Betty had a baby calf, video of its birth and standing up in 8 minutes

BeeMaster2 · January 17, 2025, 12:24:41 PM

Betty is now the matriarch of our heard. We have been watching her and waiting for her to have her baby. She is huge and the other day we were watching the baby move around and distorting her stomach area. Today Judy saw her walk away from the herd and go back to the tree line at the far end of the field. She came and got me and we went out there to see if she was having the baby. Her daughter was with her. Both of them are very friendly to us so we knew it was okay to be there. When we got there the baby?s feet and nose and tongue were sticking out. Here is a picture.

After another young cow came over to see what was happening, she ran it off then moved into the swamp area that is surrounded by thick bushes. Judy and I went in and took a complete video of the birth and the baby standing up for the first time.
I will post a link to the video as soon as YouTube approves it.
Here is a picture of the baby just as it was born.

Jim Altmiller

BeeMaster2 · January 17, 2025, 12:26:30 PM

Here is the link to the video.
https://youtu.be/gQd66scnCTQ?si=CS2o3J5nhyusn-mv

BeeMaster2 · January 17, 2025, 12:31:36 PM

For some reason YouTube edited out the first 2 minutes of the baby actually being born and started after she stood up and started washing the baby.
I will try to get first couple of minutes posted.
Jim Altmiller

Terri Yaki · January 17, 2025, 01:55:29 PM

I have better luck with Rumble.

The15thMember · January 17, 2025, 02:37:04 PM

It probably automatically triggered YouTube's graphic filter. As Terri said, Rumble would likely allow it.

buzzbee · January 17, 2025, 05:23:23 PM

A few years ago the Pennsylvania Farm Show put in the calving corner. There are a lot of cows give birth during the week and so many people are able to watch the whole process that may otherwise never have the chance.

Terri Yaki · January 17, 2025, 05:46:47 PM

I?m glad that it wasn?t an adult calf.

When I was a yute, I watched a calf being born on my grandfather?s farm and he was mad at me for not getting him.

BeeMaster2 · January 17, 2025, 07:26:05 PM

Here is a much better video. It is from the start of the delivery to where the calf stands up.

https://youtu.be/dOlNUykyhCw?si=AoHMt9buvAdijsNa

Jim Altmiller

Kathyp · January 17, 2025, 09:21:37 PM

Thanks for sharing. I have gotten foals on video, but the last cow we had gave us a surprise baby and we missed the birth. She was an auction cow and kind of skinny so we missed that she was pregnant. Healthy baby though.

Yours looks really healthy!

gww · January 17, 2025, 10:51:58 PM

Quote from: BeeMaster2 on January 17, 2025, 07:26:05 PM
Here is a much better video. It is from the start of the delivery to where the calf stands up.

https://youtu.be/dOlNUykyhCw?si=AoHMt9buvAdijsNa

Jim Altmiller

You got it while it is really young, hurry up and teach it not to kick while you are still bigger then it is.

BeeMaster2 · January 18, 2025, 07:19:01 AM

GWW,
None of our cows have ever kicked us. Not one. Betty is naturally very friendly and her daughter Buttercup is overly friendly to the point where she thinks nothing of walking right passed you to go through a gate while I?m trying to bring my tractor through. All of the other cows are very hesitant to go through compared to Buttercup. She has been that way from day one. We could always pet her. We have had numerous under one month old calves that we could pet, then there mother would see us and make a sound and then we could not get near them again until they were on their own and then we slowly get them used to us.

Terri Yaki · January 18, 2025, 07:59:43 AM

This looks like a good place to share my bull story. This story is true and no names have been changed to protect anyone.

We had family friends (the Moores) with a farm and a young bull, Herfy the Hereford. Herfy did have horns and was known for chasing people. I was in their barnyard and he came after me. For some reason, there was a lone, large gatepost in the yard and I hid behind it and he couldn't figure out how to get to me. My buddy, Craig, was fortunately nearby in the barn and saw what was happening. He opened the barn door and beckoned for me to run. I did, we got the door closed and most around thought it was funny. Mr. Moore, Herfy's owner, also thought it was funny. Mr. Moore was a big guy and used to box in the Army. Shortly after my incident, Herfy cornered Mr. Moore and beat him up pretty badly. Herfy went to the butcher.

gww · January 18, 2025, 10:38:56 AM

We raised bucket calves when I was young. We raised this one bull one time. We had to get rid of him for two reasons. One, he may have thought he was human cause he would get aggressive towards us and two, he turned into a jumper and would jump the fence and fight the neighbors bull. He was pretty but we had to get rid of him. We raised this crazy cow one time and she had horns and one time she scared mom and she put a pith fork in her side and when I got home from school I had to go take it out. One time we bought this midget calf cause we didn't know better. She actually had normal sized calves and so it worked out. When we missed getting one in the barn to give birth, I would find the calf by finding the cow and then making a calf sound and the mom would run to check on the calf she had stashed. Back then you could buy the calves at a sale barn for twenty bucks and the dairy farmers would almost give away the males they got. Ten years later they went to about $120 and then $220 and by that time we were not on the farm any longer. The winters were colder in the 70s and the ice on the ponds where we chopped drinking holes in seemed like it would get close to a foot thick. I been away from it so long that I don't know if people still raise bucket calves or not.

Ben Framed · January 18, 2025, 10:53:47 AM

We call them bottle calfs from the dairy because the dairymen want them off the cow ASAP. They have to be bottle fed before they are old enough for actual feed. A lot of trouble to mess with but the rewards are good if you want to raise one for the freezer. Usually the dairyman's heifers first calf is from an angus bull, which makes an easer first delivery for a first birth giver heifer because of the smaller head of the calf. (Dairy farmers in my area rarely want or need a half bred dairy/beef cow. )

Terri Yaki · January 18, 2025, 10:56:43 AM

Somewhere I have a galvanized bucket with a nipple on it. It's been around as long as I have and the galvanize was still looking good the last time I looked at it. I think it's full of bolts right now.

Ben Framed · January 18, 2025, 11:11:40 AM

Quote from: Terri Yaki on January 18, 2025, 10:56:43 AM
Somewhere I have a galvanized bucket with a nipple on it. It's been around as long as I have and the galvanize was still looking good the last time I looked at it. I think it's full of bolts right now.

Yep...

BeeMaster2 · January 19, 2025, 05:36:32 PM

Now a days dairy male calves cost around $100. I have bottle fed calves and due to the cost of the powdered milk is so expensive it is not worth raising calves without the cow.
My buddy used to get 30 of them and feed them all before going to school and feed them in the evening. The powdered milk was cheap enough to make it worth raising and selling them once they were on grass.
Jim Altmiller

gww · January 21, 2025, 09:04:07 PM

Yep. Added to that, they changed the law just like on bees and you can no longer go in and get your own antibiotics with out a vet bill attached if you need it.

Ben Framed · January 21, 2025, 09:37:46 PM

Quote from: gww on January 21, 2025, 09:04:07 PM
Yep. Added to that, they changed the law just like on bees and you can no longer go in and get your own antibiotics with out a vet bill attached if you need it.

I don?t know but would suspect lobbyist succeeded for their clients . 🤷🏻‍♂️
We have always had access to antibiotics for farm animals and pets.