Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2013 13:29:07 GMT -7
I will try to keep this short.
Many survivalist plan to have or already have livestock of different varieties. This is going to pertain to cattle...beef, dairy, mix, whatever...but this is information that some may need if SHTF, and don't really know what to expect.
Last summer, we sold one of our bred angus cows to my neighbor. She is due to calve any time. I got a text message early this morning saying they think she is going to calve but are not sure and wanted to know what was happening...so let me fill you in a little bit on this aspect of things. There is a LOT more to this process than I am going to tell you, but at least if you know this much, you will NOT be caught completely off guard when the time comes.
A cow is like a woman on several things...
A cow comes into heat for about 3-5 days at a time. putting her in with a bull will often set her to coming into heat within a few days if she has not been exposed prior. She will then come into heat about once a month, just like a woman, and yes, she will have PMS, like a woman generally having a couple days of being moody and agitated. A good bull will be an aggressive breeder and if he is not with to many cows, he will generally breed them all within 1-2 months of each other.
A bred cow will carry 9 months, just like a woman. When a cow is very close to calving she will start what we refer to as "springing and stringing". The vulva will start pushing outward and look swollen along the sides and around the entire genital/rump area, this is springing. She will start showing a snot looking substance that can be clear, whitish, yellowish, etc. It might be in short globs sticking to her tail and might be in 2" thick streams hanging to the ground, this is stringing. Most cows will produce a milk bag 1-3 days before calving, although some won't produce a bag until the calf is actually born and we have had a couple not make a bag until the calf was a couple days old...in those cases, be prepared to give a supplement colostrum and bottled milk while she is getting ready. The calf will suck her, but is she has NO bag, she has no milk. A calf getting milk will show white foam on it's mouth and on her teets after sucking. There is no particular order these things will happen in, so you need to be fully aware of them all and watch for them all. Marking a calendar for bull exposure and expected birthing is a BIG help, NEVER rely on your memory for these things!!
When she is ready to calve, she will usually wonder off away from the herd to be alone for birthing which usually only takes a few minutes to half an hour, and she will prefer to stay isolated until the calf is up and walking, then she will rejoin the herd...usually within a couple hours of calving. Bothering her at this alone time may easily unnerve her and cause her to NOT calve and can damage the cow and calf, so if you go looking for her, look from as far a distance as possible and LEAVE HER ALONE!!!
Most heiffers (a female calf that has never had a baby before) will be fine and have a calf with little if any difficulty, but it is wise to keep an eye on her without pestering or bothering her. If after an hour she looks to be distressed, slowly and quietly approach the rear end of her, but stay back and watch to see if you can see the front legs and nose protruding. If you can, note whether or not the mucus on the protruding legs and nose is wet or dry. There should ALWAYS be 2 front legs parallel and the nose about 4-8" from the hooves. ANY other position and you may need to get help. A cow will generally, but not always, lay down to start with, but as soon as the calf presents itself, she should stand up. Gravity will help her deliver, and once presented and the shoulders have passed the pelvic and entered the birth canal, the calf should come out relatively easy, with a wet plop on the ground. This will NOT hurt it. The cow will clean the calf up and then, as nasty as it sounds, she will usually eat the placenta. This is natural, and it helps with her milk production and keeps them from being constipated, sometimes even gives them the runs...but it is nature at work, so we leave it be.
We usually wait until the calf is dry, but not up and running and check to see if it is a bull or heiffer. If a bull, as hard as it is and depending on the cow it is out of, we decide whether to band it to be a steer, or leave it as a bull for a future herd sire prospect. Very few make it to being bulls around here. We use bands at a few hours old. They are easy to use, and generally 2 people can do it...1 person to do the banding and 1 person to keep the cow away. A third person to hold the calf is REALLY helpful!! With the bands, there is almost no risk of infection, no worry with flies, no bother from tetanus, etc. It is clean and simple and a few hours after the band is on, the calf will be walking around fine like nothing is on it. A few weeks later, the sack will dry up and fall off. BE SURE to feel and pull BOTH testicles into the sack BEFORE releasing the band!!! a small dose of Pen G or LA 200 would not be a bad idea at this time, but watch the dosage! We also dip the navel in a 1% iodine solution for 15-20 seconds making sure it covers the base at the belly completely. This is easiest when the calf is laying on it's side with someone holding the legs back out of the way. This helps prevent infection and dry up the umbilical, and only needs to be done once at birth. If you choose to tag your calves ears or notch them, this would be the best time, although we no longer do either.
Keep an eye on the pair until you see the calf SUCCESSFULLY suck. Some cows will have a bag so big and teets so engorged the calf either cannot get them in it's mouth, or she will be in so much pain, she will not let it suck. You may need to put the cow in a squeeze chute and force her to let the calf suck the first time. If you have to do this, it does not hurt to CAREFULLY (for your safety) milk out some but not all, colostrum from EACH teet/bag and freeze it in ice trays for future needs. This will reduce the pain and teet size, and she will be more apt to let the calf suck. Once in a great while you will get a cow that will NOT accept a calf. We lock her up, and milk her out for the first week, 4 times a day, feed the calf each time and freeze the rest. Then we convert the calf to powdered formula and turn her out. Watch close for mastitis. Jim has a medication from a vet that he gives such cows to dry them up and reduce mastitis risk...and as soon as she is dry, she is sold for slaughter or butchered.
At 3 months old, we vaccinated every calf for blackleg with a 7 way given SQ (under the skin at the neck), they get another booster at 6 months old. They also get a shot for tetanus. Whether we are going to keep them for replacements, butcher them or sell them, they get vaccinated. We do NOT give growth hormones or anything else.
A cow will produce milk on a steady basis, but it will slow down as the calf grows and eats more grass, hay and grains. We generally remove our calves from the cows at about 6 months old. We always keep the bulls away from the cows from the time the first cow calves until June 15th. Then we put the bull back in. This gives us a crop of late winter/early spring calves. With this program, the calves are starting to eat forage at the same time the new grasses are popping up, flies are non existant, and they have plenty of time to grow and get healthy before the heat of summer hits. We generally sell when they reach about 500-600#, or butcher when they reach 800-1000#.
The biggest thing is to spend at least a few minutes EVERY day around your cattle. You will get to know every one of them, they all have different personalities and quirks, like people. This will also make them a LOT more tolerant of you when it comes time to give birth, or you band, vaccinate and handle their calf. Come cows will just watch, some get nosy and make noise, some get really panicky and some get down right dangerous. And you have no way of knowing how she will react until the time comes. Get them use to your presense, walk around them, give them treats once in a while when you call them up...slices of bread, range cubes, etc. it will pay off in the long run for you.
Learn about the different breeds, they all have good and bad qualities. This is why we have a mix herd. Beef Masters for protection form strangers and dogs, Black Angus for the sale market, Irish Dexter for butchering and the Jersey for milk and dairy products. Choose something that works best for you, and choose wisely!! Get educated and be ready.
We have a small herd, and all our cows have names, but when we had a large herd, the cows were all tagged for record keeping. I strongly suggest you keep the cows tagged or notched unless you can without fail identify each one of them.
Things to have on hand for your birthing cattle...
OB gloves
calf puller kit
OB snare
tincture of iodine for the navel
ax handle/bull club for protection from a PO'ed cow
muck boots
heavy duty apron
Pen G or LA 200 (proper dose) & needle/syringe combo
ear tags if you choose to use them
banding pliers and castrator bands (or whatever you decide to use)
Record sheet for keeping track of information
portable 1-2 man hanging scales for weighing the newborns
There are other things that are handy to have, but I strongly suggest you have these at minimum.
If you have any questions, give a holler. I am sure I missed something, just not sure what yet. If you need pics of certain things, I will try to accomidate you, just ask.
Many survivalist plan to have or already have livestock of different varieties. This is going to pertain to cattle...beef, dairy, mix, whatever...but this is information that some may need if SHTF, and don't really know what to expect.
Last summer, we sold one of our bred angus cows to my neighbor. She is due to calve any time. I got a text message early this morning saying they think she is going to calve but are not sure and wanted to know what was happening...so let me fill you in a little bit on this aspect of things. There is a LOT more to this process than I am going to tell you, but at least if you know this much, you will NOT be caught completely off guard when the time comes.
A cow is like a woman on several things...
A cow comes into heat for about 3-5 days at a time. putting her in with a bull will often set her to coming into heat within a few days if she has not been exposed prior. She will then come into heat about once a month, just like a woman, and yes, she will have PMS, like a woman generally having a couple days of being moody and agitated. A good bull will be an aggressive breeder and if he is not with to many cows, he will generally breed them all within 1-2 months of each other.
A bred cow will carry 9 months, just like a woman. When a cow is very close to calving she will start what we refer to as "springing and stringing". The vulva will start pushing outward and look swollen along the sides and around the entire genital/rump area, this is springing. She will start showing a snot looking substance that can be clear, whitish, yellowish, etc. It might be in short globs sticking to her tail and might be in 2" thick streams hanging to the ground, this is stringing. Most cows will produce a milk bag 1-3 days before calving, although some won't produce a bag until the calf is actually born and we have had a couple not make a bag until the calf was a couple days old...in those cases, be prepared to give a supplement colostrum and bottled milk while she is getting ready. The calf will suck her, but is she has NO bag, she has no milk. A calf getting milk will show white foam on it's mouth and on her teets after sucking. There is no particular order these things will happen in, so you need to be fully aware of them all and watch for them all. Marking a calendar for bull exposure and expected birthing is a BIG help, NEVER rely on your memory for these things!!
When she is ready to calve, she will usually wonder off away from the herd to be alone for birthing which usually only takes a few minutes to half an hour, and she will prefer to stay isolated until the calf is up and walking, then she will rejoin the herd...usually within a couple hours of calving. Bothering her at this alone time may easily unnerve her and cause her to NOT calve and can damage the cow and calf, so if you go looking for her, look from as far a distance as possible and LEAVE HER ALONE!!!
Most heiffers (a female calf that has never had a baby before) will be fine and have a calf with little if any difficulty, but it is wise to keep an eye on her without pestering or bothering her. If after an hour she looks to be distressed, slowly and quietly approach the rear end of her, but stay back and watch to see if you can see the front legs and nose protruding. If you can, note whether or not the mucus on the protruding legs and nose is wet or dry. There should ALWAYS be 2 front legs parallel and the nose about 4-8" from the hooves. ANY other position and you may need to get help. A cow will generally, but not always, lay down to start with, but as soon as the calf presents itself, she should stand up. Gravity will help her deliver, and once presented and the shoulders have passed the pelvic and entered the birth canal, the calf should come out relatively easy, with a wet plop on the ground. This will NOT hurt it. The cow will clean the calf up and then, as nasty as it sounds, she will usually eat the placenta. This is natural, and it helps with her milk production and keeps them from being constipated, sometimes even gives them the runs...but it is nature at work, so we leave it be.
We usually wait until the calf is dry, but not up and running and check to see if it is a bull or heiffer. If a bull, as hard as it is and depending on the cow it is out of, we decide whether to band it to be a steer, or leave it as a bull for a future herd sire prospect. Very few make it to being bulls around here. We use bands at a few hours old. They are easy to use, and generally 2 people can do it...1 person to do the banding and 1 person to keep the cow away. A third person to hold the calf is REALLY helpful!! With the bands, there is almost no risk of infection, no worry with flies, no bother from tetanus, etc. It is clean and simple and a few hours after the band is on, the calf will be walking around fine like nothing is on it. A few weeks later, the sack will dry up and fall off. BE SURE to feel and pull BOTH testicles into the sack BEFORE releasing the band!!! a small dose of Pen G or LA 200 would not be a bad idea at this time, but watch the dosage! We also dip the navel in a 1% iodine solution for 15-20 seconds making sure it covers the base at the belly completely. This is easiest when the calf is laying on it's side with someone holding the legs back out of the way. This helps prevent infection and dry up the umbilical, and only needs to be done once at birth. If you choose to tag your calves ears or notch them, this would be the best time, although we no longer do either.
Keep an eye on the pair until you see the calf SUCCESSFULLY suck. Some cows will have a bag so big and teets so engorged the calf either cannot get them in it's mouth, or she will be in so much pain, she will not let it suck. You may need to put the cow in a squeeze chute and force her to let the calf suck the first time. If you have to do this, it does not hurt to CAREFULLY (for your safety) milk out some but not all, colostrum from EACH teet/bag and freeze it in ice trays for future needs. This will reduce the pain and teet size, and she will be more apt to let the calf suck. Once in a great while you will get a cow that will NOT accept a calf. We lock her up, and milk her out for the first week, 4 times a day, feed the calf each time and freeze the rest. Then we convert the calf to powdered formula and turn her out. Watch close for mastitis. Jim has a medication from a vet that he gives such cows to dry them up and reduce mastitis risk...and as soon as she is dry, she is sold for slaughter or butchered.
At 3 months old, we vaccinated every calf for blackleg with a 7 way given SQ (under the skin at the neck), they get another booster at 6 months old. They also get a shot for tetanus. Whether we are going to keep them for replacements, butcher them or sell them, they get vaccinated. We do NOT give growth hormones or anything else.
A cow will produce milk on a steady basis, but it will slow down as the calf grows and eats more grass, hay and grains. We generally remove our calves from the cows at about 6 months old. We always keep the bulls away from the cows from the time the first cow calves until June 15th. Then we put the bull back in. This gives us a crop of late winter/early spring calves. With this program, the calves are starting to eat forage at the same time the new grasses are popping up, flies are non existant, and they have plenty of time to grow and get healthy before the heat of summer hits. We generally sell when they reach about 500-600#, or butcher when they reach 800-1000#.
The biggest thing is to spend at least a few minutes EVERY day around your cattle. You will get to know every one of them, they all have different personalities and quirks, like people. This will also make them a LOT more tolerant of you when it comes time to give birth, or you band, vaccinate and handle their calf. Come cows will just watch, some get nosy and make noise, some get really panicky and some get down right dangerous. And you have no way of knowing how she will react until the time comes. Get them use to your presense, walk around them, give them treats once in a while when you call them up...slices of bread, range cubes, etc. it will pay off in the long run for you.
Learn about the different breeds, they all have good and bad qualities. This is why we have a mix herd. Beef Masters for protection form strangers and dogs, Black Angus for the sale market, Irish Dexter for butchering and the Jersey for milk and dairy products. Choose something that works best for you, and choose wisely!! Get educated and be ready.
We have a small herd, and all our cows have names, but when we had a large herd, the cows were all tagged for record keeping. I strongly suggest you keep the cows tagged or notched unless you can without fail identify each one of them.
Things to have on hand for your birthing cattle...
OB gloves
calf puller kit
OB snare
tincture of iodine for the navel
ax handle/bull club for protection from a PO'ed cow
muck boots
heavy duty apron
Pen G or LA 200 (proper dose) & needle/syringe combo
ear tags if you choose to use them
banding pliers and castrator bands (or whatever you decide to use)
Record sheet for keeping track of information
portable 1-2 man hanging scales for weighing the newborns
There are other things that are handy to have, but I strongly suggest you have these at minimum.
If you have any questions, give a holler. I am sure I missed something, just not sure what yet. If you need pics of certain things, I will try to accomidate you, just ask.
