[RanchWife]

So, I'm sure we all have some interesting calving stories as it's the busiest time of the year, I thought it would be fun to share. I'll start.

So last year during a blizzard, I had the night shift for calving and about 3 am saw a calf born earlier that day that looked like he was getting pretty cold, some handle it better than others. I woke up my husband and we went for a middle of the night calf-napping trip. We went to the calf and my husband grabbed one end, I the other and started to put it in the pickup, it fought more than it should had for being so cold. The angry cow soon followed as I went diving into the bed of the pickup, my face hit right on a frozen pile of calf poo, my husband still trying to situate the calf. We drove back to the house and left it in the pickup with the heat on to warm up. Usually they just lie there till they're dry and then we put the, in the barn with their mothers. This one wasn't as cold as I thought because when I came out at four am it was standing on the seat, and my pickup looked like this: next time they fight that hard I'm taking them to the barn.

 

[Fairfarmhand]

We usually have fall calves, so there's not much of a risk for cold, nasty weather in Sept/Oct. here in TN, however, this year, we;ve had some very late calves. The worst was Frosty, the calf that was born about a month ago. With windchill it was about 10 below. It was awful. My dh was in the beginning stages of cryptosporosis, so he was too weak to help a whole lot; additionally, it was so unusually cold that his work (the water dept.) instituted some emergency measures and he had work things to do. So it was up to my dd (16) and me. The calf was born with icicles on his nose. After less than an hour he had frost all over his body and his ears and tail were frozen.

We got a bedsheet, made a sling of it, and hauled him up to the house. IT was SO cold. Yes, we were going uphill, in the snow and ice did I mention that this calf was BIG?

We put him the garage overnight. The kids blow dried him, we fed him colostrum from a bottle that I'd frozen from when my Jersey calved.

Next morning, we took him to mama, and she remembered him and he started nursing.

 

[saskcattle]

I had a heifer calving and having troubles so I ran her into barn where we have a little insulated room with a head gate in it. I went to get chains and stuff came back and she was laying down so many times I've just hooked chains to calf like that instead of putting cow in head gate. Well this time I got chain on one foot snugged it up and quick as she could heifer got up and nailed me against wall I jumped up and got ahold of a board and hung there. Managed to get cell phone out and call father inlaw to help me out. He ended up getting ahold of that chain and wrapped it around head gate so she couldn't come forward after me so I could get out. Ended up pulling a dead calf out of her

 

[DoubleR]

Glad your ok! Wish you hadn't pulled a dead calf but most all of us have.
You just never know how they will react.

 

[cowfarmer]

My grandpa had a cow calving so he put in the barn all day she don't calve or look like she was calving so my grandpa let her out then she went to the farthest part of the pasture and calves in the snow bank so my grandpa had to hall it back with a sleigh on foot

 

[Hereford_Show_Girl]

My first time heifer went into labor in a storm. She kept pushing and nothing was coming out. Then we got closer and what looked like blood coming out was a tail, but no legs. Had to call the vet out at 10:30 at night, pitch black, raining sideways and 50mph winds. After pulling the HUGE stilborn calf out, she started prolapsing. Spent an hour trying to push it back in. Then we discovered that she had a uterine tear. Vet gave her a 50/50 chance of making it through the night. That was three days ago. She is now not shaking anymore, and is up walking around bright eyed. Still on the mend, but I was a wreck that night. She was my first show heifer I trained. Just gotta keep moving forward.

 

[tnsalersbreeder]

Dang,

I reckon we should have a bunch of dead ones cuz we only check our cows twice a day and never at night.

We had a brangus cow that for the first two weeks after she calved if you came within 100 yards of the calf she would charge you blowing snot. She ran my dad into a hay ring he literally had to jump in it as it was the only thing close enough to prevent her from getting him.

 

[tnsalersbreeder]

Dang,

I reckon we should have a bunch of dead ones cuz we only check our cows twice a day and never at night.

We had a brangus cow that for the first two weeks after she calved if you came within 100 yards of the calf she would charge you blowing snot. She ran my dad into a hay ring he literally had to jump in it as it was the only thing close enough to prevent her from getting him.

She tried to get me once and I side stepped her and hit her across the nose with a stock stick as hard as I could swing it. She never really tried me again after that

 

[oreana]

Why do you calve in winter?