Snow Storms, Baby Calves, and Loco Cows

It's calving season again! I have decided it is my most dreaded time of year. It seems like winter doesn't really begin until calves are ready to make their appearance!

This years calving started out with the threat of two winter storms, back to back. The first storm was to last 3 days and dump 10-12 inches of snow on us. The second storm was to last 1 1/2 days and dump 8 more inches.

The first storm hit and we got 8 inches of snow, the third day the snow continued to fall and the wind started blowing. It turned freezing temperatures into an arctic blast!

We hadn't had any calves born yet and we were praying they would wait till both storms were over! Rob was going out late in the evening and early in the morning to check the cows.

The third morning he went out and found a new momma, the calf was pretty well frozen, she couldn't open her mouth so Rob brought her in and put her in the warming box. He decided to go out again and look for more calves, he saw some cows at the bottom of a draw so he walked down to see if any of them had calves. He found a calf  that was in pretty bad shape so he brought him in and put him in the warming box too. As he looked at the calf he thought it looked awful small so he went back out and looked around again. He found the other twin but he had already died.

We got warm milk into both calves that were in the box, but the other little twin died within the hour.

Several hours later when the first calf was up and running around we took her out to her mother. Her mother came up to her and smelled her but she just wouldn't mother up to her. We sat a distance away and Rob watched her through binoculars, the cow would kick the calf when she tried to suck or she would buck her away when the calf nuzzled her head. It was so frustrating.

We decided to let them together for a couple hours and see if the mother would accept the calf. Several hours later Rob went up to check them, he took the calf carrier along. If the mother was still rejecting the calf he would load the calf on the carrier and hope the mother followed. He planned to bring them both back to the barn. We learned by experience if you put cow and calf is a small area the cows mothering instinct will kick in. 

The cow was still rejecting the calf so Rob loaded the calf onto the carrier and started to drive away. The cow refused to follow. As he was driving down off the butte, he saw the cow that lost her twins that morning, in the draw where she had given birth. He started bawling like a calf, when she saw the calf on the carrier she thought it was hers and started coming toward the them. It was a slow process but Rob eventually got her into the corral. She realized the calf wasn't hers but she didn't kick it away either.

Sometimes you need to skin the dead calf and wrap the coat around the orphan calf so the mother recognizes the scent. Rob was hoping he wouldn't need to do that. He made a small pen in the barn and moved cow and calf into the barn. Later that evening he saw the calf nursing. We let out a big sigh of relief! We kept the cow and calf in the barn for several days. The morning the second storm was supposed to be over Rob let cow and calf out of the barn. It was a happy momma leading her new baby back to the herd!!