# Our calving season has officially begun!



## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Yah!!! Our first calf was born about an hour ago! I'm stuck at the pc working for the next 45 minutes but pictures will soon follow!!


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

Aww... baby animals are so cute.

Waiting pictures!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

This is Alpha. She's our first heifer calf. She's a little black Angus calf. Guessing her weight to be in the mid 60's. She was a week early, so ignore the condition of the barn. This evening it's bedded down with some deep beautiful straw. (heck, I was even considering staying out there it looked so nice.

Sorry for the quality of the photos, all I had at the time was my cell phone.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Aw, I love calving season cause what follows is branding season and I love working calves. Do you need some help when the time comes?


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

Aww... *Pure cuteness*


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

smrobs said:


> Aw, I love calving season cause what follows is branding season and I love working calves. Do you need some help when the time comes?


 
Woot! Sure! As long as you bring Big John with you so I can adore and drool over him!!! 

We are definately underway. Today we had a huge bull calf born. I swear he's twice the size of Alpha. His name will be Goliath. (and yes I do name...lol. I prefer to refer to names vs numbers.)

Ps. I love working cows ALMOST as much as I love training horses. I'm the happiest when I'm out there with them.

Here's Alpha 24 hrs later. (the heifer) She was trying to get in to see the new baby Goliath.










and here's the big boy about 20 minutes old.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Holy cow........literally. He is gonna be one big pretty boy when he grows up. Do you keep any of your babies as bulls or do you cut them all?


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

OMG that second picture of her, so fuzzy and cute!
Geez, Goliath is ginormous, poor mama!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Smrobs- These are commercial cows so we don't keep any as bulls...BUT having said that, we bought two new bulls that are registered and are looking at getting a registered heifer and then any bull calf from them would stay a bull and be sold later.

Indyhorse- Yeah..he had a pretty big head and needed a bit of assistance to come into this world. But I'll say he was quick. Whereas Alpha took a couple of hrs to get up and moving around, Goliath took maybe a 1/2 hr to be sitting and a hr to start nursing!

Both of these calves are full angus. Our bulls are simmental, while a few of the heifers are angus. We run a simmental/sim-angus herd.


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## ShutUpJoe (Nov 10, 2009)

Beautiful! They are really great looking. : )


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

This new picture of her... She's adorable! I like Goliat is cute too .


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## my2geldings (Feb 18, 2008)

What a little beauty. Such a darling!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Please welcome our newest bull calf (full angus..but then again, the last two cavles were solid angus as well). I've named him Ditto. Ditto's mom had been acting weird for two nights. Standing off in a corner not really eat or chewing her cud, just standing there. Last night at my midnight check, I mentioned it to my fiance and he was sure she was going to calve soon. But nothing at the 3 a.m. check either. At 5:45 a.m. I work up out of a sound sleep thinking I heard something. I laid there for a minute thinking I should get up and check but knew my fiance was going to check at 6..so I rolled over. She calved right at 5:45 a.m. cause when my fiance we out at 6 a.m. he was just on the ground and she was licking him. Teaches me to follow my gut the next time I feel I should go out and check.

Here's Ditto:









Updated pics:

Alpha (heifer)









Goliath (bull)


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

Awww... What a piece of cuteness







.

Why baby animals have to be so adorable?


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Some sharp looking calves you have there, and boy do they clean up nice! How many total are you expecting out of this year?


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

54 total!!

Updated total for today.

Calf 1. Ditto (bull)
Calf 2. Aqua (heifer)
Calf 3. Colt (bull)
Calf 4 expected this evening some time.

Ditto a few hrs old:









Aqua just born


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

_WOW! I'll be following this thread so closely!  Very nice calves so far! _


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Plains Drifter said:


> 54 total!!
> 
> Updated total for today.
> 
> ...


These are just today's calves. 

Total calves all together: 5 (3 bulls/2 heifers) with one on the way.


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

They are simply adorable, by commercial cows you mean meat right? Just wondering... having a blond moment just wanting to be sure.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Honeysuga said:


> They are simply adorable, by commercial cows you mean meat right? Just wondering... having a blond moment just wanting to be sure.


Commercial just means the cattle are not papered.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Colt: (bull calf)


















And for those that like births..here is Uno being born. He's our first full simmental bull calf born this year. (graphic)




























































So grand total of babies: 4 bull calves/2 heifer calves


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Oh my goodness you will be busy for the next few weeks! 
They are lovely babies.

Curious, about the birth pics with Uno - is it usual for them to born with their tongues out? I don't think I've _ever_ seen a cow born.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Indyhorse said:


> Oh my goodness you will be busy for the next few weeks!
> They are lovely babies.
> 
> Curious, about the birth pics with Uno - is it usual for them to born with their tongues out? I don't think I've _ever_ seen a cow born.


Each birth that I've witnessed each calf has been born with it's tongue sticking out. Don't know if its normal or not..but it seems to be normal for these guys.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

And for fun..this is Aqua just a few hrs old.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Dakotarose/?action=view&current=Aquajumpingaround.flv


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

No calves born today.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

We had a calf born this afternoon. A little (85 lbs worth of little) heifer named Patience. That brings our total up to 4 boys and 3 girls. Only 47 more to go.


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Plains Drifter said:


> Only 47 more to go.



Oh, bless you. I don't know how you do it!


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## Walkamile (Dec 29, 2008)

Plains Drifter they are beautiful! 47 more to go huh? Well, tonight I will think of them and you while I sleep uninterrupted! LOL! Just kidding, what an exciting time!


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

Thanks for sharing those wonderful pictures! 

Last weekend I spent a day at my freinds parents farm where we tagged, castarated and vaccinated the calfs! It was a TON of fun! I LOOVE doing it!


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Any new babies to add to the total?


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## paintluver (Apr 5, 2007)

They are so cute! I love how cute and fuzzy they look when they are dry.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Just had a little heifer calf born!  I'm a bit biased on this one..cause for a brief moment..I got to be mom. We were going to bring mom and baby to the barn for the night and mom was very against being in the barn. So here I am trying to keep the 1/2 hr old baby in the barn and in the stall we wanted her to be in and every time I'd put her in the pen and try to leave, she'd chase me around the barn. (I was trying to get out of line of sight for mama who didn't want to be there.) I'm ducking and hiding behind a calf warmer when my fiance yells, "here she comes..get in the back of the barn" so I dart out from behind the calf warmer (where the calf is standing next to me) and run to the back and hide behind a wood panel and here comes this little calf wobbling her way to the back to stand next to me. Fiance gets mama in the stall finally, and then he tells me to push the baby out to him. I told him I didn't have to and walked out where she followed me like a shadow. I was slightly sad to see mom and baby reunited. I think I would have been more than willing to remain a surrogate mom. 

It was an amazing experience to be a calf mom for a few minutes.  Can you tell I'm having the time of my life with these calves? Her name will be Half Pint. Pictures to come tomorrow in the am.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

At 3 a.m. this morning we had a little bull calf born. Pictures to come this am. 

Total born: 9
Bull calves: 5
Heifers: 4
Left to calve out: 45


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Awww, that is the sweetest thing ever, lil wibbly legs trying to stumble after you, their instinct is so strong to follow. I can't wait to see pictures of half pint, and the new little bull calf!


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

Aww, what a cute story about a little heifer calf . Waiting pictures!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. They are taken with my cell phone since it's decided to start raining here.

Half pint:


















Carbon


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

How cute, again!


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Oh wow, Carbon has those beautiful soft eyes doesn't he? Gorgeous. And Half Pint is adorable!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

We had to move a mob with really young calves on them - Not a good idea but they had to be moved. Some of the younger babies hung back a bit worried so I went back to collect them - I happened to be on a brown horse, and they must have thought he was mum - They were weaving in and out of his legs and standing under his belly! They just followed him back to the mob in a little line, it was absolutely adorable.

Wow, calving 54 cows in a barn? You must have to keep such an eye out to pick who will go next! All our calve down in the paddocks, dad just goes round them twice a day to make sure they are all ok.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

wild_spot said:


> Wow, calving 54 cows in a barn? You must have to keep such an eye out to pick who will go next! All our calve down in the paddocks, dad just goes round them twice a day to make sure they are all ok.


We brought all the cows up near the barn that are due to calve. And yeah..it's getting pretty easy to pick who is going to calve. I can usually pick them within a 12/24 hr time frame. They'll have some mucus hang out, then they get diarrhea, swish their tail alot and start pacing around. They usually quit eating a few hrs before and will go and stand in a corner. 

Now..I wish I knew what to look for regarding horse births. Cows seem so much easier than trying to figure out how close Comanche is to giving birth.

We only have the cow and her calf in the barn for 24/48 hrs after they are born and then they go out to the south pasture. Right now we have 7 cow/calf pairs in the south pasture and 2 cow/calf pairs in the barn. They will probably go out to the pasture Thursday.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Oh...I am getting good at this. Last night at midnight, told my fiance that looked like we'd have another one born in the next 12 hrs. At 3 a.m. he found her with the feet pushed out. He had to give her some assistance with the birth, and a beautiful bull calf was born. Unfortunately the heifer doesn't want anything to do with him. She's not cleaning him off, she's not not allowing him to nurse. We had to clean him and give him a colostrum suppliment. Going to give them a little more time (pick up some milk replacer just in case), and if she doesn't accept him, she's going down the road (cattle sale) and we'll have a bottle calf on our hands. Pictures and name coming later in the am.

Total born: 10
Bull calves: 6
Heifers: 4
Left to calve out: 44


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

Plains Drifter said:


> Oh...I am getting good at this. Last night at midnight, told my fiance that looked like we'd have another one born in the next 12 hrs. At 3 a.m. he found her with the feet pushed out. He had to give her some assistance with the birth, and a beautiful bull calf was born. Unfortunately the heifer doesn't want anything to do with him. She's not cleaning him off, she's not not allowing him to nurse. We had to clean him and give him a colostrum suppliment. Going to give them a little more time (pick up some milk replacer just in case), and if she doesn't accept him, she's going down the road (cattle sale) and we'll have a bottle calf on our hands. Pictures and name coming later in the am.
> 
> Total born: 10
> Bull calves: 6
> ...



Oh gosh, and bottle raising is a lot of work. I hope she takes to him soon! Keep us posted!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Well, she refused to take to him. Will look any other direction than at him. We tried putting her in the chute and letting him suck but she kept kicking him. We tried to lay him in front of her to let her know that it was her calf and she would head butt him and toss him onto the ground. We were hoping once he was up and about that she might take to him...no luck there either. This afternoon, We opened the gate to the barn hoping maybe she was just upset to be in the barn. This way she could come and go, and maybe once she got out, she come back for him. No such luck. She just took off and left him.

Anyways..here is my little orphan Farbus. Sorry for the crappy pics. It's still raining here and I don't want to bring my Nikon out in the rain.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Tried again at 3 a.m. and at 7 a.m. to get the heifer to accept her calf. No go. She would either not look at him. (just like a kid when they are mad) or she would walk straight over the top of him like he wasn't there or would head butt him into the panels or until he fell down. Going to get her in the chute and see if he will suckle her one more time for good measure. Hopefully he doesn't get kicked too much.

He got his second bottle which he downed like a champ this morning! Sure wish if we were going to have a cow abandon their calf, it would have been a heifer. 

Also, looks like we'll have another baby sometime today.


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## TaMMa89 (Apr 12, 2008)

Aww... Poor little bull :sad:.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

If she won't let him nurse, you can try milking her out in the chute just so he gets some of the colostrum. We had a cow who was dying after the birth (Don't remember why) so we knew we would have to poddy the calf - We milked out as much ofher colostrum as we could and it really gave Lucky a good start.


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## Appy Luvr (Mar 16, 2009)

Congrats on all the babies  We have 4 so far...and about 500 more to go, lol! 
Seems like the bottle babies are always bulls so you can't keep them!!!


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

wild_spot said:


> If she won't let him nurse, you can try milking her out in the chute just so he gets some of the colostrum. We had a cow who was dying after the birth (Don't remember why) so we knew we would have to poddy the calf - We milked out as much ofher colostrum as we could and it really gave Lucky a good start.


Yep..we tied her in the chute when it was apparant that she wouldn't going to feed him so he fed off of her twice. 

Yesterday she was calling to him for all she was worth. So we walked him down to her, and once there, after sniffing him briefly, she would 1) ignore him 2) butt him with her head or 3) kick him when he tried to nurse. 

She's finally out to pasture now.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Appy Luvr said:


> Congrats on all the babies  We have 4 so far...and about 500 more to go, lol!
> Seems like the bottle babies are always bulls so you can't keep them!!!


Wow! 500! My fiance had about 200 before he met me (last winter) and ended up selling most of them cause the winter was so harsh. He kept back appx 20. I've been working my way up to get some more. Right now, he's aiming for 75-100. This year we'll have 54 calve out. We have about 20 replacement heifers so we should be close to that 75 mark next year.


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Between yesterday and today we had another 5 calves. 3 heifers and 2 bull calves. Fiance kicked them out of the barn and to the south pasture pretty quick so no pictures at this time.

Born:
heifer calves: 7
bull calves: 8
Total: 15
Left to calve out: 39

I will include these videos of Farbus. I'm just in love with this little bottle calf.



http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v486/Dakotarose/?action=view&current=farbusplayingwithglove.flv


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

_Aww! Can't wait to hear and see more!_


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Over the weekend, my house was filled with 8 adults and 9 kids. On top of visiting with all of them and doing all the cooking, we managed to have 5 bull calves in a row. (guessing now the slew of heifer calves will come?) Farbus was a huge hit with the kids. They had a blast feeding him and letting him follow them around the yard.

Total to date: 25
Bull calves: 15
heifer calves: 10


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## Indyhorse (Dec 3, 2009)

OMG those pics of Farbus are ADORABLE!

Gosh, you are sure having a run of bull calves! C'mon heifers!

So far so good with mommas on the rest?


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

Indyhorse said:


> OMG those pics of Farbus are ADORABLE!
> 
> Gosh, you are sure having a run of bull calves! C'mon heifers!
> 
> So far so good with mommas on the rest?


We got one calf that we're not sure if he's going to be a full bottle calf or not. His mama hasn't really got a bag of milk and he's one hungry ******. Right now, we're just supplimenting, but if she doesn't start making more milk soon, then Farbus will have a friend.

As far as the heifers...around here, steers will sell better than the heifers, so we want LOTS of bull calves to sell next Jan.


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

Anything?


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## Plains Drifter (Aug 4, 2009)

The snow melted and all the first time calvers calved their babies, so now everything else is out to pasture to calve. So I unfortunately don't get to interact or get pictures like I did when they were close to home. I think we've got 2-3 left to calve out and we're done. Woot! 

And as for this guy


> We got one calf that we're not sure if he's going to be a full bottle calf or not. His mama hasn't really got a bag of milk and he's one hungry ******. Right now, we're just supplimenting, but if she doesn't start making more milk soon, then Farbus will have a friend.


 His mother was able to start feeding him and he's doing wonderful now.

Total so far:

51 calves:

26 heifers
25 bull calves

1 set of twins
1 c-section

In a few weeks we will be syncronizing the cows and breeding them. (going to use CIDRS and AI the first time heifers.) I'm super excited about this. Then everyone goes over to another pasture for the summer.


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## ilovemyPhillip (Apr 4, 2009)

Woohoo! I wanna see updated pics


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