In the last post, I shared the planned culling of a 3-year-old cow due to her continued failing.
She was removed from the herd on November 3rd, as planned. By the time the task was completed and we had her loaded for transport to UTCVM for necropsy, it was past dark. So we made the trek early Saturday morning in Knoxville.
Unfortunately, we failed to consider it was GAME DAY. Imagine rolling onto campus with a livestock trailer hauling a dead bison. Thankfully we used the livestock trailer because we considered wrapping her in a tarp and pulling the equipment trailer - thinking it would be easier to load/unload. YIKES! Anyway, now we wait for the pathology report. And, now, we also wait for the herd to get through this change.
I realized this morning that in this moment of loss, we've been blessed with a small gift. The opportunity to see how this young orphaned calf will do, and how the herd will manage her.
Part of our program is conservation-focused. Seeing how the buffs acclimate, how an orphan mitigates the change, and how the herd reacts individually and as a whole unit is not a scenario we could manufacture intentionally. Perhaps only common in the herds managed on public lands...?
I'm going to record the progress of this study daily, it will likely be brief and not entirely entertaining. But, it's an opportunity to learn bison behavior and survival instinct.
I will not intervene. It would be nearly impossible even if I wanted to -- oh who am I kidding, of course I want to! I want to scoop her up and bring her to the barn where I know I can keep her safe, warm, and her little belly full. But, that intervention would likely kill her faster than leaving her with the herd. And, being that she is old enough to wean (many operations DO wean their calves from their breed cows - we do not here. We let nature be the rule as much as possible), she stands a better chance of surviving without intervention. Trying to introduce her to a bottle at this point would be more detrimental than just letting her wean. And, nothing I could offer as a supplement would begin to taste as good as her mommy's milk. It would stress her even more and likely be a definite calf-killer. When she was run through the chute last, she was doing okay with an average of 1.2 lb/day gains. Not bad for a small first-time mommy. Liberty is built just like her mom, she'll be a small framed animal anyway. But knowing what her average gains were and being able to monitor those going forward will tell a lot about how she is doing.
Her best chance for survival is to expand her instincts, which, she hasn't really had to develop yet because she followed her mommy's cue or the herd's lead.
DAY ONE - Orphan Calf:
Weather/Conditions:
Low: Low 40s High: High 60s Sunny/Clear
So far, she's left the herd more and more in search of her mommy. And, the herd has followed (as opposed to the typical lead). In fact, my lead cow takes a guarding position when I'm in the fields spreading hay or monitoring. It's hard, hearing the little bellows that go unanswered. But, I'm beginning to hear the cows answer, encouraging her to rejoin them when she runs off to the woods.
Day 1 AM: She looked completely lost, she'd call and search, walk away from the herd but not know where to go without her mommy answering or coming to find her. Eventually, our lead cow (whom I call Mama), came and stood by her after Liberty laid down. Shortly after, the rest of the herd moved closer and remained as a unit the rest of the day. Even when Liberty would head off into the woods (you can hear her bellowing at the end of the video), the rest of the herd was trampling around the woods with her.
For those not of the bison world, calves at Liberty's age (4 months today) are still nursing but have been eating grasses and drinking from the troughs for months. She can make it without her mommy. Physically...and with the oversight of the herd.
When we went out in the field last night after 8:00 PM, she was amongst the herd, near the back. And they kept it that way. They aligned forming a wall between us and Liberty.
I have no doubt they will do their part in protecting her. Mothering her, attending to her as a mommy would, however? Probably not.
This may not have the fairytale ending that I'm praying it to be. There is a great chance she will not thrive and we'll lose her also. I'm aware and trying to be prepared for that. If she mourns too long and stress consumes her, not surviving may be as much an answered prayer as any other result.
If she does survive, it will be interesting to see how strong, or weak, she is as a yearling and beyond. Will she have the immunity that the other '23 calves have? Will she be tougher? Or will she be more susceptible to parasites/infection? Will she be more social, more of a follower? Being that she was born late in the season (July 4th, our Miss Liberty took the stage as a major surprise to us) she's already just half the size of the rest of the '23 calves (good size comparison at the end of the below video).
DAY 1 PM: By afternoon, Mama seemed to take on the role of protector and foster mom. She kept a close eye on Liberty's whereabouts and who was near her.
But for today, I'm trying to be optimistic and hopeful that Liberty will accept that she's on her own and will be my little wonder calf! NOTE: Bison SHOULD calf between April and June but we're beginning to see the "industry" change to year-round calving due to the treatment of bison as livestock - I'll address that in a separate post.
DATE | TIME | CONDITIONS | OBSERVATIONS |
11/4/2023 | AM | Sunny high 40s | With herd, grazing but frequent interruptions bellowing for Midge; Willing to leave the herd and search on her own. Herd trailing her and keeping her in sight |
11/4/2023 | PM | Sunny mid-60s | Herd moved to front field. Mama is keeping Liberty close with her El. Notice that Mama keeps the yearlings back from her too. Milkshake sometimes gives Mama a break, Canada is not as involved. Liberty still calling for Midge and wants to search the woods, but is staying more with the herd. |
11/4/2023 | PM-N | Dusk Low-50s | Herd was in backfield South corner, Liberty grazing among the "big kids" with the cows scattered around the fray. |
Comments