Heifer
- Thread starter mn
- Start date
I just have to disagree........It costs a lot to raise a heifer so why sell her when you can spend a little time and get to claim her calf. I'll guarantee that there never was a cow born that will not eventualy take her calf or any other you choose to give her.lazy ace said:Hanta Yo said:
I totatlly agree with Hanta Yo. I only have eight words for heifers like this,(Welcome to Mcdonalds may I take your order?)
I would kick her out, if you notice her looking for a calf the next day try it again. We grafted an old cow after a bad snow storm once and it didn't take so we gave her the boot the next day. She roamed around the pasture for a day and that night she come back in the barn and was standing next to the calf that we tried grafting on her. We opened the gate and shazam instant pair. She didn't like her other option. 8)
have a good one
Lazy ace
Soapweed said:Let a dog follow you out across the calving lot, and it brings out the "mothering ability" of purt' near every cow in there. And when they take a run at the dog, guess where it goes? Right between your legs. :shock: :? :???::x
Or keeps running behind you so you trip over it trying to run to the fence! :?
The one in the lot with me usually isn't the cowdog it's the house dog that some little person let out and is so excited to finally have found me!
Soapweed said:My tongue was actually in my cheek, when I mentioned walking across the calving lot accompanied by a dog. It's suicidal on the part of the pedestrian (who should be on a horse, anyway :wink: ). On occasion I've been walking through the cows, not knowing the dog was following me. Here comes a nasty ol' cow after the dog, and that is when the dog seeks sanctuary between my legs. And that is just one of many reasons I don't like cowdogs, which is why we no longer have any of them around. Ah, life is now good.
Another reason I don't like cowdogs is when you are on a colt, and things are going quite well. Then out of nowhere, the dog comes running up to join you. This is worse than a grouse suddenly flying up, or a tumbleweed blowing across the prairie.
Cow dogs (border collies to be exact) have been a valuable part of ranch life around me for years. The key to any ranch dog is manners, listening, and the want to work. The dogs I've had the opportunity to be around have been like having a hired hand. The other key to the success of cowdogs on a place is the cattle being dog broke so the respect the dog. It also helps a lot if the handler knows how to work the dog. I've attended numerous Gary Erickson cow dog clinics and have learned a ton about not only the dogs but the stock they will handle. From working them to the manners they need at home it was a valuable asset.
As far as a colt being spooked by a running up dog well there's a lot in the pastures that jump up and fly up just more experience for the colt I think. :wink:
Juan said:I just have to disagree........It costs a lot to raise a heifer so why sell her when you can spend a little time and get to claim her calf. I'll guarantee that there never was a cow born that will not eventualy take her calf or any other you choose to give her.lazy ace said:Hanta Yo said:
I totatlly agree with Hanta Yo. I only have eight words for heifers like this,
I would kick her out, if you notice her looking for a calf the next day try it again. We grafted an old cow after a bad snow storm once and it didn't take so we gave her the boot the next day. She roamed around the pasture for a day and that night she come back in the barn and was standing next to the calf that we tried grafting on her. We opened the gate and shazam instant pair. She didn't like her other option. 8)
have a good one
Lazy ace
I disagree to a solid very good mothering cow here on the place had her 3rd calf this year. She has always mothered her others very well. This year she was so confused she was claiming a calf already tagged as hers and not tending to her own fresh calf. The only way she would follow the calf sled in was to put the other calf (not hers) in the sled too. She's still penned in the barn with her own calf as I type this. But she's always been a good mama before just seems to be a tad hormonal and confused this year.
PureCountry
Well-known member
I agree on the "Save a Dog, Toss a Cat" theory. I've had the odd miserable knothead that just wouldn't take a calf, but the last resorts that have never failed, have always been hobbles, or throwing a cat on their back and watchin' the sparks fly!! :lol: To keep the calf safe, we'd usually do it in our mat. pen, and have the calf locked behind the divider gate. It always seemed to work better than the dog.
And who says you can't teach an old cat a new dog trick? :wink:
And who says you can't teach an old cat a new dog trick? :wink:
Rowdy Ranch
Well-known member
Cattlerme-had a cow like that last year-followed by putting other calf in sled and finally after a day or two with her own calf in confinment with her she claimed. Now I can see if the weather is bad,but that wasn't the case here. Oh it is always exciting and never a dull moment in this business :shock:
Soapweed
Well-known member
Jinglebob said:
The proper tool at a time like this is a pistol. :wink:
Soapweed
Well-known member
CattleRMe said:
A poor cow dog and a poor hired hand are both something a ranch is better off not having. Both just end up causing more work in the long run. :wink:
Tap
Well-known member
I picked up another gimmick for grafting a calf. This works best on 2 yr. old heifers, but can work on cows. If you have a calf that is born dead, when there is still a lot of fluid on a calf, you can sometimes graft an older calf on that cow by covering the new calf in the fresh "juices". I take the calf to be grafted and get it good and wet with water, then wipe all the fluid you can get off the dead calf and smear the older calf as much as possible. I go so far as to drag the dead calf over the good calf. Then if you cross tie the good calf's legs so it looks as if he is trying to get up, but cannot, this helps to fool the cow. If the calf just were to jump up, they get suspicious in a hurry. I let them struggle for 10 minutes or so, hopefully while the cow is licking the good calf clean, then I let it up. (Be sure to get the real calf out of sight. :wink: )
This isn't foolproof, but can make things a lot easier occasionally. It works best to get the calf soaked down and ready before you let the cow out of the headcatch. That is if you had pulled a dead calf.
Might work for someone.
This isn't foolproof, but can make things a lot easier occasionally. It works best to get the calf soaked down and ready before you let the cow out of the headcatch. That is if you had pulled a dead calf.
Might work for someone.
I agree that a poor dog or hand are worse than not having help but I wish you could have been with either of the great dogs I've had - - one died in 1971 and the other in 1983.
I have had several other fair to good dogs that were better than mose people but not great. If you ever get a great dog your life will get so much easier but if you don't put out the effort to learn how to use the dog it will cause fustration for you both. From your post I feel you are better off working as you are accustomed to.
I have had several other fair to good dogs that were better than mose people but not great. If you ever get a great dog your life will get so much easier but if you don't put out the effort to learn how to use the dog it will cause fustration for you both. From your post I feel you are better off working as you are accustomed to.
Jinglebob
Well-known member
George said:
Yup, I can see it now, Soapweed on his ranger hollerin' "Come by!" "Away to me!"
At Peachblossom and Saddle Tramp! :shock:
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