ice ice baby!!! (jpj calf)

[lowann]

Nice, stout calf. Your little girl is a doll!!!

 

[racekannon]

Nice calf and precious pic of daughter with calf, first thing my wife and I thought was never at our place would you get that picture.  Most our cows all have a shot of Ext and sometimes two shots we don't worry about Black Buzzards or petting calves while they nurse. 

 

[linnettejane]

Nice calf and precious pic of daughter with calf, first thing my wife and I thought was never at our place would you get that picture.  Most our cows all have a shot of Ext and sometimes two shots we don't worry about Black Buzzards or petting calves while they nurse. 

im very fortunate in that all of our cows are ex show heifers and very tame, they have to be to stay around here(hubby works 12 hour shifts, so i do a good portion of the work)...they get halters put on them several times a year...calving time, vaccinations, ai'ing, etc...i usually lead them up to the shoot instead of running them thru the shoot...

 

[justintime]

I am not scolding here, but I am just going to say that a person should use caution when around around all cattle especially at calving time. Those of us who raise Shorthorns get a little spoiled as we are used to cows that are quiet at calving time.We often think nothing about kneeling down by a new born calf with it's mother standing near by, or pushing a new born up to mom's side , taking the teat in your hand and putting it in the calf's mouth to assist it in getting it's first milk. Most times, our calves are up and trying to nurse in a few short minutes, but occasionally one is born that looks everywhere but where they are supposed to. The old Shorthorn cow usually is quiet enough that you can help get the calf nursing without catching her, and restraining her.

That said, I have had a few occasions that have caused me to respect ALL cattle, even if they are the family pet. A few years ago, one of our old show cows had just calved and I went into the pen to see if she had a bull or heifer calf. This cow was unusually quiet and you could halter her out in a pasture or do anything with her at any time. I checked the calf and was walking out of the pen when she hit me from behind, knocked me down and rolled me into a corner. She meant business and was working me over very well. Luckily for me, she stopped as quickly as she started and stood there looking at me as if she was thinking" What are you doing lying there in the corner?" I was smashed up pretty good with some cracked ribs and some severe bruising to remember her by. I honestly think that if she had not stopped when she did, she may have killed me. I had a neighbour killed this same way, by a quiet of Shorthorn cow.. so my point is to always treat these animals with respect.

On another occasion with a quiet bull, I came close to losing my life. This was a two year old Shorthorn bull that we had shown since he was a calf. We had taken him to all the major shows, Loiusville, Denver, Toronto, Agribition, etc, and he was ultra quiet. He was another animal that I could halter in the pasture. He was a real pet. He was one of the biggest bulls we had ever raised and he weighed 2510 on his second birthday( which was way too big for that time and well as any other time) but he was pretty good. I had taken him to the Vet College in Saskatoon to be evaluated because we could not get his semen to freeze and we had lots of inquiries for the US for semen. Two girls in the vet college looked after him for 3 days and they commented that he was the quietest animal they had ever seen at the college. I loaded him back into the trailer and took his halter off and headed for home. It was midnight when I got home so I walked into the trailer, put his halter on and walked him into the barn and put him in a pen until morning. The next morning, I again walked in and haltered him. He seemed normal, and as we walked out of the barn towards his pen, he quickly turned and hit me with his head. He knocked me down and as I got up he hit me again, this time much harder and he put me right through the wall of the shed. At this point I did something really stupid, in that I caught myself from going right into the shed with my arms and he hit me again and got me onto the ground. I knew if he ever hit me in my upper body that it could be game over. Fortunately for me, he had a nose ring, and I was finally able to get two fingers in it and was able to get him stopped. I led him into his pen and held his ring until I was out and the gate was shut. Adrenelin is amazing stuff as I thought I was OK as I was not feeling any pain at all.  As I walked towards the house, I suddenly collapsed and it was at this point that I knew i had some injuries. I ended up with broken ribs, a cracked vertabrae, my entire body from my waist to my toes turned completely black from the bruising, and I still have a hole in a muscle in my upper leg that has never grown back in properly. I have often thought that if he had got me down in the trailer the night before, I doubt if I would have come out alive.

My point is that sometimes we take the quiet cattle for granted, and I think all animals should be treated respectfully. They are animals after all. I don't think this would have ever happened to me with some of the other breeds we have raised. I remember the first purebred Charolais cow we had calve here. I told my dad that i had finally figured out how the Charolais breed had 75 lb birth weights. He asked me what I meant, and I responded that from 300 yards back , the calf looked to be about 75 lbs.

 

[linnettejane]

point taken, but would also point out that if you will notice, the cow is haltered and tied and although the pic doesnt show it, both my husband and i were standing within arms reach of our little girl...we just dont let her run in the stall with a loose cow unsupervised...not that you were saying that...but just to make my point clear that we do take precautions...and we do understand the risks and do realize they are animals and can be unpredictable...and we are teaching that to our daughter as well...maybe just starting her a little earlier than some...
and i will also point out,  this is the only cow that we allow her to do this with...even though my other cows are tame, i realize that they are not as "comfortable" with a little loud person...we have taken pics of her with a calf since she was two...all those pics are taken with the same cow and her calves...in the same situation, cow tied and two people within arms reach...

 

[kfacres]

Agree, at our house, the ones who get mean at calving are the ex-show heifers...  I have been hit many a time, thinking, awe she's an old show heifer...  Even saw my dad get hit, becuase he didn't beleive me that I got hit...  Live and learn... Lost a few neighbors to bulls...  We don't trust any at our place..  You never can trust livestock... Remeber, they do have a mind of their own.

 

[justintime]

I must apologize linnettejane, I did not intend my comments to be directly at you, but when I re- read what I said, it could be taken that way. I know there are many new cattle owners on here, and my comments were generic in nature to anyone who may be new to handling cattle.99% of the time everything works the way it is supposed to be.... it is that 1% that is the concern. It is best to be " always onguard". 

 

[linnettejane]

no need to apologize....after i read your post i was thinking that picture probably didnt look very "safe"....so i just thought id go back and explain what was going on "behind the scenes"...maybe i should put a warning under the picture?  what do you think?  ??? 

and stating that my cows are all ex show heifers therefore they are very tame and perfectly behaved is probably misleading to people as well...i realize they all aren't angels ...for example,the cow that had the sin city calf...me and her have this understanding....the only time im allowed to pet her calf is if i give her some grain....otherwise, come in, clean the poop up and then get out....;D 

(by the way, i truely enjoy reading your posts, they are filled with great stories, words of wisdom, useful informaton, etc...but i am curious about one thing................................................what is your wpm?      ;D    (now that i know you only use two fingers to type  )