Cow Talk

Cow Talk
Calving Season! Calving season has been officially declared "over" as of July 18, 2007. This year brought four new calf's into the world, which included one surprise baby calf that was not expected. On July 4th, the Ranch Managers were awakened by a phone call reporting that a yearling calf had escaped and was wandering down Fort Christmas Road. Cowboy Luke arrived first and found "spotted calf" grazing along side the west pasture fence. It would later be determined that a malfunctioning electric gate had not closed completely, allowing the yearling to escape. Following a series of poorly executed maneuvers using bread and a rope, Cowboy Luke was able to lasso the calf and move her into a neighbors pasture. However, detaining her proved to be another story. After several aborted attempts to tie her off to a tree and then a tractor, a decision was made to try a "free return". The gate was opened and Spotted Calf ran across the street and down the fence line, around the corner and up to the Lake Douglas Ranch west entrance and pushed her way through the gate. Spotted Calf then ran to catch up with the rest of the herd, with her lasso rope trailing along side her like a leash. It was during this "rescue mission" that Cowboy Luke and Cowboy Dan noticed that the spotted calf had swelling in her milk sack and had other signs of bovine pregnancy! She was immediately added to the "watch list."
	Bessie, (that's me!) the Lake Douglas Ranch Quality Assurance Cow
On Sunday, July 8th, Cow #2 delivered her baby calf. The newborn was found during a 6:30 a.m. inspection by Cowboy Dan. This same morning, another cow was found wandering on Fort Christmas Road. That bovine belonged to an adjacent property owner and not one of the LDR herd. The entire herd was then moved into the holding pasture for observation for the remainder of the calving period. The holding pasture is equipped with lights, water, pasture grass and hay, and holding areas. On Tuesday, July 10th, "Red Cow" delivered a baby bull calf. Her calf is solid black with a white ring on it's tail. On Wednesday, July 18th, ranch staff were continuing to watch Cow #103 who appeared to be next up. However, "Spotted Calf" (actually a yearling) delivered a baby calf at 6:00 a.m. This is her first calf and the mom and baby are both doing fine. That evening, Cow #103 delivered her baby calf at 6:45 p.m. On Saturday, July 21st, the gates were opened and the entire herd was released from the holding pasture out to the main pastures. Bessie

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Lake Douglas Ranch
PO Box 1133
Ft. Christmas, FL 32709