A Herdman's Handbook for the Modern Homesteader

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First-time farmers usually do pretty well with gardens, chopping wood and building outhouses . . . but the birth of that first calf or litter of pigs generally sets 'em back a couple of notches. R.J. Holliday DVM, aveterinarian in Missouri and MOTHER contributor, intends to remedy the situation. His tool? A new handbook precisely designed to explain all the animal facts of life in language that new back-to-the-landers can understand.

MOTHER will serialize the manual as Dr. Holliday completes each chapter and here's the first installment of:

PREFACE

The back-to-the-land movement has mothered all sorts of new talents and has created the need to revive many old, almost forgotten skills. Among the most important of these skills are those which deal with animal husbandry.

Unlike most modern farmers—or Agribusinessmen, as they prefer to be called—the true homesteader is vitally concerned with the creation of a rapport with nature. If he owns animals, he gives them the care and attention that marks a good herdsman. When his livestock are sick he suffers with them and tries to nurse them back to health. Above all, he craves the knowledge that will enable him to develop ever-greater skill in caring for his animals.

This handbook is an attempt to provide the modern homesteader with that knowledge.

VETERINARY OBSTETRICS PART 1

Whether you have one cow or a hundred, the most critical time on your calendar of herdsman's activities is the calving season. The act of parturition is usually accomplished with a minimum of fuss and bother on a dam's part, but the good herdsman still needs to have an understanding of the normal birth process. He needs to be aware of the problems that can arise at this time and, should it become necessary, he must be able to assist the birth of the calf.

In many respects, the knowledge and foresight to avoid obstetrical problems is equally as important as the skills to solve them . . . and there are many things that can be done to reduce the occurrence of obstetrical emergencies and to make any crisis easier to remedy.

As a rule of thumb, a heifer should not be bred before she is about 15 months old. Since the gestation period for cattle is approximately nine months, she will then calve when about two years old. Some animals will calve normally before this age, but the stress of pregnancy and lactation will more than likely stunt their growth and thus impair their future productivity.

Always breed a heifer to a bull of a breed that is compatible in size. In recent years the desirability of the so-called "exotic" crossbreeds has received a lot of publicity . . . but most proponents minimize the problems associated with the delivery of the (usually) enormous calves that result. A live 60-lb. calf is more valuable than a dead 100-lb. one, and with the smaller calf there is less chance of causing injury to the cow. It's much better to use a bull of the smaller breeds on all your cows, especially on first-calf heifers.

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