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I GIVE UP!!!!!!

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Shelly

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This was the year I was supposed to have 10 cows of my own to calve out. Two cows came back open in the fall, I had a dead calf on Sunday despite our best efforts to save it, and today I got the BIGGEST, DUMBEST, F****** RETARDED calf you could possibly imagine! Stupid s.o.b. will not stand up, has no inclination to suck, and when I try to help it, it just kicks the s*** out of me. I got mad and kicked the s*** out of it back, and only ended up working up a sweat and hurting my toe. Anyways, I have six cows left to go. Any offers? I've had enough!
 
Whoa Shelly, cool down you need a break for a few days. Seems like when things go south they go fast, but remember it is not the calves fault he was born big and dumb. Lots of big calves end up dumb, might be lack of oxygen while being born. Need to look at the bulls, feed program and see why.

Shelly said:
This was the year I was supposed to have 10 cows of my own to calve out. Two cows came back open in the fall, I had a dead calf on Sunday despite our best efforts to save it, and today I got the BIGGEST, DUMBEST, F****** RETARDED calf you could possibly imagine! Stupid s.o.b. will not stand up, has no inclination to suck, and when I try to help it, it just kicks the s*** out of me. I got mad and kicked the s*** out of it back, and only ended up working up a sweat and hurting my toe. Anyways, I have six cows left to go. Any offers? I've had enough!
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Slow down a little. If he absolutely won't suck you will need to tube him with an esophageal feeder. Give him some time and he will figure it out. Patience is a must with calves like him.
 
I have an ole buddie in the hereford business Shelly. He made a little calf feeder for those that don't suck. He took an oil can , cleaned it up real good (a plastic pop bottle will do) and drilled a hole in the screw on lid. In the hole he inserted a 3/8 inch size soft rubber tube about 5 or 6 inches long and siliconed it in place. I used it once and it worked much better than a bottle and unlike tubing them it teaches them to suck. You stick it in their mouth on the back of their tongue and crack the lid a little , once they start sucking open the lid a little more to allow more flow. If they quit just close the lid and it won't run down their throat. It works good.
 
Big Dumb Calves is what made me several years ago to go to straight black angus bulls with well under +2 BW EPD's and actual birthweights of under 80 Lb.s.....I'd just as soon get live 70 lb calves that jump up and suck as soon as they hit the ground...I may (I don't really think I do) lose a few lbs on weaning weight- but its worth it....

And I don't worry about running separate pastures for heifers with only certain bulls anymore-- I want them to all work on both...Heifers calve with little problems and cows can drop their calf without even straining if they're walking uphill......

I feel for you Shelly....At least you've had great weather- the arctic front thats been sitting in Siberia for the last month probably won't move south until the latter part of March when I start :wink:
 
I had two open cows at fall testing and they lasted three days till the next sale. One of the best cowmen in this part of the country tried to get me to keep them as they were the best looking cows I had - - - I explained that they looked the best as they were not working.

The sun will come up and I hope you enjoy it !!! I don't know why these things happen but take heart it will get better.
 
Was visiting with a friend who runs several hundred cows last nite, and we both agreed that it seems that we have more trouble with the first 10 to calve than any others. Seems there will be a preemie, a prolapse, and or one to slide off into a little ditch and can't get out. My solution, Shelly. Sell the first ten and be sure to buy somebodies second ten.
 
Well, I can't understand why this calf was so big, we guesstimated about 150 lbs. and the cow calved early. And it's a heifer calf. I had my best friend come over and he manhandled the damn thing till it finally got up and figured out what God gave it legs for. Then he milked my cow while she was laying down and we were going to tube it (a job I can't do alone), but we thought we'd try the bottle again first. It seemed to come to life for a bit and it sucked some till the light went off in it's brain again. So I'll try later on this evening and see if it's more willing to cooperate with me. I don't know how I could be so lucky to get the big, dumb one. All the rest of the calves are coming out at 70-80 lbs.
 
Did you have to pull the calf Shelly? I have noticed that the calves that are a hard pull don't want to get up much for a few days. Guess their feet or legs might be hurting?

Have patience. Want me send you a jug of good bourbon? :wink:
 
it's days like those where I look forward to fixing fence or hauling hay......but once you get busy doing those jobs, all ya think about is wishing there was a baby calf around......

I doubt I will ever be happy
 
Don't feel bad I had a cow abort last night and a bred heifer roll up on her back and die so the profit's were way down today.On the bright side the heifer was a real sickly looking heifer that I was going to ship if she ever put some weight on guess I won't need to bother.I have had 3 cows abort this winter just unlucky my guess.An old rancher told me that everyone takes a turn it's just yer turn..
 
Shelly,

I have found new calves don't drink much. I say this because the Milk replacer directions rcommend a heck of a lot of milk from the get go. I would rather feed 1/2 pint every 1/2 hour than force a huge amount from the get go....

The odd wieght has me puzzled. Genetics and feed generally give big calves, but if all the others aren't, then the genes just happened to be out of favor for you. I would sell the cow for sure....

Good luck, I don't wish this on anyone,

PPRM
 
Shelly,Maybe your nieghbors simmental bull came for a visit! The Biggest ,Dumbest calves we ever had came out of Simmental bull Gregs brother talked him into buying!! We pulled every calf that year had heck of time getting them to stand and suck.That was that,on to red angus bulls.And we don't let Gregs brother talk him into anything else...well except for the Bale hauler,half ton truck,appalosa breeding Ect,ect,ect :mad:
 
This cow usually has large calves, mostly in the 100-120 lb. range and she usually goes a week past her due date. Two or three years ago, I found her at 6:00 in the morning pushing a HUGE bull calf out. It was halfway out so I grabbed a baler twine, wrapped it around the feet, plunked my ass on the ground and braced my feet against hers and pulled it the rest of the way out myself. We weighed that calf, and it tipped the scales at 160. THAT one got up on it's own, and with a little help got to sucking. This calf today, we pulled with the aid of a come-a-long, and it wasn't the easiest pull.

Tomorrow's a new day, and I haven't got anymore cows due till next week, so things should go smooth for everybody else's cows here. I'm hoping things will have turned a complete 180 by then for my calf, and all will be as nature intended. A happy, sucking calf and a happy momma cow, and a happy me!
 
Mrs.Greg said:
Shelly,Maybe your nieghbors simmental bull came for a visit! The Biggest ,Dumbest calves we ever had came out of Simmental bull Gregs brother talked him into buying!! We pulled every calf that year had heck of time getting them to stand and suck.That was that,on to red angus bulls.And we don't let Gregs brother talk him into anything else...well except for the Bale hauler,half ton truck,appalosa breeding Ect,ect,ect :mad:
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I hear ya about those Simmental calves! The last ones we ever had soured my outlook on Simmentals. The husband decided we needed to get more Simm in our calves, though, so he bought one last fall to be used for the upcoming breeding season. I am so not looking forward to dealing with Simm calves next year!
 

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