A few pics from calving part 2

[Shortgrass]

Hey! a new baby

With a brand new ear ornament

9150 with a two day old bull calf

9150's two year old bull calf

Babysitting

My daughter's cow with a new heifer calf

Say bud, you look a little soggy--he'll be soggier this fall

Watch me! I can stand up.

In a few days, it'll take a fast saddle horse to catch him

I know what is on her mind--I was right; in two hours she had a new bull
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[Silver]

Man, it looks like youre gonna have a mighty fine, even pen of calves this fall. Great looking cattle.
I sure eny you your nice clean, dry calving grounds too.

thanks for sharing.

 

[Shortgrass]

Heavy on the "dry", Silver.

 

[Silver]

Heavy on the "dry", Silver.

Your ground appears to be quite sandy, I imagine it drys out quickly and requires alot of water? Whats your avg. anual precip there?

 

[Shortgrass]

I suppose our "average" would be 12 - 15 inches. I heard a story of a tourist that stopped at a station in the Arkansas Valley and asked what the average precip was. The owner told him "about 6 inches". The tourist replied "Wow, that isn't very much!" The owner replied "well, if you'd been here that day you would have thought it was a lot." Our soil will do as much on as little as anywhere I suppose.

 

[WyomingRancher]

Nice pictures, and nice cattle. I used to run charolais bulls on my cattle and really had some impressive weaning weights. It looks like your calves will weigh up good come fall.

 

[Soapweed]

Nice pictures. Looks like your cattle have "level playing fields" to be born and raised in. :wink:

 

[Red Robin]

Nice stock shortgrass. We've had over 20" of rain so far this year.

 

[Blkbuckaroo]

Nice pics Shortgrass,Can't agree with you more about the calf being to fast to catch in a few days,had to doctor a little bull calf the other day and that little sucker was quick,luckily he ran into the round pen where i could get me twine on him.Nice calves you got.

 

[CattleArmy]

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[Shortgrass]

Nice stock shortgrass. We've had over 20" of rain so far this year.

My daughters went to school in Siloam Springs, Ark. One spring my older daughter, and another neighbor from our area that was a student there, went out playing in the rain, like it was a novelty, and every thought they were crazy. I'll bet you mow pastures and fertilize there too? Arkansas is not bad cow country.

 

[Red Robin]

I'll bet you mow pastures and fertilize there too? Arkansas is not bad cow country.

There are some really good breeders here in NW Arkansas and SW Missouri. I prefer the ground around Siloam Springs to here. They have more dirt and it's a little flatter and they also get more water. We do clip pastures and fertilize normally but this year, fertilizer costs are upwards of $200.00 per calf so I would say things are changing some currently. When fertilize is cheap and we get plenty of rain, our cost of production rivals yours and our management is less spread out. The way it is this year, our production is way higher than yours but we have a few more options for profit centers than you do. Fescue seed, hay, winter stockers to name a few along with some custom work. For a place to live , Harrison is a nicer town than Siloam Springs I think.

 

[Shortgrass]

Nice pictures. Looks like your cattle have "level playing fields" to be born and raised in. :wink:

We are flat, but there is more texture to the ground than is apparent in the pictures. I went out night before last, to check a cow. I found her almost expired with her back downhill. I rolled her over, and directly she got up. Next morning no calf yet. I went in vaginally, and no calf. I could find nothing through the rectum either, but she lays around straining. I can find no fetus on the pasture. She acts like she has a dead calf in her. If they lay with their back in a hole, will it cause the calf to die? Maybe she is straining against pelvic pressure? She is big enough that the calf may be out of reach for me to find it--any opinions?

 

[Red Robin]

Nice pictures. Looks like your cattle have "level playing fields" to be born and raised in. :wink:

We are flat, but there is more texture to the ground than is apparent in the pictures. I went out night before last, to check a cow. I found her almost expired with her back downhill. I rolled her over, and directly she got up. Next morning no calf yet. I went in vaginally, and no calf. I could find nothing through the rectum either, but she lays around straining. I can find no fetus on the pasture. She acts like she has a dead calf in her. If they lay with their back in a hole, will it cause the calf to die? Maybe she is straining against pelvic pressure? She is big enough that the calf may be out of reach for me to find it--any opinions?

Twisted uterus? How far could you reach vaginally? I'd think you'd feel something rectally though either way.

 

[Shortgrass]

Hadn't thought about that. I could reach up to my shoulder...think I'll take her to a vet this afternoon.

 

[Shortgrass]

Robin, you pegged it better over the net than I did in the pens. She had a twisted uterus. We did a C Sec, but the cow went into shock in the midddle of things, so we lost the pair. Calf was already dead. If you got em', you got to lose em'. Not fun anyway.

 

[Red Robin]

If you got em', you got to lose em'. Not fun anyway.

It goes with the job. Like you say though, still no fun.