When do you begin calving?

#21 01/10/08, 04:00 PM

Depends on the weather. If it is just below freezing, we usually leave them outside. If there is a wind, or if it is much below -10*C then we try to have them born in the barn, or at least in the corral, so if there is a problem it is easier to get them into the barn.

Rob30 · #22 01/10/08, 08:16 PM

We are breeding a hiefer right now. WE want to calve her out in the late fall early winter. Hopefully it will not be to mucky. Our plan is to finish the calf on grass in Mid September. By the time the calf is really eating the cow/calf will be out on pasture. We are also calving in June. Our cattle are a mix of shorthorns and highlands bred to a welsh black. So none of the calves are very big or fast growers.

travlnusa · #23 01/11/08, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okie-guy

We run beef cows /calf operation. I keep my bull with the cows all year because we only own 240 acres. I would like to Spring calve but my cows are bred back and calve in 10 months of when they calved before. Most people would like to have a calf a year. With a 10 month cycle I will get 2 extra calves in the cows lifetime so they keep moving up few months a year, but for the extra $1200.00 per cow during it's lifetime I don't worry about when they calve anymore.

Do you have a problem with heifers being bred to early?

How do you address this, as I am looking at letting a bull run year round as well and get away from AI

BeltieBandit · #24 02/09/08, 09:43 PM

We have found the spring calving is easier all around. We are lucky in that we raise breeding stock, and so do not have to work around milking schedules or stock auctions. With that said, we do not us Ai, and our bull is in with the cows year-round, so there is some shift of the calving season, but for the most part, it is in the spring. Had our first calf of the season last night. Would have tried to put the first time heifer up if she would have been showing any signs at all of being ready. She was 3-4 months over due from exposure to bull, so she obviously was too "nervous" to stand for the bull....that must be the case, couldn't be the bull's fault....LOL!