Purplequeenvt - New Journal

[purplequeenvt]

It’s been dumping rain for a few days so everything is a muddy mess. Yesterday, I scraped the poop mud out from in front barn door out into the paddock so the ewes will stop dragging so much mess into the barn. I gave them fresh straw too, but I’m sure they’ve eaten it all by now. Feeders full of nice 3rd cut hay and they’re rooting around the straw like little piggies. This batch of straw does have a lot of intact heads of grain so I’m sure that’s what they’re looking for.

Pretty Miss Addie


My yearling ewes are looking nice. There’s only a couple that I don’t love and one of those it’s more about her personality.

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Oskar’s littermate brother, Stoick, who lives next door with their sister, Hiccup.


Hiccup


My BIL and sister had a tragic calving Friday night. One of their Highland cows (2nd calf) went into labor and wasn’t progressing so they attempted to help and couldn’t get the calf out. My sister said the calf felt wrong, short legs, big head. They called the vet out and she spent a while trying to get the calf out too. She took the head and front legs off and it still wouldn’t come. They ended up doing a c-section and still struggled to get the calf out. The vet called it a “bulldog calf”. The reason it wouldn’t come out is because it’s body was all swollen from edema.

The vet considered doing a hysterectomy, but said the uterine artery was too big and she was concerned she wouldn’t be able to get it safely tied off.

Unfortunately, it was all too much for the cow and she passed away during the night. It was a hard loss. This girl was a particular favorite and was extra tame and sweet.

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I finished spinning one of my Shetland fleeces. 3,000+ yards of light fingering weight yarn. It’s nice and soft too.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry for the cow/calf loss. Those times are hard!

The straw I used to bed during the extreme cold here last week has some heads, too. Of course that's more enticing to root into than pristine, soft hay! My goats did it too.

 

[Finnie]

I’m sorry for your loss of the cow and her calf.

 

[farmerjan]

Sorry for the loss of the cow and calf, @purplequeenvt . Sadly, that is not an uncommon problem in some breeds... Dexters are noted for having a greater percentage of bulldog calves. In fact they have identified some bulls that have a recessive gene that can cause that in a couple of breeds. However, it is somewhat more prevalent in some of the smaller of the standard breeds. One of the reasons I am so very opposed to all these "mini-breeds" of cattle. You did not say but I am thinking your Highlands are "standard size" for the breed, not the mini's. Have seen one bulldog calf born in my lifetime, from a friend's cow... it lived a very short time due to the screwed up formation of the face/lungs/shortened back and legs.
If I remember rightly there was a holstein bull that seemed to pass a recessive gene on that resulted in a higher percentage of calves born with this problem. So, not limited to smaller breeds.
I also have read somewhere that it could be related to a lack of enough manganese in the diet during the pregnant animals gestation... and from feeding alot of silage, with not being a balanced diet, but that is probably not anything you need to worry about.
And sometimes it is just one of those quirks of nature... happening for no apparent reason and you will never see it again.
There have been some that have lived and seemed to straighten out, to live a somewhat normal life, which leads one to think it is more a nutritional/lack of, problem...
Then there are descriptions of bull dog calf syndrome that may actually be technically something different but somewhat related...

Doesn't help with the loss. 1,000,000 to 1 you will ever see it again.. However,,,, have you changed to using a different bull for breeding in the last year? If so, I would research if that bull/bloodline has any reported problems. I do not know alot about the Highland breed so do not know if it is something they have tested for or have any problem with. And if you have changed bulls, then there is a chance you have a recessive gene for it and the combination with a bull with a recessive gene just managed to have the combination for the calf to receive both recessives.... The thing about it, many times the calf is aborted earlier, and no one knows it has happened until the cow comes up open... or the calf is born dead and it is disposed of and not reported... in beef cattle, how many calves have been found dead and partially eaten, so there is no way to tell if it was "normal" at birth. I think it happens only something like 1 in 500,000 or something... very very seldom does any farmer actually have one or even see one.

The wool looks very soft in the skeins...

 

[SageHill]

Ah geeze, so sorry about the cow and calf. after going through all that and to lose them both - ouch.
On nicer note Ms Addie sure has a pretty face and beautiful expression.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Sorry for the loss of the cow and calf, @purplequeenvt . Sadly, that is not an uncommon problem in some breeds... Dexters are noted for having a greater percentage of bulldog calves. In fact they have identified some bulls that have a recessive gene that can cause that in a couple of breeds. However, it is somewhat more prevalent in some of the smaller of the standard breeds. One of the reasons I am so very opposed to all these "mini-breeds" of cattle. You did not say but I am thinking your Highlands are "standard size" for the breed, not the mini's. Have seen one bulldog calf born in my lifetime, from a friend's cow... it lived a very short time due to the screwed up formation of the face/lungs/shortened back and legs.
If I remember rightly there was a holstein bull that seemed to pass a recessive gene on that resulted in a higher percentage of calves born with this problem. So, not limited to smaller breeds.
I also have read somewhere that it could be related to a lack of enough manganese in the diet during the pregnant animals gestation... and from feeding alot of silage, with not being a balanced diet, but that is probably not anything you need to worry about.
And sometimes it is just one of those quirks of nature... happening for no apparent reason and you will never see it again.
There have been some that have lived and seemed to straighten out, to live a somewhat normal life, which leads one to think it is more a nutritional/lack of, problem...
Then there are descriptions of bull dog calf syndrome that may actually be technically something different but somewhat related...

Doesn't help with the loss. 1,000,000 to 1 you will ever see it again.. However,,,, have you changed to using a different bull for breeding in the last year? If so, I would research if that bull/bloodline has any reported problems. I do not know alot about the Highland breed so do not know if it is something they have tested for or have any problem with. And if you have changed bulls, then there is a chance you have a recessive gene for it and the combination with a bull with a recessive gene just managed to have the combination for the calf to receive both recessives.... The thing about it, many times the calf is aborted earlier, and no one knows it has happened until the cow comes up open... or the calf is born dead and it is disposed of and not reported... in beef cattle, how many calves have been found dead and partially eaten, so there is no way to tell if it was "normal" at birth. I think it happens only something like 1 in 500,000 or something... very very seldom does any farmer actually have one or even see one.

The wool looks very soft in the skeins...

They are unregistered, regular size Highlands. We are very “anti-mini” over here.

They are using a young bull, but he has sired a bunch of calves for them, including this cow’s previous calf, without any issues.

The vet told them that this is only her 2nd time seeing this in 13 years.

 

[farmerjan]

Glad to know that it just was "one of those things"... that the bull has sired other perfectly normal calves...
Yeah, not something that is common....
Sometimes sh!t just happens.. and glad to know that the vet had at least seen one before, so at least knew what she was dealing with... Like I said, I have seen one in over 50 years of cattle exposure/involvement...
Glad to hear you are not a fan of "mini's"....

 

[Baymule]

I’m sorry about losing the cow, more than losing the calf. Birth mortality is hard enough without losing the cow, ewe, doe, or whatever “mom”, too.

That is some fine looking yarn. What are you going to make with it?

Oskar!s brother and sister are handsome dogs too.

 

[purplequeenvt]

Barn cameras are amazing. That’s all I wanted for 20 years during lambing season in cold VT and this will be my 2nd year with them. I only had 2 last year and while they were great, there were still a few blind spots. I bought 2 more this year and installed them this afternoon. 3 are inside the barn and 1 is outside looking out into the paddock. I can now see every corner of the ewe area and part of the ram paddock/field.

If you can get wifi to your barn, I highly recommend the Wyze Cam Pan V3. They are not super expensive (around $35) and are easy to install and set up. You use an app to connect and view the cameras from your phone. They are rated for outdoor use too.










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I checked Jura and Elsa again. Elsa is still scanning open, but Jura is bred! I was starting to get suspicious because she suddenly became a lot calmer and has actually let me touch her recently. I’ll recheck Elsa again in a week or 2.

 

[purplequeenvt]

The cameras have good night vision too.