Adventures with cattle 3

Albert used to hand milk his cow, take off enough milk for household use and then add water to the remainder for the rearing of extra calves.

I bought older cows - preferably ones that had been house cows and I found that that they could rear four calves at once. Sometimes by rotation, she could rear more.

It was reasonably easy - just yard the cow and her calf and introduce the new one (bought in from a dairy farmer) and make sure the new calf has at least three feeds a day. Within three days the cow accepts the new calf and all is ok.

It became a little more difficult when I used heifers that I decided were good to breed from. While they were quiet, they had not been milked so were more work.

My mate Lindsay, who did much the same on his farm, told me of the success he had with chaining the introduced calf to the cow/heifer's calf. I had noticed he did that.

Lindsay loaned me the chain and collars for a young black and white heifer - now cow - and her new calf.

I 'coupled' the new calf to one that I had bought in and stood back to watch them have a drink.

Well the young cow went mad! She attacked the new calf and because it was chained to her own, that calf too was being trampled and butted!

Well I had to do something and realized that it was dangerous to be between the calves and the cow! There was a grubber/mattock nearby so I grabbed it and hit the cow with it  across her hind quarters - she took no notice.
There was a stick of timber - macrocarpa 2"x2" - and I hit the cow with it between her horns.
She fell to her knees and rolled over on her back, legs in the air and her eyelashes flickering like a giraffe on heat!
While she was out to it, I undid the calves.

I put the other calf onto another cow - without the chain, and I never used it again.

But you know, within a week, that bought in calf was stealing a feed from that cow, and I added calves to her as time went on - she must have settled down.