So glad to see'm you want to kill'em

I had a first calf heifer drop a calf late Thursday. I got it tagged after supper and last I saw it,it was running up over the hill with it's mother. Yesterday morning,I didn't see it out there. No huge deal for a new calf. Yesterday afternoon,I still didn't see it. Again about five o'clock,no calf around. I went all over the pasture with the four wheeler and couldn't find it.
The wife and I went back out after supper,in the rain,for an hour and a half looking. We looked in the neighbor's swamps and woods,I rode up to the other side of the swamps to the north and walked out in the edges incase it went all the way through. Couldn't find it.
I went out with the cows on the south side of the road,thinking that maybe by some wild stretch,it had come across the road. Couldn't find it. I just threw in the towel,figured it had gotten in to the swamp,got hung up somewhere and it was a goner in that cold rain.
The cows on the south side of the road are in the pasture east of the house. About a quarter to nine,the wife looked out to the west and said there was a calf running back and forth along the fence out there along the road.
She ran out and looked and it was the one we were looking for. I went out around it,it dove through five strands of barbed wire,got back across the road to the north side without getting hit by a car,got through the fence over there and met its mama about halfway across the pasture.

That was as close as I ever came to just flat out completely loosing one. No idea why he left his mama and crossed the road. I thought for sure with her being a first calf heifer,she'd just forget about it in a hurry,but she sure seemed glad to see it. About as glad as I was.

Glad you found it!

Rick

Like I told the wife,we didn't really find it,it found us. lol

Have something similar most years - sometimes they're dumber than a box of rocks !! I don't think there could be a critter dumber than a two year old with a new calf.

Wasn't there a joke about that . Why did the calf cross the road ?.... No wait , I think it was a chicken .

My chickens came back, the calf didn't, I had to go find it.

Last year, had a cow calve out in the pasture in front of the house. We start calving in May, anyway, tagged this bull calf, it was a couple of hours old, but had been up and sucked, anyway, mama is looking over my shoulder watching stick a tag in the calf's ear, we're about 15 feet away front a single strand electric fence that splits the pasture into about a 20 acre piece, anyway I let the calf go and it sprints away from me and it's mama and straight under the fence. It ran at full speed until it got the the fence line 1/4 mile away, then it turned North, and I lost sight of it behind a bluff of trees. I never did find it, I even let the cow into the other pasture figuring they'd find each other eventually, but no... That sorta sucked with the calf prices as they were last year.

I've always been told not to chase if they get out . Critters will keep moving away from you. My Amish neighbors kids do that they get behind and keep chasing. It's hard not go after them but sometimes it's so hard not to go after them most of the time they come back but they can be so frustrating.
Sometimes blind luck plays a part a guy was telling me about a heifer had a calf with one back foot out try as he could he couldn't catch her finally she jumped a fence and took off. Next day he was going to look for her figuring he would find a dead heifer to his surprise he found her and her calf alive and well. As far as he figured when she jumped the fence the calf slid forward and straightened out.

This is the third day I am feeding a new calf on the bottle. Was feeding the bulls in the bull pen and here comes this very little black baby calf walking up along the fence in no hurry. I put up a panel and get him in the lot. Had some milk replace on had and give him some and he went after it like he was hungry. It had rained very hard the night before if that had anything to do with. Jump on four wheeler and went out to pasture to look for its mama. There was a heifer out there with shinny teats like had been sucked, but sure was not interested in a calf. Got her up to lot this evening and she was not interested in the calf. I hope she had twins and she is still feeding the other one. This baby calf had to go through two barb wire fences to get here and why did it come this way when it could of went to open pasture.

Randy:

Sounds like it's time to put some Hobbles on that critter.

:>)