Rescuing Rusty

I haven’t been able to do much of the work calving for the last few years. With small children underfoot getting out and working with the cattle can be difficult. The in depth things fell to my husband. Now the kids are getting big enough that they’re in school, I can leave them alone for a bit, or, very carefully, bring them along. Now I’ve also been doing more and more training with positive reinforcement.

Let me tell you all about the things I’ve had time to ponder while I while I stood hunched over under a cow trying to help the calf figure out how to eat. I hadn’t done this since I started clicker training and thinking about what was going on in terms of quadrants and conditioning.

I am a big believer in the behaviorists. They believed that we are simply the result of a lifetimes conditioning, of what has been reinforced or punished, and that there is no free choice only training. I don’t agree with that last part at all. The person or animal gets to decide what they find reinforcing. Every one and every thing has different things they find reinforcing. We also decide how we will react to punishment. What we do in the bad times is purely free choice, some gather their strength and do good. Others give into the darkness.

What does that have to do with cows? Lots. But mostly it’s a favorite topic of mine when it comes to people 😉

This cow had a calf. We don’t know what happened at the time of birth, we came in a few hours later. Something made her decide to leave the calf. Maybe it was as simple as she was hungry and would rather eat than get a newborn on its feet. Moms leave babies sometimes, human or bovine. What I was there to see were the triggers that were stacking when I went to bring her in. She didn’t want to leave the food. She didn’t want to leave the herd. She didn’t like being chased.

In order to lower the stress level and to keep triggers from stacking as much as I was able I brought a small herd along with her to keep her calm and worked them all as slow and easy as possible.

She still was way above threshold.

She chose to react to the unavoidable positive punishment, mental not physical, by getting mad. She was pawing and charging and willing to eat anything that came near. I can see and understand the triggers but I also wanted to save her calf. Calves need moms.

We turned the real mom cow out. She was mad and on the fight. Trying to eat us in other words. Surely you’ve seen the statistic that you are more likely to be killed by a cow than a shark? We didn’t need that to deal with while we worked with the calf.

There was a cow who had lost her calf and was claiming a different calf, along with another cow. I don’t know which was the real mom to the other calf, but both of these cows were really good moms. We needed one of those for this calf. We brought both cows in, plus the calf and any other cow standing near by. They were willing to go and we wanted to keep all of them as calm as possible.

Up in the corrals the cow with the strip of white above her nose went through the gate. That got her chose to be the other calves mom. The others went back out to their pen.

We ran the cow into the chute to hold her still so we could help the calf to nurse. This is where the hunching and thinking comes in. With the cow held still we were able to bring the calf to her and show it what it was supposed to be doing. Trying to guide her up next to the cow and show her where to put her head we were lumping things too much and she couldn’t grasp the concept.

So we took a step back and thin sliced it a little better. I milked some of her mom’s milk into a bottle and gave her the bottle. She could figure that out. Suck on the bottle, get the reward, thus reinforcing the bottle sucking. We were then able to change the criteria a little and put her back up to the cow and try to get her to nurse that.

It kind of worked. She was able to grasp that the reward still came even with a different location.

I inadvertently taught her to target my hand.

By pushing her nose into position and placing the teat into her mouth she learned to associate the food reward with my hand instead of the teat. A very interesting delving into creating positive associations and learning with positive reinforcement, but not very helpful in getting her to nurse.

If I stayed back out of the way though she would come away from the cow and try to nurse my legs, the chute, the cows leg, anything but what she was supposed to.

Somehow we needed to get her into position and take out the association with my hand. Cow are a lot harder to get food out of than a bottle. They move and kick and don’t move into position like a bottle does. If anyone has a magical method that works please let me know. We have never found one beside lots of time and hard work.

We kept at it. Trying to hold her there, keep from getting kicked, get her head and mouth into position, and keep her from sucking on my hand. My husband had come home from his day job early because he worries about me getting killed infer a cow trying to do this stuff. We took turns bent over reaching under her holding up a calf. She was getting it, nice warm milk is a strong reinforcer and she was trying.

Trying a little too hard sometimes.

Like with any powerful reinforcer it created lots of excitement and enthusiasm. Once calves have gotten a taste of it it often becomes even harder to get them to nurse. Where as before they are lethargic and unwilling, once they get the idea they start bouncing and slamming around.  Head butting their mom in the belly and legs as well as the udder. Unable to control themselves or understand that they need to hold still!

The biggest problem of all is changing the location. As anyone who has taught a horse something really good! In one spot. Only to move somewhere else and discover they have lost it all together. Just because the calf has learned to nurse, kind of, in the chute it doesn’t mean they will be able to once we let the cow out. Sometimes calves will learn that milk comes in the chute and never learn to nurse anywhere else. They are usually ones that the cow wont let nurse on her own. There is lots of strong positive punishment in the cow kicking and generally tossing the calf around when she is free to reach him. Positive punishment out of the chute, positive reinforcement in the chute, it’s easy to see how they learn that.

This calf hasn’t learned how to nurse out of the chute yet. She’s doing better in the chute but we are going to have to keep putting the mom in there a little bit longer until the calf gets it figured out. The cow is claiming the calf. Kicking it off isn’t a problem. Learning takes time even when laced with a dose of instinct. It is amazing to watch training occur in nature though.

I wanted to share the reason I didn’t get to play with any horses today.

We were feeding this morning and my father in law said there was a calf that didn’t look great. I didn’t worry a whole lot. we are usually concerned about completely different things so I thought that if he was a little worried I probably wouldn’t be. After we got done feeding I finally was able to get out through the cows. The calf was laying there alone. Brand new but with no cow anywhere near. I got off to look at him and his mouth was cold. That’s the quick way to take calves temperatures. Like feeling a child’s forehead gives you an idea, sticking you finger in a calf’s mouth will tell you if they’re cold. He was freezing.

I did a quick search for a cow who showed signs of recently giving birth. There was only one. I brought her over to the calf. She was not interested. I put the calf on the back of the 4wheeler, they really are easier to get calves on than a horse 😉 and brought him out around the water to the barn. Of course I couldn’t get to the barn through snow drifts so we stopped at the corrals and I found a nice dry pile of hay to lay him on to soak up some sunshine while I got his mom. His mom was no more interested in leaving the corrals than she had been in her calf.

I finally got her and a handful of other cows out and pushed them up the lane to the barn. Not all the way because there is a river and snow drifts. SO I parked the 4wheeler and walked them the rest of the way. The other cows sorted back easily and I left her in a small pen with her baby to walk the others back. Hoping that time in forced confinement would help her to remember she had a baby I went ahead and looked good through the rest of the herd to make sure there were no other problems. There weren’t.

Of course he hadn’t nursed by the time I got back. Instead she was on the opposite side of the pen and he was shivering violently. I went to get colostrum. By the time I got that down him it was time to pick up children at school. His mom could get to him, if she would, and he was in a dry spot, much warmer than he had been. When I stuck my finger in his  mouth it felt warm instead of cold.

We hurried home hoping to find him following her around, afraid to find him dead. He was alive but still laying there. I left them for the time being to go check cows.  There are a few, hopefully small, issues out in the corrals. One cow is wandering looking for her calf. I’ll give her time to look then go back and see if she found it. Done with that I got a bottle warmed for our calf. He took it enthusiastically and drained it too quickly. I put him back in a small pen with his mom in hopes that he will keep looking for something to finish filling his belly.

And now any time I would have had to work a horse is gone.

The general policy with calves is to try to get involved as little as possible. Usually we create more issues than we fix by interfering. Cows will reject calves that we bottle feed or take away from them for any length of time. Things that are easier in the short run are harder long term. Letting the mom raise the calf is always better, and easier, than raising a bottle calf. If she hasn’t let him nurse by morning I’ll run her in the chute and make her hold still for him to nurse. If they both do this a couple fo times they might get it figured out on their own. Hopefully.

The day after the storm passed was spent digging out. My husband and his father dug their way to the highway.
The cows shook off their winter white blankets and soaked up the sun.
I hiked out to the corrals where the cows spent most of the day on the thirteenth. When we went out to feed them in the evening the cows came running to the tractor as they tried to dig out a gate enough to get through to the cattle. I went ahead on the four-wheeler to check for calves.
In the pens, in the shelter of the big cedar trees, the wind was blocked. Instead the trees filtered the snow as it howled through them. It sprinkled down on the cows like the fine mist from a sprinkler. Breathing was nearly impossible. Every breath sucked in as much moisture as air. The wind in the shelter still beat down on the cows. They were coated in white, huddled together in the corner.
We couldn’t leave them there. Half of them had run to the tractor. I chased the rest to join them. The gate couldn’t be opened any way. The cows got fed in the pen with the lake. The wind was blowing still but the snow came in snow form not mist. It was possible to breath.
In the corrals the next day I found drifts where the cattle had been. Huge drifts that well covered the fences. we did lose one calf in the blizzard. Born over night in the worst of the weather, there was no way he could have made it. Had they stayed in these corrals I think there would have been many cows gone instead of that single calf.

As we get dug out and warmed up by the very welcome sun all I can think is how lucky we are. Not only in having good shelter and not losing more than a single calf, but also that we only got this snow. That it only wiped out fences and buried us in its blanket. On the east side of the state they are being washed away in epic flooding. Ice is breaking loose ripping out bridges and homes. Barns that keep cattle safe through blizzards during calving are being swept away cattle and all as the ranchers watch helpless to save their herds. Life will never be the same. Counties will never be able to fix all the infrastructure that is lost. Families will never replace loved ones who give their lives trying to help.

The news will never mention us. We will be here though, continuing to fight, and help, and do all we can to save animals and friends. Here are links to some ways to help.   https://www.welltravelednebraskan.com/how-to-help-nebraska-flood-victims-and-resources-for-those-displaced/?

Cowboy 911  https://www.facebook.com/groups/270203390408097/ 

https://www.omaha.com/weather/wish-to-help-those-affected-by-the-flooding-in-nebraska/article_b5aea497-9bfa-5e1e-8e99-e4c684a97ee8.html#tncms-source=infinity-scroll-summary-siderail-latest

Farm bureau https://www.nefb.org/get-involved/disaster-assistance

We’ve spent the day checking cattle and keeping them tucked away as best possible. There was one calf. We brought him and his mom up and put them in the barn. She was a good quiet cow and when we put the calf in a sled behind the fourwheeler she sniffed him then followed him in nicely. She even willingly walked through the little door in the barn and stayed. We haven’t found any sign of others.

They left the cows out in the big pens this morning when they fed. When we went out this evening to feed a drift blocked the gate. As we worked to get it open to allow the payloader through the herd came running. If they were willing to wade through the lake I was willing to let them. I took the fourwheeler up to finish bringing the rest of the cows down. The sturdy row of cedar trees, a thick and sufficient windbreak for any blizzard was just serving to diffuse the snow. Hurricane force winds drove through the branches blowing a fine mist of snow down on the cattle. It was like breathing underwater. Any thought of leaving the cattle that hadn’t already come running was gone. I chased the remnants down though the gates.

Hay bales were out and waiting for them in what shelter was available. The wind was still blowing but without the fine mist that was drifting down on them in the other pens.

We went back out as it was getting dark and checked everything one last time. The cows were huddled up tight. Eating hay or squeezed into what shelter they could find. There was nothing else we could do. I went in to feed the horses after walking out through the cows. They were warm and still wet from the little bit of time I had made them go outside. Smoke had been horrified by that and spent the time pacing and wanting in instead of eating and drinking like the rest of them. They all happily ran back in when I had opened the door and called. The hours I had spent hauling hay into the barn so we would be prepared seemed futile now as they quickly trampled it into the mud on the flooded floor. Better wet feet and in out of the storm than standing out in this.

We still have electricity although it has flickered a few times as I write this. We have neighbors without. It is warm enough, in the upper twenties, that we would probably skip the generator, put on some extra blankets, and wait it out until morning. There is nothing else we can do for the cattle but worry and pray. They are all behind shelter. A wind like this quickly makes the usual shelter useless. The wet compounds the issue. All we can do is  wait for morning and hope the storm has passed.

I like a good blizzard. There’s something about watching the snow accumulate, about being safe inside while the wind howls, about knowing the animals are tucked away safe with plenty of feed and shelter. I like snow. It’s very important for us out here in the high plains, where spring storms make up most of the moisture we get for the year. A good blizzard can make or break the summers grazing.

As I get older though I am starting to worry more. What if the house caught on fire when the roads were blown shut and the fire department couldn’t get here? What if one of the kids gets sick or hurt and we can’t get to the hospital? It makes being snowed in a little less fun. With the storm that is coming in now the weathermen are having a little too much fun. They are enjoying their chance to forecast the storm of the decade.  Hurricane force winds, feet of snow. Hopefully they are overstating it as they usually do. If they aren’t though, if they aren’t we are starting to calve and that makes everything worse.

There is no magical “good” time to calve. Any time can be a bad time. The middle of summer whit hot weather, dust, and bugs can be harder on a newborn than snow and cold.

Last year at this time we had green grass and warm weather. Now we have blizzards, big ones. The cattle are already in the corrals where they are forced to stay in a sheltered area. Cows aren’t smart about this. Not all the time. Some cows will choose a perfect, warm, sheltered place to calve. Others will go out into the most open, wind swept place and leave the calf to die. For normal snows we’d leave them where they are. Lots of room to spread out and the tree row for shelter. For the one forecast we want them close, where we can get out to them. Where it’s even more sheltered. Where it will be closer and easier to get any calves born into a shed, try to get them warm and keep them alive.

Today we have warm weather, whether that’s a blessing or a curse it’s sometimes hard to tell. We will use it though, getting ready. The animals will use it, resting, eating, soaking up the warm.