Cows
Find and offer cows in Panama.
Most cattle farms in Panama are cow-calf operations: a herd of Brahman-type cows, each expected to raise one calf a year on pasture until it is weaned and goes on to be fattened somewhere else. Those cows, the heifers kept to replace them and the odd milking cow change farms when a farm near Santiago is divided between heirs or a keeper thins out the older ones. The gear a herd runs on, from roofed mineral boxes and water troughs to headgates and cattle scales, is listed new and pre-owned. Say how many head, the cross, and whether each cow has a calf at foot.
Half-blood heifers on a Brahman base:
the zebu breeds, Brahman above all, with Nelore, Gyr and Indubrasil behind it, form the base of nearly every beef herd in the country. They handle heat and ticks better than any European breed and keep calving on rough grass for years. Many farms now run a Senepol, Angus or Simmental bull over those cows for a heavier, quieter calf, and the half-blood heifers that come out of it are the replacements most keepers want. A Senepol cross is born without horns and has the short red coat that copes with lowland sun. The criollo Guaymí is the rarity: a small, hardy cow shaped over centuries on Ngäbe farms in the hills of Chiriquí, now kept going in conservation herds. Holstein and Jersey cows bred for milk are a different proposition, with a twice-daily routine and concentrate from animal feed.
Fitting a cow to your grass, your bull and your corral:
a big Simmental-cross cow raises a heavier calf only where the pasture keeps her in flesh. On poor or hilly ground a straight Brahman, which needs less, will still be calving after the larger cow has stopped. The bull you already run matters too: a half-Senepol heifer put back to a Senepol bull gives up much of the hybrid vigour that made her worth having. Temperament counts too: pure Brahman cows can be wary of strangers and fierce over a newborn calf, while Senepol and Angus crosses are usually calmer. Then the kit: a roofed mineral box so the salt does not turn to slurry in the rain, water in every paddock, and a cattle crush with a headgate so a cow can be held still for the vet or to clean a wound.
The calf at her side and other signs of a working cow:
a beef cow’s job is one calf a year, so judge her on the signs that she can do it. A cow with every rib showing and sharp hips takes longer to come back into heat, and a missed calf is a lost year. Look at her udder too. Big funnel-shaped teats and a low, slack bag are hard for a newborn to latch onto, and they get worse with every calving. If she has a calf at foot, the calf is her report: lively and well grown means she milks and mothers well. Ask how many calves she has had and when the last came: a long gap between calvings is the usual reason a cow leaves a herd. Screwworm has spread across Panama, so look every animal over before it leaves home, starting where the fly lays: a young calf’s navel, a fresh brand or dehorning wound, an ear-tag hole. A wet, foul-smelling wound with larvae in it is treated before the cow travels, not after she reaches your herd.
From Tonosí to Soná, a cow and her calf on the move:
a listing worth answering gives the cross as far as you know it, half Senepol or three-quarter Brahman, her age, how many calves she has had, the date of the last, whether the bull is still with her, and the sex and age of any calf at foot. Say when the herd was last dewormed and whether the cows are used to a crush, and if the crush itself is going, whether it is bolted or welded, which decides whether it can come apart and travel. Cattle move by truck here, so tell anyone driving over from Las Palmas whether your farm has a loading ramp, and keep a cow and her calf in the same pen on the truck, away from bigger animals; for a pair or two over a short run, a livestock trailer is gentler. Show them at the morning round-up, when the cows are penned anyway and can be looked over one by one.