A friend of mine's father, who is a little long in the tooth, still keeps mother cows on his ranch in Oklahoma. He called his son the other morning and said he had a cow who'd calved and the little fellar wouldn't get up. Also, his momma didn't want no one messing with her latest offspring. So his son came over and they took dad's off-road buggy down there, intending to load the calf and bring him to the house. Now his son's kinda like me, a little out of shape from his office job, and not ready for no 9K run.
They soon learned that momma cow was having no part of them loading junior up and taking him to the corral. The calf's hind quarters aren't right so the first attempt to simply load him in the carryall and take him to the house are foiled by an angry cow. The better part of valor in this case is to leave him till later, cause she is as snorting mad as a PBR bucking bull looking for a target.
In a few hours, the cow is off grazing, and they swoop down and load the calf. Then they brought the cows, including her, to the pen, sorted off the rest and put her, in the squeeze chute to milk her out since her bag is strutted. My friend's son said that as mad as she was, his old rickety pens at his house would have been flattened by this sister. And while we can't always afford great pipe pens, they sure are nice in times like this.
Many times when a cow has trouble or long labor they get mad or angry or both, afterwards. Since this little fellow was also hurt, they suspected she had had problems getting him into this world.
In this case the calf is being fed by bottle, but is in no shape to be turned out. My last report was a head shaking doubtful answer that he would make it, and grandpa was of the mind to cull her when she dried up.
There are lots of folks that have no idea about the ins and outs of owning a herd of beef cattle. Coyotes in northwest Arkansas have eaten at least three new born calves for a friend of mine this year. The newborn calf is alright, up and sucking the night before, then the next day is gone. Now some folks might think wolves and coyotes are alright. But if someone grabbed their weekly paycheck and ran off with it – they would not only be mad but they'd call the law. These losses of calves are the same thing – stealing some rancher's paycheck.
Throw in some slick cattle rustlers operating over the four-state area and you have more problems for the stockman. Most of these places have a good set of corrals to sort off the ones they don't want and in less than an hour they are gone with from five to ten big market ready calves. Value is anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000. Not a bad day's wages for two or three rustlers.
Several years ago there was a ring of rustlers stealing day-old baby calves. A sheriff deputy found them, but the owner had no way to identify that they were his. The man kept the calves, though the owner swore they were his. Makes a man think about branding. An electric branding iron is sure easier than a hot iron unless you have a propane heater. Also get the brand registered. Here's hoping you aren't having those problems.
Western novelist Dusty Richards and his wife Pat live on Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. For more information about his books you can email Dusty by visiting www.ozarksfn.com and clicking on 'Contact Us' or call 1-866-532-1960.
