Working Ranch Blog

Last evening I was out checking for new babies in the cows when the boss called.  He had trouble.  A first calf heifer had prolapsed.  I sped home and filled a tub full of clean water, and grabbed a clean bucket.  When I got there Kirk had the uterus washed up and on clean paper.  Then the heifer tried to get up, fell down in the mud, and we were back to square one.  We got her snugged up close to Kirk's truck so she wouldn't move anymore and started over.  I called the vet's messaging service and told them that we had a prolapse and needed a doc ASAP.  It took a bit for George to call us back.  When he arrived we found out why.  This was his third prolapse in a row, that day.  It was about 6:30 at this point.  George did some nice work and made a difficult job look easy.  After the epidural wore off, we got mom back to her feet.  After a few drunken sailor moves, we got her back over to the heifer calf that she worked so hard to give birth to.  Believe it or not that calf lived through the birth and was in pretty decent shape considering her traumatic entry into this world.  And the best part was that mom was still interested in her.  It's not uncommon for young, first calf heifers to abandon their calves, especially after a hard labor.  It's a cold fact, but true.  Hence the difference between us and them.

This last Thursday night, Kirk took his wife to Manhattan for a cattlemen's dinner at K-State.  He called me before he left to let me know of a heifer that was starting to go.  I came down at 6 to feed and the water bag was out so I decided to come back in a couple hours.  So I went home, had dinner, played with the kids, and went on back over at 8.  The water bag had broke and I could see both feet.  They were in the correct position, so I decided to give her another hour.  An hour turned into an hour and a half by the time I got down there and she was still showing feet.  I'd waited as long as I could.  I went down to the barn and got everything set up, then went back out to get mom.  She came easy, and I got her in without a hitch.  Once I got a hand in, I knew everything was in place, but it was a big calf.  I tried pulling by hand, but could quickly tell I was gonna need help.  I got the puller set and began to apply steady pressure and would give more each time momma pushed.  This calf was big, plus it had some swelling in the head, so it made for a tough pull.  As the head was just coming out momma went down, but luckily I was in position to go down with her so that neither her or the calf got hurt.  She was still in the head catch, but wasn't choking and was o.k. so I left her in.  Soon, with another couple grunts from both of us, we had the head out and I thought we were home free.  I got the ribcage out, but the hips locked up on me.   I had about used up the length of my puller, so I thought I was gonna have to redo my chains, but with a few more grunts I had the calf out.  He was o.k. and wanted to move.  It was a good sign.  I carried him to a stall and laid him on some fresh hay.  He was breathing good so I turned my attention back towards mom.  I freed her from the catch and got her up.  She wobbled a bit, but then headed in towards her calf and began to lick.  I was feeling pretty good at this point.

I went and cleaned up, got some water and hay for 'em, and just let 'em be.  It was 10:30 p.m. at this point, so I went to check on the other heifers.  I thought I was home free for the night, but just as I was pulling out the drive, there was another.  She had feet showing, so I knew I had to come back in a couple of hours.  Long story short:  I had to help her too.  I helped right out there in the pasture, but she wouldn't take to the calf.  I got them in the barn and by the time I got everyone settled and the calves fed to ensure they would make it through the night, it was about 2:30 a.m.  I was in bed at 3 and back to check on my handiwork by 8 the next morning.  The mom of the one I pulled last never took and is a bottle calf.  The first one is having trouble gaining use of its back legs, but is making progress.  Let's hope and pray for the best on that one.

That's all you can do sometimes.  You just do your best with what you've got and pray for extra assistance from above.  Needless to say this has been a long, cold, hard winter.  Today is Sunday and I'm getting ready to go check calves.  I found one gone this morning after I had just tagged him yesterday.  Man, this is one tough season.  After chores this morning, I had to go down and help Kirk get a cow out of a pond.  She went paralyzed a couple days after she put both Kirk and I on the fence as we were trying to help her have her baby.  She just went nuts on us.  We got the calf pulled, but he was already gone.  We just let her out after that.  Kirk saw her a couple days later down in the muck.  We got her out once, but she got herself back in so we put her in a sling to elevate her hind end.  Hopefully she'll bounce back.

That, my friends, is just a taste of what this calving season has been like.  I don't know if it's the weather or what.  Kirk said it's the worst one he's seen in 20 years.  I recently watched a documentary about a family ranch in the Sandhills of Nebraska.  I think a quote from the owner sums it up best.  He said, "Sometimes you have days where you ask yourself why in the heck you do this.  Then there are those days you know why."


How's your calving season going?  Tell me at thekansascowboy36@gmail.com, or look me up on Facebook or Twitter.