Dexter Cattle Calving | Part 3: We Have PROBLEMS. Calf CANT NURSE!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- Our number 3 dexter cow had her calf, but is head butting it and won’t allow it to nurse. Watch as I use our Tarter CattleMaster Series 3 chute to rig up a way for that calf to get its first drink of colostrum. Eventually the cow stops head butting and the bond is formed.
God bless you for your work! wow, 19 min in she knocked that calf's head into the wall...I'd have her in the freezer!
Rob good job, what a challenge. Glad it all worked out.
Thank you Dayne
Well done Rob!
Thanks man!
Love what your doing Rob. I am about to get my first small herd or Aberdeen Angus on 20 acres. Love the videos and great information for people like me just starting out. Thank you for the videos!
Glad it’s helping Ryan! Congratulations man that’s awesome. Good for you for pulling the trigger and doing it! I went back and forth on Dexter vs Ab Angus for awhile. Landed on Dexter simply because I could actually find some decently close to my location. How many head?
@@WR_Ranch 8 cows, 6 of them currently have calves on them.
Your setup is so similar to me and mine. I farm Dexters in Bristol, UK in very much the ‘see what happens as it happens’ style as you. Many a time I’ve been sat waiting for a calving reading various papers and ‘what ifs’ 😅
It can be stressful! But honestly the best way to learn, and let the cows be cows and care for themselves. As much as I always want to jump in and “do something” I’d rather know the cows will be able to care for themselves.
Love Cole and Brane😮😂😂
Thanks for these videos, i picked up some dexters and dexter angus crosses and one of the dexters had a calf at 15 months. Guy i got them from was astounded. He usually makes sure they are separated at 6 months. this one ended up pregnant at 6 months
I love and hate how fast they sexually mature. How did her and her calf end up?
@@WR_Ranch Both are just fine. She had a little Heifer. Shes smaller than average but not too surprised since mom is so young. Hope they both grow to full size. I planted some pearl Millet which is about ready to turn them out on. The higher protein should help i hope.
Great human
I have had cattle for years and the right choice is 100% of the time the toughest decision.
2 things that have to be culled IMO are a cow heifer that abandons it calf at birth and second any signs of aggression (butting ,kicking) towards the newborn calf..
These calves grow the best on mom.if you have to bottle feed experience tells me that they do not grow as well and are somewhat stunted.
2 strike s for that cow turn her into burger.
I hear ya. It’s a shame she is a perfect mother otherwise…..once she allows nursing
I wonder if the calf was covered in yellow goo. That is called meconium stained, often means the calf was in too long or had a delayed birth. That could be an issue. If we have cows or calves that give us trouble we just mix up a bag of colostrum and bottle feed the calf. That buys us some time to work with the cow. Also when getting the calf to suck, try to rub its butt like the mom would do licking it. I have read if you put corn syrup on the calf, the mom will love it right up. You may be right about dropping the placenta. For us, we have herefords and it usually takes about 3 hours to drop the placenta. Not much nursing goes on before that. When that happens, The placenta seems to occupy the cow. then get the calf sucking. We generally don't let the cow eat the placenta, but if we have to get the calf sucking she can have it. Most of the time things go well. We are in Canada and calve in winter, so getting it warm and dry and sucking is priority.
All good info. Yes I was wondering too if the staining was a result of me stressing mom out right before birth. I definitely should have just left her alone where she was. I like the butt rub idea!! I’m already thinking about different strategies for her next year if we choose to keep her Great talking points thank you!!
@@WR_Ranch Dont blame yourself. You had to move her. It was raining. We have only had cows for 6 years. Everyone says we fuss to much over the cows when they are calving. I'll bet now, a half day later, all is good.
All is very good!
@@WR_Ranchthe butt rubbing stimulates the calf to move its bowels. Dogs do it, too.
WTH did I just watch? That cow would be on my plate is she were mine. I believe you said this is the second calf she refused to take? It’s not worth the hassle for me.
Yes second calf. First one was nursing on her own in an hour. Interested to see if it’s something she’s going to pass onto her heifers.
@@WR_Ranch… it’s certainly something to look out for.
With the shape of her teats and the size of her udder you could always pull the calf and train her to be a milk cow if she is pushy with her next calf.
nursing releases oxytocin and contractions to pass the placenta that is was she was kicking just as she passed it
Good work Rob, do they make a baulk gate for that crush? Don't know what I would do withoit mine.
Thanks Steve! Define baulk for me
Nursing signals the brain to release oxytocin. And oxytocin is needed to pass the placenta. Totally makes sense that it came out after baby nursed. Same with human mommas and babies ❤
It's not the tarter I have the same chute and it works awesome best investment I've made. It takes a bit to get it set just right for Dexter's and once you use it more it, you may find you need to adjust its different for a certain cow, I have one Dexter that is just smaller. What I have found to be the biggest problem is the bottom of the chute gets really slippery, I had several cows fall in it and didn't want to go back in it, now I have it in a permanent spot on the ground and kinda buried it in dirt, they don't slip and walk right in. If she would have got crazy in that chute, with it being on wheels you could have had a really bad day I'm really glad it worked. Please don't use that chute on wheels, I understand its convenient to move around, but it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when it will tip over. That will be a sad day for you just my advice!
Absolutely agree with you! Thinking about it after the fact I definitely should have got it on the ground. Cutting corners is not how I usually do things. Never again. I got lucky. Yeah I love the chute too. I need to tighten the head gate latch springs so there is more tension on it. That would have helped it slam shut. I plan to cut up rubber stall mats to fit on the floor so give them some traction. Thanks for the advice!!
Cow doo on you, oh no!! This ranchin thing sure can get you dirty. Forgive me Lord!!
So what have you decided to do with this head butting cow? I realize she appears to be a little rough with the calf but sometimes I think they do this to get the baby moving around to get the blood flowing better.
Great point. She’s sticking around. As well as her calf from last year, she’s really looking good and will be bred in the summer of ‘23 when she’s over 2 years old. Still undecided on her heifer calf from this year. Extremely flightly. She’s already causing me some problems with escaping
well done
Thank you!
Whew. that was tense! Glad it all turned out well. Cow head butts calf. Rob head butts cow.
Hahaha. Ted where were you when I was scrambling for a title for this video. That would have been great!
Oxytocin is released with the calf suckling. Oxytocin's lerdown will stimulate uterine contractions to drop the placenta,unless she is hypocalcemic. Hypocalcemia prevents proper muscle function.
Great info!
@@WR_Ranch most of my lifetime on dairy farm (18 months on pig farm), doing (or teaching the crew to do) the vet tech tasks. Our regular doc during my childhood taught vet science 4-H project and on farm. I recall doc teaching dad to do a neck vein iv with a 10 gauge needle. Now 14 is the largest we used for cow neck veins. Our last 35 years, in a different county, our vet clinic partner docs were training new docs on our farm as they were doing internships, ride alongs, or were newly hired. Great fun to learn practical science stuff! We prefer using the webbed strap with a D loop on each end for the easy pulls and ob chains around 2 different spots of each of the calf's legs on the more difficult pulls needing the calf jack, to distribute the pressure on the legs. Calf jack is great for us short gals who don't have the upper body strength of the typical farm fellows.
Love that. I definitely would have been a vet if I were starting all over
@@WR_Ranch i loved the vet tech aspect of working with cows growing up and until dad retired a year ago, working on a CAFO farrowing operation for 18 months about 6 years ago, removing the roughage from an impacted crop with my sister on her daughter's favorite chicken, assisting whelping my Lab and a sis-in-law's lab, and kidding assisting with sis-in-law's goat. Never would have memorized all the stuff in vet school...
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Your culling program is totally your choice of what quality your cattle herd and value of said cattle reach. I've seen cattle herds I wouldn't take a member as a gift and I've seen herds that bring top prices. It all depends on how strict the culling program is and the goal of the cattleman is. Good luck with the path you choose.
Thank you Steve. With quality dexters hard to get in my area it will be a hard choice
@@WR_Ranch I understand your problem but quality never comes easy, sometimes it's next to impossible. Good luck anyway.
Bribe her with food, treats she likes
Breast feeding helps the completion of the birth process and the bonding of the child/mother……. This is the way in humans, I would think the same in all mammals. Good luck.
Thank you!
I think I was almost as stressed out watching the video as the cow was
No doubt Rob had his hands full, a helper would have be a welcome aid. He worked with what he had and was successful.
Haha. I know. She’s definitely the most skittish in the herd. And I’m sure she sensed I was a bit stressed as well