03/10/06 First-time mothers

First-time Mothers One phenomenon of calving season never ceases to amaze me. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to tell you what it is. Today was a good dayour first-calf heifers finished calving. That means a little more sleep at nights and a little less worry about the rest of calving season. The most amazing part of calving those first-time cows is that moment when the mothering instinct clicks with the novice mothers. These young cows have just completed the hard work of birthing a calf and most of them get right on with the business of licking and stimulating their newborn calves; forming a bond between cow and calf that very seldom is mistaken or broken. Good mothering ability is always a trait cattlemen think about when selecting replacement females for the cowherd. Heifers that have trouble mothering their calves quickly had better raise a big, heavy calf to get off of the top of the cull list. Sometimes mothering instinct is a fragile thing or it can be surprisingly instantaneous. One of our heifers this year was starting to lick her calf and tend to it when I took the calf and heifer into the barn because of cold weather. That heifer would not accept her calf until her and the calf were moved back to the corral where she calved. Another heifer we assisted with calving got a little upset and was head-butting anything that movedmostly my brother and me. Her new calf started shaking its head, testing its new breathing ability when she charged it. Just as she was about to hit the calf that beautiful instinct turned her into an attentive, calm motheramazing. I'm Jeff Keane.