I lost a darned calf last night. I saw #3 (first cow I bought in 2003) was going to calve and should've penned her, but she's a pretty easy keeper and has just gone off and come back with a calf in the past.
Well, she's been gone since Monday night and I think I've seen the last of her alive, but I can't figure this one out. I'm sure the buzzards will tell me all I need to know in a day or two. Man, I just despise buzzards and coyotes.
Last night I went walking around the brush and found a dead bull calf on the other side of one of my boundary fences. My assumption is that he crawled under or through and then couldn't figure his way back across. That's never happened to me before as they always find their way back. Until now, I guess.
I have just 200 acres of thick mesquite and grass country (it was fields and the mesquite grew up in it, so it's all bermuda, klein, etc. under the trees), but my whole herd can hide without being found at all for a week if they want to. Of course, I just holler for them and they come running. Unless they are calving. Then they will hide up in a thicket for a couple of days by themselves and then pop up with a calf.
What I can't figure is if the calf is dead, where is the cow? Unless it was twins and the second one hung up, she oughta be out walking around somewhere. I think twins are about one in 66, so that's not much of a chance.
I've also never lost a cow that threw a calf and got clear of it. I mean, if the calf is out, my cows have always made it no matter what happened to the calf.
Well, I walked the callouses off the balls of my feet (rubber boots because we actually had some rain lately) and prayed about it. I just hope she's either dead or alive by now and not between. I've hunted all my life and killed about every animal you can. But I hate it when they suffer more than anything. I'd rather find her dead or shoot her myself on day one than think I can't find here and have her die slow over a few days.
Well, she's been gone since Monday night and I think I've seen the last of her alive, but I can't figure this one out. I'm sure the buzzards will tell me all I need to know in a day or two. Man, I just despise buzzards and coyotes.
Last night I went walking around the brush and found a dead bull calf on the other side of one of my boundary fences. My assumption is that he crawled under or through and then couldn't figure his way back across. That's never happened to me before as they always find their way back. Until now, I guess.
I have just 200 acres of thick mesquite and grass country (it was fields and the mesquite grew up in it, so it's all bermuda, klein, etc. under the trees), but my whole herd can hide without being found at all for a week if they want to. Of course, I just holler for them and they come running. Unless they are calving. Then they will hide up in a thicket for a couple of days by themselves and then pop up with a calf.
What I can't figure is if the calf is dead, where is the cow? Unless it was twins and the second one hung up, she oughta be out walking around somewhere. I think twins are about one in 66, so that's not much of a chance.
I've also never lost a cow that threw a calf and got clear of it. I mean, if the calf is out, my cows have always made it no matter what happened to the calf.
Well, I walked the callouses off the balls of my feet (rubber boots because we actually had some rain lately) and prayed about it. I just hope she's either dead or alive by now and not between. I've hunted all my life and killed about every animal you can. But I hate it when they suffer more than anything. I'd rather find her dead or shoot her myself on day one than think I can't find here and have her die slow over a few days.
