Calf Tagging

My brother and I tagged a calf yesterday morning, and once again I was amazed at how strong they are.  The "little" guy was probably 85-90lbs, born less than 24 hours before, and there he was, running around zig-zagging alongside his mother.  With calves we tag their ears (right for male, left for female) and give them a shot of BO-SE (the soil here is Selenium deficient), trim and put iodine on their navels.  This means the calf has to be still, for at least a FEW moments, and the mother has to be calm enough (or have a physical barrier) to not charge and ram the person treating the calf.  (Has anyone seen the video of the herd of cows attacking a bear?  Gnarly.)  So anyway, we separate mother and babe, I sneak up behind the calf, and wrap my arms around him, interlocking my fingers over his chest.  I'm probably 140lbs.  I ended up fully on top of this calf, exerting all the pressure and weight that I could onto him to hold him, not even down, but at least still, and could barely do it.  The side of my face hurts now because I think his head slammed into my cheek.  We got him tagged and treated, but it was a reminder of how incredibly strong they are.  And how so much of our management is about psychological power!

Big girl with a big bag. 

Later in the day a CSA customer came to pick up her meat.  A few weeks ago we had a farm tour for our CSA members, during which we pulled a calf (quite a show!).  This customer hadn't made it to the tour, so I related the story to her.  Ironically, just after she left I noticed a sac hanging from the last remaining cow at the farm to calve.  Then I noticed a little black and white lump in the grass.  I headed down, to see if it was ok.  Mom had cleaned it all up, and it waggled its little ears as I approached, so I figured it was alright.  Mom's eyes were bright and very aware of me, so I was pretty cautious...she came over, licked my hand, and then did a stutter start lunge move towards me.  Total fake out, but I totally got the message.  Stepped backwards and slid in some placenta.

Luckily for me, I didn't fall, and I didn't get charged.
Luckily for you, I took pictures of the calf, and not the placenta.

Looking like a blob.

The rest of the herd keeps its distance.

Another cow comes over to greet the newborn.

Standing up with mom.  You can't see the wobble in the legs, but not bad for being an hour old!