Welcome to the Ranch!

A healthy and strong calf now.

Our family has been in the cattle business for decades.  We depend on them for our livelihood; we are not hobbyists.  Therefore, the welfare of our herd is extremely important to us.  This is one of the reasons that the grass fed business was such a good fit for us.  The grass fed beef business encourages cattle to live in the most natural state with the least amount of intervention.

We are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics in the meat business.  In our opinion, it is not the best policy for the cattle or for consumers.  The overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of super-bugs and resistant strains of bacteria. 

However, antibiotics can be beneficial when a cow or calf is sick for whatever reason.  Recently we had a heifer give birth to her first calf.  It was apparently a hard birth and the calf did not have much energy when we found it.  The mother had cleaned it up, but the calf had not nursed. 

Unlike humans, calves have to nurse within the first four hours of its birth in order to receive the necessary antibodies from the colostrum to survive.  Without the colostrum, the baby calf will die regardless of what you do.  The clock was ticking on the life of this little heifer calf. 

We tried to encourage it to stand up and nurse on its own, but to no use.  It could not even stand on its own long legs.  It was extremely weak. 

I backed the ranch truck up to the cow/calf pair.  My husband lifted the baby in its arms and sat with it on the tailgate while the mama cow followed us to the pens.  Regardless of how docile a cow is, she can be very protective of her calf.   Luckily, this particular cow seemed to understand that we were trying to help.

We got her down the chute.  My husband tried to hold the calf up to nurse, but it was too weak.  Instead, Lane milked the cow and poured the life-giving colostrum into an esophageal feeder, which delivers the liquid straight into the stomach.  After releasing the mama cow from the chute, we gave her plenty of fresh water and hay. 

My husband also gave the calf an antibiotic to ward off any possible infection.  Pneumonia can develop especially when the animal does not get up on its own, but just lies down.  Even though administering the antibiotic meant that we could not sell this calf as grass fed beef, we felt it was necessary for the calf’s welfare. 

The next morning Lane put the cow back in the chute, but this time the calf was able to stand with support.  We watched with joy as the little heifer nursed from each teat with its tail wagging.  We repeated the nursing session again later that day; however, she was still too weak to stay standing long on her own. 

The next morning she was more strong and needed less support from my husband.  His back was grateful.  We watched the calf take a few steps on its own.  Its legs were shaky.  In fact she reminded me Bambi in the animated Disney film.  To our amazement, that evening she was nursing on her own.  We could her gulps of milk going down her throat and a foamy white mustache covered her mouth. 

We kept the calf with her mother for a week watching her get stronger every day.  With great pleasure, we released them both to join the rest of the herd again.  Watching her trot alongside her mother through the pasture, you would never guess that she had such a rough beginning. 

Quick intervention on our part saved the calf.  By ensuring the calf received colostrum and necessary antibiotics, we saved her life.  She is out of our grass fed beef rotation, but we have other options.  We can keep her in the herd.  We can sell her as a show heifer.  We can sell her to another ranch as breeding stock.  In the end, the welfare of our herd is more important.

It is calving season on Cross Creek Cattle Company.  Through many years of experience, we prefer to have our calves born in the winter.  First of all in our area, winters are generally mild.  Even this year with its many nights of hard freezes and two days of snow, it is still a relatively mild winter compared with other regions of the United States.

When a calf is born in the coolness of our winter weather, its mother cleans it up quickly.  The calf is very anxious to warm itself; therefore, it nurses vigorously.  One of the most important things for a calf to do is nurse within the first four hours of its birth.  The first milk is not milk just like in humans.  It is colostrum; however, a calf will die quickly of illness if it does not receive enough colostrum at the onset of its life.

Colostrum is full of antibodies that prove critical to the calf’s health and well-being.  Unfortunately without it, the calf will die.  In humans, colostrum is important, but it is not a matter of life and death.

Temperatures soar in the summer to well above 100 degrees.  When a calf is born in the summer, the temperature is usually very similar to the temperature in the womb.  On extremely hot days, newborn calves grow listless.  They do not feel the urge to get up and begin nursing.  It is just too hot.  When this happens, we try to intervene.  We tube the calf with store-bought colostrum.  If possible, we milk its mother and tube it that colostrum.  We do what we can, but we prefer the winter when less intervention is needed.

Another reason that we prefer to have calving season in the winter is because fire ants are not a problem.  In the heat of the summer, fire ants build mounds along the surface of the ground.  The tunnels underground reach far and wide under the soil housing millions of ants.  Usually the summer is our driest season.  Therefore, ants will be searching for water and food all along the ground.

When fire ants bite you, it hurts.  A tiny amount of poison irritates your skin.  If you are allergic, it can be life-threatening.  If you are not allergic, too many bites can make you sick or kill you without proper medical attention.  Unfortunately, fire ants have been known to kill calves.  We have not lost a calf to fire ants, but neighboring ranches have.

Soon, I will tell you about the one time we almost lost a calf to fire ants.  Today, I thought I would leave you with pictures of some of our calves.  So far we have had more heifers than bulls.  I just love how cute baby calves are.

A cow and her calf sunning on a warm, February day.

Another cow and calf pair.

A small group of calves.