THE CARE YOU GIVE DURING THE FIRST FEW HOURS following a birth is crucial to the calf’s future health and survival. It may determine whether he lives or dies, and whether he becomes sick during his first weeks of life.
Even a normal birth can result in a dead calf if the amnion sac doesn’t come off as the calf comes out. Many cows get right up and start licking the calf; this gets the membrane away from the calf’s nose. If the cow is tired from labor and lies there, or if the sac is thick and the calf can’t get it off by shaking his head, he’ll suffocate. There’s a limit to how long the calf can go without air once his umbilical cord is broken; if the sac doesn’t come off quickly, he’ll die. It’s best if you are there to clear it away in case it doesn’t break on its own.
Sometimes when the sac fails to break and the calf suffocates, nutritional lack or a disease, such as IBR, may be involved. If the calf is weak, he may just lie there and won’t try to shake his head. If you experience this problem more than once or twice in your herd during a calving season, you need to find out if there is a nutritional or disease issue. (See chapter 10 for information on getting fluid out of air passages and giving artificial respiration to a calf that is not breathing.)
When the cow gets up or the calf starts to struggle around, the umbilical cord will break. It usually breaks a few inches from the navel — sometimes as much as 12 inches (30 cm) or so. The remaining stump hangs there until it dries up and falls off. For a while there is still an opening at the navel until it seals off.
If the cord breaks off too long, break it shorter. Use clean hands, pulling the cord between your hands to break it. Pulling it apart is better than cutting it; blood vessels in the cord constrict better. Do not pull on the cord in such a way that it pulls on the calf; you may damage him internally. Leave just a few inches of cord, then dip it in iodine. If the cord is full of blood, squeeze it out before dipping; it will dry up faster.
Until the navel stump heals, the calf is vulnerable to infection through the navel opening. This sore spot is not a problem if he is born in a clean place such as a grassy pasture, but if he’s born in a barnyard, corral, or barn stall without clean bedding, infection is a risk. Infection may kill him or it may settle in his joints, resulting in crippling arthritis.
Prevention involves making sure the calf is born in a clean place and disinfecting the navel cord as soon as it breaks. The best disinfectant is strong iodine (7% tincture). The easiest way to soak the navel stump is to use a small wide-mouth jar with H inch (1.27 cm) of iodine in it. The entire navel stump should be dipped into the little jar and sloshed around as the jar is held over the stump and tight against the belly.
This is more effective than dabbing iodine onto the navel stump and not as messy. Avoid getting iodine on any other part of the calf. It can burn the skin. Never get it into your eyes or the calf’s.
The iodine also acts as an astringent, helping the navel stump dry up. If the calf lies on wet bedding or the navel stump gets soiled, iodine it several more times until it is dry. Heifers’ navels dry up more quickly than little bulls’ navels, which may stay wet from urine. (See chapter 12 for treatment of navel ill.)
A newborn calf should be up and nursing soon after birth. If he hasn’t gotten up within 30 minutes, help him stand and find the teat. Make sure every calf nurses within an hour (2 hours at most) after being born. The colostrum (first milk) provides vital antibodies against disease, along with energy and calories to keep warm.
If a heifer’s calf is slow to get up or the heifer is nervous and does not let him near the udder, give the calf a bottle of warm colostrum. The calf needs to be fed a total of 2 quarts of colostrum. A small-necked bottle and lamb nipple will work fine.
Frozen colostrum is handy for all sorts of emergencies — a calf too weak to nurse, or one that loses his mother, or an inexperienced mother that is too nervous to allow her calf to nurse. If you have a gentle cow that gives a lot of milk, you can steal colostrum from her to freeze. Milk some into a very clean bottle while her own calf is nursing the first time, kneeling down at calf level and keeping the calf between you and the cow’s inquisitive head. If you ever have a cow with a large teat the calf doesn’t get onto when he first nurses — and it needs to be milked out — save that milk too.
Often a bottle of colostrum gives the calf energy and enthusiasm to get up and nurse on his own, but sometimes you still have to help him nurse.
If the cow or heifer is calm and gentle, and not too upset when you’re handling the calf, you can help him nurse by yourself. Give the cow a flake of alfalfa so she’ll stand in one place while you help the calf. Get him on his feet and to the udder, taking care not to upset him. Try to guide the calf to the udder and get a teat in his mouth without wrestling him around. Even though you are helping him, do it in such a way that he thinks it’s his idea.
HOW TO FREEZE AND THAW COLOSTRUM
Freeze colostrum in plastic quart containers or ziplock storage bags (which thaw faster) that can be thawed by placing them in hot water. Frozen colostrum keeps for several years; it doesn’t lose quality if kept well frozen and thawed properly. Never overheat it or antibodies will be destroyed. Thaw it in hot (not boiling) water, not in a microwave. Immerse it in a pan of water no hotter than 110°F (43°C). Never heat colostrum itself to more than 104°F (40°C). If it feels pleasantly warm (just above your own body temperature) and not hot, it is about right. Have it warm when giving it to a calf. If it’s colder than his own body temperature, he won’t like it.
It often helps to get him sucking your finger, and then slip him onto a teat. But first make sure the teats are all working. They have a plug in the end unless the cow has been dripping milk, and this plug usually comes out when the calf starts to suck. But a teat may be sealed tightly (especially in cold weather; a teat may have a scab on the end that must be pried off), and the calf may suck without getting anything. So give each teat a squirt to make sure it’s working, but have the calf close by the udder when you do it so the cow will think the calf is trying to nurse; if you approach the cow without the calf there too, you may get kicked.
Even if the calf nurses without help, make sure he actually gets the colostrum. If a teat is sealed tightly (as when the end has been frostbitten), it may look sucked but the quarter will still be full.
HELPING THE CALF TO NURSE
1. Gently slip the teat into his mouth after making sure it’s working. Most calves immediately start to nurse. Some are confused or slow (as when chilled) and need encouragement to nurse.
2. Encourage a stubborn calf by squirting milk into his mouth to give him a taste.
3. Rub the calf’s buttocks (as the cow does when licking him — she pushes him toward the udder as she licks his hind end). This stimulates him to nurse and may also stimulate him to pass his first bowel movement.
If the cow has large or long teats, you’ll have to stick one into the calf’s mouth as he tries. Once he gets them nursed out, they won’t be so long or large and he’ll have more experience at getting them into his mouth. Give him a chance to try to get on by himself after he’s had a taste of the milk; when he loses the teat let him try for it again, and stick it into his mouth only if he fails. Once he learns how to get on by himself, he will do fine.
Reluctant calves. Some calves insist on fighting your efforts. Bull calves are sometimes more stubborn than heifers. If a calf is difficult, try giving a little colostrum in a bottle. His attitude should change from resistance or indifference to eagerness once he actually gets a taste of it. This should make it easier to get him onto the cow’s teat.
If the mother cow is nervous (not standing still) or protective (aggressively threatening you), it works better with two people — one to guide the calf to the udder and get a teat in his mouth, and the other to hold the cow still in the corner of the pen or stall. Give her a flake of good alfalfa to distract her.
Holding the cow still. The person holding the cow in the corner has a crucial job. If she’s aggressive, make sure she doesn’t attack the person helping the calf. If she’s timid, keep her still so she doesn’t run off or move at the wrong time. She must be cornered, but not feel threatened. She must be relaxed enough to trust you.
It helps to know the individual cow’s attitude, to feel her mood and intentions. Then the cow holder can prevent a lot of moving around or greatly minimize the risk to the person helping the calf nurse. The cow holder can usually keep the cow still by standing in front of her at whatever distance is appropriate to keep her from running off, without her feeling threatened.
Using body language to control the cow. Your position makes a difference in whether the cow stands still. Use a long stick to block her movements. It can be held out as a “fence” in front of her or to tap her if she makes a move to threaten the person helping the calf. On really aggressive mothers that try to attack anyone who touches the calf, use a sturdy stick, axe handle, or even the barn-cleaning fork (just be careful never to poke a cow in the eye). Some cows are ferocious at calving time even though they are gentle the rest of the year. But if you are firm and not afraid of them, and have handled them enough that they accept you as “boss cow,” they generally cooperate. Do not attempt to handle an aggressive cow unless you have “mind control” over her or a weapon to defend yourself; she may decide to charge you or your helper. Put her in a headcatcher if you can’t safely handle her in a barn stall or small pen.
EVERY COW IS DIFFERENT
Some cows need firmness; others need gentle persuasion. The cow with a new calf is nervous, protective, and easily upset. Don’t talk when suckling the calf. When working around calving cows, it’s best not to do any talking at all or make any noise. Most cows trust you better at calving time if you are quiet when working around them.
NO STRANGE SMELLS IN THE BARN!
Cows have a keen sense of smell and are easily upset by something unusual. The smell of smoke, fried meat, dogs, or any other foreign scent that clings to your hair, skin, or clothes may alarm them. Don’t use scented hand creams, shampoo, aftershave, or deodorant when working with calving cows and babies, and don’t wash your coat. If you always wear the same coat and coveralls for barn work and they smell like manure and birth fluids, cows accept you much more readily; you’ll have more success handling them.
You can distract a mean cow’s attention with just a movement or a small noise to keep her focused up front instead of on the person handling the calf. A slight tap on her ear can pull her attention back if she starts to worry too much about what’s going on back at the udder.
Handling a nervous or timid cow. With a nervous or timid cow the main thing is to be quiet and calm, confident and relaxed. Let her know that you are not a threat. Each cow has her own distance of trust and will stand if you hold her in it and not act as a threat.
Judge that distance with each cow, giving her proper space and using body language whenever she gives a sign she is about to move. You can read her intention in her expression or a slight shift of weight or turn of her head and then prevent movement before it occurs.
Restraining an uncooperative cow. Sometimes you must restrain the cow to suckle the calf. Once the calf has nursed the confused heifer, she’ll mother him better since nursing stimulates production of important hormones that encourage motherliness. If a cow loves her baby but still kicks at him because of a sore udder, you may have to hobble her until the udder is less tender (see box, page 221, for hobbling directions). For the first nursing you should tie her or put her in a chute or headcatcher. A headcatcher with a side or gate that swings away after the cow is caught works well.
After the cow is restrained and you get the calf up to her, she may resign herself to standing still and letting him nurse. But some cows continue to kick violently and are a danger to the calf and the person trying to help him. You may have to tie the hind leg back (on the side you are working on) to keep her from kicking. Put a double loop of rope around her leg above the fetlock joint, using a double half-hitch. If you use only a single loop, or if it gets below the joint (encircling the leg just above the hoof), she may kick out of it or shake the rope off. Leave just enough slack in the rope that she can still put weight on the leg comfortably (otherwise she may kick, fight, and possibly throw herself on the ground) but not enough that she can swing that leg forward to kick the calf or you.
GETTING COLOSTRUM INTO A CALF THAT CANNOT NURSE
If a calf is unable to nurse because he’s too weak or cold, or because his mouth and tongue are swollen from a hard birth, try a bottle first. This stimulates the sucking reflex.
If he cannot or will not suck, don’t force it or you may get milk down his windpipe and put him at risk for pneumonia. Give warm colostrum via stomach tube or esophageal feeder. (See chapter 12 for instructions on using a stomach tube or esophageal feeder.)
A new calf should have at least a quart (0.95 L) of colostrum within an hour or two of birth, or as much as two quarts (1.9 L) for a large calf. When feeding a calf that will not be able to suck on his own for several hours, give a full feeding. But if trying to encourage a calf that may soon be able to suck, give only a pint or two (0.5–1 L) to get the calf going so he will nurse on his own within the crucial time frame.
The cow’s first milk is thicker than regular milk, with more nutrients and less water, and contains ingredients vital to the calf’s health. It serves as a laxative to help the calf pass his first bowel movements, which consist of a dark sticky substance (meconium). Colostrum also contains a rich, creamy fat that is easily digested and very high in energy — an ideal first meal for a calf struggling to become coordinated and needing to keep warm. Calves that don’t get colostrum promptly are more likely to become ill or die within the first weeks of life than calves that nurse right away.
Colostrum has twice the calories of regular milk. If you come upon a newborn calf in the pasture and he’s up bucking around, that’s a good sign he has already nursed. But to make sure, check the cow’s udder. The teats he has nursed should be visibly smaller than when she calved, and moist from his saliva (and the hair on the udder wet and curled). If he nursed only part of the udder, you can tell a difference in the quarters; the ones he nursed look empty compared to those still tight and full.
THE QUALITY OF COLOSTRUM
A mature cow has better-quality colostrum than a first-calf heifer, since she has come into contact with more diseases and has had more time to develop strong immunity. Calves born to heifers may get only half the disease protection of calves born to mature cows. If you have to give colostrum to a heifer’s calf, use colostrum from an older cow.
The cows you raise on your own place have more antibodies against local disease organisms than does a cow you buy. If you have to use colostrum from someone else or from a dairy, it will be better than no colostrum but may not contain exactly the antibodies your calf needs. Be wary, however, of using colostrum from a dairy, since there are some diseases that may be transmitted in milk. A dairy herd may have diseases, such as salmonella, that you don’t want to bring home to your cattle. Best protection for your calf comes from colostrum produced by a cow that has experienced the same disease environment the calf is being born into.
A cow’s body condition also affects the antibody protection the calf gets. The nutrition of the cow during the last trimester of pregnancy significantly affects the volume of colostrum produced; don’t skimp on feed for first-calf heifers since they tend to produce less colostrum (and fewer antibodies) than older cows, even under good conditions.
As time passes after birth, the quality of colostrum decreases, being diluted with production of regular milk. If you save colostrum to freeze, make sure it’s from a cow that just calved and from a quarter not yet nursed. By the second milking of a quarter, there is a lot less colostrum in it.
The antibodies in colostrum are especially important. The calf comes into the world completely vulnerable to disease and has to get immunity through his mother’s colostrum. This temporary immunity usually lasts several weeks, until the calf’s immune system becomes mature enough to start making antibodies. (See chapter 12 for more on the calf’s immune system.) If the mother cow’s vaccinations are up to date, she’ll have antibodies against specific diseases, and those will be in her colostrum to protect the calf as soon as he nurses.
A calf that gets no colostrum, or doesn’t nurse until he’s several hours old, runs high risk of developing scours and/or pneumonia during the first weeks of life. For a short while after birth, he can absorb antibodies directly through the intestinal lining. Optimum time for absorbing antibodies is during the first 30 minutes, before the intestinal wall thickens. If the calf is older than 1 or 2 hours for his first nursing, he gets only a fraction of the antibodies he needs.
Traditional advice from vets was that colostrum absorption drops by half by the time the calf is 6 hours old, but recent studies show that by the time a calf is only 4 hours old he may have lost 75 percent of his ability to absorb colostral antibodies. After that, absorption rate diminishes rapidly.
If a calf nurses only a little due to being cold or the cow being uncooperative, it may be too late for antibody absorption by the time he’s able to try again. Always make sure the calf gets an adequate amount of colostrum early so he can absorb enough antibodies. If you give him only a pint (0.5 L) to “get him going” so he can get up and nurse, make sure he does nurse within the next hour.
The newborn calf’s “open gut” allows not only antibodies from colostrum to slip through, but pathogens as well. It’s always a race between the antibodies and the pathogens, especially if the calf is nuzzling the cow or a dirty udder while trying to find a teat. Once he starts to nurse, the gut closure is hastened. This is nature’s way of blocking pathogen invaders that slip in through the intestinal lining. It’s best to give the calf a full dose (2 quarts [1.9 L] of colostrum) if he won’t be nursing the cow or if there’s any question about him being able to nurse her very soon. Several types of antibodies are present in colostrum (see chapter 12, section on passive immunity) and some of them cannot be absorbed after the gut “closes.”
Factors affecting absorption of antibodies. A difficult birth has an adverse effect on a calf’s immune system. He is unable to absorb as much as he should due to stress, oxygen deprivation, and subsequent acidosis (altered pH of the digestive system). Also, if field calving in bad weather, the new calf may become chilled and unable to nurse. You may find him next morning or during a middle-of-the-night check and help him nurse, or give a bottle or force-feed via stomach tube or esophageal feeder, but if he’s already 4 hours old or older, some of the antibodies won’t do him much good. Many cases of “weak calves” are a combination of weather stress and immunity failure, and these calves can be difficult to save.
You’ve waited 9 months for the cow to calve. You’ve fed her, vaccinated her, and kept her healthy. Don’t jeopardize all that by neglecting her new calf. Making sure he gets an adequate amount of colostrum (1½–2 quarts [1.4–1.9 L]) within the first 2 hours of life is the cheapest and most effective insurance you can provide against life-threatening diseases he may soon encounter.
Some people worry about interfering too soon, afraid they’ll disrupt the bonding between mother and calf. Unless a cow or heifer is a poor mother, however, this bonding takes place within the first hour as the mother smells and licks her new calf. If, after that length of time, the calf has not yet managed to get up and nurse and it looks like he may not get the job done within his first 2 hours of life, you should assist. His future health is at stake.
There will be times when heifers refuse to mother their calves, or you may lose a calf and choose to graft another calf onto the cow that lost hers. Perhaps you have another calf that needs a mother — an orphan, a calf from a heifer that doesn’t want to mother it, or a twin from a cow that might have trouble raising two. In these and other situations, you have to be creative and resourceful.
If a first-calf heifer remains reluctant to mother her calf after he has nursed, even after all your efforts to help, you’ll have to supervise each nursing for a while to make sure the calf gets dinner. Sometimes all it takes is to go into the pen or stall and give the young cow something good to eat, standing guard as the calf nurses to make sure she doesn’t move around too much or kick. After a day or two she will usually mother the calf.
If the cow is not too wild or ornery, you can halter her each time you let the calf in to nurse; but if she is uncooperative and difficult to corner and halter, leave a halter on her all the time, dragging the halter rope. This makes her very easy to catch again and she will be fairly well halter-trained after stepping on the rope a few times and having it tug at her head. Then you can feed her a flake of alfalfa hay, get hold of the rope and tie her while she eats, and let the calf nurse her. She will get used to this routine, look forward to the good hay at nursing time, and resign herself to letting the calf nurse without putting up a fight since she cannot run off or kick.
If she is aggressively mean, charging at the calf and knocking him down whenever he tries to get up, or ramming him into the wall or viciously kicking when he tries to nurse, use more drastic measures. Keep the calf separate from her after you help him nurse, so she cannot injure him. Put the pair in adjacent pens or use a small panel to confine the calf in a corner of her stall to protect the calf from her aggression.
Let the calf out only at nursing time (every 6 hours at first, then every 8 hours after he’s a couple of days old), and supervise. If she kicks viciously even when you’re there to reprimand her, put hobbles on her (and a halter to tie her if she refuses to stand still or tries to bash the calf with her head). This arrangement enables the calf to nurse without risk.
BRINGING A FRAIL CALF INTO THE HOUSE
At times you may need to bring a premature or frail calf into the house for several days or weeks until he is strong enough to live outside. A premature calf’s lungs are not fully developed; he is more susceptible to pneumonia. If you give him a warm and comfortable environment (e.g., a large cardboard box in your kitchen, bedded with towels), he has a much better chance of surviving. The calf will need small amounts of milk frequently. Keep the calf clean and dry (the bedding towels can be washed in your washing machine just like baby diapers). Intensive care in your house can make the difference in whether he lives or dies.
A reluctant first-time mother or any cow that has sore, chapped teats may not let her calf nurse. If she kicks, make a set of hobbles.
1. Use four strands of baling twine. Choose twines cut next to the knot, so the knot is at the end and not the middle. Tie twines together at their knot end.
2. Restrain the cow in a chute or headcatcher, or tie her and tie a hind leg back so she cannot kick while you are making the hobbles around her legs. Situate the hobbles above the rope holding her leg, so you can take the rope off her leg after you’ve made the hobbles.
3. Make the first loop around one leg above the fetlock joint, tying the first knot a few inches from the end so there will be plenty of room to go around the cow’s leg; then tie the twines into a loose loop. Make the loop large and loose enough so you can get one or two fingers between the loop and the cow’s leg, but no looser; otherwise the cow will be able to pull the hobbles off when she tries to walk or kick. She might also get a toe of the other foot caught in the twines if a loop is too loose.
4. When making that first knot, double-tie it so it cannot slip. All knots must be nonslip, because if a loop ever tightens up it will cut off circulation to her foot. Double-tie the knots on both leg loops. Leave 8–10 inches (20–25 cm) of space between leg loops, depending on size of the cow. You want enough slack so she can walk but not kick. On the second loop, after you make the final knot to finish the loop, make another double-tie and extra knot so it cannot come undone. Also do that on the first loop, just before you start the loop so the knots stay in place. When finished with the second loop and extra security knot, cut off the extra twine ends so they can’t drag on the ground and be stepped on.
Be sure the loops are the right size around the cow’s legs (neither too tight nor too loose), the knots secure and nonslip, and the space between loops is enough to enable the cow to walk and get up and down but short enough to keep her from kicking and from getting a toe caught on the twine. The hobbles can be cut off when the cow no longer kicks her calf.
Time is on your side. It may take 1 or 2 days or a week or longer, but eventually the cow will come to accept the calf. Once she starts showing some interest, mooing at him or worrying about him when you put him back in his pen, or licking him while he nurses — and no longer tries to hurt him — you can leave them together, the cow still hobbled until you are sure she will no longer try to kick him. After she fully accepts him, the hobbles can be removed.
A young cow slow to mother her first calf may be fine the next year with her second one, especially if she’s just temporarily confused. But the individual who viciously refuses to let her calf nurse and takes a long time (several days or a week or more) to finally accept him is likely to do it again with her next calf. Some problem cows do mellow with age and become better mothers by their third or fourth calf.
You may decide to put another calf on a cow that lost her own calf, but it’s not always easy to convince a cow to take a calf that’s not hers. A first-calf heifer is often the easiest to fool, since she is inexperienced. You can often trick her just by rubbing the smell (amniotic fluid, placental membranes, etc.) of her own baby onto the newcomer, if her calf died at birth and you still have fresh birth fluids at hand.
But most cows need more convincing. You can buy products to sprinkle on the calf that make her want to lick it. Or you can put Vicks VapoRub on the calf and on her nose to hinder her sense of smell and keep her confused as to the true identity of the new calf. These methods work for some cows, especially if you hobble and tie the cow for a few days if she is not quite sure.
The oldest trick, and one that works best, is to skin her dead calf and put the hide on the substitute calf. Cows recognize their offspring by smell. The cow smells her new baby and locks that memory into her brain. From then on she can pick her calf out of the herd.
The dead calf should be skinned while fresh. Legs should be skinned intact so the hide can be put over the live calf like a jacket, with the live calf’s legs going through leg holes of the skin. You can also use twine to hold the jacket in place. The tail of the dead calf should be left attached; the cow will smell and lick the calf’s hind end, and it had better smell like hers! Once the calf has nursed a few times, it’s safe to take off the old skin. It won’t be needed after the pair have bonded. The cow will mother and protect that baby as diligently as if it were the one she gave birth to.
To encourage a cow to accept a calf that’s not her own, place the skin of the cow’s dead calf on the grafted calf. The cow will sniff the calf and recognize the smell of the skin.
If a calf is born in cold weather and gets chilled, warm and dry him as quickly as possible. Rubbing with towels helps dry him and stimulates circulation. Put him under a heat lamp in the barn or use a hair drier to get him warm and dry in a hurry. If you bring the calf in the house, make sure the cow has had a chance to smell and lick him first so she will mother him after you bring him back. If you take him too soon after he’s born or if you get all his smell off (e.g., by thawing a really cold calf in a bathtub of warm water, then drying him with towels), she may not claim him.
If ears or tail freeze before you find him, thaw and dry them quickly. If they’re just starting to freeze or haven’t been frozen long, there’s a chance the calf won’t lose them. Put the tail into a jar of hot water to thaw it rapidly, then towel it dry, rubbing vigorously to restore circulation. For ears, use a hot wet washcloth to thaw them quickly; then rub them dry.
If the calf is nearly frozen, one way to thaw and warm him is in the bathtub. Be careful to not warm him too fast, or you may kill him. Putting a thoroughly chilled calf into hot water drives the cold into the core of his body; his blood gets cold, chills the heart too much, and his heart will stop. If you put him in a tub of water, use lukewarm water, then gradually warm it up. Remember, humans whose temperatures are drastically lowered for surgery are always brought back up to normal temperature very slowly. And while he’s in the bathtub, don’t clean him up so completely that the cow will not recognize his smell.
Bring a cold newborn calf into the house to dry with towels and a hair dryer. He’ll soon be warm and dry and ready to go back to the barn to his mother.
A safe way to warm a very cold calf is to have a warming area in your barn, using a commercial “thaw box” made for this purpose. It has a heater/blower that blows warm air up underneath the calf. This box not only starts to warm his body but also warms the air he breathes, thereby taking warm air into the lungs and warming the body core. You need to warm the innermost part of his body as swiftly as you warm the outside.
If a calf is born in the cold, take him and the mother cow to shelter. If he’s small and it’s not too far, pick him up and take him in; the cow will follow. It can confuse her, however, when you pick him up off the ground. Cows are not used to seeing a calf anywhere but at “calf level” and may not realize you have the baby, wanting to stay at the spot where he was born or running back there if she gets confused along the way. You may have to set the calf down a few times and make calf noises to encourage her to follow you. Many cows will follow the scent of their calves, coming close at your heels and smelling the ground (since scent drops to the ground).
A large calf may be too heavy to carry. If the cow is an aggressive mother, it may not be safe to carry the calf unless someone helps you. You are vulnerable to being attacked by the cow with no way to defend yourself. In this case it’s better to use a sled or wagon — something you can pull or attach behind a pickup or 4-wheeler. If the calf is mobile enough to get up and fall off the sled or wagon, restrain him so he cannot fall out. Otherwise have a rack on the sled or wagon that does not interfere with the cow’s ability to see and smell him as she follows.
You can also use a special cart made for carrying calves hooked up to the hitch on your pickup or 4-wheeler. When the calf is restrained in the cart, he is upright, so it looks like he’s walking or running behind the vehicle, and the cow can see and smell him. The cart has wheels on the back and a ski skid on the front. When you pull the calf along in it, the cow will follow.
Calving time carries a certain risk, especially if cows are mean and aggressive. Dangerous cows should be sold; it’s not worth taking a chance on you or a family member getting hurt. Select smart, gentle cattle when choosing breeding stock; most are trainable if you handle them properly. Even so, one may become aggressive when she calves. Construct barn stalls with panels — no solid walls that cannot be climbed. An escape route up a wall may save you from serious injury.
It helps to understand cows and how they think. If you handle them properly, you can get along with overprotective mothers without putting yourself at risk. When attending a birth, being there to iodine the navel or take off the amnion sac, stay quietly out of the way until the proper time, then move in quickly just as the calf is delivered, get your job done, and get out of there.
Take advantage of the few seconds while the cow is finishing delivery to sneak into the stall and quickly iodine the calf (and clean the sac off his head if necessary) just before or as the cow is getting up. Often her first reaction upon getting up is to check out her new baby — to start smelling and licking him instead of charging at you. If you can be quiet and quick, keeping the calf between you and the cow, she won’t “get on the fight” for another moment or two, and you can be done and out of there. If she’s snorty, grab the calf by a leg, pull him toward you and get him iodined as she is distracted by licking up fluids or starting to lick on her end of the calf.
With a mean cow, it’s best if two people work as a team — one to iodine the calf, the other to stand guard and threaten the cow with a stick if she thinks about charging.
Usually a cow is most aggressive the first few hours after calving, or even the first day or two. After her baby gets a little older she won’t be quite as worried; she’ll still protect him from perceived danger but will be more mellow and ease back into her old relationship with you as her caretaker and dominant “herd boss.”
