A Bad Monday

There are Mondays and then there are Mondays like yesterday that just start off bad.  If you follow me on Facebook, you know that yesterday was a Monday in every since of the word.

I awoke with a horrible sinus headache...one that pounded my head with every step I took.  I must have looked real bad, because my awesome hubby said I could stay home and his dad would help feed.  Yeah, I had to look real bad, because I've tried to call in sick and it hardly ever works.  Anyway, I was staring at my computer when the phone rang an hour later to tell me we had a cow with a uterine prolapse.

These are never good we all prefer when things go according to "the plan".  Often, the cow goes into shock and dies before we find them.  If we can help them get things put back in place and treat the shock, we have a chance at least. 

The calf was HUGE!  The guys guessed it weighed 120 pounds at least.  She amazingly had him by herself, but things didn't stop pushing when she got the calf out and out popped her uterus, too.  Not good.  

It was probably a good thing at the time that she was partially paralyzed at this point.  We've seen cows have way more hanging out and running around the pasture.  That is no good as they rip their uterus.  I snapped this picture after I administered drugs prescribed by the vet to help with the shock. He was pretty sure she may have been dead before he got there had I not given her the drugs.

The guys got her rolled up on her belly, so gravity would work for them putting things back into place.  Usually, I am in my father in law's position and not able to take pictures.  Usually, these happen at 11:00 at night or 2:00 am in the sleet and rain and snow.  But I digress.  The feed sacks are important!  As the vet got things cleaned up best he could, I slipped the bags underneath, so the uterus had something cleaner than the ground to rest on.

As he started pushing we saw something that none of us liked.  She had torn a whole in her uterus that A LOT of blood was coming from.  (She did pick one of the few brushy spots to have her calf in and we guessed that one of the broken shoots caused the tear.)  The vet had to stop for a minute and attempt to sew that spot closed and we hoped for the best.  They continued to push and push and finally "the basketball sized mass went into the softball sized hole."

To keep things from falling back out, he put some big ol' stitches across her...well you can see where.  These obviously aren't dissolvable stitches.

We took the rope off of her and let her rest and prayed she would make it.

My husband took a tractor and loader back up to the pasture to let her stand up.  Dairy Carrie has talked about doing this in her post Sometimes We are Mean to Our Cows.    She is paralyzed on her back legs, but is trying to stand which is great news.  A 1100 pound cow that doesn't want to try isn't going to make it.  We also gave her some antibiotics, Vitamin K to help with blood clotting and some injectable minerals to help with healing.

Then I had to tend to a calf who's mama was in no condition to feed him.  In fact, she didn't even clean him up very well.  I gave him a bottle of colostrum replacer.  Colostrum is the first milk a mom produces after giving birth.  It is full of antibodies that help the calf develop it's own immune system, but it needs to be fed within 6 hours of birth.  The gut lining starts to close to antibodies after 6 hours.

I  gave him a bottle and had the guys help me get him in the barn.  He didn't really want to stand up and my head was back to pounding at this point, so I let him be.

When the boys got home from school, I told them that they were in charge of feeding the calf.  That's when they noticed his tendons were bending his feet back.  Poor calf was running out of room inside mama and was crunched anywhere he could be.  We splinted his legs to straighten them and will leave those on just a couple of days.

His eyes are also incredibly blood shot after the difficult birth.  I am guessing that he was at least 2 weeks over due!

To give you an idea of just how big this calf is, my husband is 6 foot 3.  Those little 60 pound calves make standing up look easy.  Apparently, it is harder when you are trying to coordinate 120 pounds of bulk.

So, how was your Monday?  Do you feel better about it?  I know I didn't think my sinus infection was quite as bad as I originally thought it was after helping with these two!  Now, I am off to see how everyone is dong and praying I don't have to have the talk about All Living Things Die.
-A Kansas Farm Mom

BBR-Little Star…Raising Our First Calf

I have a new series of books to share with you by twins Rhanna and Sheridan.  The twins live on a Hereford ranch in Maryland.   Little Star…Raising Our First Calf is the first in a series of books that follows Star and the girls as they grow up together.

When they are 3 years old, they go to check the newborn calves with dad and find a set of twins just like them.  The cow wouldn’t take care of one of the calves (which is often the case see the Tale of 2 Twins) and said they could take care it. 

They named her Little Star.  The book shows the girls mixing the milk and talks about what is in the milk replacer and how big the bottle is that they use.

It is funny when the family decides they should teach Star to lead by halter, so they can take her to the fair.  They even let their city friends help them and they all find out is not as easy as they think it will be.

When Star gets older, she gets grain and hay to eat, just like the older calves.

The pictures in this book are absolutely stunning and truly catch the work and fun that farm kids enjoy.  I love that there is a glossary of farm terms in the back of the book.  There are even a few ag facts about the different breeds of cattle and the ownership of U.S. farms.

Be sure to follow along as there are more books from the twins or you can order the books here.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

I Tried to Call in Sick, But No One Answered

Some days I just want to call in sick.  Like today.  I went to bed with achy joints, a congested head and was in a hoody and wind pants(it was at least 75* in the house).  I tried to call in sick, but no one answered.  Now, let's be honest as much as The Farmer and I like to say we are in charge, we aren't.  Mother Nature and the cows are in charge.  Whether we want to go to work at not, the cows still NEED to be fed.  The ones that haven't had their babies yet still need to be checked on.  The new babies need to be checked on to make sure they aren't getting sick.  The new bottle calf still needs his bottle two times a day.

Since I drug my happy rear end out of the house, I got to see this when I arrived at the last pasture.

 

We fed the other cows on the other side of the paddock hoping she would lay down, have a few contractions and we could see the calf.  I was concerned that the placenta was still totally intact.  If a cow does not get up quickly, an intact placenta can suffocate a calf.  We actually lost one calf to a placenta not getting removed earlier this year.

We came back in a few minutes and she had pushed the calf out a little bit more.

We thought we would help her out, but she didn't think she needed it.  The calf was stuck in her pelvis and was pinching a nerve making it hard for her to walk.  We really tried to refrain from the commentary that we were sure the calf was giving...at least we knew his lungs had drained all the amniotic fluid out of them.

We decided that we would give her 5 minutes of peace hoping she would lie down and have a big contraction and deliver a calf.  We watched from the other side of the pasture with binoculars.

We came back and lo and behold...she didn't need us after all.  I guess I could have called in sick.

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Warming Baby Calves

The last few days have been uncommonly cold here in Southern Kansas.  We are used to 30 and 40 degree temperatures during February not a week of single digits.  We are used to having a few cold days, so we do have some extra equipment when we have calves born on those cold days.  Compared to some of our neighbors we are overly ready for cold weather.  We work really hard before the calves start coming to make sure everything is ready for the new babies.

Most of the calves that have trouble on cold days are either twins or born to one of our "teenage mothers."  It is hard for a cow to get one calf cleaned off on a single digit day, but it is nearly impossible for her to get 2 dried off on an extremely cold day.

One of the best investments we have ever made was what we call a hot box.  It starts with this little heater.  It will warm the air quite a bit, but we have found if you really need to warm a very cold calf it is best to bring the box to a heated garage or in the house.  (Sorry for the bad pictures and really dirty box, but it has been really busy today.  4 different calves visited the hot box today.)

 The heater blows air in through a hole in the side of the box.

The bottom of the box has 2 ridges about 3 inches high.

 

The ridges support a open grate floor.  I really think the open floor is the key to this working as good as it does.  It allows the calf to get warm air all the way around him and allows water to drip off.  We used to warm calves on blankets and rugs, but the bottom side of the calf would still be wet.

One end has a vent at the top.  We keep the vent all the way open if the calf is very wet.  The vent lets out excess moisture that builds up in the top.  We were told that if you don't keep it open, the excess moisture can build up and cause the calf to get pneumonia. 

The other end has rubber flaps.  The marketing company said this was so the when the calf gets warm it can walk out and back to its mother.  Honestly, even when we have had it in the barn where the calf could get back to its mom if it wanted we only had one calf leave the box.

 We added a rope to one end of the box.  The box is not heavy, but it is awkward to handle especially by yourself.

I have put some very cold calves in the box.  The first calf we put in it was pretty much a popcicle.  The guys even had a hard time getting him into the truck, because they couldn't bend him at all.

A really cold calf will stretch out and their neck will almost bend over their back if you let it. 

 This is the first year we have put 2 calves in the box.  These two weren't very big calves and fit, but once one tried to stand up it was clear the box wasn't big enough for both of them.

 Once the calves sit up like a normal calf, we usually feel like we are almost ready to go back to mama.  When the calves stand up and start making a lot of noise in the box, you know they are ready to go back outside...especially if they are in the house in the middle of the night and you want some sleep. 

Our box is by Roy L Heat.  Our vet has one from Koehn Manufacturing.  They both use the same heater.  The main design idea is the same, but there are a few differences.  The box seemed expensive until we saved the first calf.  It is one piece of equipment that has paid for itself many times over.

Don't be fooled that we save every calf.  We have to find them alive to get a chance.  We have had plenty of reminders this week that Every Living Thing Will Die.

How would you warm up a baby calf?

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Getting Ready for Bad Weather

Old Man Winter came back Sunday night with bitter cold north winds.  I did not stress out too much, because we spent all weekend preparing for this storm right at the beginning of calving season.  In addition to the usual stuff we gather for the barn, the mudroom and the people, we took advantage of the nice weather to get some other things ready.

We cleaned out the barn.  I was really wishing I could clean my house with the skid steer when I got done, but alas I couldn't take it inside.

 We moved in a couple of feed bunks and filled them with hay.

 My youngest son worked tirelessly in one pen to make the perfect calf bed and he tried it out.
 

Our barn is old and can be a bit drafty.  If we have a twin calf, orphan or one that needs to be separated from its mom, they get a hay palace that is insulated with hay bales.  While I hope I don't have to use it, I went ahead and built it this weekend.  Being out in extreme cold wears me out enough without having to do a lot of extra manual labor.

 

 When I got up to check the heifers (aka the Teenage Mothers of the Farm) at 3 am this morning, I found a tree had been blown over into the road. (I waited until daylight to take the picture.)

 

As soon as the boys went to school, we had a brand new calf born out in the wind.  We promptly moved her and her mother inside out of the wind for the day.  They sure liked the nice nest made of straw.

Later in the day, they were joined by a couple of others in neighboring pens.  The next morning they went out into the sunshine.  The wind had died down and they were all nice and dry and their tummies were full of milk.  Now, I need to go clean the barn and rebuild a couple of straw beds.

Our big project on Sunday was to build a wind break for the heifers.  A few of them really appreciated it yesterday, but my fingers were too cold to take a picture.  :)

After we got done with the winterizing, I went to the house to prepare for the boy's birthday party.  Luckily, they didn't request a Longhorn steer cake this year and were totally content with Cherry Cheese Pie and Not yo Mama's Banana Pudding.

Do you do anything different if a storm is coming?  Are you one of the thousands that goes to buy eggs, milk and bread or do you take more serious steps to prepare?  I would love to know!

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Happy Beef Month Everyone!

In honor of May being Beef Month, I have made a video sharing some pictures of our calving season this spring with all those darling little baby calves.  Enjoy!

The calves are much bigger now and thanks to some rain and warmer weather they are finally enjoying green grass with their mothers.

What was your favorite part of our calving season?  What you would like to know more about?

-A Kansas Farm Mom

The Teen Age Mothers of our Farm

We consider calving season finished when the last heifer calves.  A heifer is a female bovine that has not had a calf. On our ranch they are usually 2 years old.  I like to call them the teenage mothers of the farm.  And these are the teenage mothers that don't get to read the book What to Expect When You Are Expecting.  ;)  These are the clueless ones that try to deny they are pregnant until they go into labor.

About the end of February, I feel like I have spent more time with them than my own family.  I never know what I am going to find when I go out to check the "girls" and I feel like they need constant babysitting.

Here are a couple of examples.  One Saturday afternoon, I went to town to get a few groceries.  I had watched one of the heifers with her newborn before lunch and decided I should check on her when I got back from town.  When I pulled up to the gate, I did not like what I saw...

That's right!  The calf had fallen face first into the creek and she was just standing there "protecting" it.  I snapped this picture as I was going down the clay covered creek bank (in my good go to town shoes).  The calf was laying with one nostril in the water, but was still breathing.  Thank you Lord for watching over this calf! 

I pushed the heifer out of the way and drug the calf back up the bank.  Baby calves are not light, ours usually weigh 50-65 pounds.  As soon as I got him back to the top, he stood up and took off walking with mom...away from the creek.

Now, I just needed to convince The Farmer that I needed a new pair of shoes to replace the ones that are now stained orange from the clay on the creek bank.

I had been watching another heifer for quite some time in labor one afternoon.  I had to stay several hundred yards away or she got nervous and took off walking.  Of course, I didn't get out the scope or binoculars to see how close she was laying to the creek bank, but I could tell when she was really pushing and when she stopped.   When she stopped pushing, I walked to see if she needed some help and found this...

That's right, she sat herself down so close to the edge of the bank that when the calf finally came out it slid straight down the bank!  If you look closely, you can see the skid marks from the calf's legs.

The calf was laying right at the waters edge.  I called The Farmer and said, "I NEED HELP!"  I was pretty sure it would take me the rest of the day to get the calf back to the top and I needed his strong back.

He picked up the calf and started climbing...

and climbing...

and climbing...

and climbing.

He laid the calf a safe distance from the bank and I went to make the heifer get up.  Yep, she was still laying there resting clueless to the fact that she had just given birth and had new responsibilities. 

After I got her up, and drove her toward the calf she decided it smelled good and that maybe she should take care of it.

Heifers also have their calves in nice places, but as soon as the calf is delivered they take off.  We don't have a leave your baby at the hospital and no one will come looking for you policy.  Nope, we go find these girls and make them take care of the baby they brought into this world.

We have seen two heifers calve side by side in the middle of a pasture and then both heifers only take care of one calf.  Apparently they think it is a team sport and it is fine to leave the other little guy out in the cold.  I have seen them actually get in a fight over who's calf it actually is.  Think two 1000 pound cows having a "cat fight" with a 50 pound baby in the middle.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  We do have some great girls that take care of their calves and get them off to a great start in life.  I also know some teenage moms that are working their tails off to become fabulous mother's to their son or daughter.  One of them is a faithful follower of this blog.  It's just that immaturity is just as prevalent in the animal world as it is in the human world. 

 I now see why older farmers tend to not calve heifers and buy older cows that someone else has helped them through that first calf. 

-A Kansas Farm Mom

Cattle Obstetrics

Calving season is starting to wrap up here on our farm.  Other ranches across the country are just starting.  Picking when to calve is a personal decision that is different for every operation.  We choose to calve in February and March, so we will be done before the crop farming gets busy in April.  I like to have a little help occasionally when a cow has trouble and they don't like to have to leave the tractor to help me.

Most of the older cows get along just fine without us, but we spend a lot of time with our heifers.  Heifers are cows who have never had a calf.  When I say a lot of time, I mean they have had us visit their pasture every 4-5 hours for the last 50 days...including at night.  (We are still waiting on 8 of them to calve as I write this.)  If everything goes right with calving, a rancher will never see the calf born.  We see a lot of this...

If you look closely, you can see the tip of one foot starting out of the birth canal.  Heifers are very nervous (just like people who have never had a baby.)  They also like to be by themselves usually.  We count the heifers A LOT.  It's no wonder that my kids are really good at math, they have helped count since they could ride along in the truck (about 3 weeks old).

Calving heifers will hide behind trees, brush and lay down in low spots just to be out of sight.  They don't like to be watched, so we usually leave them alone and come back later to check on them.  If all goes well, we come back in 30 minutes to an hour and see something like this...

It excites us even more if we come back to see the calf standing up or walking around the cow.  Maybe even nursing...can you see what the cow is doing???
Yes, she is cleaning up after child birth by eating the afterbirth.  When I was a kid, I thought this was totally gross.  My kids do too.  LOL  Coyotes (and skunks I found out this year) love to eat afterbirth.  The cows eat it to clean things up and not invite predators to their new calf.  It also returns valuable nutrients back into her body.

Since we are visiting the heifers continually, that includes at night.  We check them just before we go to bed and again sometime between 2 and 3 am.  Nap time is essential during calving season for the adults.  :)  Sometimes when you go out in the middle of the night you find this...

Scientists have found that if you feed cows their main meal at night, approximately 85% of the them will give birth during the daylight hours.  We feed our heifers at about 6 pm and had very few calves at night this year.  The older cows get fed in the morning and typically don't have too many delivery issues. 

The next morning we give most of the calves an eartag...

Tags really help us when a cow or calf is not feeling well.  We like to think of it similar to the matching hospital ID bracelets that mothers and babies get in the hospital.  If a calf needs to go to the barn for extra attention, mom needs to come along, too.

Snow days can make calving a challenge and lots of extra work.  Calves are cold, cows need extra feed and we have extra people in the cab of the truck (no school means it is take your kids to work day)...yeah, they don't like to have their picture taken with mom for her blog. Hehehe

But that does give us some time for some driving lessons...

and the boys are getting pretty good at opening gates for mom, too.

I would love to post of video of a cow giving birth, but my chances of catching it this year are slowly disappearing...which is fine with me.  That means there are lots of calves being born without my assistance.  I guess I will keep it on my bucket list of things to do or maybe the boys will record one for me over Spring Break.

-A Kansas Farm Mom