that I never made the move to a farm. I just try to squeeze a lot into my half-acre. No livestock though.

hey you can do a lot with a half acre Steve, like 3000 fish tanks can fit on a half acre :)


Very cute little one. Congrats.

Gracias Ricardo, es un guapito de seguro.

[jmf3460]

HA LeRoy is AWESOME!!! Congrats!

LeRoy is awesome, we wish he had a black nose and black around his eyes, but that is my husband's only complaint so far.

[brewmaster15]

You don't think we're weird? Larry is building his house around a fish room. I get up at 4 AM everyday to change water in my fish room. And you're grandmothering beef! :p

Yep we are weird, but oh so interesting !:)

[Disgirl]

Sure is cute, hope he is the first of many more. Show more pics as they are born?
Barb

[Jenene]

He is absolutely adorable Jacklyn. He does look just like his dad. I spent my summers on a ranch in Wyoming for years when I was a kid and I always got to bottle feed the calves that didn't have a mama. I fell in love with them.

Also- people who know how fish crazy I am just call me interesting. :o People who get up at 4 am to water fish, build houses around a fish room and have grandcalves (spell check did not like that word) are interesting! ;)

[jmf3460]

Well this week has been a deflation and a rollercoaster of emotions and sadness coupled with anxiety. On Tuesday evening our second shorthorn cow began going into labor. We cancelled our valentines reservations, ate sandwiches down at the barn and stayed with her through the night, literally I never went to sleep, she was struggling to get the calf out. At 4am we decided to gate the momma and pull the calf out ourselves, it was dead. what a mess of mixed emotions, a female calf, solid black from the angus in the father, with the brindle and white on her belly from the shorthorn in the momma, exactly what my husband was trying to breed, and a female. for several minutes we stood there not saying a word, the momma calf never even acknowledged the dead calf, she knew it was dead and had known for some time obviously, she began eating her breakfast without a hitch. my husband and I covered the body with a tarp and put it in an area no one could get to it and went to work, saddened and deflated.

next was to figure out what to do with the momma, do we try and find an orphaned calf in the area to put on her, or do we risk letting her milk dry up on its own possibly lending mastitis and intervention with antibiotics?? this was a calf that had adopted an orphaned calf 2 years ago so we got a Holstein steer 1 week old from a local dairy farm and put it with her. There is a widely accepted method known as grafting a calf that helps to get a momma cow to accept a calf that is not there. its a method that you can google, but do not google image it unless you are ready for a shock. but we did this, then we introduced the calf to the momma through a gate at first, while we took the dead calf and buried it in the woods in a hole that I had gotten off work early Wednesday to go home and dig by hand.

since then, we've been assisting the new calf nurse 3 times a day, 5am, 5:30 pm and 11pm. we have to restrain the mom and occupy her with treats and grain in order for her to let it nurse but last night she started communicating with the calf quite a bit, and she let it nurse for quite a long time after we had opened the head gate last night. she wants to accept him but then as soon as he goes to nurse she pushes him away, but then she will turn her body so that her udders are right in front of his little nose, like she is playing hard to get or something. we're hopeful, but we're giving it til sunday then we will consider it a rejection and will let the momma back out to pasture with the herd and hope her milk will dry up on its own.

Its been a week of sleep deprivation, for example I went home from work yesterday and immediately changed into my cattle clothes, helped trap and gate the momma to let the calf nurse for an hour, then fixed us dinner, did a water change and went to bed around 830, to get up at 11pm and go nurse the calf again until about 12:15am, then go back to sleep and get up at 445am to go do it again before work. its supposed to be like 67 here tomorrow and sunny outside, my opinion of ideal weather, and I will probably spend most of the day asleep.

so we still have 2 possibly 3 cows left to calf, all of which are first time heifers. the good and somewhat exciting news is I reached inside the uterus of a birthing cow and it made me realize I missed my calling as a large animal vet. i really enjoyed helping pull that calf, even though the outcome was terrible, some times these things happen is what they say. doesn't make it easier. this post seems to be a long stretch of bad grammar and run on sentences, i think maybe getting it out has been more therapeutic than any response it may get.

just thought i would update everyone, its why i haven't been to active on the forum this week.

[RogueDiscus]

Thanks for sharing Jacklyn, and sorry for the outcome with the calf. Hope everything works out with the grafting. Having no experience here, is it dangerous or risky to let the milk dry on its own? You may have said it but I didn't quite understand.

[jmf3460]

Thanks for sharing Jacklyn, and sorry for the outcome with the calf. Hope everything works out with the grafting. Having no experience here, is it dangerous or risky to let the milk dry on its own? You may have said it but I didn't quite understand.

Its a debatable topic, some say you should put another cow on her, otherwise the milk that has already filled her udders can cause swelling and infection (mastitis) not to mention its very painful for them if not milked or nursed out. Others say she will dry up on her own within a month and will be fine. I think its much more of a danger for dairy cows as they are genetically engineered by the creator to be milk machines, but for beef cows its debatably optional. But there is some research that says if a cow loses a calf and her milk is left to dry up on its own, then she will likely face issues with milk production for future calving seasons.

over the past week, i have done more research on cows than fish, and that is saying a lot. a whole whole lot.

[brewmaster15]

Jackyln, not much I can say here except I am sorry to hear things have not gone well and you lost a calf. Sounds like it would have been a special one. Theres definetly a need for passion in this venture of yours....lots of hard work there...but you and your husband are doing something very cool. I hope things go more smoothly here on.
Al

[jmf3460]

good news here. after 4 days of forcing the mother to nurse the orphan calf, she has accepted it. she is nursing and cleaning it all on her own now. Yesterday we let them back out to pasture with the rest of the herd and aside from Leroy being terrified of the calf that looks so different, things went really well. this morning the momma had not abandoned the Holstein calf over night and it was nursing on its own out in the pasture when I left for work. none of the cows seem interested in sniffing over the spot where we buried the other calf so that is good and they have moved on. new calf's name is chuck.
first picture: the way we had to force the momma to nurse 3 times a day for four days
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second picture: momma nursing the calf on her own for the first time ever, 6 something or other am on Saturday morning
107424

an updated picture of Leroy, 3 weeks old today, the black splotch on his nose is spreading, like his whole nose may end up black soon (a good thing)
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[rickztahone]

What a cutie!

[jmf3460]

Another calf born Saturday morning, another male but a really good looking one, and great coloration!!! I watched the whole process from afar with binoculars so to not stress the momma. It took her only 20 minutes from the first sign of labor to have the whole calf on the ground and up licking him. This is a first time heifer and so we have her and her calf locked up in a big corral for a couple days to make sure she is getting the hang of being a momma before releasing them to the pasture with the rest of the herd. So far everything is going well and we have had to do nothing but monitor. We plan to let them out with the rest of the herd tomorrow as long as everything continues to go well. No name yet for this bull calf, he will possibly get to keep his manhood since he is really good looking and could possibly make a great herd bull one day, idk yet though that will be my husband's decision.
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[RogueDiscus]

Congratulations!

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Super Cute. glad things are going good. kinda wish we raised cattle sometimes. but I do love my birds we raise Turkeys,chickens and Guineas , not as cute as your new babies but i just had some chicks and turkeys hatch couple days ago. 108022 here is a pic of baby turkey 108023 and 1 of his dad 108024 --- not sure if pics will work ----

[jmf3460]

Just an update here. Our 2017 calving season is over. We have 3 calves total after the one died. so three out of 4 isn't that bad. Here are some updated pictures as the calves grow. We have two boys (walter and Leroy) and one girl (rebel) They are the best of friends. We ended up banding both the males. And the female is the feistiest one of them all, hence her name.
109172 (first time Leroy meeting walter)
109173 (face off)
109174 (mom keeps a watchful eye in the background)
109175 (Leroy montage, he is getting brave)

[jmf3460]

109176 (and finally the youngest and the little girl rebel)
109177
109178 (the three stooges)

and now, Mr hot rod, who arrived Sunday for his second year. This year he has 8 girlfriends to impregnate.
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This will likely be our last year with this bull. We may end up keeping Rebel (his daughter) which means we wouldn't be able to use him for breeding anymore. But all that is unknown as of now, we have to watch and see how she grows.

[brewmaster15]

Jacklyn, this is so cool! Watching your herd grow like this. They all look so healthy!Thanks for sharing!

Al

[jmf3460]

Jacklyn, this is so cool! Watching your herd grow like this. They all look so healthy!Thanks for sharing!

Al

Thanks Al, now that calving season is over, hopefully I can spend more time on the forum and back to my discus they have been neglected.

[Kyla]

it is very cool. love reading the stories, both high and low, all the work that goes into keeping these huge animals! it must be very rewarding and they look like such happy cows.

[jmf3460]

it is very cool. love reading the stories, both high and low, all the work that goes into keeping these huge animals! it must be very rewarding and they look like such happy cows.

Thanks kyla, it is very interesting. While my husband and I are still kind of learning, we already know a lot more than we did two years ago. I will tell you who is very happy, and its this bull we "rent." He basically goes from pasture to pasture on rental terms doing nothing but what bulls do best. You would think he would get tired but he doesn't.

[Second Hand Pat]

These little guys look great Jacklyn and they should take after dad. Really sorry to read about you losing one. That hurts. :(
Pat

[jmf3460]

Got some updated pictures of our 3 calves. They are still going strong and we haven't weaned them from their mommas yet, still got a couple months to go before doing that.
110613
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110615 this is the female we may end up keeping to become a herd momma
110616
and this last picture is a comparison of how big the calves are compared to my miniature horses now. they have quickly outgrown Tater and Tot my 32" miniature horses.

[Second Hand Pat]

They look great Jacklyn, pretty and look like their dad. :)
Pat

[jmf3460]

They look great Jacklyn, pretty and look like their dad. :)
Pat

Thanks Pat, that was the plan.

[gunnerschh2]

Thanks kyla, it is very interesting. While my husband and I are still kind of learning, we already know a lot more than we did two years ago. I will tell you who is very happy, and its this bull we "rent." He basically goes from pasture to pasture on rental terms doing nothing but what bulls do best. You would think he would get tired but he doesn't.

Gotta love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jmf3460]

Just an update here: Last month we sold LeRoy and Walter. It was our first time taking calves to the livestock sell and our two steers did very well for their weight class. Together they weighed 1055 pounds and were just shy of 8 months old. Walter was actually 6.5 months old so to weigh roughly 500lbs soon after weaning is quite impressive for our first time mommas. It was hard to get rid of the two, remember this was my first time selling calves but they sold as a pair and went to a farmer not a pack house so I am happy with that. Perhaps he will grow them up to be show steer.

So we have the heifer calf left from our 2017 babies. We decided to keep her and grow her up to be a herd momma since she is such a beauty. Another update is that my husband and I just purchased a second location to grow our herd. We found and closed Friday on a 44 acre plot that was once a cattle farm but has been sitting vacant for 12 years. We have lots of fence fixing, tree cutting and brush hauling to get done by spring 2018 but neither of us are afraid of hard work, and we enjoy working outside. The truth is that our current location only has 14 acres of pasture grazing available and we are at 10 cows, so we are getting close to our limit of one grown cow per acre (this is a rule we subscribe to, not an industry standard or anything.) Plus the 8 momma cows we have should all be pregnant now and come next spring when they calve, we will be plum out of space here. We knew we needed a new site, and when this property came on the market, just 6.6 miles down the road from us and even more secluded country pastures, we knew we had to make an offer. And we were lucky and got it. Here are some pictures of Rebel (the heifer we kept) and our cows in general as well as the pond on our new property.

112723 rebel the 2017 spring calf at 6 months old
112724 a very pregnant shorthorn heifer, we're hoping to get a blue roan out of her
112725 speaking of fish, here is a crappy we pulled out of our new pond after only about 4 casts
112726 our new pond on our new property

[Disgirl]

Congrats on that beautiful land buy, and how great to have that pond! Your animals are really good looking. Let us know when the calf is born?
Barb

[Second Hand Pat]

Nice catch both on the property and fish. The new property and cattle look great. :)
Pat

[two utes]

Congratulations on both. Looks like some nice land that you have purchased, even that crappy looks in condition. Looking forward to seeing your heard grow an prospour.

[jmf3460]

here is a quick update. Rebel is growing and growing, she is a really good little calf and I look forward to watching her grow up and raising her own calves within a couple years. here is a before and after of her from april to November's growth.
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and here are our two new heifers we bought, with rebel in the middle. These two new heifers are sisters from another mother to rebel. These are daughters of our bull hot rod, but from another herd that hot rod visits when he's not at our house.....step sisters I guess. You cant tell it very much, but they are 5 months older than rebel.

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[Second Hand Pat]

Congrats on the new additions Jacklyn. Rebel is growing into a fine heifer and they all look great together. Are there any QT procedures when adding new stock to an existing herd?
Pat

[jmf3460]

Congrats on the new additions Jacklyn. Rebel is growing into a fine heifer and they all look great together. Are there any QT procedures when adding new stock to an existing herd?
Pat

good question Pat, yes there are procedures to follow, they are not as stringent as fish though. The heifers we bought, were vaccinated already and dewormed from the farmer we bought them from. The only precautions we took were to let the new ones meet our herd through a fence for a couple days before intermingling. Now if they weren't already vaccinated and dewormed we would have had to do that and keep them separate for a week before introducing them.