Calving
e moved to late spring calving for several reasons. First because of cougar predation, and because the cows and calves do better when the cows have been on grass for a bit before calving. Winter and late spring calving is hard on cows and the month or so of Dr. Green really helps clean out the works. It does go against the grain though of conventional cattle raising modus operandi. The grass helps the cows slick out after a winter of hay feeding, and it’s a little warmer and drier. The method to our madness as far as the cougars go…let them eat venison and elk babies. Waiting until the deer fawn and elk calve has helped us immensely in the beef eating cougar department. The cougars are fairly protected now, due to the laws outlawing the use of dogs to hunt big cats. I don’t want this to turn into a rant so suffice it say, I don’t agree with those laws, but until city folk come up against a cougar eating Fluffy or their toddler, I don’t think much will change on that front. Good heavens, its pure entertainment to see the news crews following a poor coyote around in Portland or Seattle, I feel sorry for the coyote… . Anyway, the cougars prefer to stay around the perimeter and eat deer and elk, so I am happy to keep my cows out of the woods until the calves are a little bigger.
Our calving window is fairly small, for economic reasons and because it is those outliers born early or late that become cougar bait.
The biggest and actually only pain of rotational grazing is at calving time. Cows bed their calves down like deer for about the first three days or so. If a calf is born just before paddock shift, I may either leave the cows one more day because there is safety in numbers, or I leave the back fence open so the cow can go back and get to her calf. I make sure all my fences are high so the calf can come and go freely without getting shocked. I do not want a baby calf that can’t figure out the fence thing to get shocked hard enough it won’t come to its mother when called. I also don’t put up extra fence to keep the calf in, I’ve seen baby calves that are startled run right through a 5 strand barbwire fence their flight instinct is so strong. Even so, stuff happens. I breathe a sigh of relief when everyone is born and acclimated to staying in the paddocks.
Graphic Photo below.
Things don’t always go according to plan. Many times we only found cougar kills a day or so after the calf disappeared. The last one several years ago, was still alive and maimed, we had to put it down, after documenting the damage for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. I never want to see this again. And I take offense at people who tell me I am going to kill this animal anyway so what’s the big deal. It’s a big deal.
Sully’s calf.
And just so you know I don’t dislike all cats, we have finally been allowed a viewing of the kittens.
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
I am sorry to hear you lost a calf. Calves and kittens – miracles! Thanks for sharing!
ca, we’ve been busy enjoying all the cuteness.
Hi Matron of Husbandry!
I love your blog. As a beginning farmer myself, I find it informative and educational as well. You in part inspired me to start my own blog documenting my first real farming experience, as a farm hand. I thought you and your followers would be interested in reading it and I would especially love anyone’s input! I wrote my first post yesterday, with many more to come!
Cheers,
Sonja
http://sonjasfarm.blogspot.com/
We just have to worry about bears and wolves here
Looks like your barn kitty crop is thriving! Any word on Jane’s baby?
Marcia, still in the oven
I was surprised when we first got Bella (cow) and Molly (4 wk old calf at the time) the way Bella would just leave Molly sitting in the grass, sometimes very well hidden. We have steers on our big property now, and have experienced them running through fences until they worked out where everything was. I was thinking that breeders would be easier to manage, but now I see that the calves will have to learn the fences too. We have wild dogs around our place, so thinking that its best to get cattle with some decent horns. It is hard to know that an animal suffered, even if it was going to die eventually anyway, you would hope it was a humane death when it had to happen. As always, you’ve given me lots to think about!
So excited about Jane. Hope everything goes well for you and her both!
Can’t wait to see pics and hear all about it.
We haven’t had much of a problem with cougars here. Most news was of a sighting captured on game cameras. This spring things got different. Our neighbors lost four feeder pigs to what they first thought was a pack of wild dog. Our vet took a look at the carcasses and he believes it was a cougar. I would have thought that they wouldn’t have killed all four and left the bodies lay. We’re not experienced with the cats in this part of Missouri but it appears we will have to become much more aware and prepared for them.
You know it never fails. When you start talking about dealing with predators someone jumps up and says that predator is protected and you cant do anything to it. What about my livestock. Do I not have the right to protect it too? I have developed a new predator controll program. I put a bullet in it. Kick it in a hole. And dont say anything to anyone about it.
We’ve never had to worry about cougar until this year, when our first calves in 2 years will be born in October on leased pasture adjacent to the Weyer.hauser tree farm here. Thankfully, the landowners live on site and are watchful (and have experienced cougars on their land when they ran their own cattle), but it still makes me nervous. We’ll have another calf born at home in February, away from large predators, and after that we plan to get on a late spring calving schedule. I’m with you; I’d much rather let the wildlife feed the cougars than lose one of our few calves. (Cougars make me super nervous, anyway. The hubs encounters them infrequently in his job as a logger and says he finds bear to be scarier, but I don’t know…something about being stalked by a huge cat scares me more. Maybe I’ve seen took many movies and news clips.)
I think that’s a brilliant accommodation, the later calving schedule. We have some cougar predation in our area (though I live in a suburban neighborhood and am probably immune from that worry), and friends right on the edge of town who had one in their yard, not backing down. The husband shot into the night and realized the next day he’d hit and killed it. He decided not to tell anyone. They had kids, dogs and chickens in their yard and that was just too bold for comfort.
I saw the title of the post and for a minute I was hoping it was a report on Jane!
Me too Claire!
I was thinking “Jane!” too! After 40 years in the country I share your frustrations with city-made laws around wildlife. People who see all Nature as benign are just proving how far removed from Her they live. Animals are very clever and have figured us out. We need to
put some distance between us an the bears, cougar, wolves, raccoon…..And please, someone shoot some of the ubiquitous and voracious white tailed deer! They are now eating gardens in towns. Putting the fear back into animals so we have our separate spheres works better for all concerned.