The Hazards of Calving Season

As we were feeding the cows, we noticed a tiny calf walking amonst the cows. Our first live calf of the season. I tried to keep my eye on her but I soon lost track of her.
We finished feeding hay then went back to the barn.

Rob needed to clean several feet of snow out of the corral, and spread several bales of straw around before we could go out and bring mama and baby in.

We got the mule and headed out to the herd.

Rob was planning to grab the calf, jump on the back of the mule and I would drive the mule back to the barn...fast....but not too fast that I lose the mama cow.

Sounds perfect...right?? Wrong!!

First, we couldn't find the calf.

After scanning each hay pile, we saw a bump in the hay that was twitching a little. With  my heart in my throat, Rob ran to the bump and uncovered it.

The calf was still alive!! He grabbed the calf and stood it up. As soon as mama cow saw the calf she started trotting toward it. Rob picked up the calf and ran for the mule.

Rob, the cow, and the dog got to the mule at the same time. When the cow saw the dog, she went into "mad bull mama" mode. The cowardly dog ran for Rob, so did the cow. She got her head against Rob and started to push. He dropped the calf, the cow started pawing the ground and bellered. She was kicking at the calf, I was terrified she was going to kill it. The dog ran to the front of the mule so I yanked him in with me, holding on to him. Rob was still trying to get the calf but the cow kept coming at him. Finally he realized it was futile and the cow was mad enough to charge him.

 We went back to the barn for the tractor and loader. This time we shut the dog out of the barn yard.

Now Rob's  strategy was...drive the tractor right up to the calf, he would pull the calf into the bucket and I would raise the bucket so the cow couldn't climb in with him. Then drive slowly back to the barn.

I saw holes in that theory right off. I am not experienced at raising and lowering the bucket for one thing. But...I will try!!

We drove right up to the calf, Mama cow watching our every move. Rob grabs the calf and pulls her onto the bucket. I slowly raise the bucket and start driving slowly back to the corral. Mama cow is following close behind. Everything is going well till we get within sight of the corral. Then the stupid cow turns tails and runs wide open back to the herd.

Rob carried the calf into the corral and laid it on the straw, all the while he is bellering like a calf trying to get mama's attention. She is watching from afar, she knows what the corral is, and she wants no part of it.

"Ok, lets get the mule, I'll get on the back with the calf and you make a circle out through the cows, when she starts to follow us, drive back to the corral. Not don't drive too fast, but don't drive too slow either, I don't want her on here with me", he says!

Great!! I love those kind of instuctions.

 I drive out through the cows with the calf, the cow actually starts to follow us. Rob is on the back telling me, "slow down your going too fast. Speed up a little she's breathing on me." We hippity hop our way back to the corral with the cow breathing down our necks. She follows us right up to the gate of the corral. She watches as Rob carries the calf back to the bed of straw. I'm still sitting in the mule afraid to look at her for fear she will see red and charge me. I needn't have worried, she once more turned and ran back to the rest of the cows.

About now I was wishing we had invested in something a lot less troublesome...like.... chickens!!

I thought we were quitting so we both went in the house. I figured she would eventually want her calf so she would come in to it, she already knew where it was.

Rob was sure she was giving up on it and was losing interest in it. When he went back outside after lunch he decided to walk out to the pasture and try to drive her in on foot. That almost ended very badly when she started to chase him. He took off at a trot, and she lost interest. Thankfully!!

He was still determined to get her in the corral with the calf. He got the 4 wheeler and herded a bunch of cows with her, they all went into the corral except her, she slipped around him and ran back out to the pasture again. He drove out and got her again, with the cows in the corral she went right in.


He weeded all but one of the cows out. He figured if she was that crazy he better leave one cow in there with her for company!

Next time???
...He made himself a special calf carrier for the back of the mule.
It was a lifesaver...his and mine!!

Driving Skills I Didn't Know Existed

The whole trouble started when Rob came in the house and kindly asked me if I would help him.  A cow had a calf up on the butte, in the middle of the sage brush. We are talking snow! Deep snow!! and thick sage. Why does he even ask? He already knows this isn't going to end well!!

He said he needed me to go along in case he had to carry the calf very far through the deep snow and if the cow got raunchy.....I was supposed to start screaming to distract her. I asked him how he knows I can scream...he said he hears me everytime I think the tractor is going to roll, when we are feeding hay! Great! And I thought that thing was soundproof! 

We head out across the feed lot, up and down hills, through mud and snow. As we drive down the last hill and head out across the valley, the snow gets deeper. The tractor starts complaining. I can see the cow, he's right, she is up on the butte. He tries to take the tractor straight up the hill but the snow is possibly 2 or more feet deep. The tractor gets stuck part way up, after backing down and starting up again, as only a man knows how to do, we finally make it to the top. 

He drove right up to the calf. The calf was laying right in the middle of a sagebush. The cow was standing there prancing around, and I was ready to go into action! Rob put the calf on the bucket. The cow watching very warily. Rob quickly jumped in the tractor and started backing slowly down the butte. The calf tried to stand up and promptly fell out of the bucket. Stopping the tractor, Rob jumped out and put the calf back in. The calf was not cooperating at all so Rob came back to the tractor and said, "I'm going to sit in the bucket with the calf, you back the tractor down the hill!"

 "Awww noo, Awww noo, you aren't doing this to me again." He wasn't even listening, he was already in the bucket with the calf. 

I put the tractor in reverse, and slowly started backing down the hill. I felt like I was skiing backwards and my ski instructor was...in a bucket!! I started talking to the Lord, "I can't do this, you are on your own now. If you want me to live through this, you are going to have to take the wheel." 

I tried to follow the tracks that Rob had made earlier but I never backed a tractor down a hill before so I was weaving back and forth. I was starting to make myself seasick. I would look out the front window for affirmation, and quickly turn to look out the back window to make sure I was following the tracks. I had to lower and raise the bucket periodically so the cow could see the calf or that I didn't lose the occupants in the bucket. Slipping and sliding, the Lord got us safely to the bottom of the hill and that was when I realized Rob intended for me to back the tractor the whole way to the corral. I was going to cross the feedlot!

 

I backed out of the snow onto the area we feed the cows everyday and sunk right there. I tried going forward and backward but I was tight. Rob got the calf out of the bucket and tried his hand at moving the tractor. It was not going anywhere!!

 

 When I stepped out, the bottom step was level with the ground, the hitch was at ground level too. I had the bucket too close to the ground when I was driving down the last slope so I was dragging mud, which didn't help the situation at all.  That's when I also noticed I never took the emergency brake off when I got in the drivers seat. The tears started flowing, he was never going to ask me for help again!!

 

Rob called the neighbor, Jimmy. Till Jimmy got here, Rob carried the calf back to the corral, thankfully the mother didnt give us any trouble and followed him.

 

Jimmy came while we were still working with the calf so we got the ATV and Jimmy followed us back out to the tractor. He had his Kubota, but he couldn't budge the tractor. He called another neighbor, Travis, to bring his tractor. While they waited for Travis, they got fence posts and wiggled them under the front tractor tires. They used the bucket to lift the front end, which was also a challenge, the bucket kept sinking in the mud too!! 

 

Travis arrived with his McCormick, he hooked up to Jimmy and they pulled the tractor out of the mire. Travis was real encouraging, he said, "This is only the first time, this happens at least three times every spring."

 

Well we broke a record...Travis has had to come pull us out at least five or six times.

 

Now I know there are worse things than driving in the snow!!!