URGatorBait

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We were watching Clarkson Farm, season 2, last night and they were raising and birthing cows for the first time. Reminded me of you, Cover. Except he has more money than sense at this point but he's learning a lot. Hilarious! It's definitely worth watching on Amazon Prime. He's not very PC and they've tried to cancel him because he said something mean about Meghan.

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What that town is trying to do to him is BS. Guess we won't know til there is a season 3, if there is one.
Great show though and I thought the same when I saw this thread and was watching this show.

I watch all the shows the 3 guys from Top Gear/Grand Tour do. They are very smart and funny guys.
 

Bushmaster

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How far "west" in Florida?

If you are toward the north part of the state, research a grass fed only option. My dad did this over around the P'cola area and was pretty successful. He wouldn't keep a cow if it couldn't survive on grass.

I grew up feeding cows every day. We cut hay in the summers and fed thru the winter to supplement. Had a built in hay stall on the side of the barn that was open. It was a rather enjoyable time sitting on the tail gate of a truck and watching your cows.
 

Gator By Marriage

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One of the mommas delivered twins early this morning, one boy and one girl. She chose the little girl and pushed the boy away. Only thing to do is bottle feed. BIL came to get him and will take him back to West Fl where he and his two boys will take turns with the bottle. I guess that’s just nature and the mom can only sufficiently feed one calf.

The only similar experience I can recall was back in my early teens on my granddaddy’s tobacco farm where he kept a few head of cattle and a mule for busting the middles and pulling the dust gun in the tobacco shade. One momma delivered a little male calf and the mule, for whatever reason, decided it wanted the calf and ran the momma off. The calf would try to nurse, the mule allowing it to try, but of course to no avail. Grandaddy made arrangements for the calf to go with a guy close by who ran a big herd, but he’d only take him if the calf was cut.

The plan was to separate the calf and the mule, then I would help my older cousin with the castration while my granddaddy kept the mule penned up. After getting the mule on the other side of the fence, we got the calf on its back, me straddling and holding the back legs. My cousin cut the sack and then cut the testes…just in the nick of time as the mule went crazy when the calf started hollering. It wound up busting through the fence and came after me and my cousin. Luckily, it settled down once the calf came to it. Never seen anything like it since.

Nature, I guess, can be a strange thing sometimes. The little male calf of the twins was well formed with no apparent problems. He was just unlucky where his momma’s choosing was concerned.
It actually makes sense from a nature point of view that the cow would choose the female over the male as the herd needs females more than it does males. To a city slicker like me, if this is usually the case, it certainly explains why so many bulls are often so ornery.
 

jeeping8r

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The heifer twin will most likely be a freemartin, unable to have a calf. Only way she may be fertile is if they had their own amniotic sack, if they shared the sack enough of the male hormones cause the female to be infertile.
Pulling a calf is fun, but the real mess is when you get one with a prolapsed rectum, that in time gets gangrene from rotting flesh. Makes a skunk seem like febreeze.


Ain't calf rearing fun???

In all seriousness it is rewarding to watch your herd grow. Talk to others in the area that have bulls about swapping them out to increase the genetics.
Chat up your local extension agent about feeds, growth implants, local seminars etc.
 

soflagator

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The heifer twin will most likely be a freemartin, unable to have a calf. Only way she may be fertile is if they had their own amniotic sack, if they shared the sack enough of the male hormones cause the female to be infertile.
Pulling a calf is fun, but the real mess is when you get one with a prolapsed rectum, that in time gets gangrene from rotting flesh. Makes a skunk seem like febreeze.


Ain't calf rearing fun???

In all seriousness it is rewarding to watch your herd grow. Talk to others in the area that have bulls about swapping them out to increase the genetics.
Chat up your local extension agent about feeds, growth implants, local seminars etc.

I don’t know which paragraph is worse here. The rotting rectum and it’s gangrene aftermath, or the second one taking a wholesome thread about the beauty of nature and turning into some kind of bovine swing joint. Either way, I’m interested in the original topic but feel I may have swung in one too many times.
 

Bushmaster

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......

In all seriousness it is rewarding to watch your herd grow. Talk to others in the area that have bulls about swapping them out to increase the genetics.
Chat up your local extension agent about feeds, growth implants, local seminars etc.

Lots of truth here. Cattle people love to talk cattle. Its like being a room where everyone has big dicks and they love talking about how big theirs is.

My dad tried for years to crack into the Ben Hill Griffin family and even had a personal introduction by a well known Bull Gator. He would talk to dad about anything. Shut him down. Dad mentioned his cattle ranch (small as it was) and Ben called him back and talked over an hour about cattle.

Never did send him any business though!!! But did offer all sorts of advice on artificial insemination, grazing, feeding, worming, etc. Sad the man LOVED talking cattle.
 

cover2

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Another calf (male) this morning. Gives us six little ones this spring plus the one the momma rejected. Incidentally that one went to a home with kids who wanted to raise and bottle feed him, courtesy of the “Critter Sale!” Not sure what the plan is to cut him. Wouldn’t be surprised if his new name was “Norman!”

Speaking of names, we have a strict rule that none of the calves get names. I imagine most folks with cattle and kids follow that for obvious reasons. My wife tells the story of a pig they raised and named “Sookie.” It was a sad day when Sookie went to the processor and it didn’t help that when she came back home to live in the freezer my BIL would always say “Poor Sookie” as he was gnawing on a pork chop. My wife is still kinda funny about pork to this day!
 

Fodderwing

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The heifer twin will most likely be a freemartin, unable to have a calf. Only way she may be fertile is if they had their own amniotic sack, if they shared the sack enough of the male hormones cause the female to be infertile.
Pulling a calf is fun, but the real mess is when you get one with a prolapsed rectum, that in time gets gangrene from rotting flesh. Makes a skunk seem like febreeze.


Ain't calf rearing fun???

In all seriousness it is rewarding to watch your herd grow. Talk to others in the area that have bulls about swapping them out to increase the genetics.
Chat up your local extension agent about feeds, growth implants, local seminars etc.

I have seen some cows with a prolapsed uterus, but never a rectum.

Get a bucket water, some dishwashing soap, wash off the uterus, plus the soap helps with lubrication. Push it back in and and a couple of stitches to hold it in until mama heals up. Sell the cow when the calf is sold or weaned.
 

cover2

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Last calf that came has struggled some. He’s been slow to get up and walk, mostly with the front hooves curled under, and has been slow to nurse. Momma has stayed with him and we’ve got them in the barn. BIL splinted his front legs and he’s gotten up and moved around but was still slow to nurse. Have given him the bottle some, but the last couple of days he’s begun nursing. Seems to be coming around. These situations kinda remind me of the James Herriot books read when I was younger.
 

cover2

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Been a while since I’ve checked in. We recently lost a momma and calf. The calf was breached and couldn’t move it. Calf was dead and Mom had had to be put down. It happens despite best efforts sometimes.

On the good news front, we wormed the herd this afternoon and will work the young males tomorrow morning. I guess I’ve had my dose of Ivermectin if/when Covid flares up again. We’re also getting ready for a new bull.

Lastly, the steer we put in the freezer is pretty dang good! Reason enough to keep the herd going.
 
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Gatordiddy

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Been a while since I’ve checked in. We recently lost a momma and calf. The calf was breached and couldn’t move it. Calf was dead and Mom had had to be put down. It happens despite best efforts sometimes.

On the good news front, we wormed the herd this afternoon and will work the young males tomorrow morning. I guess I’ve had my dose of Ivermectin if/when Covid flares up again. We’re also getting ready for a new bull.

Lastly, the steer we put in the freezer is pretty dang good! Reason enough to keep the herd going.

 

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