Hi, I'm Mike and this is Our Wyoming Life.
The time when calves are born on the ranch is known as calving season, when its starts
changes every year.
A cows gestation period is 9 months, and we time when we put the bulls in with the cows
to give us a calving season that runs from April to June.
The types of ranches that raise calves are called "cow-calf operations" as opposed
to dairy operations which produce milk and feedlots which purchase weaned calves and
feed them to market weight.
This morning as I was making my coffee, Erin looked out the window and said what is that
behind that cow.
I rolled my eyes and looked out and saw a calf laying behind its mom about 200 yards
from the house.
I forgot about my coffee, threw on my boots and headed out.
And just like that, we are calving.
Into the gator and out we go, it's been raining all night, and one of the first things
on my mind is making sure that the calf is dry and able to get up and suck from its mom.
We also grab an ear tag as it's much easier to tag a baby when it's fresh than a few
days old and able to get up and run from you.
We would usually be pretty cautious when coming up to a new mom but this is 80.
We met her early in the series, she's one of our oldest cows and actually very friendly.
Over the years she has never had a problem with me looking at or messing with her calves.
As we get out nearby, we can already see the calf is pretty cold, she's done a pretty
good job drying it off but it's very small.
With a calf this small I have reason to be worried about hypothermia, but he seems alert.
His eyes aren't cloudy and we will make sure he can get up and stand after we get
his tag in.
Just like we saw in the calving prep video, you load the tagging gun; slip it around the
calves ear and squeeze, snapping the tag into place.
This gets him up and moving.
Now as he's standing we can see how thin he is.
My guess is that he's a little bit premature, which makes sense; his mom is an older cow.
But that causes problems as well because her milk may be slower to come in.
We are going to let them hang out with each other for a bit, go feed the other cows, which
you can see are curious as to what is going on.
We will feed them and get them out of here and give mom and baby some privacy.
After feeding we are going to take 80 some food of her own so she's not temped to go
and eat with the other cows and we will take some hay and cover the calf up a bit.
One trick to determining the health of calf is to insert your fingers in its mouth, based
on the temperature inside its mouth and if it has a strong suck reflex you can judge
how the calf is doing.
This little guy doesn't have much of a suck reflex and his mouth is a little cold.
So we will keep a pretty close eye on him.
While we have access we are going to dip his umbilical cord in iodine, when he is born,
obviously dad isn't there to cut his umbilical cord so it will stretch and eventually rip.
Studies have shown that the stretching actually helps close the veins in the cord but I'm
going to play it safe and dip his cord, hopefully preventing any bacteria from crawling up there.
Another good sign that this guy is giving us is that he has already pooped.
The VERY first poo that the calf passes is called meconium.
It is fetal waste.
It is usually a very dark green.
If the calf passes its meconium during labor, it is a sign of stress in the calf.
The next step is taking the calf's temperature.
A normal cow or calf will usually run right around 100 degrees.
Severe hypothermia results as the body temperature drops below 94° F. Below core temperatures
of 94° F, the vital organs are beginning to get cold.
Below 86° F, signs of life are very difficult to detect and the calf may be mistaken for
dead.
His temperature is a little low, but nothing to be worried about.
Just in case we will go back to the shop and turn on the calf warmer.
I'm going to wait about an hour, get that coffee in me and go check the calf again.
Mom is feeling a little more protective this time, keeping an eye on what I'm doing.
The calf is noticeably shivering and as we take its temperature we can see already that
it has dropped in the last hour.
The problem with premature calves is that they don't have any fat to help insulate
them from the cold, therefore, especially in the first few days off life they either
need to be up and active or in a controlled environment.
So with this calf loosing body temperature, we are going to bring him in and get him in
the calf warmer.
He's a little low on energy as you can tell; most calves won't just lie on the seat of
the gator and go for a ride.
Once we get back to the shop, we pick him up and put him into the calf warmer, where
he will spend the next few hours getting his temperature back up to that 100 degree mark.
Next up, we fire up a 4 wheeler and head out to bring mom in.
Our goal is to get the calf healthy enough to put it back with its mom.
They will do a lot better together and separate as cows tend to have severe separation anxiety.
80 know her calf is gone but she doesn't know where it is, which tends to make her
start to wander the pasture.
Instincts kicking in as she starts to search for her calf, but cows aren't dumb and 80
has been around me and the ranch long enough to know that I'm not here to hurt her or
her calf.
She soon gets with the program and heads directly toward the corral, where she hopes to see
her calf again soon.
I'm going to lock her in and let her get comfortable, get some food and some water.
This time of year we call this corral, the waiting room.
For good reason.
Back in the shop, it's time to take another look at our premature calf.
Take his temperature again, and after just an hour or so in the warmer, he is back up
to normal, which is really good news.
I'll go ahead and get him out and make sure he can stand and once we know he can stand
we will get a weight on him.
A normal calf born full term around here will weigh anywhere from 75 to 100 lbs., this little
guy tips the scales at just over 40 pounds, about half the weight of a normal calf.
Because premature calves occasionally have underdeveloped lungs we will also give the
calf a dose of Nuflor to protect him from respiratory diseases including pneumonia.
This shot is given in the neck, and is sub cutaneous, meaning it is given just below
the skin.
You can tell he's feeling a bit better and is a bit more active.
It's time to give him back to his mom so they can continue the bonding process.
It's very important they spend as much time as possible together, and because this little
guy is very susceptible to colder weather I want to make sure they are in a place where
shelter is close by and available.
I will leave them alone the rest of the day, checking them occasionally to make sure the
calf is still getting up and moving around, even waking up in the middle of the night,
just checking to make sure everything is ok.
With the wet weather and one calf on the ground I begin checking the cows more often to make
sure that if any others are in labor, that their calf will be warm and healthy.
Luckily no new calves have been born yet.
4 days later, and the calf is looking good.
Every time I've checked him and mom he has been able to get up and move.
I've seen him suck from his mom and overall even though he is still thin he looks pretty
healthy.
One last time we will scoop him up and bring him into the shop, where we will weigh him
one more time before branding and make sure he's gaining weight.
He's feeling more energetic now but eventually he cooperates and he's gained almost 6 pounds,
which is great news.
Of course he's so excited by the news, he peed on the scale.
That's the story of calf number 1, which Mackenzie named Gunter.
The story could have went a lot differently and the little guy is lucky and so are we.
Erin might not have looked out the window and saw him lying there behind his mom.
I might not have found him until a few hours later and by then he could have slipped into
hypothermia and his organs may have been shutting down, but through quick assessment and early
action, I think he will be fine.
Gunter and his mom will stay in the corral for a few weeks, at least until the weather
warms up a bit and he's a bit stronger.
Not all calves that are born during calving season require the amount of attention Gunter
received, in fact most will be met at birth, tagged, and their navel dipped and sent off
to mom, but we will have our emergencies and our issues and it's nice to know we are
equipped and capable to deal with them.
As calving season starts, I hope you stick with us.
We have a lot more on the way, you're going to learn how to check cows, what are the signs
of labor you are looking for, how to assist in delivery, how to preform health checks
and a whole lot more.
Subscribe, comment, we answer them all, and help spread the word.
As always thank you for watching, have a great week and thanks for joining us in Our Wyoming
Life.
For more infomation >> Halo 4 : Forward Unto Dawn – Flag (Trailer VOST) - Duration: 1:26. 
For more infomation >> 原宿人氣甜點試吃〜仿真食品桌游開箱〜流行小物介紹♡ - Duration: 6:53. 
For more infomation >> Mỗi Ngày Bấm 100 Cái Vào Điểm Này để chữa bệnh đau dạ dày yếu xuất tinh sớm - Duration: 11:02. 
For more infomation >> Fräulein Maja empfiehlt Sicherheitsmaßnahmen - Duration: 4:47. 
For more infomation >> Travel in Japan - Northeast Japan - Duration: 6:01. 
For more infomation >> Richtig Schleimen ohne Strebern! - Richtig Lernen - Duration: 3:52. 
For more infomation >> дьявольская ложь тихим евангелистам. - Duration: 1:51. 
For more infomation >> สาระเว้ยเห้ย EP.2 "สวะ" | Naruto PMC - Duration: 1:46. 
For more infomation >> Cantei no MacDonald's e olha o que aconteceu! - Duration: 3:00. 
For more infomation >> 3 Con giáp được BỀ TRÊN cực kỳ ưu ái, 'ăn nên làm ra" trong năm 2017 - Duration: 4:12. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét