One Confused Mama

Last week, we were baffled for a short time when we had come upon the sight of possibly two cows taking responsibility for a new calf before finding that there were two new calves to match up with the two mama cows.

A few days later, we found another a new mama cow confused then we realized she had one calf along the upper fence of the large field then moved further out into the field to deliver a second baby. After the second calf was born was when we drove the Gator out to feed hay and she was so hungry, she began following the trail of hay slabs that we were throwing out to the herd instead of rounding up her new offspring. We believe it was confusing to her to still be having labor pains to expel the placenta and her intense hunger that led to her inattention to the offspring. With coyotes hanging around the area, it was imperative to make sure both babies were safe and being taken care of.

While the herd was eating hay, we drove over to the heifer calf by the fence, she was being picked on by one of the month-old calves and he kept knocking her down rather than letting her get stable enough to walk around. I was able to scoop her up easily and set her in the back of the Gator while Mike drove us to the barn. We deposited the little heifer in one of the pens while we went to check on the other calf.

We found the bull calf sleeping peacefully in the middle of the field. I scooped him up and placed him in the back of the Gator and took him to the barn to be with his sister. Then we went back to the herd and singled out the new mother and brought her into the barn. We fed her hay while we brought first one calf then the other into her pen to see if she was accepting both of them. She still had not delivered the afterbirth and was still cramping while trying to eat, when we brought the calves toward her she tried to kick at them.

Mike used a rope to cinch around the cow’s middle, this binds the reflex muscle while not hurting the cow but restricting her so she could not kick while we had the calves close. The heifer was first up to try to nurse. She was chilled and did not have a strong urge so we got her first sucking on our fingers then nudged her closer to the cow and slipped the nipple into her mouth. Once she got a squirt of milk, she was ready to begin nursing on her own but kept slipping off since she was still not stable standing and was wiggling around a lot.

We got the bull calf to stand next to the heifer and he started nursing. I was able to hold the two calves together to keep them fairly sturdy while they learned all about the nursing process. Once they emptied the supply on one side of the cow, I moved the calves away while Mike switched the cinch rope to expose the un-nursed side of the mama. The process of getting the two wiggly calves facing the correct way and nursing took a little time but the calves were able to get enough milk to survive the next few hours.

We moved the calves into a separate pen from the mother so that she could finish the placenta delivery without hurting the calves. A couple hours later, we went back to the barn and again cinched the cow and moved the calves in to nurse. We did this several times throughout the night since the calves only had enough stamina for short bursts of nursing, each time moving the calves into a locked pen away from the mama.

After the morning feeding of the rest of the herd, we noticed the mama cow talking to her two babies when they would moo from their own stall. She had not done this the night before. When we cinched her up for this feeding, she seemed much more relaxed and nurturing, she was ‘talking’ to the babies as they nursed with low, soothing rumbles. We loosened the cinch and she stood without kicking for the rest of the nursing. The calves would bump at her and rub under her belly and back legs and she did not push them away. When they walked past her head, she would lick them and nudge them back toward her udder.

After a confusing beginning, the cow and both calves are bonding well. They will stay in the enclosed barn and yard for a couple of days until we are sure they will be fine when we introduce the new family back into the herd. We will slowly let them into larger and larger areas outside of the barn where the cow can graze while the calves learn about their world.

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I am so pleased to announce that MaryJane Nordgren has made her new book available to the public! Click here for your copy of Nandria’s War.