The Goodall’s own a small ranch in Belden, North Dakota, raising primarily Black Angus cattle. They do have one Charolais, one Hereford, and two Highland cows, but for the most part they produce commercial Black Angus and Black Baldies. The family of nine, including myself, along with Brooks Goodall’s father Larry, work together to make sure everything gets done. Larry Goodall is a young 85 years old, and can be found at the barn most days keeping everyone in check. I have moved to Montana this year, but I was lucky enough to go home and meet the star of my family’s stories this calving season. On March 21st they went about their daily chores, waiting for their Hereford cow, Estelle, to calve. Little did they know the surprise they would find later that day. Estelle had her calf, but he was a little different than they expected. She had a full term calf that weighed just over 30 pounds, about half of the weight of a normal calf. The little guy has puzzled not only the ranch owners, but the local veterinarian as well. How could this happen? The shock of his size soon wore off as they got to work saving his life. He needed help nursing because he was too small to do so on his own, and got cold very easily. They made sure he got colostrum by putting a nipple on a small glass pop bottle, and took him into their home to make sure he was constantly being taken care of. An unlikely bond was formed between the small calf and the family dog, Dixie. She never left his side in the first few days, keeping him warm. Dixie went even as far as to whine for Stacey Goodall when the calf woke up hungry. Talk about a great watch dog! With Dixie's love and the whole family surrounding him, little "Squirt" (named around the bottle that feeds him), got stronger each day. Estelle was kept in the barn and grandpa Larry and Stacey would milk her to make sure Squirt got her milk. Unfortunately, they realized that he would not be able to nurse on his own due to his size and pronlonged absence from his mother. So once Squirt was strong enough, he was put in a pen in the barn with a bottle calf the Goodalls has recently gotten before he was born. Although they are only around two weeks apart in age, there is a drastic size difference between the two! Squirt has continued to get stronger, and eats two full pop bottles of milk several times a day. He knows when it's feeding time! Stacey mixes his milk replacer and carries it to the barn in a thermos. She then funnels it into the pop bottle to refill it, all while being headbutted by a tiny hungry calf. It's incredible that he has survived being born so small, but the dedication of my family and their furry friend to keeping Squirt alive has paid off. Dwarfism was common around 50 years ago, with some producers having to completely liquidate certain bloodlines. Through elimination of genetic carriers of the trait, the Hereford breed as a whole has drastically decreased this abnormality. However, sometimes if two unknown carriers are bred, the calf has a 50% chance of becoming a carrier and a mere 25% of displaying the the defect. (American Hereford Association) Even with the great advances in cattle genetics we have today, these defects happen! If you are curious about this in the Hereford industry, here is a link for an article done by the American Hereford Association on managing these abnormalities.
Although Squirt may be "fun size' due to the dwarf defect, he is just like any other calf! You can find him running and bucking around the corral or impatientally awaiting his next meal. Although he likely will not reach normal mature weight and drinks alot of very expensive milk replacer, it was important to the Goodalls to give him a chance at life. Stacey Goodall told me, "I know we will never make any money from this calf, actually we will lose money but that’s what ranchers do. We save the calf no matter what. Some may call us crazy for doing so, but the late nights and early mornings are worth it!" This calving season has been nothing short of exciting for the Goodalls, and they are hoping the remainder of it will be uneventful. I think it’s safe to say they proud of the hardwork and long nights they have endured for their little fun sized surprise.
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AuthorThis is a blog to share many stories, laughs, adventures and lessons learned by yours truly, Haley Potter. Archives
July 2023
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