A terrible Day

[bruce9001]

Nasty - commiserations. Out of interest, was the Bluex calf very differently marked to all the others?

Yes it was a white and black marked calve where as other 4 in that field were pure Angus Calves!

We thought at first as it bolted out trailer the others maybe thought it was a dog etc but after 5 minutes they settled down etc and was 5 hours later found calve almost dead....

 

[GenuineRisk]

I suppose it could possibly be because it was marked very differently ? Just a thought and still doesn't exactly help!

 

[CharcoalWally]

Properly maternal animals nurture and encourage. They work off their basic instinct to love and care for their young. Stimulate it , get it on its feet and feed it. It's the basis for all existence.

A cow that kills her own calf at birth is not a properly maternal animal. There may be a reason for it, there might not, but something inside isn't working properly. We can't understand because we can't ask her, but either way it's not fair if we allow her to put her calf in danger as the calf is completely helpless. She has no future as a maternal animal.

Those that kill the calves of other cows should be gone at the first opportunity.

 

[Henarar]

Id want to shoot her too but it wouldnt do any good!
Few years ago i had a bull in beside some stots because i had no where to put him and he killed 1. Rammed it into a corner. Found it in the morning upside down in a knot. Threw the bull outside for rest of the winter. Feck him!

we had one that calved fine, we penned her up and left her licking her calf, went back a bit later and she had licked the calves nose off, luckily the calf was dead, the cow was fine the next year and after that but we did keep a close eye on her, I spose she drew blood and just kept licking

 

[Danllan]

She's probably doing it because she's a bitch

It's not anthropomorphising (!) to say that animals have personalities and a variety of them, we all know this. There is always a reason why an animal does something, usually it is us that has created the problem but, sometimes, the animal has a bad nature. The bullock that had me down a few weeks ago was an ars*hole to the other cattle as well as me, the others are genuinely gentle beasts - they're still here, whereas he is hanging by his heels and the cheque has already been paid in .

 

[le bon paysan]

Properly maternal animals nurture and encourage. They work off their basic instinct to love and care for their young. Stimulate it , get it on its feet and feed it. It's the basis for all existence.

A cow that kills her own calf at birth is not a properly maternal animal. There may be a reason for it, there might not, but something inside isn't working properly. We can't understand because we can't ask her, but either way it's not fair if we allow her to put her calf in danger as the calf is completely helpless. She has no future as a maternal animal.

Those that kill the calves of other cows should be gone at the first opportunity.

Yeh, cos you might be next

 

[M-J-G]

Cows that won't take their own young are only good for two things, a pair of hooks.

Likewise with a cow that kills a calf, be it her own or anyone else's, she's no asset to anyone.

I had a cow a few years ago, who used to go underneath other cows from behind at the feed barrier, two cows had dead calves that were all in the same pen as her.

Once she calved, I lifted her calf off her and fostered it onto one of the cows who'd had a dead calf and killed the offender, it balanced things out a bit.