Time To Wean Elsie

We've reached a point well past the time for weaning.  We want to wean the calves and dry off the cows so that we can bring them to a neighbor down the road that has a registered Jersey bull.  There we'll have our cows bred, have them calve and allow them to freshen.  In about 6 months we'll do the same for our yearling calves - Elsie and LuLu.

So we're weaning Elsie first.  We use a weaning device.  We did use this one several years ago.  It is called a nose thorn.  That doesn't sound pleasant, does it?  You put it in the heifer's nose (ouch!)  The object of this device is that when the calf tries to nurse the momma cow, the pointed thorns poke her bag and she kicks the calf off of her udder and won't let her nurse.

We've also used this weaner.  It has the same general idea.  You put it in the calf's nose, pull the two pieces together and then tighten up a wing nut. You bend the pointed things outward and when they try to nurse, the pointed things poke the momma and she kicks her off.  Over time, the calf gets tired of getting pushed away and she stops trying - meanwhile the momma cow "dries up."

This was a new weaner available at the feed store.  It was a little more pricey than the other two, but we wanted to try this one out.  It works the same way the other two work.

With much fighting, we were able to get the weaner in Elsie's nose.  After much kicking, dust flying and rodeoing in the corral, we finally got the weaner in.  At this point, amidst all of the chaos, we didn't realize that we put it on BACKWARDS!  I tell you, they say you learn by your mistakes.  It seems like we should be really smart, because we make a lot of them.

If you could capture this photo, It'd say, "What did you just do to me and how am I supposed to eat??"

To answer the eating question, it is amazing how quickly they learn that you must stretch your head out, pull your head forward, and the weaner lays flat against the ground, allowing you to eat grass while pulling your head back to you.  In the photo below, Elsie's momma, Clarabelle, is wondering what that contraption is on her daughter's nose.

Elsie looked at us as we left the barn.  She had mischief on her mind.  She went out to the pasture.  The next morning we found her without her weaner on.  Tricia and I walked up and down the pasture until we found it laying on the ground.  She had apparently found a way to pry it out of her nose.

In losing the weaner, she was able to get to Clarabelle and drink all of her milk!  Oh no.  So, we resorted to the old tried and true weaner.  You'll see below, we have it installed.

We have this one installed properly!  So far she hasn't pried this one out of her nose.  We'll keep a close eye on old Elsie, though.  She is cunning and crafty.  If we can keep this in her nose, we'll be successful in weaning her.

Way Better Than Kleenex!

This afternoon I was checking on our new little bull in the pasture.  He's growing and is very healthy. He runs around the pasture with his tail up in the air.  Probably his favorite thing to do is to wait until I feed the chickens and then he goes running through the flock, disrupting their meal time.  He's a little bully for sure.

As I was taking the picture (with Rosie looking on in the top leftt part of the photo), the little fellow did something that we've all seen cows do - he sticks his tongue up his nose.  Apparently, this skill is one that cows are adept at doing.  I've tried to stretch my tongue into my nose to see if that is a trick I could do, but my tongue is not long enough to get the job done.

Believe it or not, there is a scientific reason that cows do this!  If you click on the arrow below to watch a two minute video, you can learn the answer to this mystery!:

Here is the link if you want to watch it again: Explaining Science: Why Do Cows Stick Their Tongues In Their Nose

Summary version:  Cows can't hold tissue in their hooves and haven't learned how to blow their noses anyway.  When they have a runny nose, they do the next best thing: They lick the snot and swallow it.