Oh wow! Sad about the one lost, but what an event. How cute!

So sweet. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Thanks, prairie. What happens when they don't "make it?" Cold? Or any variety of causes, maybe wasn't a healthy one to begin with?

The one we lost is what we call a side winder. Probably a little premature, doesn't hold his head up right. He was born at the height of the storm, but he was the one we picked up and put in the hot box for the night. If he had been born on a really nice day, he might of made it, but usually those ones don't. If we have a set of twins, or if we have a cow that doesn't want her calf, and that does happen, more often than one would think, then we would graft the orphan calf on the cow that lost hers. To early in the season to have a graft calf for this one.

How precious those babies are. Thanks so much for letting us see your babies.

So cute!!

They are so cute!

Boy, those babies are sure cute. Will the momma that lost her calf be ok?

Enjoyed your pictures! Thanks!

Good memories for me as well,Prairie-Loved your rendition too,OJ. Are your cattle Angus by chance,Prairie>?

Cute!!

Awwwww....just adorable.. And smaller than I imagined.. Sad for the Momma of the lost calf!

There they are!!! Adorable, wobbly preciousness! Calves are so darned cute!

Have you always raised Angus?

My grandpa was a Hereford man, as was DH's family. But Angus is where the market demand has been for years. They calve out easy, are great momma's for the most part, the majority have black bags, which means no sunburn, no kicking their calves off, trying to suck, and no horns to take care of, (dehorning them). They have a great rate of gain (in the feedlots) and marble out nice. As for the cow of the lost calf. She will grieve for a couple of days, and then move on with things. We will sell her later this spring with the "dry cows".

Last year, we had a cow who lost her calf, birth sack was across his face, she couldn't get it off before he suffocated. She lay beside him for three days, wouldn't even get up for a drink. We had no orphans, but called around to some of our neighbours for one, to no avail. DH's cousin finally called, he had twins and the cow would only take the one, did we still need the spare. We went and picked it up right away, skinned the dead calf and tied the hide to the twin. The cow got up to see what was happening, and bent down to sniff the new calf. He stood up looking at her. I swear that cow jumped back 10 feet in amazement! She was so surprised "HER BABY" was finally on his feet. Adopted him immediately, and wouldn't let him leave her side for over a week!

Awwww (ok - this city girl didn't need to know about the skinning part) but what a story.

Did that happen around Easter? It IS a resurrection, after all, right? :-)

No, socks, it was later in the calving season, around the 1st of May. Never thought of that being and "Easter" themed story, though. :-)

Further to that story, because he was a twin, he was a smaller calf, too light weight wise at weaning time. We had 10 "little" calves, that we kept over the winter and two of them were red angus, the one in this story and a little heifer calf, also a graft. The rest were all black angus. I named the two reds Desi and Lucy, cause they were always the ones in trouble. Little "$_it" disturbers. Desi could unlock the corral gates, let the 10 of them out with the dry cows. It took a lobster claw clasp on the end of the gate chain to keep him from rubbing the gate lock open. They were in the back pen all winter, and every morning when I went to grain them, he was the one who left the bale cage and stuck his head through the fence, bawling at me to hurry up. He always wanted his head scratched when I was opening the gate, and then had his head in the grain bucket the whole time I was trying to pack it to the grain trough. If I gave him a swat to get him out of it, he would run in front of me and give a little kick, never actually hitting me, like he was trying to tell me, that is what you get for taking your sweet time getting here. What a character he was!

I love hearing about your cows. I am a city girl and the farm stories always fascinate me.

Me too, Linda. It's a life I can only imagine.

I did see a C-section calf once when I worked at the vet's office. It was good.

It's been a long time and my experience is foaling mares but what a thrill to see it. I never got tired of it. The mares would hold that baby in until everyone was out of the barn. I was chief cook and bottle washer there so the mares all knew me and I often saw the baby born or was able to get in the stall with them right away. When I would gush over the new baby those mares would just beam. One morning when I checked pasture mares one came to me and she wasn't pregnant any more. The grass was "this tall" and I had to follow her to find her baby. I miss that job more than any I ever had. And it was the lowest paying hardest physical labor job I ever had.

They are adorable!

...and now I have a new term--graft kitty. I know I'm cheatin', but that's what my son's cat is. My cat was a mom who lost her kittens, and his is a kitten that lost his mom. So he's a graft kitty.

Some wonderful animal stories!

angus beef? remember that the next you have a steak...lol...