"Calving" A Day on a Montana Ranch

Calving

It was Saturday morning and the kids were free for the weekend. Daddy came in from checking cows. He told Mom about all the calves born last night. Mom asked how many and Dad replied, thirteen and two more cows have water bags. Cayleen was laying in her big feather bed and as her Daddy came into the house, she heard his conversation with her Mom. She jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen.

Daddy held out his arms as she jumped up for a hug and kiss. Mom moved close and wrapped her arms around both of them as they all giggled together and said, ”Family Hug”. The dogs immediately ran in from the porch to see what was going on. All the commotion caught Brian’s ear and in just a few seconds he was out of bed and part of the family hug.  Family Hugs were a long standing favorite for big brother Brian, as Mom and Dad had started it when he was very young.

Brian was 14, seven years older than Cayleen and he had been up twice during the night. He checked the heifers at twelve and four. It was pretty early for him to be up. And he decided to head back to bed for a little more sleep.
Cayleen flashed a big smile at Daddy and said, “Can I go out to calve with you today? Daddy smiled and said “You sure can Dolly, we will have a great time and I can sure use the help.

They ate breakfast and talked about the plans for the day. Dad and Cayleen would feed and check the old cows and Mom and Brian would go down to the corrals and turn out the heifers with new calves.

Dad said he had already tagged the calves on the heifers and all the calves had sucked. The heifers and their new babies just needed to be turned out one at a time so they stayed mothered up. Daddy told Cayleen, "A heifer is a first time mother cow". "They often get their baby mixed up with another heifer’s baby if we turn them out together."
Mom and Brian had plenty of experience letting one pair go at a time to prevent a mix up.
Daddy told Cayleen that she could load the ear tagger for him and shut the pickup off if he had to jump from the pickup and run fast to catch a calf. Cayleen squealed with delight as tagging new baby calves was her favorite thing to do. As they finished breakfast and dressed for the chilly weather, Cayleen chattered with excitement.

She and Daddy jumped into the pickup and headed to the stack to get a bale of hay. The pickup had a flat bed with arms, powered by hydraulic rams. By switching toggle switches on a control box, they could move the arms over the back to where they were behind the pickup.
As Daddy backed up the pickup in line with the bale of hay, they could move a switch and squeeze the bale with the arms. When a second switch was moved forward the bale was lifted on to the pickup bed.
As they approached the second bale, Cayleen asked Daddy if she could load the bale. As Daddy carefully backed the pickup, Cayleen flipped the switch to loosen the squeeze and pushed the second switch to move the empty arms to the rear of the pickup. When Dad said “ready” she flipped the switch to tightly squeeze and toggled the loading switch to load the second bale.
  She smiled as Dad told her what a great help she was. Daddy told her she had just loaded over a half a ton of hay all by herself.

They drove to the calving pasture and Cayleen jumped from the pickup to open the gate. The gate was a special electric fence gate that was very easy to open and close.
As she ran and jumped in to the pickup the cows began to run toward them. Feeding time was a happy time for the cows and they all wanted the first bite of hay.
  Cayleen toggled the switch to move the bale near the ground. She held the steering wheel so the pickup would drive straight ahead. Daddy jumped out of the moving pickup to cut the net wrap off the bale. As he pulled off the net wrap, small pieces of hay fell to the ground. The cows crowded tightly as Dad jumped back in the pickup and lowered the bale to the ground.
The bale unrolled and left a nice row of sweet smelling hay. The cows lined up on both sides as they enjoyed their morning feed. As the last of the bale unrolled, Cayleen moved the switches to grab the second bale. When it was all unrolled she moved the arms back to their resting place on the sides of the pickup bed.

The cows with new babies did not come to feed so they were scattered all around the pasture. Dad guided the pickup near the first pair and jumped from the truck to grab the calf. The calf ran as fast as he could to get away but dad was faster and he caught him by the tail. Dad quickly pulled the calf back and squeezed him between his knees. Cayleen giggled as she shut off the key and watched her daddy chase the speedy calf. As soon as the pickup stopped she jumped from the cab to bring him the ear tag in the tagger.
Each ear tag had several numbers on it. The big number in the middle was the same number as the momma cow. The bottom numbers were the month and the day the calf was born. A letter on the bottom right side of the tag was a symbol for who the calf’s daddy was.

Cayleen loved to watch Daddy write the ear tags. He used a big black pen, like a Marks- A –Lot. The shiny black ink was easy to read on the bright yellow ear tag. She had tried to make a tag once, but the ink ran all over and smeared on the tag. Daddy told her he would get her some old tags to practice on. He said she would have to get good at it because she was going to be a rancher.
  Dad quickly punched the tag through the calf’s ear to connect it. As the Momma cow moved very close, Cayleen was glad she had jumped into the pickup. The cow was not mean but she sure was big.
  Dad finished processing the calf. As he jumped into the pickup and they drove to the next pair, Cayleen told daddy how big the cow looked. Daddy said, “She is big, she weighs about fourteen hundred pounds. That makes her about ten times as heavy as me.”
  As each calf was done, dad would jump back in the pickup and write information in the calving book. He wrote the momma cow’s number, the weight of the baby calf, weather the calf was a bull or a heifer and the date of birth. Dad told Cayleen how this information helps to keep track of the cattle and gives information so they can select the best animals to improve their herd.
By the time they were done they had tagged and processed fourteen new baby calves. Dad said this was a record number of babies for one morning. He told Cayleen how much help she was. She smiled a sweet smile as she reflected on how proud Dad was of his rancher girl.

The next job was to feed the mommy cows with older babies. They loaded two more bales of hay and headed to the lower pasture. As they drove into the pasture, one little bull calf stood directly in front of the pickup and pawed the ground. Dad honked the horn and he turned and ran away. As he ran he stuck his tail out straight behind him and Cayleen giggled with delight. This was Cayleen and Daddy’s favorite place to feed. As the cows came to eat the hay, the calves would gather in small groups and run as fast as they could up the hill then back toward their Moms.

Dad checked each cow carefully to see that they had been sucked. Cayleen giggled, as she imagined herself as a baby calf, running with the bunch. Dad asked what was so funny and she told him. They laughed together as Dad said he would not let any old cow be his baby’s mom. As they drove around they checked every calf to make sure none were sick. Dad smiled as they headed home. This was really a great day.

When they got back to the barn, Brian and Mom had just turned out the last heifer pair. Dad and Cayleen grabbed pitch forks and helped clean the barn. Dad cut the strings off the bales of fresh straw to spread them in the pens. Cayleen and Brian kicked and threw the straw until it was spread like an amber carpet in the pens. The smell of fresh straw in the clean barn invited a peaceful feeling on all of them.

  Dad and mom walked out to check the heifers and found one laying flat on her side with a water bag. Dad could see that there were front feet showing in the clear water bag. Mom took Cayleens hand and led her near so she could see.

Mom explained that the baby calf was coming out the right way as she pointed out the tiny feet, for Cayleen to see. Dad said we should give the heifer an hour to see if she could have the calf by herself.

They all jumped into the pickup and headed to the house for a break. Dad and Cayleen opened up the Cow book and he showed her how to enter the calving information in the permanent section of the book.
Brian told her how he used to do that for Dad. She was so proud to be big enough to help with the cow book. As they were sharing snacks and drinks, Brian turned on the TV and put a disc in the Karaoke machine. As he punched the buttons, “Achy  Breaky Heart” came on the screen. The music started and the words flashed across the screen. They all sang together. “Don’t break my heart my achy breaky heart I just don’t think he’d understand. If you break my heart, my achy breakey heart, I might just go out and kill that man. Mom suggested we change the song and Brian switched it to “Angel of the Morning”. He handed the microphone to Mom they all sat back and listened as she sang. Brian and Cayleen sang along softly as Dad smiled his biggest smile. Mom was truly his angel of the morning and nobody sang that song better.
When Mom finished singing, Brian loaded “Amarillo by Morning” and it was Dad's turn. He belted out his favorite George Straight song and thought about the hard life of a Rodeo cowboy. Cayleen and Brian smiled because they loved to hear their Daddy sing.

By now it had been an hour so everybody bundled up to go see the new baby or pull him to help him be born. As they walked into the Corral they could see that the water bag had broken. The feet were sticking out but no sign of the head.
Dad said it was time to help her. Brian slipped through the gate and went around to the far door to the barn. He had helped many times and he knew just what to do. He set the head gate with just enough opening to let the cow's head in. He opened the panel and the gate and turned on the light. Mom fixed the alley gates and opened the barn door.
Dad and Cayleen gently coaxed the heifer into the holding pen and shut the gate. Mom slipped through the gate at the other end of the holding pen and spoke very gently. “Coo boss good cow we just want to help you.” With her gentle voice she persuaded the heifer to enter the barn.
Cayleen and Dad followed as mom moved the heifer to the OB pen. Brian and Mom closed the gate and squeezed the side panel until the heifer entered the head catch and it locked.
By holding the cow’s head we were able to help deliver the calf without the mommy cow running away.
Dad took off his coat and rubbed lubricant on his right arm and hand. Mom grabbed the OB chains and made a loop. Brian grabbed the puller and held it ready. Dad grabbed one foot and slipped the looped chain over it he made sure it was above the dew claws. Mom handed him the other chain and he did the same with the other foot. Mom squirted lubricant into Dad’s hand and Dad lubricated all around the calf’s head.
The tiny feet moved as the baby calf struggled to be born. Brian lifted the puller into place as Dad hooked the chains. Mom grabbed the handle and jacked it until the chains were tight. Dad grabbed the rear opening and stretched it to give the calf more room. As Mom tightened the chains and pivoted the puller down, the calf’s body started to move toward the outside.
  Mom jacked the handle and kept steady pressure. The slick, black, shiny calf slowly slipped from his mother’s birth canal. As the hind legs fell out, Dad swiftly dragged the calf to clean straw and worked to clear the fluids from the calf’s mouth and nose.
Brian handed Dad the oxygen mask and he placed it tightly over the shiny black nose. The Calf started breathing and in no time at all shook his head. This sent the oxygen mask sailing and Brian picked it up and stowed it away as he shut off the oxygen valve.
Dad smiled as he wiped his arms with a towel. They all stepped out of the pen and Brian released the head catch. The heifer backed up and turned toward her baby. She softly mooed and began licking him. Cayleen smiled and hugged her Daddy as she watched the new born calf struggle to stand.
Mom said it was a good thing we helped her as the calf looked pretty big. Dad put his arm around Brian’s shoulders and told his family what great help they were.
As they headed to the house for lunch, Mom smiled at Cayleen and said “You sure are good help, Dolly Love”. Cayleen smiled her biggest smile as she knew she was born to be a Ranch girl.

The afternoon sun was bright as Cayleen and her Daddy checked fence. She would carry the bucket of fence staples and hand them to Daddy as he needed them.
She watched as Daddy drove the shiny bright staples with only three hits. She said she would like to try to drive a staple.
Dad went to the pickup and brought out an old wooden handled hammer. It was just her size. He told her that he had found it in the shop so he had put it in the pickup for her. She smiled as she held a staple over the wire and tried to drive it into the post. Dad showed her how to hold the staple so she didn’t hit her fingers. This was a lot harder than it looked when Dad did it.
Dad wrapped his arms around her and helped her get the staple started. Cayleen finished driving the staple and her little arm felt numb.

They finished checking the fence. Dad left the gate open as they drove back through the pasture where the cows and calves were.
Some of the calves were laying flat on their sides, fast asleep. Others were sucking their mommies. One little calf quit sucking as they drove by, he looked at them. Cayleen giggled as she saw a white ring around his nose from the rich foamy milk. He looked like he had a little white goatee.
Dad told her that his mommy was one of our best cows. Her number was 660 and she had raised several of our best calves. Cayleen picked up the cow book and turned the pages to find number 660. She told Dad that 660’s calf had been born on March 10th and he weighed 75 pounds. Dad told her how proud he was that she knew how to read and use the Cow book.

As they pulled into the yard the dogs ran to meet them. Brian pulled up along side them, riding a four wheel ATV. He told Dad that he had just moved out the fourteen pairs that they had tagged this morning.
He said he had checked the other cows in the calving pen. Two more cows had calved and two were walking around twitching their tails. Brian said the two that calved were 441 and 542.
This was great help because Dad could make the tags before he got to the calving pasture.

Dad smiled as he thought about how proud he was of his Son. He thanked Brian and told him to go on into the house and work on his homework. Dad said, “All we have to do is tag the two new ones and feed one bale of hay.” Cayleen opened the plastic tag box and handed her Daddy the tag pen and a bright yellow ear tag. She watched closely as he wrote the numbers.
She found the cow numbers in the cow book and told him the sire group letters for 441 and 542. Dad said both calves were out of their Green Mountain herd bull. We would probably keep them for bulls if they weren’t heifer calves.
As they drove to the calving pasture and rolled out the bale of hay, Cayleen saw a cow laying flat on her side.
She watched closely as they drove near. The tiny feet were showing and as the mommy cow pushed the head appeared. The slimy black head shook as the cow pushed even more and the long, black, sleek, shiny body appeared. As quickly as the calf was born, the cow stood and began licking it. Each stroke of the cow’s tongue caused the tiny calf’s body to move. The cow mooed gently as she welcomed her baby to the world.
  Cayleen noticed her number was 716 and she squealed with delight. This was Latoya, Dad’s favorite cow.
They watched for about five minutes as Latoya licked her baby from head to toe. The tiny calf slowly got his legs working and stood shaking and wobbling. Latoya moved gently near him as he reached his tiny nose toward her udder. In no time at all he was sucking.
Dad and Cayleen smiled as they knew about the love between a child and a parent.

They started the pickup and drove across the pasture to tag the two calves, Brian had told them about.
Dad jumped from the pickup and barely caught the first calf. Cayleen brought him the tagger and tag. Dad reached between the calf’s hind legs and smiled as he said “It’s a bull”. He quickly snapped the tag into the calf’s right ear. As Dad stretched the heart girth tape around the calf’s body, right behind the front legs, he said 80 pounds.
Cayleen quickly wrote. 441- Blk.B 80    3-22, in the cow book The 441 is the Mother Cows number. The Blk. –B meant that this calf was a black bull calf. The 80 is the birth weight. The 3-22 meant that this calf was born on March twenty second.

Dad got back in the pickup and drove to the second calf. He caught this calf easily and checked between the legs. This was a heifer calf and the tape indicated she only weighed 65 pounds. Cayleen watched as Dad put the tag in her left ear. She knew that having the tags in different ears made sorting the calves easier when they got older.
She quickly entered 542-blk. H  3-22. Daddy smiled as he was so proud of his little cow girl and her great help to make entries in the cow book.

They drove back to Latoya and her new baby. Cayleen and her daddy stepped out of the truck. They gently walked up to Latoya and her baby. Dad knelt down on one knee and held the baby with one hand under her chin and his knee under the tiny calf’s belly.
Cayleen stood on the other side and softly stroked her shiny, soft black hair. Latoya mooed softly and smelled her tail. She was a very gentle cow who always loved and trusted people.
Cayleen smiled when Daddy said this was a heifer calf. That meant she could grow up to be a cow in our herd. As Dad wrote the ear tag and put it in the tiny black left ear, Cayleen stroked the baby’s back and gently rubbed her tiny chin.

Cayleen smiled at Daddy and softly asked. What are we going to name her? Daddy replied, any name you want. Cayleen thought for a moment and remembered how much she loved her dolls .She always loved it when Mom and Daddy called her Dolly Love.
  She loved this tiny newborn calf even more so she said “I want to name her Dolly”. As Dad scratched Latoya’s back Cayleen gently kissed Dolly’s soft forehead.

They jumped in to the pickup and headed home. As they pulled into the yard and Dad stopped the truck, Cayleen ran to the house to tell Mom and Brian the exciting news. Mom smiled and laughed as she grabbed her camera.
She said “supper can wait, we have to get pictures”.
Brian heard all the excitement and he came running. They all loaded back into the pickup to go see Latoya and her sweet new baby.
  Cayleen knelt down on both knees and hugged Dolly, while mom flashed pictures. Brian joined in and softly petted Dolly’s soft black coat.

  Dad bowed his head and said a little prayer to thank Jesus for all the blessings in their life; as he lifted his head he looked up to see the sun setting in the saddle between the western hills.
This had been a wonderful day and this is a wonderful life.


                  The Rancher’s Realization

Sometimes when the wind blows and snow is three feet deep
When water tanks are frozen and we have no time to sleep

I wonder what I’m doing as I work hard to survive
Some times I even wonder how I ever stayed alive

I think back on days like this when God sends so much joy
The love of my wife and daughter the gifts he gave my boy

I just keep on working and I keep my eyes on the SON
I know there’ll be days like this, with so much love and fun.


                          God Bless You. Calvin