Bovine big girl panties
Jane turned 7 weeks yesterday. She’s growing great and is a very inquisitive and smart calf. It appears that her de-horning was a success, her scabs have fallen off, and she’s haired over. I cannot feel any hint of any horn growth. I hadn’t de-horned a calf in quite a while, (our beef cows are polled) but while Della never once in 12 years used her horns on me, Jetta, her last Guernsey daughter did, and I regretted not de-horning her. I doubt it would have made much of a difference, she just was a mean cow, period. Some are, most are not.
I’m a tad bit wiser at 52, and didn’t relish the thought of Jane having horns, so I tried the dreaded caustic paste. It was easy to use, and it only bothered her for about an hour. Probably a little longer than burning, but at least she didn’t associate us with deed. Probably the worst outcome could be that I missed a spot and she may grow a scur, which is a short, odd-shaped horn of sorts. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was, and relatively safe, since she wasn’t nursing and there was little chance that she would rub it on another cow. So her first big step to becoming a big girl went well.
Trace also turned 3 yesterday, I can’t believe it, time flies so fast.
The hard part of growing up is finding out about cow torture devices, like electric fence! We have extra grass at the house this year, since Della is not here and I have quit milking Lula and taken her and Lola back to the herd. So yesterday, Jane got her own paddock, where she can run and play and graze to her heart’s content. But cows are curious by nature, and they use their strong sense of smell and that wet nose to explore. It usually takes about 5 minutes for them to find the electric fence…Jane was right on schedule 😉 Big Girl Panty time! Touching that fence was probably the quickest and easiest thing she has learned yet. She was very cautious about coming to the fence later for her bottle – this particular paddock is permanently fenced with woven wire and an offset hot wire, but at the gate there is a board brace where I can hang her bottle holder. She wanted her bottle badly but she checked out that part of the fence thoroughly before proceeding to suckle.
As for Lola, she is wearing big girl panties now too. Lula was only giving 2 gallons of milk a day on twice a day schedule, so I felt I was shorting Lola by doing that. Lula will produce more if Lola has a chance to nurse at will, so while I miss them both and the milk, but I think putting them back with the herd was a good decision.
Throwback at Trapper Creek 
Jane is such a sweetheart. I’m learning lots by reading your blog and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I certainly understand de-horning…it only takes once to make you wish you had done it when they were little. I love the ‘big girl’s panties’…statement…how true! I hope you have a wonderful day. Maura
Maura, thanks for the kind words! I totally agree with you on the de-horning, getting hooked in the back when you’re not looking is no fun. Jane will never miss them, thank heavens. 🙂
Jane is one beautiful calf – she is going to be a wonderful cow. And those legs! It’s hard to get used to store-bought milk, when you’ve had fresh raw milk. There is absolutely no flavor in pasteurized milk! I’m waiting for my Jersey, Jasmine, to freshen in February. Lord, what a long way off!
Susan, she is a looker, and I am sure if she grows up to match those legs, she will be a big girl. February does seem like a long way off, doesn’t it?
You must have done a perfect job on Jane’s horns, because I can’t even tell where they should have been!
I love reading your blog. It is so easy to see how much love you have for your animals and land, and if I ever get that farm that we’ve been chasing, I’ll be reading your blog overtime. 😉
Take care and enjoy the sunny/windy weather!
Michelle, I hope I did do good job, because if I didn’t she will look like a goof-ball!
I hope it warms up a little – it’s cold and cloudy and we’re waiting on more hay weather!
The title of this post really had me scratching my head. I really enjoy reading your blog even though I don’t comment often. Isn’t it funny how we get smarter after we turn 50?
CCC, LOL if we only knew back then how smart we would be now! HA!
Jane is a great looking calf! Good job with the horn paste. In the past I’ve had the vet out to do the scooper thing – awful…so we are going to try horn weights on our Holstein cross heifer to try to turn them in so they aren’t so dangerous. Too bad about the milk but probably a good decision. My Molly cow just had a BIG Angus cross bull calf and we are SWIMMING in milk – even after the calf is with her full time and the pigs and barn cats get their share – wish you were closer and I’d share. And I was going to ask your advise on vaccinations – if you use any and for what? …. Thanks as always ~ Marcia/WY
Marcia, I never had used the paste, but it seemed pretty easy. However, I was disappointed with the directions – and I am notorious for not following directions or recipes :O For cattle it was recommended to just leave it on. So I followed the goat instructions instead, which called for 4 -6 hours then washing with water and neutralizing with vinegar. She had quite a burned looking area, so I applied cottonwood salve each day until the scabs really formed well and were dry. She shook her head a little for the first hour and then after that it must have quit bothering her, we just made sure she stayed away from anything she could rub on. They actually look really good, and I can’t fell anything, and it has been weeks. So fingers crossed…
My first milk cow was a Holstein/Hereford and she was aged when I got her, so we sawed off the tips of her horns so they were blunt and not so sharp – it would have been hard on her to de-horn her, and she wasn’t mean, but gee they were sharp and pointy! It may be that your heifer’s horns will curve in naturally. It just depends on what she is crossed with. Guernsey’s grow inward really nice and if they are gentle the horns sure make nice handles. But they do a lot of damage rubbing too – some of our trees were Della was tethered are really scarred up. Looks like a bull elk has been in the orchard.
We don’t vaccinate – and I don’t really believe it would help anyway. But that’s just my thought on the subject. The last bull we bought, had been vaccinated up the wahzoo and he had a cloudy eye from a bout with pink-eye which didn’t surprise me seeing the pasture this bull was on. The bulls looked good despite needing more grass and minerals, but that is another story. We just rent a bull now – but anyway, his eye cleared up in 6 months on good feed and free-choice minerals. He lived a long and productive life here, and then we put him in the freezer. The vaccination dilemma is a real one though, almost like a politics, people feel real strongly about it and are fearful. I have learned in the long run to not make my decisions based on fear.
Congrats on Molly’s big boy! I keep finding milk cows for my friend, now she has two. So I can get milk from her, although I am kicking myself I didn’t get this last cow myself. At least she is close by 🙂
Well, we all go through a little pain at one time or another in the march toward being big girls, so I’m glad it didn’t last long and it all turned out well.
I’m also glad you followed your gut on the instructions; sounds like you nailed it.
Paula, ain’t that the truth!! The longer you wait to de-horn the worse it gets – stress wise. I didn’t want that for her because I couldn’t make up my mind. A little Arnica and she seemed to be pain free.
Lola looks just like the cows my parents had when I was growing up, I have a soft spot for them. Wish I had the milk I grew up on as well!
-Brenda
Sense of Home (Brenda), it’s so easy to have a soft spot for cows and especially calves, they’re so precious and sweet 🙂
That little girl is so sweet! Glad the dehorning went well!
She is such a cutie!
Sheryl, Thanks !!
I have baby Guernsey cow envy. Not fair.
TE, soon cows will be in your life – then you will wonder how you managed without cattle all these years. 🙂
7 weeks!??? How does that happen?
I’m gonna say somethin that you won’t like…..you ought to get a Nubian Goat to tide you over until Jane calves. They have a really great temperament and don’t give too much milk and they have a great buttermilk fat %. I know I can hear you now….. I do love them both!
Diane, arrgh, choke, gasp, cough, cough – no thanks…I’ll bug my girlfriend for milk 🙂 She’s got a new Jersey and a Brown Swiss Jersey X due to freshen any day. I’m thinking I may just have to be her relief milker 😀
I don’t know, but maybe once you start milking your sweet Joy, you will be hooked on cows too!
I knew that is how you’d respond….cow lovers just don’t like goats. But I like both!
We use paste on all our calves and it works well for us and if we do miss we catch it at branding time. It’s a whole lot better than doing them as yearling like some people do. She’s looking good is your Jane. Happy birthday to Trace……….give him a hug eh! I wonder just how wise we’ll be at sixty?
Linda, that little bottle I bought for $6 would last me a lifetime, since horns around here are pretty rare. But you’re right it sure worked good – I should have consulted you first. I like the horns, but I figured with her being a bottle calf it wouldn’t be worth it. Her little nose has already been slapped a few times, with a nice chestnut stick! Constantly testing…
I’ll give Trace hug if I see him – they have been hunting for hours on end – the mild winter favored rabbits and chipmunks so the dogs come to the house for food, and they both smell like axle grease, because every truck and piece of equipment is a safe haven for a varmint 🙂
LOL, I hope I’m here when I’m 60!!
Will you wean her at the recommended 8 weeks? How much grain is she eating per day – we are thinking of getting some dairy calves to raise and are trying to figure out how much it will cost and how much time it will take. Tks.
Steve, no, I will give her milk until she’s about 10 months, just like if her mother was alive and would wean her. She is getting no grain, just 2 gallons of milk per day and all the grass she can stuff in during the day, and free choice grass hay at night.
It’s expensive to raise calves without a good source of milk, like a family cow or nurse cow. Milk replacer runs about $60 per bag. If you’re raising these calves for a future cow the more food they can get that is natural for them (milk, grass or hay) they will be more healthy in the long run. And if you’re going to raise them for meat, anytime there is a food shortage the animal will put on gristle, which is not what people really care for in their meat cuts. To me feeding a calf for two months on milk and then giving them calf starter (high protein) grains is a food shortage. You might be better off in the long run buying a weaned beef calf, they will have nursed at least 6 months and will be much healthier and ready to go on grass or hay. It would be more money up front, instead of petering it out on milk replacer and calf starter. It gets expensive and people want to quit feeding that way, so they do – of course the calves survive but they don’t thrive. All that being said, raising your own beef is not cheaper than buying meat from a farmer when you take into consideration all the capital and incidentals involved before you get your first hamburger 🙂
Thanks for that! We’re considering a dairy calf, too, and most sources assume that you’ll wean early and switch to grain. We DON’T want to do that, but it’s so hard to find information on alternate practices.
Elizabeth, thanks! Using nature as your guide on many things helps a lot. If you do decide to get a dairy calf make sure it has had colostrum for at least the first 24 hours fed ASAP after birth, it really makes a huge difference.