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This same cow raised twins last year and did fine.

But I agree, one calf is better.


Either the cow will have trouble making enough milk or she might only claim one calf.

We might end up with 2-4 sets of twins per year.

Rough day. Don't know what else to say. How's the momma doing?

Being a rancher is easy, huh?

Holy smokes...

Ben, cow didn't get up so we had to leave her. If she's still down in the AM I'll haul her some water.



'Loco, this welfare rancher gig is more work that the title implies!



And FWIW, DO NOT kick a mean cow in the head while wearing Muck boots. Made that mistake twice in the last week, I think my foot hurts more than her thick melon.

Sam calving is fun ain't it lol. I have taken out a few rotten calves. Had one big calf I had to take apart to get him out and the cow lived. Thank god I don't have to calve anymore, they do it down at the winter ranch, I just take care of they cattle from May till Nov, all calved out. Life is good lol. Ed

We have several producers here that are willing to take the first calf hit on longhorns. Seems a bit easier also to get them to breed back for the second one. The hit around here is about a 5 or 10 cents/lb. Once they're on the rail, nobody knows or cares, but if the lot can talk one down then it's their gain in the end. .

Our personal experience for 2 years running with about 200 heifers each go around was that one got assistance and that was because the troops did no want to sit out in the cold and wait on her.

Labor, one or two dead calves, some breed back failures are costly too.

Have a good one,

Used to hear that breeding to Jersey bulls made calving easy - but you have to deal with those mean bastids!
Afternoon/evening feeding seems to work for us - not a guarantee, but seems to help. Low BW bull EPD's are good, and the color throwback on "mouse" is within genetic probabilities.
We don't calve the number of cows that you do, Sam - so get more sleep!

Ed, you've got it made!

I've never had to cut one out and hope I never will, that would be the epitome of nasty.



1minute, the buyers pay a much larger premium for straight black angus calves. It must be a different market over here.

And if you wanted to sell bred heifers or pairs with a longhorn cross calf good luck. You'd probably take $500 or more less a pop. It would seriously add up in a hurry.

We don't have to pull that many and besides it's always a good idea to check on them at night regardless.




Mark, it would be awful hard to use anything but straight black angus bulls. My dad has experimented a little with cross breeding in the past(saler, beef master, charolais) and pretty much came to the conclusion that it doesn't pan out(for us). Especially when we keep/raise most if not all of our replacement heifers.

Nice to have a uniform herd of cows and it really pays off on sale day.


3 more heifers calved tonight, they are going pretty good now which is great beings the weather couldn't be better.

The evening feedings don't stop you from having to check on them at night. You still get the occasional night delivery. It just seems to transition the majority of calvings to daytime.

During heifer calving time, we all live by naps and not true sleep.

Good luck with the rest of them.

Sam, you ever used sugar on a prolapse?

Clean everything up the best you can and then give it a good coating of sugar. Sounds crazy but it'll shrink it up enough that it's easier to get that 50 lbs of mess back in the 25 lb slot. Works better on uterine prolapses, doesn't help as much on vaginal ones.

The sugar trick helps if the tissues are edematous. Restricted blood circulation quickly causes swelling. The sugar will osmotically draw fluid out to the surface and shrink the prolapse.

I keep a 5# bag of sugar in the truck, and use it if needed. But I take my coffee black, thank you!

Thanks Amr, we've been feeding them in the morning out in 2 acre pen and then in the evening my dad and the heeler walk them into a smaller 'pen'.

That way if we have trouble it's a lot easier to get them into the barn.

It would be a pain feeding in the smaller area otherwise I'd like to give it a try.




CFVA and Cowdoc, I'd never heard of the sugar trick, interesting.

Not much of a trick but 1 thing we always do after pulling a calf is check for twins. Put on a clean glove and reach back in just to be sure.

Years ago we lost a heifer due to an unknown twin. You always keep learning I guess and try not to make the same mistake twice.

We use the sugar trick here. It works pretty good. And then sometimes, you just have to gather up as much as you can and sit back there with all the pressure you can muster waiting for it to decide its better being an inny than an outy. Sometimes, I think they(prolapses) have a mind of their own.

Never had any problems with a cow delivering twins, usually they're a bit smaller and pop right on out. Specially from a cow who ain't in her first rodeo.

Anyone who has had to pull an overly ripe dead calf from momma will never forget the aroma and most likely rate that right up there with the worst smell ever. It for sure isn't showing a lack of manlihood to admit barfing from that stench, it is some unreal bad stuff.

We once had a 1600lb angus cross cow who averaged twins 4 out of 5 years for probably 14 years. During her early years she's mother both up and feed 'em just fine til fall. The last 3 or 4 years she started leaving one and taking up with the other, but a couple days penned up tight in the barn and she'd mother to both and raise them up. It obviously took more out of her and she knew it.

We've had 2 sets of twins here this spring, one cow took them both and the other decided one was enough so the kids got an extra chore feeding "junior". Not sure why all our bucket calves get named junior. Most of my neighbors are also having a way more than normal crop of twins this year, odd.

I use to tie twins together. Have used my piggin string, but 2 dog collars with a short chain and swivel works best. I always tried to keep the twins on a cow till I needed one for a graft. Most old range cows will leave with the strongest one if you don't tie them together for a couple days or so. Ed

Today's paper had an article about triplets that were doing well.

Holy crap Sammo, I thought emergency medicine could be gross. That cowboy stuff is more than wearing a cool hat. I love your stories, you guys give us a real slice of another life. Thanks.


mike r

Amr, hopefully we don't need to try out the sugar this year.

Like you say, push and carefully work the junk back in and think you'll never get it and then it suddenly goes right back in.

The heifer is doing fine but still has issues with the calf. Kicks and throws her head around, might have to stick her in the feedlot.




Muleshoe, we went down to the poor cow who lost the twins yesterday and had a bit of a surprise. Hauled her some water and cake and noticed that the calves were actually reddish colored.

Last summer she had the twins so we kept her in a pasture here close to home which just so happens to border a guy that runs a few big old Simmental cows. Evidentially his bull jumped the fence and that would explain the big twins. Maybe.




Ed, if we find an orphan wandering around we just bring it home and give it a blast of colostrum and keep it around for a graft as well. Never know if a heifer is gonna lose a calf.

Speaking of bum calves, they are in the $500 range this spring.
Seems kind of crazy but I guess a good steer calf should hopefully be worth $1500 this fall.



Mike, it's pretty much not anything like the movies.....grin

Hell, I don't even own a cowboy hat.



Here's the new sled setup, beats the hell out of an old wheel barrow tub we used to pull by hand!






Followed it right in.






Therapy with a mean one. She knows not to fuuck with the rope....

Pretty innovative sled there...

Now if mama will just follow.

OK looked up prolapse. I think I'll stick with boats, less gross stuff.